Introduction

In my journey of filling open positions, I tend to get inundated with a multitude of resumes.

Sifting through applications, your reaction varies from “this might work,” to a straightforward “no”. Rarely do I encounter a resume that makes me exclaim, “This person is exceptional! We need them on our team.” Despite reviewing thousands of job applications, the quest to find a standout Data Engineer often feels challenging.

I believe there’s a reason for this rarity. The truth is, that the most talented Data Engineers, along with top professionals in any field, are seldom actively seeking employment.

On average, a highly skilled Data Engineer might apply for jobs only a handful of times throughout their entire career. This is a controversial opinion, as some believe that skilled professionals are always seeking new roles. However, I have never met these people.

I see top university graduates often get swept into graduate programs by professors with industry connections. These early opportunities lead them to positions where they seldom find the need to explore other job openings. If they decide to leave such roles, it’s usually for personal ventures like joining a startup with a friend, accompanying a respected manager to a new company, or pursuing their passion for cutting-edge technology. In essence, their brilliance ensures they’re always in demand.

This trend suggests that exceptional candidates often find themselves quickly recognized by prospective employers, granting them the freedom to choose their paths without the need to actively apply for numerous positions.

This raises a question: wouldn’t you want to have these people on your team, and how does one go about attracting these elusive talents?

Recruitment should not be viewed merely as a process of collecting and sifting through resumes. Instead, it requires a strategic approach focused on identifying and engaging with the top candidates directly. This involves a shift from passive reactive selection to proactive selection by actively pursuing and convincing those exceptional individuals to consider your opportunity.

I believe there are three strategies that can be effective, some I’m still exploring:

  • Fish where the fish are (Easy)- This approach involves seeking out where the best candidates are, rather than waiting for them to come to you. Whether it’s industry conferences, seminars, or professional networking sites, the idea is to go where the talent congregates.

  • Summer Programs (Moderate)- Offering short-term graduate or internship programs is a strategic way to identify and groom potential talent early. It’s an opportunity to evaluate capabilities and fit within your company culture, with the potential to offer them a full-time position upon demonstrating their value.

  • Build your own community (Hard) - Creating a community involves establishing a platform or forum where professionals can share ideas, collaborate on projects, and network. Though challenging, it can be incredibly rewarding, as it not only attracts talent but fosters a sense of belonging and engagement.

Innovation in recruitment is always encouraged, and there may be other equally or more effective strategies to discover and attract exceptional candidates.



Fish where the fish are

Consider the spaces and communities where your ideal candidates spend their time. Which industry events do they attend? What are their preferred social platforms? Which professional groups are they a part of? Which online forums or websites capture their attention? Dive into the niches where your desired talent thrives.

Stay abreast of the current technological trends and tools that are captivating the industry’s interest. Attend conferences centered around these new technologies to mingle with early adopters—those who are always on the lookout for the next big thing and keen on honing their skills.

Navigate the event spaces, striking up conversations with everyone you encounter. Engage with the technical talks, invite the speakers for a casual drink, and when you come across someone who impressively aligns with what you’re looking for, switch on your charm offensive. Shower them with genuine interest and compliments, “Wow, I can’t believe you’re so smart”, “Oooh that’s interesting” “I believe our team is on the lookout for someone with your talent…”



Summer programs

Capturing top talent before they even recognize the existence of a job market—specifically, while they’re still in university—is a clever strategy for securing exceptional individuals who are rarely actively seeking employment.

Some are skeptical about bringing on fresh students, viewing them as unrefined and lacking in necessary skills. It’s undeniable that students don’t possess the same level of experience as their more seasoned counterparts. They require additional investment and time to reach their full potential within a company. However, the field of technology offers a unique advantage: many of the most gifted programmers began their journey into coding as young as ten years old.

While their peers were engaging in typical childhood activities like playing cricket, these budding tech enthusiasts were nestled in makeshift home offices, wrestling with the complexities of compiling the Linux kernel. They were entrenched in heated debates on Usenet over the flaws of programming languages. And rather than forming a garage band, they were trying to create their own wifi router from a Coke can and a Raspberry Pi.
This passion for technology from a young age marks the kind of talent and creativity that, holds the potential to greatly benefit any organization willing to nurture it.

My understanding is nearly everyone enters the job market the same way: by applying for their very first job. A common mindset among students is to delay job hunting until their final year of university. However, most are not particularly proactive, often only applying to positions featured at on-campus recruitment events.

This seems like a great opportunity to engage in this conventional recruitment process by visiting campuses, which is certainly a valid approach. Yet, there’s an alternative strategy: identifying and engaging exceptional students before they’re even considering graduation—potentially a year or two in advance.

