Three Secrets About Hiring FAANG vs non-FAANG Engineers

FAANG vs non-FAANG - Hiring Trends You Must Know

If you're a Tech Recruiter in the SaaS industry, you definitely want to read this article, or don’t but you’ll be missing out.

It includes insider information about how and when to find and attract engineers.?

We released our Q3 RocketReach Job Change Index which focuses on changes in the industry. As the Job Change Index is a quarterly report, we wanted to give more depth to some of the stats we are actively seeing at RocketReach. This week, we are focusing on FAANG engineers vs non-FAANG engineers.

The basic questions we wanted to answer in our data deep-dive on FAANG engineers vs non-FAANG engineers were:

1. Should recruiters reach out to FAANG engineers at a different tenure than non-FAANG engineers?
2. What do tenures look like for former FAANG engineers?? Do they stay longer or shorter at roles and companies after they leave a FAANG role?
3. How frequently do FAANG engineers get promoted vs non-FAANG engineers?

Uncover The Three Things You Need To Know When Hiring Engineers As A Tech Recruiter.

1. FAANG companies keep their engineers longer than non-FAANG companies. FAANG engineer tenures are 35% longer (33 months vs 24 months).

1. FAANG engineers stay at companies post-FAANG longer than engineers who never worked at a FAANG company.? Former FAANG engineers stay at companies for 29 months, while non-FAANG engineers have the 24-month tenure previously mentioned.

1. FAANG engineers are promoted at slower rates compared to their non-FAANG.? FAANG engineers are promoted every 24 months, while the non-FAANG engineering group is promoted every 20 months.

Three Primary Outcomes that Recruiters Can Use to Better Target Engineers

1. When to target FAANG engineers - Recruiters will have the most success reaching out to FAANG engineers closer to three years, versus reaching out to non-FAANG engineers around two years into their tenure. The sweet spot for switching out of FAANG is later.
2. When to target former FAANG engineers - Recruiters should reach out to former FAANG engineers at a later time period, for example, 29 months on average. FAANG engineers generally stick around longer in their roles.
3. Promotions cycles - Faster promotion cycles are one potential draw for non-FAANG engineers, as they are promoted at a faster rate outside of FAANG companies. In the Job Index Report, we talked a lot about infrastructural changes needed in companies, this is another example of the faster promotion cycles that are happening across the industry

There are obviously many drivers that have impacted the stats. Company size, cash compensation, benefits, liquidity of stock-based compensation, business impact, career path visibility, and many others.

Recruiting engineers for a tech start-up is definitely not a passive activity; it requires a good deal of effort and knowledge.

If you're lucky enough to have excellent candidates applying to your open positions, make sure to pick them up as soon as possible before they get snapped up by your competitors.

Recruiters often get into the game late, often after excellent candidates have already been snatched up by other companies.

I hope the tips I shared will allow you to be at the forefront of your recruiting efforts moving forward.?