How to Recruit Engineers When You’re Not a Tech Company
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Once, the way to an engineer’s heart was a fat salary, a fatter pile of stock and a sleek new laptop. Today, a company’s culture, employer brand and product or service count just as much when recruiting this in-demand workforce. In fact, a Glassdoor survey says 52% of engineers would accept lower compensation to work at a company with a cool reputation. That’s good news for companies in retail, manufacturing, healthcare and other industries not typically thought of as high-tech. Looking for a few good engineers? Join us for “How to Recruit Tech When You’re Not a Tech Company,” where we’ll explore: Best and worst recruiter tactics revealed by engineers themselves The importance of company reviews, social media outreach, friends and meet-ups in winning the hearts and minds of engineers Recruiting and hiring engineers in a competitive landscape
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How to Recruit Engineers When You’re Not a Tech Company
- 1. #RDaily@RecruitingDaily @RecruitingBlogs@RecruitingDaily @RecruitingBlogs How to Recruit Engineers When You Aren’t a Tech Company
- 2. #RDaily@RecruitingDaily @RecruitingBlogs Housekeeping Sponsor Speaker Presentation Q&A ON AGENDA the
- 3. #RDaily@RecruitingDaily @RecruitingBlogs HOUSEKEEPING Grab Tab Audio Mode How to ask a Question This program is being recorded. You can download the recording at http://www.recruitingwebinars.com/ TIPS FOR USING YOUR CONTROL PANEL.
- 4. #RDaily@RecruitingDaily @RecruitingBlogs Glassdoor offers companies of all sizes and industries employer branding, recruiting, and advertising solutions to attract, influence, and hire top talent. https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/
- 5. #RDaily@RecruitingDaily @RecruitingBlogs TODAY’S SPEAKERS Lisa Holden Employer Communications Manager www.glassdoor.com/employers @LisaAHolden #GDChat
- 6. #Glassdoor Agenda Part I: Why Hiring Engineers is so Tough Part II: Top Mistakes Engineering Recruiters Make Part III: How to Successfully Recruit Engineers, Even If You’re Not a Tech Company
- 7. #Glassdoor Part I: Why Hiring Engineers is so Tough
- 8. #Glassdoor Competition is fierce Source: Glassdoor Jobs Search Page, Aug 2015
- 9. #Glassdoor Competition is fierce Source: Company Photos on Glassdoor Slides Family Fitness Bowling Meals Travel
- 10. #Glassdoor Part II: Top Mistakes Engineering Recruiters Make
- 11. #Glassdoor Hiring for Skill vs. Intelligence Source: Bersin by Deloitte, Nov 2014
- 14. #Glassdoor Forgetting to let the candidate interview YOU
- 15. #Glassdoor Forgetting to let the candidate interview YOU
- 16. #Glassdoor Part III: How to Successfully Recruit Engineers
- 17. #Glassdoor Recruitment Tactics that Work value when a recruiter is transparent about the pros and consSource: Glassdoor Software Engineer Survey, Feb 2014
- 18. #Glassdoor Recruitment Tactics that Work “Understand my skills and background and fit the job to me, rather than the other way around.” “Tell me about the good and bad of your company. Why do I want to work there over some other company?” “Be transparent about work culture and company values.” Source: Glassdoor Software Engineer Survey, Feb 2014
- 19. #Glassdoor Recruitment Tactics that Work “Ask for me to contact my friends if I’m not personally interested in a position…it feels like you are asking me to do your job for you.” “Omit the salary package. How am I supposed to know whether the job is worth considering?” “Send a generic mass-email. It goes right to the trash.” Source: Glassdoor Software Engineer Survey, Feb 2014
- 20. #Glassdoor Most Effective Recruitment Tactics say blog posts from engineers at the hiring company help entice them Source: Glassdoor Software Engineer Survey, Feb 2014
- 21. #Glassdoor Most Effective Recruitment Tactics say they appreciate meet-ups at the company hiring where they have a chance to connect with other engineersSource: Glassdoor Software Engineer Survey, Feb 2014
- 22. #Glassdoor Most Effective Recruitment Tactics say social media outreach from other engineers at the hiring company is most effective in learning about job opportunitiesSource: Glassdoor Software Engineer Survey, Feb 2014
- 23. #Glassdoor In Conclusion Highlight the good things about your company Host events, invite people in to visit Understand engineering skills and fit the job to them rather than the other way around Incentivize your engineers to recruit others like them Be transparent Blog posts, social, engage on Glassdoor and other platforms
- 24. #RDaily@RecruitingDaily @RecruitingBlogs Q&AYOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS. WE’VE GOT ANSWERS.
- 25. #RDaily@RecruitingDaily @RecruitingBlogs YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS. WE’VE GOT ANSWERS.
Editor's Notes
- A simple search for “Engineer” jobs on Glassdoor yields hundreds of thousands of results… if you’re hiring for an engineer, you are in one of the toughest, most competitive hiring positions you can be in. How do you successfully hire an engineer under these conditions?
- Google is famous for its crazy perks like slides, but there are so many companies with high engineering needs competing for top talent and offering ostentatious perks Netflix just announced its offering a year of maternity/paternity leave In addition to its gym, Facebook also offers treadmill desks Infosys has an actual bowling alley at the office Twitter’s free lunch is healthy and gourmet Airbnb offers a yearly travel stipend to all employees We know all this based on what folks are sharing on Glassdoor. Even these images are pulled from each company’s profile, submitted by employees who work there.
