How to Engage Developers with Your Job Listings

How to Engage Developers with Your Job Listings Many job listings for tech roles do not resonate with developers. There are countless examples of developer job listings online that fail at the first hurdle and turn developers away from both the role and the company that listed it in the first place. To create an engaging job listing, you must understand a developer’s mindset. You simply cannot find the best developer for your role without understanding the candidate and the position. This article examines some of the most common flaws in modern job listings and provides advice on how to write job listings that capture the attention of the top developers. Be upfront about salary It is surprising to see how many recruiters still don’t list salary ranges in their job listings for developer roles. Stack Overflow’s annual developer survey illustrates that in the UK, 63.4 percent of developers consider salary to be an important factor when looking for a new job. Not listing salary ranges can have a detrimental effect on the number of applicants that apply for the role. The Stack Overflow engineering team saw an incredible 75 percent increase in clicks on the job listings that included salary ranges. Failure to list this information is likely to frustrate developers â€" even if they were otherwise interested in the company or role. Be specific Recruiters will often rely on keywords to help them filter through applicants. Whilst this can be a useful tool for recruiters to reduce the number of applicants, searching by keywords alone is not a scientific approach and risks overlooking strong candidates who have expressed their skills using different language. A generic phrase such as “turning ideas into products using SCRUM and agile” doesn’t tell a developer much about what they’ll actually be doing (every developer turns ideas into products, for one thing). Without concrete examples, a phrase like this is meaningless. Similarly, requirements such as “the candidate must have advanced technological skills” or “be a good team player” are of little value. A long list of requirements can put off developers applying for the role. All developers will interpret requirements in a different way â€" some will not apply unless they feel as though they can fulfill all the requirements. Each requirement has the possibility of reducing the pool of applicants; it is therefore very important to only include requirements that you think are necessary. A tech job listing is an opportunity for a company to put itself in the shop window and really appeal to a developer. Typically, developers want a job listing to answer three questions: What problems does the company work on? What makes this company different? Why would I want to work there? Answering those questions in your job listing goes a long way towards engaging developers. Use humour to create connections Company culture is an important factor for developers when making the next step in their careers. According to Stack Overflow’s developer survey, 41.8 percent of developers globally consider company culture an important factor when deciding to change role. Humour can play a decisive role in a crowded marketplace as developers respond positively to it. Some companies and recruiters may feel as though this is a risky approach, humour delivered in the right way can really help to break the ice and create genuine connections. For example, adding phrases such as: “you won’t be poked with a sharp stick” can make a developer feel at ease and also make your job listing stand out from the crowd. Concision and precision Job seekers spend 49.7 seconds on average reading a job listing before making a decision, according to a study by The Ladders. Job listings have to be concise and scannable in order to be engaging because if a job listing extends to several pages, it will simply not be read. 97 percent of developers are already gainfully employed; with this level of competition in the marketplace, there is little room for error. Have a developer in your company review your job listing to see if they are able to identify the key points easily and quickly. If they cannot do this quickly, then a prospective candidate is unlikely to find the listing engaging. Demand for developers is at an all-time high so companies cannot afford to to have poorly thought-out job listings. An engaging job listing will outline a company’s culture and the role of the tech team within the organisation. It will set realistic and specific expectations as opposed to wide, unclear range of requirements. Developers take great pride in their work, and the most engaging job listings illustrate that the company posting the listing is willing to support them through the next stage in their career. About the author:  Kevin Troy is the Director of Insights at Stack Overflow.

