Posts tagged "hire"

How to Find and Hire Site Reliability Engineers (SREs)

December 3, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

The initial problem with finding and hiring a Site Reliability Engineer is that not everyone is on the same page as to who is one and what would be his/her exact requirements. While that, of course, is an awkward exaggeration the question remains:

Is an SRE responsible for building servers?
Does am SRE write a lot of code?
Who is impacted the most by the work of an SRE?

The definitive answer to the problem comes from Ben Treynor, VP of Engineering at Google. He knows all about SREs because he is one.”It happens, he says, when a software engineer is asked to design an operations function. In addition to automating processes like server configurations, SREs ensure that websites are fast and available and provide a best-in-class web experience for the customer base.

Does it sound overwhelming? It’s a lot of responsibility and those who can handle it are in high demand. That means they are difficult to recruit, but first, you have to find them.

Where do you Find Them?

You won’t find them at the popular social networking sites. They just don’t have the spare time to spend where nobody understands their work and their problems. Specialized forums such as The Cisco Learning Network and Spiceworks are favored spots to hang out. SRE’s share knowledge and conversation at AnandTech, Server Fault, and Network Engineering.

How do you Talk to Them?

After you find one, how do you recruit him? Know enough about him and the work he does to maintain a reasonable conversation. No. You don’t have to have a degree in the subject. Just show an interest in the work. The willingness to ask questions is important. This is especially true concerning SRE challenges.

SREs create run books with instructions on what to do or check when something goes wrong with a device. Such documentation resolves issues as quickly as possible
SREs are not stuck with a lot of code writing. This observation comes from Andrew Fong, Director of Engineering at Dropbox. Rather, he says, “SREs are worried about data center deployment and design.”
SREs, he adds, “worry about other layers of the stack.” This directs their attention to areas other than the software engineering side.

Know What They Look for in New Jobs

From the other side of the recruiting process, there are a few specific things that SREs want in their workplace. An interview with Mark Henderson, an SRE at Stack Overflow explains.

Organizations open to change that allows flexibility in the exploration of new technologies is important. Organizations that are too gith are to be avoided.
Relying on the mutual respect between developers and operations is essential. Everyone works better if developers trust the SREs.
Realistic expectations about on-call shifts are a “must” part of recruiting. Henderson explains that most SRE’s expect to be on-call on a rotating schedule,

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Find and Hire a Cloud Operations Engineer

November 28, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

The cloud is no longer just a white, fluffy chunk of condensation floating around the sky. At the very least, computer-users know the cloud is where their files are stored. That’s true, of course, but there is much more to the cloud. In fact, there’s so much more to the cloud it needs a Cloud Operations Engineer to keep it running smoothly. And, you need to find and hire one.

The first thing you need to know is that cloud operation engineers are in great demand. That makes them both hard to find and, when found, difficult to recruit. You need to understand their personality and have at least ground-level knowledge of the challenges they face daily.

There’s no need to turn to eBay or Craigslist to hunt for cloud operation engineers. In what spare time they have, they hang out in such esoteric forums as Spiceworks’ Cloud Computing & SaaS, Microsoft’s Technet Forum and Cloud Computing Forums by Tom’s Hardware. They might also be found in Server Fault and Web Apps communities.

The main attraction to such forums is code. There’s code and more code. Code certainly is what attracts the engineers, and, after reading through a few lines of thread, also counts as your first insight into their challenges. An additional advantage to you — the recruiter– is learning the technology trends and current topics that are of interest to cloud engineers. A little knowledge picked up in such environments is essential when it’s interview time with one of your prospects. Asking questions about which you know the answers is an important interview tool.

While forums give you a start in grasping the cloud engineer’s responsibilities, it’s good to know and be able to discuss such specific risks as outsourcing essential services to a third party. Configuring traditional web applications to work on the cloud is another common challenge. Applications developed in the cloud need to be run through a legacy system to verify you can’t copy onto a cloud service.

