

What's a good way to find talented people to hire? - Spielo

I work for a large video game company and need JavaScript developers, but I'm having difficulty getting high-calibre applicants. Agencies are infuriating and useless, but it's hard to know where to spend money to reach the right people... Linkedin? Stack Exchange? Any recommendations would be appreciated!
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cliftonmckinney
Most companies seriously underestimate the level of exposure they have. We
usually recommend applying inbound marketing techniques to your recruiting
process to improve your exposure. A few tips:

1) Open source one or more useful projects. Smart people will use them, fork
them, etc. 2) Have a referral program, and make sure it's easy to use. A lot
of companies have a program that gives employees $1,000 or more if they refer
a candidate, but not a lot of companies make the referral process an easy one.
Build a landing page for each position. Include a little information about the
company and the job. That way, employees have something to share on their
social networks and via email. 3\. If you're looking for awesome and nothing
else will do, consider allowing remote work. 4\. Set up a company page at Work
for Pie (shameless plug) or Coderwall or similar. It'll help developers get to
know your team and culture much better than a simple job description.

Good luck!

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spicavigo
Right heree onH of course. There is a monthly Who's Hiring post. Try posting
there next month.

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Spielo
Excellent, thanks. I'm new to HN, a friend recommended I ask on here, but
didn't want to wade in with a job posting without understanding how things
work! I'll keep an eye out for Who's Hiring.

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shanelja
You will be waiting a couple of weeks then! It's beginning of the month kind
of stuff.

HN doesn't tend to take too kindly to none-ycombinator job postings, it goes
against the spirit of the site, but as someone else mentioned, puzzles and
challenges tend to bring the eyeballs to your site.

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lsiebert
Find people and train them to your requirements. Low level positions let you
assess who has the raw talent and cultural fit for your business. Invest in
developing people. Hiring a hotshot developer instead of training one is
getting a solution from your vendor vs. building it yourself.

Go to local colleges, 4 or even 2 year schools, there are probably several
near you with a CS programme. Meet teachers, and have them recommend students.
Hire the good programmers, the talented ones who lack experience, as interns
or entry level developers, and teach them javascript if you have to. Weed out
the ones who don't have the raw ability or personality you want. The ones who
do, keep training.

They don't have to replace the high calibre developer search, but they can
supplement that process and some of them will eventually be high calibre.

But if someone doesn't trains good developers in work environments or
something similar, there won't ever be enough.

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hcho
Maybe stating the obvious, but did you try attending related meetups? node.js,
angular, backbone, etc...You can at least get to know people who work with
those. You might convince them to join, or they might know someone looking for
a job.

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Peroni
I don't think people realise how effective meetups are for hiring. If you
sponsor/speak at the right event, it's near impossible not to meet some decent
candidates.

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ArekDymalski
If your company is large I assume you have some budget. You could consider
creating a fun and challenging recruitment campaign which will go viral.
Something like WibiData did [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/01/this-startups-
new-hire-appl...](http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/01/this-startups-new-hire-
application-is-a-custom-portal-level/) Ideally it should contain puzzles which
will accurately and reliably help to assess the required competences but
that's quite hard to do and seems to be unnecessary if your main problem is
sourcing.

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epoxyhockey
Also, this may be a good time to evaluate your standards and expectations to
make sure that they are realistic.

Are you listing for a Jr. position, but expecting Sr. level talent? Is your
compensation package in line with the caliber of candidates you are seeking?
Are you rejecting applicants because they don't match your skill requirements
exactly? Smart people can learn new things pretty quickly.

If you have a budget, then the answer to your question is to advertise
everywhere!

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n2dasun
I recently landed a position, and I'd suggest that you look on Glassdoor.com
to see what impressions candidates are getting about your company from
browsing there. Are the salaries competitive? Do the employee reviews make it
sound like a nightmare to work at? Do the interview reviews make it sound like
an unreasonable process?

Also, consider hosting a javascript hacking class or meetup and choose talent
based on the performance you see there.

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yen223
Don't forget to offer a decent salary package. It's not uncommon to see people
wondering where all the talent are, only to find that they're offering
something like $30,000 salaries.

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chudi
If you have a local university try advertising there, be honest and clear
about what are you doing to do, etc

good luck!

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samfisher83
Why not give someone an opportunity? It looks like you are getting people, but
you don't think they are any good.