A.J. Jacobs Career lessons from the Encyclopedia

A.J. Jacobs Career lessons from the Encyclopedia By A.J. Jacobs For my last book, The Know-It-All, I tried to fill in the huge gaps in my learning by reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. I read from A to Z. Or more precisely, from a-ak (East Asian music) to Zywiec (a town in Poland) a total of 44 million words. Admittedly, there were quite a few slow parts the 21 pages on Portuguese literature comes to mind but overall, I learned a tremendous amount of fascinating information. Including lot of great wisdom about jobs and careers. Here, a distillation: If youve got a business idea, hurry the heck up. Heres a disturbing story: There once was a brilliant man named Elisha Gray. Ever hear of him? Probably not. Thats because he filed for a patent for the telephone on the morning February 14, 1876. Problem was, a couple hours earlier, another man filed patent papers for the telephone. That would be Alexander Graham Bell. Gray should have known: File for patent, then go grocery shopping. (In fairness, some claim that Gray did beat Bell to the patent office, but still lost the patent). Im no Gray or Bell, but I did have a troubling conversation with a fellow writer about a year ago, a nice man from Texas. He told me that when my book deal was announced, he was in the midst of writing a proposal for a book on reading the encyclopedia. Theres no such thing as a unique idea. Its all about execution and timing. Be totally inappropriate The best networking story in the Encyclopedia comes courtesy of poet Langston Hughes. The man was ballsy. He was a busboy at a hotel in Washington D.C. While in the dining room, he slipped three of his poems beside the dinner plate of established poet Vachel Lindsay. The next day, newspapers announced Lindsay had discovered a busboy poet. In other words, he refused to let his dreams be deferred. Work anywhere The British-born author Hugh Lofting wrote Dr. Dolittle while in the trenches of WWI. As shrapnel burst around him and his friends died, he wrote this lovely story about a guy who talks to animals. So if Hugh Lofting can do that, you can concentrate on a big project when youre at a train station. In fact, I recently realized my work sometimes improves when Im in chaos. It somehow lessens the pressure it removes the crippling burden of perfectionism which is key for writing. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, always certain Thats one of the big things I learned in my quest to be a know-it-all. Say it with confidence, and you will be believed. If someone asks you what country had the greatest total number of Catholics, and you say, Mexico, without a hint of doubt, then few will question. The right answer is Brazil, by the way. Without a doubt. Stick with your strengths, and bend the situation to cater to them Be like Duilius, a Roman military genius. The Roman troops were excellent ground fighters, but were terrible at naval warfare. So Duilius came up with the idea: Turn the sea battles into land battles. The Roman ships would paddle up to the enemy boat and slam down a plank. The soldiers would board the enemy boat and go to town with their swords. In short, land battles on the sea. The stakes in most of our lives are lower, thank God. But the strategy still works. Today, I was writing an article for Spin magazine. This, despite the fact that I know embarrassingly little about post-80s music. But since I just wrote a book about living by the Bible (The Year of Living Biblically), I had pitched a story about music and the Bible. That allowed me to board Spin and go to town with my word processor. Juggle jobs All the great figures of the eighteenth and nineteenth century had at least two simultaneous jobs, maybe more. My favorite was a woman named Virginia Woodhull, who was both a psychic and a stockbroker (a brilliant mix. Who wouldnt want to invest with her?) But other combos were just as strange: Lyricist/Mollusk scientist Lawyer/Astronomer Shipowner/Sociologist Typographer/Puppeteer. Buccaneer/Scientist Granted, it was easier back then. I imagine it took about three weeks to learn all there was to know about mollusks. A friend of mine (and Penelopes) named Marci Alboher recently wrote a book called One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model For Work/Life Success. Its filled with tales and advice on the art of simultaneous professions. The double-job trend is making a comeback, and this is good news at least for those who love a smattering of everything as I do. A.J. Jacobs is an editor-at-large at Esquire magazine and the author of the new book A Year of Living Biblically.