- Hiring for a specific skill set rather than the kind of smart person you can teach. You might have a couple years of experience with some hot technology, but if the person isn’t a great problem solver it doesn’t matter. What matters more to me than skills? The ability to pick up new things quickly, and work through problems independently. INSERT EXAMPLE STORY, I once interviewed a candidate who knew more about our programming language than I did. This person was an encyclopedia for this platform—but he couldn’t problem solve outside of it. I shared a problem I was having with our product, from a macro perspective, and he couldn’t even discuss it. He was too in the weeds with the language and wasn’t intelligent enough to think big-picture. I ended up not offering him the job, even though he had a ton of experience, I need people on my team who can solve problems, not memorize information.
- Here is a snapshot of Glassdoor’s Jobs page—what do these thousand upon thousands of job descriptions have in common? They are ALL outlining particular skills required some of them might even touch on intelligence, explaining the kinds of problem solving required… but there is so much more that’s needed for any new hire to be successful at an organization…
- IQ is important, but not enough organizations care about EQ as well. What’s the difference: the what vs. the how IQ: what you need to complete a task or the skills and talent required to meet a goal EQ: how you complete a task, the way you go about interacting with people in order to get something done Someone with a low EQ can probably still get the job done, but the 10 other engineers I’m trying to retain will be much more likely to stay if they are being managed by someone who understands the importance of emotional intelligence too. EXAMPLE STORY: here at Glassdoor each and every employee goes through annual emotional intelligence training. We believe this helps people reach their full potential because they understand how to work better with one another, bring problems to the table and discuss them effectively. Ryan: do you have a story to tell here? Something about working through a problem to meet a goal?
- You might love your company—but that doesn’t mean everyone will. On Glassdoor, we sit on a lot of data around this. We have 8 million company reviews, interview reviews, office photos and more for 400,000+ companies worldwide. We find that different people love different elements of their companies and what may be a pro for one person, is a con for another. EXAMPLE STORY: Take this snapshot of photos of the Glassdoor office for example. I love that we have team building events and kayaks on the premises, but I’m allergic to dogs. I have to be careful about where I sit to mitigate this problem, but for plenty of employees, our dog-friendly policy is the differentiator that caused them to take our offer over a competitor. You don’t want to get someone in the door thinking that they know what your company will be like… only to find that it’s a bad fit. In fact…
- … 61% of job seekers have experienced buyer’s remorse after taking a job. We commissioned a survey with Harris Interactive to find out just how big this problem is. Turns out, companies mismanage expectations around most elements of the job. Everything from bosses’ personality to job responsibilities can be miscommunicated in an interview. Make sure you take the time to let the candidate interview you and the company. Don’t shy away from telling the truth too. The most successful employees are people that really understand the company, as much as the company understands them… and in a competitive market, it’s critical to be able to win top talent. Smart companies encourage candidates to research them on third party sites like Glassdoor to get a full view of what it’s really like.
- Which leads me to why we’re all here. We know software engineers get recruited all the time… so in February 2014, Glassdoor wanted to find out what Engineers think of being recruited. What do they appreciate from recruiters? What do they find annoying? How can hiring managers set themselves apart? The results I’m about to share with you are based on answers provided by 1,400+ software engineers on Glassdoor…
- 81% value transparency about the pros and cons Other factors that seemed highly important? 63% like when you are knowledgeable about their experience 53% prefer that you not be pushy 50% want the recruiter to work as hard for them as they do for the employer 44% prefer solid communication skills 42% prefer a strong technical background These are your keys to success: knowing what engineers want before you give them what they DON’T want.
- We gave engineers an open text box to tell us what they like and don’t like about the recruiting process. Here’s what bubbled up to the top: Highlight the good & bad, what it’s REALLY like. Understand their skills and fit the job to them rather than the other way around Be transparent—encourage your engineers to post on Glassdoor to share a fresh perspective. It’s important to also point candidates to those reviews so they get that third party data source and can feel more informed as they are making a decision about whether or not to work for you.
- Don’t omit the salary package Don’t ask to contact friends if they aren’t interested Don’t send mass generic emails Pretty standard right? WRONG. Plenty of organizations get this wrong and start with a generic email when trying to recruit software engineers. As you can see from our survey, nothing turns them off faster.
- So let’s dive into a few strategies to get the job done… 33% say blog posts from engineers at the hiring company help with recruiting—so encourage a few of your engineers to contribute to your company’s blog, or start an engineering specific blog. This helps with recruiting top talent in a couple ways: We know from the above stat this is valuable But it helps your company with transparency. Here’s what a few engineers actually think, here’s how they solve problems… This is one of they keys to making great hires who already understand a bit about your business.
- 41% value meet ups to help them connect with other engineers Hosting a meet up is another great transparency move, and it also eliminates the “overly formal” elements of recruiting. Bring folks in for some drinks and snacks, and ask them what they like about being an engineer. It gives you a chance to do something we know 41% of respondents value, and also gives you a chance to avoid making a key mistake: not letting the candidate interview you. In this casual environment you’re more likely to have back and forth conversations rather than rapid-fire questions, a great move to really get to know people before the formality of a job offer.
- 65% say social media outreach from other engineers is the most effective. All the more reason to ensure that your engineers are empowered to reach out. Encourage your engineers not only to share feedback on Glassdoor, but engage on social and work to bring new hires in. Offer a bonus for referral hires to engage your top talent, and find more just like them.