This is the process of finding the right people for your next project 

Tech Recruiting: A changing game

Recruiting tech talent has become a growing global challenge. There is a large gap between supply and demand: the number of companies looking to hire qualified developers is increasing, but suitable technical candidates are not easy to find. The trend will continue in the future. Some statistics show that the demand for software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers will grow by 25 percent by 2031, which is much faster than the average for all other occupations. 

In Serbia, the number of candidates applying for advertisements in the IT sector increased by 27 percent in the past year compared to the same period of the previous year, and the growth of ICT services exports increased from 1.7 billion €  in 2021 to 2.5 billion in 2022. In the last five years, The IT market in Serbia has continued to grow by 10%, the export of services by over 25%, while employment in this sector has increased by more than 15%. 

What should our clients know when it comes to recruiting the right people that will join their teams? What does the entire recruitment process look like? In this text, we reveal the entire process step by step, from selecting candidates to the moment they become ready to be essential partners on your project. 

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Partnership journey 

The proces of tech recruiting in Enlight Engineering can be summarized in 10 steps:

1. Understand the needs of the client 
2. Create the desired team profile
3. Confirm it with the client 
4. Decide the recruiting channel 
5. Prepare the concept of an HR interview 
6. Organize HR and tech interview 
7. Select adequate candidates 
8. KAM submits the report to the client 
9. The client approves and the candidate gets the offer 
10. The kick-off and onboarding stage may begin

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First step: analyzing the requirements of the project 

Candidate selection begins with understanding the needs of our clients and the needs of us as a company. When we agree to work on a project, our Key Account Manager (KAM) defines the needs of a specific team for the client’s project.  

We create a team profile by filling out an extensive WETP (Work Estimate Team Proposal) list. In this document, we define in detail the analytical, technical and organizational skills each person in the team needs to have, and the seniority level that is required for the project. It shows the data crucial for the recruitment of the candidates: 

• Team skills and capabilities (analytical, technical and organizational) skills as well as the level of knowledge needed. Not all people in the team need to be seniors, we strive to create the optimal mix 
• Capacity estimation 
• Scope of work 

After we define all the parameters in the WETP list, it is given to our client for review, and when the client confirms what we have suggested, the approved list goes back to HR, and the selection process can start.  

Now that we know who we need, the next step is deciding on the most suitable recruitment channels. 

The three most common recruitment channels 

The most dominant recruitment channels we use are the referral system, internal recruitment, headhunting and job boards. 

The referral system is the most authoritative because we get information about potential candidates from our colleagues who know our processes and needs. We can get recommendations through external channels such as social networks, and we primarily use Linkedin there. 

Headhunting refers to the direct search and attraction of candidates who may be employed in another company or are not actively looking for a new job. The goal is to find highly qualified candidates who are experienced and to offer them the chance to work on specific projects for our clients. 

Advertisements on job boards have proven useful for certain profiles. In recent years, the number of people applying for jobs in the IT sector has increased, so this channel should not be neglected, even though it is the weakest of all mentioned in terms of the quality of applications received. 

In addition to these recruitment channels that we use most often, an important source of information about candidates is something we call "people sourcing". It is the process of finding talent and highly qualified professionals to expand our database. This is a proactive approach; it gives us a better chance to reach staff who are otherwise in short supply in our industry and to ensure that our clients will have enough quality people on projects on time. 

Because of this proactive approach, our average hire time is 8 - 12 weeks. For some positions, it can be even 6 weeks if we have adequate candidates on our list. 

Second step: candidate selection and HR interview 

The further selection process depends on which recruitment channel we use to reach the potential candidate. If we go through the job boards, we will have a pre-selection process, that is, a check of the CVs of the candidates. 

If we reach candidates through headhunting or people sourcing, an HR interview is scheduled. These conversations can sometimes be purely informative when we realize that a candidate is suitable for a position that we do not need at that moment, but we may need them in the future. 

Every HR interview has a predefined selection concept. This is what we need to check when we schedule it:  

• Analytical, technical and organizational skills 
• Seniority level  
• Culture fit 

We use different tools to assess each of the criteria. The most dominant tools are interviews because we usually hire seniors and mid-level employees who are best evaluated through interviews. When we hire juniors, we use specially designed tests developed by our engineers. 

What we search for is an optimal set of both technical expertise and cultural competencies that are the company's values. Specific questions which reveal these parameters are defined by the Team Lead. 

Our HR team plays a very important role in this process because they are well-versed in the field of software development. The person in charge of the interview talks to the candidate in the same language and his assessments are of higher quality and more detailed than the assessments of people who do not have enough knowledge or experience in this field. 

Third step: choosing the team and introducing them to the client 

When the candidates pass the HR and technical interview, the next thing we do is send the CVs to the client. Our KAM submits a report and our assessment of the candidate to the client. 

Afterward, we schedule so-called "tech sessions" that last up to 45 minutes. 

Once the client gives the green light, we propose an offer to the candidate. If the candidate accepts the offer, he officially becomes an employee of our company and can proceed to the other stages (kick-off, onboarding). 

The entire process, from the moment a candidate applies for an employment job, takes approximately 8-.12 weeks. Sometimes this time is even shorter because we have our database from which we source people for required positions. 

Once we hire the desired candidates, we set up the onboarding process, to help them integrate into our organization. As a result of this precisely defined set of steps, our clients will have a well-formed team in time for their projects.  

Conclusion 

In the business model we operate in, talent retention is the secret ingredient to success. The fact that our teams are stable and that fluctuation rates are low, speaks of a successful model of recruitment and selection, as well as the culture of the team and the values we cherish. It gives our teams stability and assures us that we will complete the assigned projects without delays. 

In the selection process, we set clear expectations for our future employees, so they know what their job and team culture will look like. It is important to us that everyone feels good in our team, that they improve in their field, and that they are satisfied, which is one of the most important pillars of our effective team culture. 

The shortage of qualified IT personnel, the great competition for talent, and the rapid change of technology, as well as the turbulence brought by the pandemic, are the challenges we face in the recruitment of personnel. We have overcome these challenges with detailed processes and tools, which provide candidates with a positive recruitment experience, and enable us and our clients to obtain a more accurate assessment and select the right people for the project. 

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