The 7 Deadly Sins of IT Recruitment!

Notes: This article is a repost of my official newsletter post "7 is the right number" that you can subscribe entirely for FREE here

There are so many things wrong with IT recruitment and software development companies these days that i really don′t know where i should start. Certainly there is a lot more i would like to say, but to keep my sanity and to provide a light lecture experience to the reader i′m just gonna stay with the basics, i call it the?7 deadly sins of IT recruitment. Without further delay here′s my favourite list:

- Deadly sin number 1:?

Companies are mostly looking for framework or library “monkeys”, not software engineers.

They do not understand technology in general and just follow whatever is trendy in the industry at the moment. They are not concerned in hiring highly skilled people capable of solving an infinity of technical problems and build “on-demand” solutions, independently of the tools used to achieve success. Instead they just look a certain number of years “in contact” with tool A, framework B, or library C. They don′t understand that every tool has his “pros” and “cons” and that a good software architect can make fire with a variety of instruments, not just with a lighter. A “framework X” developer is?NOT?a software developer, much less a software engineer. These last ones are an endangered specifies in a world where “fast” and “easy” seems to be the rule. “- Sorry you cannot consider your application, because it seems you′re just used to drive BMWs, and we need a Mercedes driver”. “- But sir, these are all cars, and i know how to drive any type of car, i′ve been a taxi driver for so many years”. “-Sorry kiddo, no can do…”

Sure, you might get a good start, and move faster for a couple of weeks, but on the longer run that′s probably not the advantage you were expecting, and you might get surprises too. People can always be surprising, that′s part of our evolutional nature. If you think it is more important to know a specific library than the underlying programming language and concept (that might already exist for a decade before this library was even created) then i believe you have a big problem.

- Deadly sin number 2:?

Companies often confuse years or “getting in contact” with a given programming language, a given framework or a particular library, with the level of expertise in each one or the level of expertise of the candidate in general. Just because someone is working with a given tool for 5 years or has been developing in a specific programming language for another decade, that does not necessarily makes him more capable or efficient than someone who is doing the same thing for only 1 year, or even just a few months. Time spent on a given job is not equivalent to better or lesser skills. That is completely ridiculous. I can be a teacher for 50 years and that does not necessarily makes me a good teacher, on the other hand, someone really skilled to teach that has just started can be considered a better teacher by their students, or no? Why would it be different with software? Makes zero sense! The last thing i want to remark is that there is a big difference between a programmer, a software developer and a software engineer. These are not synonyms people! Do your research if you confuse these often.

Deadly sin number 3:?

IT Recruiters do not spend enough time checking the candidate′s background, his skills, or his particular job or technology stack preferences. Very often they just randomly “shoot” dozens of emails to anyone that shows up on their Linkedin searches with the keywords “software” and “developer”. That′s probably the reason why 90% of all direct messages refer job “proposals” where the requirements do not match the candidate profile, skills, or preferences. From my personal experience i can say for sure this is true in 90% or more of the cases. For instance, on my profile i make it very clear that i am only open to remote opportunities, nevertheless 50% of the direct messages require relocation and “on-site” work. Just read the fuc***g profile! Is that too much to ask? And i have some fresh news for you IT recruiter, yes you… the one reading this list; “Remote during Covid-19 pandemic” is?NOT?remote work!

- Deadly sin number 4:?

Feedback, or the lack of it! Roughly 8 out of 10 contacts do not provide any feedback. They ask you for contact details, they ask for your CV, they ask to to fill some form or skills questionary, they might even ask you about your pet name. What they immediately want you to do is to “jump” into phone calls. Despite they hadn′t disclosed any relevant information on their side, except they are looking for a monkey that “knows” how to handle tool A and tool B. So, we do that, and we waist precious time just to never hear from them again. Not a “Yes”, neither a “No, sorry”, nothing! They are always in such a hurry to grab every single piece of information from you, but as soon as they have another (perhaps more promising) candidate, they instantly forget about you and pursuit the next victim. Many times you only figure out that the job is not interesting for you either, after diving into more deep on the process itself. Shame on you IT recruiter! That′s why developers in general do not like you that much.

- Deadly sin number 5:?

