Ask anyone in tech and they’ll all say the same thing: your software engineering team is an investment in the future of your organization.
Each engineer you bring on board is a critical component of that investment, as they’re what ultimately determines your feature throughput. You’re spending the time to train them, get them up to speed on your product, and you’re ultimately relying on them to carry your company forward in innovation and development. So there’s no doubt that you want to find the absolute best.
And your candidate search is arguably more important now than in recent memory thanks to the voluntary mass exodus of workers from the labor force known as The Great Resignation.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, during the months of April, May, and June 2021, a total of 11.5 million workers quit their jobs. Recent studies indicate that it’s likely not over. A survey of over 30,000 workers conducted by Microsoft found that 41 percent are considering quitting; that number jumps to 54 percent when Gen-Z is considered alone. Gallup found that 48 percent of employees are actively searching for new opportunities. And Persio reported that 38 percent of those they surveyed planned to make a change in the next six months.
I know… staggering.
So, not only is it important to hire software engineers that have great technical skills, but they also need to be a great fit for your company. When you boil it down, there are three qualities you should prioritize in your search.
1. Problem-solving ability
This first one goes without saying. A great software developer is someone with exceptional problem-solving skills. This person must be able to go beyond plain-old writing code. The individual must have an eye for identifying problems in a timely fashion and make efforts to solve that problem. This is what innovation is ultimately built upon.
A top-notch software engineer manages their time efficiently while thinking outside the box to come up with innovative solutions. While identifying the problem, a great software developer will identify areas of high criticality. After that, they should come up with not only one but a set of solutions suggesting the best course of action. This ensures the solution has long-term benefits and isn’t wholly focused on solving the problem at hand. More often than not, the quick fix always leads to more work down the road because it has limited efficacy of the solution.
That’s why we always say, tie the solution back to the business goal.
The more imaginative the solutions, the better the ability of the individual. This means a perfect fit for your organization. Every developer will face an issue that they are unable to address at some time. However, once a business case has been created and requirements are communicated effectively, the most outstanding developers will relish the challenge. They will look for new methods to solve the problem until they find a solution.
2. Taking the time to understand your company
While working with contemporary technology is a prerequisite of fulfilling responsibilities as a great software engineer, the engineer must also understand your company’s goals and challenges. They should build and work on modern technology while synchronizing their work with the challenges faced by the company.
So much of software development goes beyond the code itself and is centered around understanding the problem you’re trying to solve. When that context is built into the product by your software engineers, you’ve separated yourself as a great product from the average products out there.
You don’t want engineers who go off on a tangent, attempting to include the latest and greatest, but unneeded, technology into the codebase. Or even worse, over-optimize subjects they’re interested in that aren’t a high priority for the team.
An outstanding software developer understands how to manage senior stakeholders’ expectations, predicting the amount of time required to perform specific tasks and delivering or surpassing expectations for what they have promised.
This all circles back to the larger, more impressive trait of the developer understanding the importance of return on investment that is gained when they’re able to consistently deliver new features on time and on budget, so executives and sales teams can meet their revenue goals.
3. Excellent communication and team-playing abilities
If there’s one trait overlooked the most, it’s this. Something you should be on the lookout for while recruiting your software engineers are their interpersonal and team-playing skills. So much of modern software development is centered around scalability, reusability, and efficient development. Great engineers fit in with both the specific team they will be assigned to and the overall organizational culture, but beyond that, they’re excellent team players with a conviction of carrying the business forward.
A good engineer is always curious and asks all of the right questions. They comprehend and deconstruct complicated challenges and convey solutions to all critical stakeholders in a simple and straightforward way. But a top-notch engineer takes it one step further to ensure the entire business benefits.
There are some great software engineers with technical knowledge out there. However, these might be people who like to drive solo. An excellent developer shares their expertise and best practices with their team and the business in order to upskill them. When they are unable to solve an issue, they give assistance to their teammates. This is usually seen via documentation, knowledge sharing sessions, code reviews, and one-on-ones.
Staffing your team with top-notch engineers
Finding the appropriate developers isn’t always simple, but if you know what key strengths of a software engineer to look for, you’ll be 10x closer to assembling your dream team. In fact, here are some tips and advice, written by yours truly to help you along.
If you find yourself struggling to cover all of your bases, you need to try PlatformPlus. We built an incredibly efficient software development platform, paired with access to industry-leading software development expertise.
You can even try it risk-free. If you don’t see results, you don’t pay us. Period.
Check out modularis.com/platform-plus for more information.