The most important part of a tech company is the product. To be successful, you need a product that people want or need to use, and you’ll have trouble bringing in revenue if there isn’t something to sell. Usually, the founder of a startup has already developed a product, or they have the idea and bring in a CTO (or CTO equivalent) to develop the product. 

As a company progresses, the structure of the engineering department becomes more complex. 

Who Makes Up the Team?

The software development team has different roles and responsibilities, so it’s important to understand what you need to start. There are:

• Product Managers

• UX/UI Designers

• Software Developers

• Software Architects

• DevOps

• QA Engineers

• Engineering Managers

All of these roles contribute to the different aspects of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC): Strategy, Design, Development, Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance. Each part of the cycle helps you ensure that you have a quality product to offer to your customers. After the idea is formulated, different team members lay the foundation, build the framework, test the product quality/security/etc., prepare the product for the market, and update the product to ensure its quality after going to market. 

What to Look For

Software engineers tend to be broken down into different types: backend engineers who work on things that operate invisibly to the eye, frontend engineers who work on the visual aspects of software, and full stack engineers who are capable of both frontend and backend, just to name a few. 

You want to find people who have experience working in those specific areas at companies focused on building and shipping software, have worked in all stages of the SDLC, have at least two years of tenure in their respective roles, and have shown career progression. 

Though there are certain exceptions, it’s extremely beneficial to look for engineers that have a B.S. in Computer Science or Mathematics, are effective communicators, and have an active presence in the tech community, whether that be an online or in-person presence. 

Profile Evaluation Basics

When looking at a candidate’s profile or background, it’s essential to look for people who program in the same language, same framework, and use the same tools that are used for your product. There are many different programming languages, so it’s important to make sure their knowledge base aligns with your product.

Red Flags

Unless your intention is to use contractors or consultants, you should avoid them in your search. The reasoning behind that is that contractors and consultants have experience in only certain steps of the SDLC, not the whole cycle. They have limited experience in completing projects from start to finish, mostly because their roles ensure them to be experts in specific aspects of a project. Freelance developers/engineers fall under a similar categorization.

Unless you are looking for an entry-level hire, you should also avoid engineers whose most recent coding education is from a coding boot camp. These programs are short (12 weeks on average), whereas someone with a degree in computer science or math has a more robust engineering education. 

Vetting Candidates

If you have a candidate in mind and you’re thinking about making the hire, it’s important to analyze their technical skills. These candidates can be quick to take another offer, so rather than sending them home with a time-consuming coding assignment, consider asking them to sit with one of your engineers to code for an hour so you can see them at work. 

How a Recruiting Agency Can Help

A recruiting firm can help you find the top technical talent out there. Technical recruiters are well-versed in weeding out the candidates that fall under any category in the “Red Flags” section, can help determine if a candidate has made appropriate career progressions rather than lateral shifts, and most importantly, are familiar with the current status of the engineering market. Technical recruiters at the best recruiting firms more than likely have an active pipeline even though engineering hires are in high demand and low supply. 

If you’re interested in learning how RJR Partners can help you recruit for engineering positions, contact us.