The mind of a developer is an interesting one. They're a rare breed. I'm constantly trying to figure out what makes them tick, what drives them, and what it takes to pique their interest. Of course there is no one "perfect" answer to this question, as each individual reacts differently depending on their own personality.
Take sourcing passive talent on LinkedIn, for example. As recruiters, we are often having to go out there and find people for very specific roles. Clients love to have us chase those unicorns, don't they? In an ideal world, our networks would contain individuals spanning every conceivable job title across every industry, sector, etc. And all you'd have to do is reach out to those people and convince them to drop everything as you have found them their next "great career opportunity". In some cases, you've scrubbed your list of contacts and you've come up empty. Depending on your local market, perhaps it's as easy as posting a juicy job description on the Internet and having resumes fill your inbox...yea, right.
Relationship building is critical. Having a trusted network of talent that you can notify when you are looking for that unicorn, so that they can help spread the word to their peers, colleagues, etc. This gets tricky, though, as you don't want to be viewed as that person always asking for favors and referrals.
So we're often having to go out there and knock on the proverbial door and reach out to passive talent. If you find a profile on LinkedIn for example, they may look like the perfect match. They may have worked in the same industry, with the same technologies, or perhaps they are even working for a competitor. So what next? You either look at your mutual connections and hope you can get an intro from a trusted peer in your network, or you reach out directly with a cleverly constructed message. A message that grabs their attention, something so exciting it almost pulls them right out of their chair, through their computer screen and right in front of your client.
Don't you wish it could be that easy?
In Vancouver's hi-tech market, we're seeing an unprecedented 2% unemployment rate. It's a very competitive field. Companies in industries like web, social media, interactive entertainment are all competing for the same local talent. Employers will sometimes enlist the help of third-party agencies or independent recruiters to assist in the search.
I find it curious how some developers on LinkedIn have their contact settings include "Career Opportunities" but when contacted about a new job opportunity will be quick to respond, "I'm not looking right now". Ultimately, it comes down to messaging. Sometimes I've found it best to be very specific about why I contacted them. You're an experienced Web Developer and my client is looking for a Senior Web Developer for a super-exciting new project. Sometimes it's best to go stealth and send them a message saying, we haven't met, but I discovered your profile while conducting a search on behalf of my client - and you seem to be a good match based on what they are looking for. Other times, I've found it effective when contacting a developer to get to know them and explore what they would ideally like to find next. This is often great for relationship building, but may not address the immediate need of the client if you find someone who just isn't ready to make a career move.
In any case, I've found you have to be sincere, it helps if you include some flattery, be respectful of their time, oh - and it helps if you can be just a little humble.
So why is it that some developers either decline an opportunity or ignore a message entirely? Are they really getting bombarded with so many messages from in-house corporate recruiters and agency recruiters that they just pick and choose which messages to respond to? Perhaps you could be presenting a huge opportunity to boost their career and they turn their back on it without even finding out more information.
Honestly, I'm flattered whenever I've been approached by a company about an opportunity. I certainly wouldn't ignore an invite to at least talk to the person and learn more about the role. Maybe that's just me. Not sure I would feel the same way if I was a developer being targeted daily (if not hourly).
Thoughts on this? Please feel free to post your comments below.
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