Another challenge to an operations engineer is the incredibly high cost of bandwidth necessary for delivering and receiving intricate data over the network. Sufficient bandwidth comes at a cost.

Knowing where to find cloud operations engineers, understanding them, and having a basic knowledge of their work is a good start to successful hiring.

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How to Find and Hire a Desktop Applications Developer

November 26, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

If you want to find and hire a desktop application developer, the first thing to do is identify the kind of programmer you need. There is a difference between a desktop application and a mobile application and, while the demand for mobile application developers is strong, the demand for programmers who can work in the desktop area is even stronger.

Now that you know the difference between developers and decided you need one that works desktop applications here are some steps toward hiring:

Understand the developer’s challenges. Showing an interest in the work and becoming familiar with the “jargon” is beneficial to the two of you. Although each developer has his/her style of working, some challenges are shared.

Developing applications that seamlessly work across several platforms. It’s one of the daily challenges.
Choosing the right technologies for the job
Python provides flexibility, but there are others from which to choose
Distributed applications need to be created and managed so that multiple users have access to the same software at the same time. This is not only convenient for the developer but is one of the most significant challenges for the desktop application developer.

Now that you know what type of developer you need and can understand the challenges well enough to discuss the work. It’s time to find one.

First of all, ignore scouring social networks. Programmers don’t (for the most part) spend time socializing with members ignorant of application development. Instead, head for the appropriate forums
MSDN forums are the go-to sites for desktop developers who build Windows applications.
The Apple Development Forums is for programmers who develop for Mac desktops.
Linux forums provide abundant Linux-specific information.

Developers who build apps for multiple operating systems rely on Objective-C, Java. Ruby, and Python forums.

The competition is rough, but armed with a little knowledge makes the finding and hiring easier.

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How to Successfully Hire a Data Scientist

November 7, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

Data scientists are in high demand. Studies carried out by Firstround.com show that strong candidates can have up to three offers and the success rate of hiring is usually below 50%. With such a difficult task, what is the best way to hire a data scientist? One way is to make sure the process is kept short. But this will only work if you have the right set of objectives laid out before you begin the process.

How to use a Data Scientist

It is crucial to set the appropriate expectations for the data scientist and for the needs of your company. Some of the most common uses of data science are.

Resolving problems with data analysis- you might receive a lot of data but not use it analysis it correctly to achieve the goals of the business.
Receive recommendations- data science can be used to predict models for businesses. One particular use is to gain more insight into target clients.
Provide business intelligence- this refers to data management, how the information is arranged and produced via dashboards. It helps in the decision making process.

It is more than possible to combine two or all three of the uses to gain more of an overall view of the business situation and make more informed decisions.

The Life Cycle of Data Science

The first and probably most important step is to understand the problem. You will then be able to identify the data needs before selecting the right methodology to use. Following this, there is proof of concept before another crucial stage, the validation, and experimentation. This is where you will see if the methodology chosen works. The final stages include the release of the product and the maintenance.

You may not enjoy evaluating the candidate’s skills for each stage, especially if the wrong platform is used. Generally speaking, hiring managers are happy if they achieve an evaluation accuracy of 50%. This ongoing task can occupy 20% of the data science team’s time. So a technical recruitment platform is worth considering.

The Required Skills of a Data Scientist

There is an array of skills often depending on the needs of a company, but here are some of the key things a data scientist should have:

Statistics and linear algebra- your candidate should have excellent decision-making skills and be skilled at collecting, analyzing, and making inferences from the received data.
Machine learning- making predictions after classifying or grouping data. Ideally, they should be able to use big data technologies to build pipelines that will feed machine learning algorithms.
Data mining- the ability to visualize and mine raw data with the objective of producing meaningful insights.
Optimization- the data should be used to produce the maximum outcomes possible.
Technical skills-data scientist candidates should be confident in a number of programming languages (Python, JavaScript, SQL, C, and C++), libraries (OpenCV, pandas, and NumPy, and structures and algorithms (Excel, Hadoop, and SAS).

