Finding and retaining top talent is a challenge for most professional businesses. You need a web developer with the skills to take your website and apps to the next level. However, finding someone in the limited talent pool isn’t easy.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic hitting most countries by early 2020, business owners have experienced what’s been dubbed “The Great Resignation.” Business Insider reported that not only did Americans quit their jobs at a near-record rate, but the trend continues into 2022.
How to Find Excellent Web Developers When Candidates Are Sparse
Pew Research Center dove into why the 47 million people who quit their jobs in 2021 did so. They found reasons such as low pay, lack of opportunities to advance and not feeling cared about as an individual among the reasons.
CodinGame’s 2021 Tech Hiring Survey polled 14,000 developers and tech recruiters. Researchers found 64% of companies plan to hire as many as 50 developers. Yet, the number of available candidates may not align with the increased demand.
At a minimum, you’ll compete with larger corporations to hire web developers in the coming years. Here are some of the ways to find the best web developers available and attract them to your brand.
1. Ask for Referrals
Talk to your current staff about referring those they know with web development skills. Offer a reward whenever you hire someone and they stay for 90 days. People appreciate having insider knowledge of a company from a person they know and trust.
A referral from a current employee may wind up being the perfect candidate. They may even choose to work for you rather than someone else to be with familiar faces.
2. Tap Into Social Media
Studies show the average user spends more than two hours a day on Facebook. Of course, your audience determines where you should spend the most time seeking candidates. Post job openings on your business page. Hang out in groups for web developers.
You can also use social media to network with other business owners and find out where they’ve found their recent candidates.
3. Check Out Gig Sites
If you only need someone to fill the gap, you might be able to hire freelancers to take some of the extra work off your full-time employees. Sites such as UpWork and Fiverr are good places to start. You can try a person’s work, and if you like what they do, you can hire them for future positions.
4. Go Global
We live in a world economy. You may be able to seek out freelancers and staff from other countries where there isn’t as much of a shortage. Barring any language barriers, look to almost any country to hire developers.
You may have to do a little more legwork, depending upon taxes and other paperwork required by various governments, but you’ll have the people you need to fill open positions.
5. Train Non-Traditional Candidates
Web development is a growing industry, with a projected 205,000 workers by 2030–demand will likely outpace numbers. One way to tap into the available candidates is to find them before they finish training.
Start by looking at schools and offering paid internships. College students love the experience, and if they are a good fit you can offer them a job when they graduate. You could also look to people already working for you in similar positions and see if they’d like to train for web development. Pay for their education and have them share skills with others.
6. Seek Experience
Not everyone has a bachelor’s degree in web development. While your ideal candidate might have a college education and years of experience, the reality is that you may not get both. With a shortage, you’ll have access either to people who are just graduating or who have done web development as a hobby for many years and want to make it a career.
Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and hire the person without training. If they’ve created websites and know the programs you use, take a chance on them. You can always do a short-term contract and see how it works out with an option to hire them permanently if it’s a good fit for you both.
7. Focus on Employee Retention
It costs much less to keep an employee you have than to seek, hire and train a new one. Rather than constantly replacing your web developers, strive to keep them on your staff for many years. You’ll gain the referrals mentioned above and you won’t have to fill old and new positions at the same time.
Gartner recently predicted annual employee turnover will rise 20% over what it was pre-pandemic. The reasons are various, but if you give your workers an excellent company culture, fair pay and perks, they’re much more likely to stay with you.
Listen to what they’re asking for. Some studies show millennials and Gen-Z want to work from home. If you don’t offer a remote option, you risk losing your current staff and new candidates will choose a company that allows them to work from home. Talk to your employees about what they most want from their positions.
Dont forget to use an rfp website redesign (A website redesign request for proposal (RFP) is a document that outlines the criteria, project scope, goals, timeframe, and budget for your new website.)
Think Outside the Box
Find candidates in new places. Take part in a local job fair. Give talks to high school and college students and invite them to call you with questions about the industry. Make connections wherever you can. Before you know it, candidates will come to you for jobs and you’ll gain a reputation as one of the best places for developers to work.
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and pup, Bear.
