Software Developer Recruitment Techniques

Here’s how recruiters find you... Yes, even when you’re hiding behind a profile picture from 2014 and a wacky job title. 1. 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 is the OG of sourcing. Armed with operators like AND, OR, NOT, minus (-), parentheses ( ), quotation marks " ", asterisk (*), and tilde (~), recruiters conjure up laser-focused queries to unearth the right candidates from the digital haystack. If a recruiter wants to find software developers in Philadelphia and the surrounding area, they’ll expand their Boolean search to include nearby locations and common regional terms. For example: ("Software Developer" OR "Software Engineer") AND (Java OR Python) AND (Philadelphia OR "King of Prussia" OR Malvern OR Conshohocken OR Camden OR Wilmington OR "Greater Philadelphia") 2. 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 is where the bots take over. Instead of obsessing over exact keywords, AI interprets intent and context. So, searching for “cloud infrastructure” might surface candidates with AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud Platform experience, even if your profile doesn’t spell it out. Similarly, a search for “machine learning” can summon anyone who’s written “ML,” “deep learning,” or just really loves TensorFlow and PyTorch. 3. 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗮𝘅𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 is the recruiter’s version of Google Translate for resumes. The system maps synonyms and related skills, so searching for “DevOps” might also reveal “Site Reliability Engineer (SRE),” “CI/CD,” and “infrastructure automation.” Looking for a “frontend developer”? The search engine will happily fetch React, Angular, and Vue specialists because sometimes your next hire is hiding behind a different buzzword like “UI Engineer,” “JavaScript Ninja,” “Web Application Specialist,” “SPA Developer,” or even “User Interface Craftsman.” 4. 𝗔𝗜-𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 means recruiters can upload a job description and let the machines do the heavy lifting. For a “Data Engineer” role, the platform might prioritize candidates with ETL, data pipelines, Python, and Spark experience, even if your profile says “Data Wizard” instead of “Engineer.” AI doesn’t judge your creative titles, just your skills. 5. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 is where recruiters get fancy. They blend Boolean and semantic searches for maximum effect, like (Python OR Java) AND (AWS OR Azure), while the system quietly suggests “cloud infrastructure” or “distributed systems” experts based on what it thinks the recruiter really wants. _ If you want to reverse-engineer the process, try searching for yourself, and when you don’t show up, neither will the recruiters. _ Need 1:1 help with your tech job search? My DMs are open. And remember: somewhere, a recruiter is filtering you out... don’t let it be you.

We run a 4-step vetting process with every candidate we interview. Trade secret? Nope. I'll share it right now. (But I've never seen a team implement it better than ours. Good luck.) 1. Calibration ➡ 48 hours after the intake call for a new role, we host a calibration call with our client. We come with 10 prospective candidate profiles based on their targeted experience, titles, former companies, tech stack, etc. This helps us make sure we're in 100% alignment before we start headhunting. 2. Outreach ➡ We build tailored searches based on specific keywords to target the right candidates for the role. We *actually* vet our candidates before reaching out to them and *actually* only send messages to the ones who are a fit for the role. Shocking, I know. 3. Phone screen ➡ We do the standard deep dive on the candidate's previous roles, reasons for leaving, interest in this opportunity with our client, etc. 4. Tech assessment ➡ We create tailored technical assessments for every role we recruit. Some are tech questions based on the language they'll be coding in; some are behavioral assessments; some are situational interview questions. All are 100% bespoke to the client and the role. Then - we send these rockstar candidates over to our clients, they hire them, we all go home happy. If you want more info, comment or DM me. No secrets, just top-tier tech recruitment.

A few years ago, I realized most recruiters were winging it when talking to technical candidates. They’d ask generic behavioral questions or skip the technical part entirely — and the best candidates could tell instantly. I’ve been there too. Early in my career, I remember fumbling through my first technical interviews, trying to sound confident while barely keeping up. It wasn’t until I started mapping the interview to how engineers actually work that everything clicked. After training 3,000+ teams on how to engage and qualify technical talent, I built a simple 5-step framework that works every time. A 5-step framework borrowed from the UX toolkit that gives recruiters confidence and consistency — even when the role feels intimidatingly technical. No gimmicks. No AI content slop. Just a framework that maps directly to how technical professionals actually work. Here’s the system 👇 Every technical candidate follows a predictable 5 step workflow — Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). When you understand this workflow, you have a roadmap for your interviews. Think of it like a journey map for recruiters: a visual of how the candidate builds solutions, step by step. Here’s the SDLC — and your built-in interview outline 👇 1️⃣ Research – How do they uncover what’s needed for a feature or product? 2️⃣ Design – How do they translate insights into a potential solution? 3️⃣ Build – How do they actually create or code it? 4️⃣ Test – How do they evaluate success or identify issues? 5️⃣ Deploy – How do they push their work live and support it in production? This one insight changed everything for my clients. They stopped guessing. They started connecting — and qualifying with clarity. Because when you interview with the SDLC in mind, you’re speaking the language of engineers. Want me to break down each of these 5 stages with example questions you can use? Drop a 🔥 in the comments and I’ll share the templates.