The different types of data Scientists

Broadly speaking, data scientists can be classified as researchers or engineers. It is recommended to have a combination of the two.

Data researchers are highly confident in math and/or statistics. They must be able to develop custom algorithms to extract the most from data and find solutions. Technical skills should include R, Python, SQL, and NoSQL is an advantage.

A data engineer candidate should have sufficient experience in coding, structuring, and prototyping. They must also be confident using Python, Scala, Java, and MATLAB. It’s also necessary for them to be able to visualize and build machine learning models

How to Assess the skills of a Data Scientist

Data science requires skills in three fields that often overlap:

Math and statistics- linear algebra, probability, differential calculus, and descriptive and inferential statistics.
Machine learning and programming- the most commonly used algorithms, data structures like trees and graphs, coding in Python or R. Also:
- Classification and regression
- Supervised and unsupervised learning
- Clustering algorithms
- Decision treees7random forest classifiers
- Naïve Bayes algorithm
- Boosting and bagging
- Bias-Variance Trade-off
- Binary, multiclass, and multi-label classification
- Neural networks
- Understating of various networks
Business/domain knowledge- to effectively use the data, a candidate must understand the field the business is in, understanding the specific problems and presenting the solutions.

Data Scientist Salaries

Bases on the statistics taken from Glassdoor, the national average salary for a data scientist in the US is $117,345. An intern data scientist can earn an average salary of $67,000, while a senior data scientist can earn approximately $137,000 per year.

As with most jobs, experience, qualifications and the size of the company will play a part in the potential salaries.

Big names hiring Data Scientist

Twitter
Reddit
NBC
Nielsen
Square
MTV
Microsoft
Facebook
Fitbit
LinkedIn
Amazon

Obviously, there are many, many more.

How to Assess Skills in the recruitment Process

Solving a real-world Machine learning problem might take too long and therefore unsuitable for an interview. Developer assessment platforms take real-world problems and break them down into smaller tasks that allow a developer to show their skills. Many platforms have real-world Machine learning problems too. This could be useful further along in the interview process to assess skills in more detail.

Interview Questions

There are literally hundreds of questions you could ask. Here are some examples:

What is a confusion matrix?
Explain SVM machine learning algorithm in detail.
What is pruning in a decision tree?
What is selection bias?
How would you turn ‘X’ business problem into an experiment?
Ask to see examples of previous projects and code.

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An Effective Guide to Hiring Software Developers in a Candidate-Driven Market

November 5, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

It is no easy task trying to recruit software developers in the current market. Due to the shortage of talent, it’s certainly not getting any easier. This article is going to provide some advice on how to conquer the candidate-driven market.

Understanding the Developer Tech Market

Generally speaking, the unemployment rate for developers is at an all-time low. The latest study in the US showed that the unemployment rate for software developers was down to 1.3%. Each tech candidate in the US has an average of 4 jobs to choose from. When looking at San Francisco City, there were 10,000 vacancies that come under this engineering criteria. In the same area, there were only 1,400 receptionist jobs and 600 postings for non-technical positions.

What does a Recruiter Do?

One could look at the Law of Diminishing returns to look at the requirements of a recruiter. The law simplified means that the greater the input, the lower the output. So, a recruiter actually needs to reduce the number of emails, calls, messages, etc. in order to find tech talent. A recent study showed that to recruit one developer, you should contact 20 quality candidates instead of the 100 you would be tempted to reach out to.

Rather than sending a general message to every potential candidate, a recruiter should focus on personalized communication with a select few that meet the needs of the business.

Learning How to Source Candidates Correctly

Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes and ask yourself “what’s in it for me?”, essentially, how is this candidate going to benefit from working at this company rather than where they are now.