Use an IT recruiter or a “specialized” IT recruitment company. Yes you read it right, it′s not a mistake or a typo. Do companies do not have HR departments anymore? It′s 2020, not 1990. Every company should have their own IT department anyway, with people qualified enough to handle or at least help on the process. Why all of the sudden every single company needs a “middle man” to hire a new employee or contractor. Is your CEO, IT or HR director not smart enough? Is it because your company does not speak “tech” dialect at all? Well, that can be a real problem if we end up “matching”, cause we will be talking different languages.

- Deadly sin number 6:?

The technical / code test. Oh my God, the test! This is probably the worst of all. I will dedicate another entire article to this one alone.

I have no idea when or where this trend started, i guess it was somewhere in the last decade, probably in some sh**ty company, but let me say this is a complete nonsense for so many reasons that i cannot even remember them all. The main reason would be that we are about to start a business relationship where one of the parties simply does not trust the other and it clearly states it right from the beginning.

I′m the recruiter or someone representing the hiring party, you′re the developer. Your CV looks impressive, you have lots of apps on Google Play and And Store, i can see you′re really active on Github and similar platforms, but you know what? I do not trust or believe you. I see you have built all these apps and websites that i can easily check, and you say you have been working with Java and JavaScript languages for almost 20 years, but nevertheless i want you to make me this test app, for free. Cause i′m pretty sure you have nothing else to do, and we all know that all developers are simply nerds that love to write code for free and have no lives whatsoever. Don′t worry, it will only take you a week, and i have to make sure you really know what you say you know. What could go wrong. Worst case scenario, i don′t select you for the position, neither i contact you again or provide you any feedback about the outcome. Sure, this makes perfectly sense. Just like when a neurosurgeon is applying to a new Hospital he is first required to perform a brain surgery, for free, just to see how it goes, and to double check that instead he is not just a regular soccer player pretending to be a doctor. Why would software be different than all the other jobs in the world? I know, for no reason! Still, it is, for whatever reason.

- Deadly sin number 7:?

Sins 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 altogether. Ok, i know, this is not really a sin on itself, but believe me, it happens, and i was not really sure about what to write here so... The items here listed are just some examples of what i think is wrong with tech recruitment these days. It′s not just the process but also the persons that are doing it. Everything seems way to focused on short term results, way too focused on technological trends that may come and go every year. Everything is so “standard” that leaves no room for innovation. Nobody is looking at the larger picture or timeframe. I cannot hardly imagine how young people leaving universities struggle to find a job in this industry. Sometimes it can get so ridiculous that they ask for more years of expertise on a given tool than the years that have passed since the tool was created (yes it happens, a lot). On the other hand if you have a broader expertise then is not so good either because you have not spent enough years working with the same tool, one of those currently listing on the top 3 of the “most popular”. We all know that to be a good professional in any medium you need to be doing the same thing for many many years, right? Or isn′t it?

Final thoughts

The Internet that started as the land of the free is becoming more centralized each day, and it almost seems that nothing else existed before giants like Facebook or Google stepped in, because we are forced to learn and use the tools they have created for their own specific internal needs, like if there were no other alternatives, and like if they were the only and true keepers of all the knowledge that exists. Sorry, but this is just too crazy to handle! The only explanation that i can find is that companies prefer a legion of blind “doers” that don′t think, instead of a legion of “thinkers” that can do (and do better). If they don′t know the effects of that on productivity and efficiency, on the long run, then i humbly suggest a little bit more of research before moving onto the next recruitment process.

I have to conclude that most companies are not actually looking for software engineers, they are looking for people with basic software development skills to follow whatever rule is feed to them, without questioning a single thing. These are AKA "The Zombie Devs".

Next time, probably is also a good idea to focus a bit more on the candidate′s skills, in what he has already achieved and in what he is expected to achieve, given his skills or background experience. Consider also his personality, how he adapts and faces challenges, and how you think he will fit the company mindset as well. Don′t just overlook in search for a bunch of specific tool keywords on the CV. Just because he is using some fancy tool for more than 5 years, it doesn′t necessarily means that he doesn′t suck at it anyway. Of course, this is not a thumb or rule but you get the idea. By the way, those can easily be faked too, you know... Tools come and go everyday but people stay and also adapt and evolve.?A good engineer will be able to build anything with any tool. It doesn′t matter if it has to be done with React, Angular, Vue, with SomeCrazyFakeFramework not yet invented, or just with some?wood stick.?

Choosing to glue your project (and your team) to a very specific set of instruments might not be the best idea for any side. Anyway, these are just my 2 cents, or in this case my “7 deadly sins” handbook.