Why Developers are Divas.....
Aaron Ward
Talent & Recruitment Nerd 🌍 D&I Champion 🏆 Helping you hit your career goals 🎉
So firstly the above statement is a little tongue in cheek, let me explain.
An increasing number of clients seem to be shocked when a candidate says “no” or “I’m not doing that test” during the hiring process; and nine times out of ten this response will be met with a little hostility from the client, understandably.
I find myself having to explain a lot more these days that candidates are not necessarily being unreasonable. Why? Because we are in a candidate driven market and the technology space is saturated with permanent job opportunities.
In the past few years, salaries in the technology sector have gone through the roof because the demand for professionals with these specific skills sets is so high; it’s a classic case of supply and demand.
Candidates are now bombarded with opportunities, fêted, cajoled, whatever you want to call it. If you, the client, want them, you’ll have to get in line and you better be holding something great; not good, great. Why should these sought after beings want to come and work for you? Do you know what makes them tick? It’s probably not a slide in the office or city views (although that wouldn’t hurt, I’m sure). Maybe they’re looking for a truly collaborative working environment? What are the benefits of working for you? These are the questions clients need to be thinking about in order to attract and retain the best talent throughout the hiring process.
On the flip side, we do need to appreciate that clients are investing time and paying a lot of money for these candidates. You can absolutely understand why they may not be best pleased if the candidate says “no”. Clients need to know the candidate can do they job, which means the hiring process may involve a test or two. We have a responsibility as recruiters to prepare candidates for this.
But this alone isn’t enough. The fact still remains, candidates have the upper-hand, the choice. Likelihood is they will be interviewing with a handful of other businesses at any one time. They can afford to be ‘divas’. They will choose the business that has the most to offer.
Clients, ask yourself, is this you?
Microsoft Analyst Programmer
7yIt's not about being a diva. I was asked at an interview to write a sample program. The only problem was that they asked me to write it with a biro and some A4 paper that they grabbed out of the printer. Do you have any idea how stupid that is?? Of course I refused. I told them I use a computer to write programs with not a biro. They actually looked surprised. Meanwhile I'm sitting there thinking "Jeez. Who are these people?". The other thing I refuse to do are those ridiculous, online, multi choice Q&A tests where the questions are randomly selected from some arbitrary database and entirely irrelevant. You can't assess a twenty year career in system design and delivery by asking 30 questions about jQuery. When companies set that as a prerequisite to interview all it does is tell me that there is nobody in the company who has the ability to discuss your career, skills or abilities on your level.