Be specific. Tell them straight away what they have the chance to work on, the learning opportunities, and the future they could build within the company.
Don’t try and do it alone. You are a recruiter; don’t try answering tech questions when it’s not your field. Make sure you have the right people at hand to talk to candidates. You may need an engineering manager or if you are recruiting senior developers, general managers or CEOs.
Less is more. Focus your attention on 10 extremely well written and personal emails instead of 100 general emails. Your contact must be personalized, which includes understanding the progress they have made in their careers so far.
Keep it short and sweet. LinkedIn statistics show that messages and emails with less than 100 words tend to get more responses than those with more than 200 words.
Be helpful. Don’t just talk about the job. Ask candidates if they have questions or doubts. Clear up any myths about the company that can be found online.

Keeping the Candidate Engaged

Give the candidate a chance to talk about what drives them. Find out the things that you can’t read on their curriculum. Ask them what they want to talk about. Your candidate needs to feel like they are valued and it’s important at this stage to make a connection.

It is necessary to be honest with the candidate, particularly with the feedback you provide. Show that you appreciate the achievements they have made in both their professional and private lives.

Back your Candidate during the Hiring Process

Part of the role of the recruiter is to make the candidate believe in themselves. They need to feel that they have your support throughout the hiring process. Talk to them about what to expect and each stage and anything they should watch out for. Hiring tech talent is a long process and you don’t want to leave them along the way. Keeping them informed prevents the feeling of not knowing.

It is necessary to assess the candidate on their relevant skills. Their curriculum may have a range of skills and qualifications but try to focus on those that will be used in the job.

Understand what they are looking for to improve their current situation. Some people want more money, but there are many others who would like improved working conditions like flexibility or an alternative location. Boredom is also another reason for a candidate to look for another job. It is necessary for you to actively listen to what the person is saying.

Be completely honest about the compensation and what is required of them. Also, ask what they are expected in this area.

Closing the Offer

This is the final chance for the recruiter to appreciate what is important to the candidate and to emphasis how this job is going to benefit them. It is the moment to address false myths about the company and provide the right environment for the candidate to say yes.

Don’t just focus on the financial benefits. In many situations, a developer is more interested in the tasks they will have, the culture they are working in and the work-life balance. Developers are interested in professional growth; show them the potential in this company.

Even if you have done everything in your power, there will be times when a candidate says no. It’s important not to take this personally and to respect the decision of the candidate. Try to use it as a learning opportunity and always leave the candidate with a positive image of the company.

Everyone Should Play Their Part

While you might be tempted to take on all of the responsibility of hiring, this will often work to your disadvantage. Make sure your hiring manager is involved. Finally, don’t just rely on the Internet for resources, as there are still a number of people who avoid social media. Attend meetups, conferences, and hackathons in order to actively seek new talent. or take the easy way and work with a staffing company to find the right employee.

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How to Hire a Cobol Developer

October 17, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

Cobol, the general business-oriented language that originated in 1959, maybe considered out-of-date, but it’s still widely used, and hiring developers with the proper Cobol skills will soon be pivotal to their selection.

Although easy to learn, Cobol most often is excluded in the computer science curriculum. That’s largely due to Cobols’ failure to make the current top 10-list of popular languages. In its day, the program was extremely successful, as can be seen in its continued use.

Cobol meets all three parameters of a successful software system: efficiency, ability, and adaptivity of code. Primarily used in finance, business, corporate, and government administrative systems, When deployed on mainframe computers, Cobol is essential to processing numbers and data about users and customers in manufacturing, banking, and insurance. In data processing, and information gathering, the demand for Cobol application developers is high.

Why Cobol Programmers Are Still Valuable Assets?

Due to the growing popularity of new languages, there aren’t as many potential developers familiar with the Cobol language. .Since it is built on logical English structural elements, Cobol also has been adapted for almost all types of hardware platforms. It is an intuitively simple language to learn. This trend makes the recruitment of young professionals difficult

Technologies that Easily Merge with Cobol

According to a survey conducted by a major research firm, in 2017, approximately 55% of respondents indicated the intention of modernizing their Cobol apps by the year 2019. In part, the decisions based on the fact that Cobol easily merges with such standardized IDEs as Eclipse and Visual Studio, and supports the latest versions of enterprise technology. It uses the same contemporary attributes of other languages and supports the latest versions of enterprise technology like Mobile, Cloud, and Managed Code. Economics also plays a part. Maintaining reliable Cobol is considerably less expensive than introducing a new language to an older system.