Still using FAANG-style interviews for hiring developers? Think again. Many companies use these interviews. Thinking smart candidates who can crack these riddles can solve anything. But here’s the truth: Your hiring goal is not finding those who can solve the hardest problems. It’s finding those who can solve YOUR problems. Here’s my hiring method for the last 5+ years: - No brain teasers - No programming riddles - No LeetCode nor HackerRank Instead: - Fundamentals - Relevant skills - Interpersonal skills - Recent experience The result? Most of the time, they turned out to be great ones, too! Remember: Hiring is hard. Don’t overcomplicate it by using problems you’d never have. What’s your take on developer interviews? PS: I’d most likely fail those FAANG interviews, too. 😅

During our hiring process for the SE1 position, my mentor and manager, Mohammed Ibrahim Islam, suggested an innovative idea for the assignment, and prepared the question as well! Instead of the typical "build from scratch" task, we provided a fully functional Python app with a readme, unit tests, and setup commands. The challenge? Candidates had to fix any bugs, enhance performance, and refactor the code for better readability and maintainability. The response was incredible! Candidates enjoyed working on real-world code, optimizing it, and learning from others' implementations. The best part? It saved them time while giving us insightful submissions. With unit tests and pre-set commands, evaluation was seamless, making the process both efficient and effective. I highly recommend rethinking how we give assignments during hiring. Focusing on practical, real-world scenarios can make all the difference! #HiringProcess #CodeOptimization #TechRecruitment #UnitTesting #CodeRefactoring

I wanted to share how I fill open software development positions 50% faster than my clients' past searches. Have you struggled with slow hiring processes? I've got a great grasp due to years of working this process. My go-to tact is weekly accountability calls. Here's my 3-step process: 1. Detailed requirement call — Get all the specifics about the open position from the client. Leave no stone unturned. 2. Set weekly accountability calls — Schedule 15-minute check-ins with the client. This keeps both sides on track and motivated. 3. Come prepared — For the first call, I aim to have three highly qualified candidates ready. This shows immediate progress and value. The result? A streamlined process that's at least 50% faster than my clients' previous searches. Why does this work so well? - It creates urgency - It ensures constant communication - It holds both parties accountable This approach has changed my recruitment process, leading to quicker hires and happier clients. Want to speed up your hiring process? Try implementing weekly accountability calls. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes! #wsg #hirefast #dialitin #accountability

Developers aren't the best at interviewing other developers. In fact, sometimes they're just outright bad at it. But why? Developers rarely get trained on how to interview other developers—or anyone, for that matter, so they rely on their intuition and their own experiences of writing code and being interviewed. If you haven't heard, devs can get pretty picky about how code is written. There are still debates about spaces vs tabs that continue to this day. While I've never seen a developer reject a candidate based solely on that, I've definitely seen them reject a candidate for code that "wasn't idiomatic enough," which can be a byword for "that's not how I code." Teaching someone how to write idiomatic code is a pretty trivial exercise and shouldn't be a reason to reject someone. Why does it matter, though? If devs are picky, aren't you only getting the best developers through the interview process? No. You're getting folks that think and code like one another, which is different from "the best." In fact, what you want is people who approach problems differently and can solve them in unique ways. Diversity of thought and opinion matters greatly in teams and is correlated with increased revenue and improved decision-making. So, what do you do about it? → Get them trained. Gordian Knot offers training to software engineers who interview, and Expert Interviewers offers training to all interviewers at a company. → Establish a structured interview process. Don't stop at just writing out the questions for interviewers to ask—make sure you all agree on how to grade the answers. → Use interview panels. Make sure you have multiple points of view and a debrief where interviewers can discuss their impressions of a candidate. → Review, Improve, and Calibrate. Spend some time to reflect on how well the process worked and the results you achieved, then make adjustments accordingly. You don't want to put this off. Start today so that when you need to hire, you have a process ready to go. If you wait for when you have an open req, it'll be too late. Also, tabs are better than spaces.