Tips for recruiting great developers

20. Have something cool to work on. Top talent doesn't want to rewrite your java accounting system (again).

Another tip is to read your job ad and ask what a cynical person may read between the lines. <i>Particularly</i> if there is some standard boilerplate that the HR process tends to add.<p>During my last job search I was amazed how many companies had ads that told me that I didn't want to apply there.

Some great tips (especially 14.) many of which we already use when hiring.<p>I would add 'Introduce the interviewee to the team and try to emulate their future working environment'.<p>Talk to the interviewee like you talk to the existing members of your team, ask them questions that presume they're of the same calibre and attitude. If someone doesn't seem comfortable with your workspace, communication methods, and discussing high level technical concepts during an interview that's typically a sign of a poor fit to your company's culture.

So far, the only recurrent pattern I've found is this: the best way to recruit great engineering talent, is to include great engineering talent on your founding team.<p>There <i>are</i> start-ups that begin with marketing/business development folks creating an idea and hiring others to implement it, but usually these places aren't technology companies staffed with top talent -- but are rather shops operating in a niche market, staffed with people who had nowhere else to go (which isn't always a bad thing: it makes these people much more determined to succeed).<p>"Top talent" joining such a company would be in for a disappointment: they'd find themselves both underutilized (not being able to use their talent and skill) and yet overworked (with tedious tasks).<p>(I've underwent this experience myself which had left me rather jaded: I was no longer at all interested in working for/starting start-ups and advised others not to as well. Fortunately realizing this "kinds of start-ups" dichotomy changed my attitude for the better).

<p><pre><code> 13. "Ignore your instincts...consciously decide to go harder on the people [you] like and easier on the ones you don’t" </code></pre> that doesn't sound like <i>ignoring</i> your instincts!

If you have to pick only one, I think #15 should be it.

I found my current job through LinkedIn, and it was definitely a plus to be able to see the structure of the organization, and what the people that I would be working with have done in the past.

Actually pretty good tips.

amen to #10.

1 tip for writing anything on the Internet:<p>1. Turn off that annoying snapshots hover-over-link-and-see-a-screenshot crap.

Also, props for #8: "Don’t expect to pay median salaries for top talent." I've repeatedly had this conversation with CEOs / hiring managers during the interview process: you want to pay median / 65th percentile salaries for 90+ percentile employees?<p>Two years ago I actually told the CEO that he was basically trying to hire a really smart person who sucked at math, and I wasn't interested. He was a little shocked, but I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the company's stated desire to hire great talent while not paying top of the market salaries...