Why Companies Are Searching for Cobol Programmers for Hire?

Ten years ago, surveys predicted the number of Cobol programmers would continue to decline due to the retirement of the experts in vital Cobol developer roles. And, the number of entrants to fill the vacancies would be too small. This has seen the average salary of a remote Cobol developer increase significantly. From ATMs to healthcare prescriptions, Cobol touches almost every aspect of.life. The programming language supports and controls more than 85% of all business applications.

Cobol Developer Skills, Tasks, and Responsibilities

However, prospective companies are looking for Cobol developers who understand the business, are armed with diverse skills, and capable of learning new skills.

Following are some typical tasks of a Cobol Developer:

Gathering and documenting system requirements.
Coding Cobol programs.
Maintaining and developing Cobol.
Developing, Designing, Coding, and Testing changes to enterprise software applications.
Fine Tuning DB2 SQL queries.
Implementing changes to Cobol Programs.
Defining coding standards to ensure code integrity.

., it is a strong incentive to learn this language due to its low competitiveness compared to more popular languages

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Achieving Success in Your Business by Learning How to Hire QLIK Developers

October 10, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

A major factor that affects business is the ability to understand the enormous amount of data that is received, the conclusions that can be taken, and how the data is turned into useful actions. We will focus on Business Intelligence and the type of developers who use it.

Business intelligence is the collection of raw data, its analysis, and its presentation to others so that it can be used in a meaningful way.

The amount of data you receive will often depend on the activity and the size of your business. Here are some examples of when BI (business intelligence) is used:

When you collect information on the performance, clients, and processes of a company
When there are various sources of information
When there are difficulties understanding the raw data, or the amount of data can’t be handled correctly
When a decision can’t be made for lack of data
When there are issues setting a baseline of performance for employees, teams, or departments
When there are problems with KPIs

There are a number of modern technologies that collect, store and process data, including large amounts, yet sometimes, this is still not enough for managers and senior staff to understand. Let’s dig deeper into one of the solutions.

QLIK Overview

The History of Qlik

QlikTech (as it was originally known as) was founded in Sweden in 1993 and then moved to the U.S.A. It specializes in Business Intelligence and is an abbreviation for Quality, Understanding, Interaction, and Knowledge.

Its first role was as a single-user application for desktop computers. In 2005, it adopted a server-based equivalent. Qlik began to show its true colors one it began working with companies like Intel and HP. From here, it grew popularity across the whole world and is even used by the British police to help predict crime.

Qlik Products

There are a number of business solution-based products, for example, Qlik Sense, QlikView, Analytic Platform, and Qlik Core, to name a few. We are going to focus on two of these products as well as the ideal type of developer to work with them.

A look at QlikView

Not just a business intelligence solution, QlikView is also a business discovery tool. It’s used to store and process massive amounts of data. There are three primary components:

QlikView Desktop- extracts data, models and visualizes information.
QlikView Server- all applications are stored on a dedicated server. This allows for communication between apps and clients.
QlikView Publisher- for loading data from various sources and to deliver the final document to users.

A look at Qlik Sense

It’s not the same as QlikView, although it is powered by the same engine. With Qlik Sense, you can visualize your data by making reports, dashboards, and charts. Essentially, QlikView is aimed at analyzing data and Qlik Sense is for presenting the data in a suitable way for multiple users. It also has:

Qlik NPrinting- preparing visual reports based on the data that has been processed. There are several formats, channels, and methods of delivery. You can also create your own schedule.

Expressor- a dashboard for all the activities being carried out.

The Demand For Qlik Development

Granted, Qlik isn’t as commonly used as other business strategies and so the demand s moderate. There are 1.7 thousand U.S based listings for Qlik developers on Indeed.com. In Europe, this figure is over 3 thousand for Qlik developers and tech consultants (taken from LinkedIn). There are more positions than there are developers.