This endeavor begins by exhaustively researching the top computer science/engineering students nationwide. Reaching out to the departments, seeking out lists of majors who are midway through their university journey. This often requires insider connections within these departments. Each identified student receives a personalized letter, penned on official letterhead and signed in ink—a rarity that captures attention. These letters, along with emails to professors and alumni, serve to advertise opportunities and encourage applications.

When you have a cohort willing to impress, bring out summer programs - try before you buy. This is something I have seen overseas a lot, but rarely here in Australia. The idea here is during the school break, you can offer opportunities for selected individuals to work with you for a couple of months. Create innovative projects for them to work on, and challenge their creativity. Bring out the hospitality card. Give them company swag, a drink bottle, shirt. Maybe a personalized city guide (by the staff) of the places around the work office - cafes, gyms etc. As well as a bit of an introduction video on the company, the values, but also the experiences of previous graduates and what they accomplished here. The idea here is to set the stage for a memorable visit, but it also reflects the value placed on new hires, making a strong case for why they should choose to work with you.

Although not all candidates will be offered positions, it allows the candidates to understand if the culture is a fit for them. As well as it gets them to share their experience with other students, getting a buzz around your company.

Expanding this further you could potentially also include high school students, reflecting a long-term commitment to nurturing future generations of data engineers. This vision of building relationships early and maintaining a pipeline of talent underscores a strategic approach to recruitment, one that recognizes the value of early engagement and the benefits of a diverse, evolving talent pool. By doing so, the company not only secures its immediate hiring needs but also lays the groundwork for its future innovation and success.



Build the community

The concept revolves around cultivating a vibrant community of talented and like-minded developers who naturally gravitate towards you. This creates a ready pool of potential candidates every time a job opening arises.

This isn’t an easy one to master, it could be creating a social media presence. The idea is to cultivate a community outside of work, and when the time comes, a job posting can yield a few high-quality resumes. One person who sticks out and did an amazing job of this was Sadie St Lawrence, she built up Women In Data, initially via a local meet-up. Then expand it globally with Chapters.

Another standout is Data Eng Bytes which is a focused community on Data. Founder Peter Hanssens

Additionally there is also Meetup’s around the country (Thanks to Peter Hanssens for sharing this great link).

Joe Reis is doing this also in a different way, but growing an audience around the Books he develops and creates. This way it can be a shared collaboration with the community, but also gets the people interested, as after all they will be likely the people who would buy the final product.



Employee referrals

The conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to find exceptional developers is through referrals from skilled workers. The logic is straightforward: if your team comprises brilliant developers, they’re likely to know others of a similar caliber.

However, the reality is more complex. While your employees may indeed know other talented developers, they also have close friends who may not meet the same standard of excellence. The terrain of employee referrals is fraught with potential complications, making it a less reliable recruitment strategy than it appears at first glance.

The dynamics of personal relationships can complicate the referral process. If your hiring practices are at all selective, asking employees for referrals can place them in an awkward position. Few people want to risk the embarrassment or strain on a friendship that can come from a recommended friend being rejected after applying for a job.

But perhaps the most problematic aspect of employee referrals emerges when financial incentives are introduced. Offering bonuses for successful referrals can motivate employees to recommend anyone they can think of, regardless of suitability. The enticement of a bonus, especially a significant one, can lead to coaching candidates for interviews or even subtle pressure on hiring managers, compromising the integrity of the hiring process. What begins as a well-intentioned effort to streamline recruitment can quickly devolve into a situation where the primary goal becomes not to identify the best candidate, but rather to secure a reward, diluting the quality of your hiring pool.



Conclusion

In the dynamic landscape of data engineering, where talent is as scarce as it is critical, traditional hiring practices scarcely suffice. As we navigate through an era marked by technological advancements and competitive innovation, the strategies of “fishing where the fish are,” leveraging summer programs and building your community emerge not just as alternatives but as necessities. These approaches underscore the importance of proactive engagement, early talent cultivation, and community involvement in the recruitment process.

Attracting top data engineers requires us to think beyond the resume pile, to see recruitment as an ongoing dialogue between company and community, and to invest in relationships long before the need to fill a position arises. It’s about creating environments that not only draw talent but also inspire it to stay, grow, and contribute to a culture of excellence and innovation.

As you consider integrating these strategies into your recruitment efforts, remember that the goal is not just to fill vacancies but to enrich your team with individuals who bring with them a spirit of curiosity, innovation, and a deep-seated passion for solving complex problems. The journey to attracting these rare talents may be challenging, but it is undeniably rewarding.