Creating a sustainable culture that values what makes a company great enables that company to attract talent from across the globe. Expanding on our article, Who drives culture in DevOps?, it's important to point out that hiring is everyone's responsibility. The same top-down and bottom-up approaches to culture also exist for hiring—but both approaches have significant value in hiring.
Ask anyone involved in hiring, and they'll tell you: Referrals matter. Consider referrals the bottom-up approach to hiring. Having someone within the organization recommend a friend or former colleague goes a long way. But what the referrer often fails to realize is that their reputation is what pushes a candidate to the front of the line. The rapport between all parties matters more than the fact that the referrer is a part of the organization. Regardless, if you know someone who would be a perfect fit for a role in your organization, refer them. This is a surefire way to cultivate good talent.
Where should you look for talent when you have no referrals? In a more top-down approach, you can work with recruiters (internal or external). I sat down with Ken M. Middleton of Your DevOps Recruiter and peppered him with hiring questions. Don't let the generic-sounding “Your DevOps Recruiter” name fool you; Ken is the real deal. Personally, I don't work with recruiting organizations because many are more sales-oriented than people-oriented. But Ken is deeply interested in open source software, DevOps, and matching people to the right organizations. Filling job reqs for the sake of filling them is not Ken's modus operandi.
When I asked Ken, "How do you find great talent?" his response was straightforward and pragmatic. One of his answers won't surprise anyone familiar with Opensource.com: Community. Ken stated, "You’ve got to be active in your local area. Whether it’s with meetup groups; whether there are other, different DevOps or AWS groups, or any other contact or class forums, you’ve really got to see what’s out there and get out and meet people."
Interacting with the people you want to work with is key. Most great candidates care more about who they work with than what company they work for. Your culture will be the thing that inspires top talent to come work with you. If a candidate sees an organization that's active in their community (be it municipal or software), they're more likely to want to work with that organization. When they find people within your organization accessible and easy to work with, this desire increases even more. Your culture is everything in DevOps and hiring.Lee Iacocca once said, "I hire people brighter than me and I get out of their way." This is the key to hiring: Finding people who are smarter, better, and faster is the best way to hire and cultivate talent. A rising tide truly lifts all ships.
But opening a job requisite is only half the battle these days. DevOps talent and skills are in exceedingly high demand. According to the StackOverflow Developer Survey 2018, people "working in [DevOps] command the highest salaries." Talented people rarely seek new opportunities; chances are they know where they want to land next. But it's unlikely that everyone knows about your organization. Reaching out to folks who meet your organization's needs is a surefire way to attract the talent you want to engage with.
Where do you start? How do you find great people to work in your organization? The Ultimate DevOps Hiring Guide provides practical tips from experts in the Opensource.com DevOps community and beyond. Our goal is to help you build better teams. By fostering collaboration and embracing the tenets of DevOps, your organization can flourish.
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