The Curriculum of a Qlik Developer

The skill-set is rather specific for this type of developer and they can include:

Hands-on experience with QlikView as a developer and as a tech consultant
In-depth knowledge of several databases, including Oracle
An understanding of data-source integration, advanced scripting, customer software development, and development in QlikView
Experience with Microsoft SQL Server, QlikView Publisher, Oracle, Rally, and Salesforce
Knowledge of C, C++, and .Net

The CV should also include all experience with maths, the domain the developer used to work in, and the size of the companies they have worked in.

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Improve Your Development Process by Hiring a Polymer Developer

October 8, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

A developer can create a web application faster with Polymer. What do we mean by Polymer JS and do all the JavaScript developers need to know it?

Polymer is a JavaScript library – a multitude of elements for website and application creation. All these elements are created by coders for other coders who want to use them for their projects. This way, the time needed for work is shortened because they don’t have to write the basic elements again and again for every new app.

A Polymer developer’s role is to make custom web components faster. In this way, the applications will have faster interaction and less weight and some of the processes are offloaded to browsers.

What you actually need to look for when you decide to hire a polymer developer, is a JS Frontend Developer who works with Polymer too. This developer will take custom web pages and applications from Polymer.js and will use the components from the other websites to the new project. This is a good deal for the customer because it will be done faster and the final user will have a light and working app.

When searching for a Polymer developer, make sure that he clearly understands Web Components and how are they important in web development.

Polymer.js is a very good tool for developers because it’s easy to understand and apply. Polymer is used for things like scaling and refactoring, adding new components and getting the reusable components.

How can you find a professional?

When looking for a Polymer professional you need to pay a lot of attention to his CV and work experience. If you don’t know what you need to see, here is a tip – a Polymer JS developer resume should include the following:

Education:

Bachelor’s degree or higher in Computer Science/Administration or any similar field.

Experience:

Technology related projects
Front-end development in JS, HTML, CSS
Open-source based applications development
Projects made in accordance with W3C standards and proficiency in the building of the cross-browser apps
Web Storm, Notepad, Brackets IntelliJ Idea
Responsive Web Design experience
Knowledge about Software Development Life Cycle

Skills:

JavaScript, CSS, HTML
Capacity to work with major JS frameworks
Google Material Design

Software skills:

Ability to work with web components and relevant design patterns
Practice om software testing
Utilization of versioning software/repository
Polymer CLI, NPM Polymer.js, Browser and other

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How to Protect Your Assets by Hiring a Cybersecurity Engineer

October 3, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

You only need to look at cryptojacking, mobile malware, cross-site scripting attacks, and even IoT device attacks to know that the Internet of today is full of potential cyber threats. Any cyberattack on your equipment is a risk to your business and your digital assets. A cybersecurity engineer is the best way for you and your team to stay educated.

Why do you need to hire a cybersecurity engineer?

The size of your business is no longer a consideration when you look at the security breeches Toyota and Wal-mart have faced. Whether you are a small startup or a giant tech firm, a cyberattack can affect your brand image, infrastructure, and profits. Hiring a cybersecurity engineer will help you avoid cyber threats and in the worst-case scenario, reduce the negative impacts.

We are seeing more and more new technologies like deep learning, machine learning, and AI being used to assist in the prevention of cyberattacks. Nevertheless, such technologies are not yet able to accomplish what a cybersecurity engineer can. When it comes to online security, we are not at the stage where we can put all our faith in new tools and technology.

Your cybersecurity engineer will be responsible for all of the data and networks within your company. Their role includes 4 key parts of security:

Planning
Implementing
Managing
Upgrading

A cybersecurity engineer is an employee dedicated to protecting your digital assets so that you don’t suffer in the same way Yahoo and Equifax have suffered, and are still suffering as they try to recover their brand name and revenue after a cyber attack.