Unlocking Personal Branding Secrets on Second Life and MySpace - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Unlocking Personal Branding Secrets on Second Life and MySpace - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke with Sean Percival, who has written a book on MySpace and Second Life, both of which we havent discussed on this blog.   I dont use either of them, so I cant give you advice, but Sean certainly can.   From this conversation, youll notice that these social networks work better for some people, rather than others.   Your best bet is to join the social networks you are comfortable with and where your friends already are. Sean, even though there are thousands of spam accounts on MySpace and countless advertisements, why should someone sign-up for MySpace? The number one reason you signup for MySpace or any social network is to connect with friends. Those friends may be people you’ve known for years on new ones you’ve just met. While there are of course many social networks out there, MySpace still remains the largest so your friends are likely to already be there. Spam is also becoming much less of an issue on MySpace than it has been in the past. So if you build a quality social network there with your friends, you aren’t likely to be too bothered by the marketing. Who is the typical MySpace user and what types of people can actually benefit from establishing a profile? While a lot of users have successfully used MySpace for personal branding (Tila Tequila for example), many other types of promotions still do well on the site. Let’s say you are part of band or any other entertainment related profession, MySpace is going to be one of the best places to have a presence on. Here the users are heavily engaged in the network and activity of their own friends. For promotions that are regionally based (concerts and other events) you can easily find and connect with your demographic using the basic search tools of the site. Finally, MySpace is just one more destination online where people can learn more about your offerings and form a connection with. What are some strategies for getting thousands of friends on MySpace? How can this be translated into business or at least build an audience for your personal brand? I’ve always felt that quality was better than quantity in your MySpace social networks. For my clients I would also try to connect them with around 5000 highly targeted friends. This way their promotions were seen by the right people and offered a greater return. The best way to build any network is drive new friends to your profile from outside of MySpace itself. Include links to your MySpace profile on your website and in all marketing communications such as email newsletters. Offering your existing contacts a way to connect with you on MySpace can be the very valuable. These folks are after all already interested in your offerings. Ive actually never used Second Life, but my company has successfully recruited there. What are the benefits from creating an avatar there and spending precious time interacting/building with others? For personal use, Second Life can be a great way to interact and create like never before. The 3D landscape can be both a challenging and inspiring place for any designer or hobbyist. Before you know it, you’ll be approaching design and communication itself very differently in both first and Second Life. Whither this type of immersion is the future, its hard to say. But for right now it’s a lot of fun to experience and enjoy. How can in-world success translate to success out of world? This could be monetary, getting a job, etc. Becoming savvy with Second Life can open a few doors, or at least add a few notches to the ol’ resume. One real great application of using Second Life is the ability to rapid prototype anything, be it a product or entire building. If your career involves any type of product design or architecture Second Life can be a wonderful canvas for you. If nothing else it’s a great skill set to have for getting jobs in new media or emerging technology of any kind. While your boss might not always understand virtual worlds, your understanding can get you some much deserved technology cred. What are some tips you have for using Second Life to establish a personal brand? Personal branding in Second Life is done through your avatar itself. Make sure to take the time and even financial investment to create a compelling avatar.   You’ll want your avatar to stand out from the crowd and be a good expression of yourself or business. Build personal relationships with other avatars to find out where you can purchase the best outfits and avatar shapes. Use the same virtual relationships to find out who the big players are in the various industries of Second Life.   Reach out to them as well when you are ready, you’ll find most of them are glad to listen. Finally start blogging about your experiences and connect with other Second Life bloggers. A majority of the personal branding in Second Life takes place outside of the virtual world on blogs and other social networks. Sean Percival is the author of MySpace Marketing and Second Life In-World Travel Guide. He is a web developer with 10 years experience in Ecommerce, Internet Security and Internet Marketing. Being one of the first 3000 users of MySpace his experience and expertise has been compared to that of a Social Network Savant. Percival was included in the June 2006 issue of Forbes Magazine with an article that featured his personal success of tripling sales for his website customeuroplates.com with Myspace marketing. In Second Life, his name is Sean Voss, an explorer with a perfect physique from Landmark Island. He has his own private island and drives an even nicer German sports car.

