There is a huge talent shortage in the current IT market and with the adoption of OutSystems skyrocketing, the number of projects needing low-code expertise is increasing. In this presentation, we’ll present the top skills and behaviors Do iT Lean looks for in top talent, and then explore ways to train your team so you can avoid the five most common mistakes new developers typically make.
How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
1. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
How to Attract and Train
Talent in Highly
Competitive Markets
2. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets| How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
@ inmike.jones@doitlean.com /mikewjones
Mike Jones
General Manager - Americas | Do iT Lean
@ inarmando.gomes@doitlean.com /armandogomes
Armando Gomes
OutSystems Expert and MVP | Tech Lead @Do iT Lean
3. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets| How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Why are you here?
4. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
The State of
Application
Development
● 35% dev effort allocated to
innovation
● 65% maintenance
● > 50% of organizations with
Backlog
KTLO
5. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
The Low-code Path
● 4x productivity increase
● Web and Mobile with one
tool
You still need Talented
Developers
+
Pressure to get Value
from OutSystems
Investment!
6. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Winning Round 1 of
Low-code Adoption
● Developer talent
● Early success
7. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Talent Options
● Convert internal resources
● Hire experts
● Hire & Train newbies
8. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Before Technical
Skills...
...People soft skills are
essential for long term
success.
9. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
● SQL (required)
● Web Development (required)
● Mobile Development (nice to
have)
Technical Skills
10. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
OnBoarding at Do iT Lean
Trainer nominated
Welcome
Company presentation
PREPARATION 1st DAY 1st 2 WEEKS 1-3 MONTHS 3-6 MONTHS
OutSystems training
Agile training
Internal Project
Internal Initiatives
OutSystems Certification
Customer Project
11. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets| How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Essential Skills
For Developing with OutSystems
12. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Training is an
endless road
Believe me, I’m an expert!
13. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets| How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
How do you train
people?
14. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
The “qualifying
standard” model
Training materials from
OutSystems are a good
starting point.
Goal: know your way around
the platform.
15. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Going for the
extra mile?
Let them develop something
they like - and want - using the
platform.
Goal: understand what’s their
“product development”
maturity level is.
16. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Involve them in a
“real” project
Although the project isn’t a
“real one”, it should mimic the
way your team works.
Goal: understand the various
roles in a development team.
17. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets| How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Behaviors
18. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
They don’t read
Most often than not,
requirements will overlap and,
very likely, contradict
themselves.
Test: Have contradictory
requirements.
19. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
They don’t ask
Assumptions lead to poor
business outcome.
Test: have purposely
ambiguous or incomplete
requirements.
20. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Knowing when to
ask for help
Finding the balance between
“I’m trying to sort it out” and
“Can you help me” is key.
Test: ask them to do
something harder than what
they are qualified for.
21. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
They don’t test
Quality is a must, and the lack
of it has consequences. It’s
only done when it’s tested.
Test: have them demo their
own work.
22. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
It’s not just “OJT"
● On-the-job training is just
part of the whole training
● Juniors need to be
proactive to improve their
skills
23. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Formal Training + ‘Real Project’ + Expert Coaching = Success
24. | How to Attract and Train Talent in Highly Competitive Markets
Thank You!
@ inarmando.gomes@doitlean.co
m
/armandogomes
@ inmike.jones@doitlean.com /mikewjones
Editor's Notes
In the beginning of the year Outsystems surveyed more than 3300 IT professionals across the world to understand The State of Application Development. Let’s look at some results:
Only 35% of development effort was expected to be allocated to innovation applications
The remaining 65% should go to the update or replacement of legacy systems
Most of the applications take 3 to 6 months to be developed which leads to more than 50% of companies having a backlog
For these reasons:
39% of organizations invested in Low Code to speed application development
This is only surpassed by the adoptions of a Cloud strategy, selected by 55% of the organizations
So, this huge growth on low code platforms demand brought obviously some challenges around having enough developers
According to Forrester 55% of global developers plan using Low Code platforms during 2019.
Gartner adds to this by estimating that by 2024, 65% of all application development will rely on Low code platforms.
Great news!? Maybe.
While Low-Code can increase team productivity dramatically, CIOs can still face the same lack of talent as for traditional programming languages.
Tech Republic reports a an estimated 1 million computer programming jobs in the US expected to go unfilled by 2020.
78 - 2018
110 - 2019
2018 11576,2
2019 18000
So, how can we answer to this fast growth of outsystems adoption having more and more applications to build and no developers
Target mostly young developers.
Convert experienced C# or Java developers into Outsystems Tech Leads.
Train them properly.
Retain them with interesting projects where they can quickly add value to their customers.
The first thing that we look at is the soft skills
we believe that there are essential soft skills and attitudes needed to develop with OutSystems and we always try to identify them in our candidates
Examples??
Last but not least, after soft skills and values we look at their technical skills
It is not ideal to start a low-code journey with a citizen developer.
Instead, we recommend starting with team members with the right mindset and who are comfortable with development and have the skills
These 3 are the ones that we believe needed in a low code dev:
SQL: Relational databases are key. The more knowledge a developer has in this area—basic queries, joins, and so on—the better
Web: Any type of web development should be also considered as a requirement. If people do not understand how the web works, it can lead to poor decisions.
Mobile development: Because mobile development has its own set of considerations, having someone with these skills on your team is a plus. If your first projects include mobile apps, having someone with mobile development experience on board can help ensure success.
This is an overview of our Onboarding process for rookies, that is focused on providing them the skills and behaviors required to integrate an Agile Low Code project team
Sometimes we help our customers in the enablement of their development teams by including some of their developers as part of one of our experienced teams
The most common model is bringing in a partner for the first project, shadowed by your internal teams so they can learn and lead in the next applications.
What we do for our customers is get a team and add one customer team member and help train them. Now
Usually one to two weeks.
By investing their time into something they are passionate about, they will do the extra-mile.
Desired outcome 1: get better at using the platform – no accessible solution like the materials.
Desired outcome 2: understand what’s their “product development” maturity.
Product development maturity? How good does it need to be - and what they to achieve it.
Once the training it’s over, it’s time to start being productive. As such, it’s important to understand how well does the person understands the various concepts in the team:
The engagement manager
The tech lead
Other developers
The product owner
Insert examples here.
A good developer knows how (and when) to ask the required questions.
A bad developer assumes things or doesn’t care if the requirement isn’t clear.
A good developer is a developer that knows when it’s time to ask for help.
Senior developers value juniors that know how to “sort it out themselves” but they also value when being humble enough to ask for help.
If you take too much time, you’re losing money.
Obviously, avoid the “can you help me now? Can you help me know? Can you help me now?”
We don’t expect that you know everything, no worries.
Tell story of the guy who was dealing with something for more than one day and that it was solved in 10 minutes.
How do we avoid this? During the real (fake) project, explore corner cases and enforce testing procedures/evidences.
Have them to present their work to the whole team/company.
On the job training is just part of the whole training
Developers need to be proactive to improve their skills – either learn new stuff, grow networks with other professionals, etc.
How do you treat this? You can ask something that’s purposefully “out of scope” of their training whilst being attainable.
Usually easier to achieve when doing the “extra-mile” mode.