How to hire the perfect cybersecurity engineer

After understanding why you need one, now let’s take a look at how you can hire a cybersecurity engineer that will suit all your business needs.

Make an attractive offer- Cybersecurity engineers are in high demand. Due to how quickly cyberthreats are developing, you can guarantee your competitors are also looking to hire a cybersecurity engineer. An attractive salary offer is one of the best ways to stand out from the others. Do some research before you place your offer. Have a look at what similar companies and jobs are offering as a salary and see if you can top it.

Emphasis career opportunities- For many people in the IT industry, there is more to the job than income. Demonstrate the possibilities that employees have in your company. Show that you invest in your staff. If you promote the potential for a career in the interview phase, you are more likely to retain staff and nurture a working culture where employees drive each other.

Interview hackers and gamers- You might think this only happens in the films, the FBI busts a vacant warehouse with just one hacker, only to discover this hacker would be the best for helping fight cybercrime! Gaming offers experience and skills that are necessary for searching for cybersecurity threats. Hackers are more likely to see a threat that most wouldn’t have considered.

In the case of technology and security, prevention is always better than a cure. And to do this, you should look into hiring a cybersecurity engineer who has experience and is confident with the latest digital threats.

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The 5 Most Common Mistakes In Technical Recruiting

October 1, 2019 Comments Off Roxana read

Many think they have a great recruitment process, others seem to struggle in one area or more. Today, we will look at 5 ways you can improve the process for technical hires. Even if you have a high success rate, you may find some tips to get the most out of your process.

#5 – Going over the CV before carrying out a technical interview

There are some parts to a CV that are irrelevant when hiring technical talent, or at least not as important as the candidate’s technical abilities. Looking at things like which school they went to or what interests they have may lead you to form an opinion of this person before learning about their skills. Once you know a candidate has the right skill set, then you can find out more about the person.

#4 – Having an unclear strategy to measure skills

It is quite normal for companies to have more than one person carrying out interviews. It is also common practise for management to ask engineers to devise their own sets of questions to ask in the interview. On the one hand, it shows your team members that you have faith in them. On the other hand, candidates who are interviewed by different people will not be asked a set of standardized questions. When it comes to regrouping to discuss the potential talent, you won’t have a fair assessment of the various candidates.

Some may choose to assess a candidate’s knowledge of JavaScript, which is more than just general ability. You can’t compare this candidate with another who wasn’t assessed on JavaScript.

Decide what skills need to be tested in an interview and how exactly they should be tested. This way, when the interviewers get together, they will be able to compare the results based on the same test.

#3 – Letting interviewers see other feedback before they have written their own opinions

If more than one interviewer will be conducting the interview it is because you value the opinions of each. It is incredibly easy to be swayed by someone else’s opinion before concluding your own. It is pointless sending in multiple interviews if they are all going to have the same feedback.

When using applicant-tracking systems, be sure to select the option to hide other people’s feedback. This way interviewers can’t read what someone else thinks about a candidate and unconsciously form the same opinion.

#2 – Setting open-ended take-home assessments

Some companies will set a take-home task to complete before a face-to-face interview. Candidates are provided with instructions and guidelines. If a candidate reads that the take-home assessment will take approximately two hours, it is likely to put them off before they begin, as this is a lot of time with no guarantee of a job. Some people will invest significantly more time in the hope of getting the job. When they don’t get the job, they often feel negatively towards the company.

Many of the take-home assessments are open to interpretation and therefore don’t provide a true assessment of a candidate’s skills.

#1 – Reviewing CVs as the first step of the process

We create a lot of biases while reading CVs. A CV rarely fills in all of the information we need. A CV might have all of the right qualifications on paper yet turn out to be a bad cultural fit for your office. Or worse, the qualifications aren’t as strong as other CVs but the candidate has the immense determination and high problem-solving abilities. You may reject the second candidate based on a CV and ultimately make a mistake. Focus on assessing skills rather than going on what it says on a piece of paper.