Exploring Branded Candidate Experience Design

Exploring Branded Candidate Experience Design According to McKinsey, 90% of major brands are making it a top priority to focus on branded customer experiences as their main differentiator. Hence it makes sense that the focus includes the quality of the branded candidate experience as well. Russell Miyaki is Senior Vice President, Global Creative Director at TMP Worldwide in New York. In this episode, he gives us the full scoop on branded candidate journeys. Have a listen to the interview below, keep reading for a summary and be sure to subscribe to the  Employer Branding Podcast. Listen on  Apple Podcasts,  Stitcher Radio,  Google Play  or  SoundCloud. In this episode youll learn: Why branded candidate experience design is important. What the problem is with most candidate experience designs. What the four stages of candidate experience are. How to find out your audiences emotional triggers and drivers. How to creatively express your brand to candidates. What the implications are for employer branding and content strategies. How to measure the return on investment for your branded candidate experience  design. Whats next in people analytics, the future of work and more candidate experience-related topics! Connect with Russell on Twitter!

Traditional Education is No Longer Enough for Successful Career CareerMetis.com

Traditional Education is No Longer Enough for Successful Career â€" CareerMetis.com In the past, those who spent the time and money to earn a traditional college degrees enjoyed more earning power over their lifetimes than those who didn’t.According to the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, in 2015, men with high school diplomas earned an average of $751 per week, while men with a bachelor’s degree earned $1,249. Women with a high school diploma earned only $661 per week, with that figure increasing to $995 with a bachelor’s degree.evalHowever, statistics which compare the salaries of traditional college graduates to those of people who earn professional certifications are difficult to find.There is also another important element missing from these statistics, and that’s the element of school loan repayment. The average amount of school loan debt for traditional college graduates is $35,000. While the cost of education has skyrocketed in recent years, wages have remained stagnant. That means that many recent graduates are unable to make more than minimum payments on their loans.Even with a low interest rate of 6%, that monthly payment will be $250.00, which is about the same as the monthly payment for a reliable car. Making minimum payments over 20 years, the interest on a $35,000 loan adds up to a whopping additional $25,180. That means that the total amount a graduate will actually repay is $60, 180.Another factor that today’s students preparing for careers have to consider is the rapid rate of technological change. In many technical fields, subject matter learned in a student’s sophomore year can actually become obsolete before they reach their senior year. That’s why many students are opting for new educational strategies. One of those strategies is for students to acquire basic skills in shorter programs offered by technical schools and continue acquiring new skills on the job. Keeping pace with new technologies, software, and applications is a challenge, for employers seeking qualified workers as well as for students.The cost of a technical program is a fraction of that of a traditional four-year college. A degree from a trade school costs an average of $33,000, compared to the average cost of a bachelor’s degree at $127,000. That’s a difference of $94,000, which is why so many millennials are now opting for for solid skill certification programs.Many technical schools also have relationships with employers who need graduates with specific skills. Training executives from corporations like Huawei, IBM and Cisco often help develop curriculum to ensure that graduates will have skills and experience with specific widely used applications such as Salesforce.Another potentially successful strategy is for students to take classes that will make them more marketable, with or without being formally enrolled in a certification program. Every relevant course becomes something that can be added to a resume. Technical schools that work with corporations know exactly which courses contain the skills and material thatâ €™s most in demand with employers at any given time.evalAlthough millennials have a reputation for being self-centered, they are also self-directed, open and teachable. However, they are less likely than previous generations to spend time and money being taught material that they don’t view as immediately practical or beneficial in some way.Even the relatively economic conservatives at Business Insider agree that the substantial investment required to earn a post-graduate degree may not provide a high enough return to justify it. However, the technical field is one of those in which continued education pays substantial dividends on the investment.A recent “Hard Times” report compiled by the prestigious Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, examined data pertaining to unemployment and the salaries of both experienced college graduates and those aged 35 to 54 who had earned graduate degrees. Looking at approximately 50 different professional fields, they attempted to calculate the difference in earnings that earning a graduate degree would make.The right educational strategy can make it possible to continue gaining knowledge and experience, without accumulating debt, and that’s a winning combination. In a world in which education too often means decades of debt repayment, getting ahead means finding creative ways not to get behind.evalChoosing the right type of education today can make all the difference in building a more balanced and fulfilling tomorrow.

Nudgers Give You Guts

Nudgers Give You Guts Nudgers Give You Guts Nudgers Give You Guts June 18, 2013 by Career Coach Sherri Thomas Leave a Comment I’m writing this blog from New York City where my book, The Bounce Back was just awarded 2013 Winner for “Best Career Book’ by the Indie Book Awards (kind of like the Sundance Film Festival but for books! :))   It has been an exhilarating, whirlwind week of awards ceremonies, dinner at The Harvard Club, media interviews and one very cool red carpet event. The funny thing is, I almost didn’t write the book. I had no intention of writing a second book until Marcus Buckingham nudged me.   I had first met Marcus, author of “First, Break All the Rules,” and “Now Go Discover Your Strengths” a couple of years after I had written my first book.   I stood in line to get his autograph at a conference in Orlando, Florida where he spoke.   That chance introduction led to a few ?? â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€" Sherri Thomas is a Career Strategist, international speaker and award-winning author  named 2013  BEST CAREER BOOK by Indie Book Awards for independently published book authors for her book  â€œThe Bounce Back â€" personal stories of bouncing back higher and faster after a layoff, re-org or career setback”.   She also  authored, “Career Smart â€" 5 Steps to a Powerful Personal Brand” â€" which is on AMAZON’s TOP 50 LIST for personal branding books. Sherri is the President and Founder of Career Coaching 360 which provides resume help, interviewing support, and personal career coaching packages for executives and professionals who want to change their career. For a limited time, you can download the three FREE chapters of “The Bounce Back” at http://www.MyBounceBack.com

How to Write a Cover Letter For a Resume

How to Write a Cover Letter For a ResumeIf you are writing a cover letter for a resume, you might be wondering how to write a cover letter for a resume that will appeal to your potential employer. After all, you are writing it for someone who is going to be hiring you. And if the resume is written well, it is only natural that the person interviewing you would want to see some examples of work that you have done in the past.When you start writing a cover letter for a resume, there are several things you need to keep in mind. First, you need to make sure that the resume you are about to send to your potential employer is one that they are interested in. However, you also need to make sure that your own interests are in line with the job that you are applying for. Keep in mind that in order to do this you will need to write a cover letter for a resume that is not just similar but exactly the same as the job that you are applying for.Second, when you write a cover letter for a resume yo u need to put yourself in the position of the employer. So before you can actually sit down and pen your cover letter, you need to make sure that you have a general idea of what kind of skills your potential employer may be looking for. You need to figure out what kinds of job duties they are looking for and then use your own skills to fill them in. Make sure that when you begin to write a cover letter for a resume you make it clear what your own skills are.Third, when you are doing this part of the process of writing a cover letter for a resume, make sure that you keep it short. Short is usually best. Of course, the length of the cover letter can vary based on the circumstances of your particular case. However, in most cases, for a resume cover letter to be effective it should be no longer than a couple of pages. Fourth, when you are writing a cover letter for a resume you want to give a brief summary of yourself. Give a brief idea of why you are applying for the job. This is a goo d idea for your potential employer so that they can get a better picture of the kind of person that you are.Fifth, you also want to make sure that you include your first and last name on each page so that the employer can easily make sure that you have signed the document by your own name. Sixth, you want to try to make your cover letter as professional as possible. One way to do this is to make sure that you do not include your name but your title instead. Make sure that your name is spelled correctly.Sixth, when you are writing a cover letter for a resume you also want to make sure that you do not include your contact information in your cover letter. This includes your email address. In addition, you want to be very careful about including your phone number. Some people do not want to be contacted by the potential employer via phone, and this can actually be considered rude.Finally, when you are writing a cover letter for a resume, the fourth thing that you need to be very carefu l about is spelling. The purpose of the cover letter is to get the potential employer to contact you. You do not want to leave yourself open to having to call or visit with your potential employer in order to fill out a job application.