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Attracting Foreign IT Talent Successfully: 4 Proven Methods

Good software engineers are hard to come by. Certainly if you set the bar high (and Dutch companies usually do set the bar high). A frequently chosen solution is to recruit IT staff from abroad. As specialist we know exactly how the ideal recruitment process works, and as we’re always happy to share our knowledge, here are our four top tips.

Tip 1: Analyse the CV

Of course, every candidate is unique, as is every CV. But you discover a lot by reading each CV carefully. For example: what do job titles such as junior, middle and senior actually mean, as the bar is different in each country. For instance, in the Netherlands someone can be senior with five years’ work experience. We also examine the number of different projects the candidate has worked on, and their complexity. 

The number of previous employers is also important. After all, each organisation has its own culture, working method and project architecture. Someone who has worked for a range of different companies probably has more relevant knowledge. At the same time, however, a series of short employment contracts can be a red flag, as you don’t want to employ a job hopper.  

If your candidate is self-employed, such shorter projects are more logical. In such cases, check whether they also worked in teams in these roles. 

Tip 2: Competence check

What does a CV say about someone’s competence? A lot, but it’s not watertight evidence. You can only check someone’s competence when you talk to them. Prepare this meeting well and ideally involve an expert, such as a direct colleague and/or someone from the team in which the candidate may work.  

Make sure this expert has all the information they need in time (such as a profile of your ideal employee and the candidate’s CV). Also agree who will ask about what. Who should start? Who asks which questions and when?  

We explain how to design a good interview at the end of this blog article. 

Tip 3: Check their agile working skills

The vast majority of Dutch software development companies work within ‘agile frameworks’, i.e. specific approaches for planning, managing and implementing work. The most well-known frameworks are: Scrum, Kanban and XP (Extreme Programming). It is important that your candidate has experience with these frameworks as IT staff who can work agile, can start operating right away.  

During the interview, check whether the candidate is familiar with terms including daily stand-up, retrospective, refinement, review and planning. This is useful both for you and the candidate as they’ll immediately know what to expect if they actually start working at your organisation.  

Here are a few challenges you could raise:  

  • Can you walk me through the steps of creating and finishing a Story at Company X?
  • What topics do you cover in your Daily's at Company Y?
  • How do you handle any obstacles encountered during a sprint? What meetings do you utilize to address these?

Tip 4: Assess their level of English

A good command of English seems like a logical requirement but is, unfortunately, not always listed as a requirement. Why is this important? Because of the candidate’s added value and because top software engineers with bags of experience are useless if they can’t communicate well enough.  

It’s easy to check someone’s language skills, even if the meeting takes place online. Start by making sure that the candidate has their camera switched on so you can observe them well. Look them directly in the eyes. Do they look at you/the camera? This will enable you to discover quickly whether the candidate is working with a pre-prepared text. Don’t worry about interrupting them during their ‘speech’. You can discover the candidate’s real language fluency from a spontaneous answer.  

It’s fine if the language level differs per job. For a developer, B2 level is enough, while a Product Owner or UX/Graphic Designer (who will have to give a lot of presentations) will need at least C1 level English. 

Conducting a good interview

And here are a few tips on how to conduct a good interview. We distinguish three phases: introduction, in-depth questions and conclusion. 

Introduction

Since a candidate may be nervous,you should introduce yourself (and your expert) first and only then ask the candidate to introduce themselves. This can give the candidate time to collect themselves. During your introduction you can also talk about the atmosphere in the company, team outings and personal hobbies; even the Dutch weather can be a topic. This creates a mutual sense of comfort and a good atmosphere for the next phase of the interview. 

In-depth questions

Handle the subject-specific questions together with the expert. Take a back seat regularly and ask the candidate questions about projects they enjoyed or found challenging. Feel free to ask, ‘Why did you think that?’, so you can find out what the candidate thinks about certain work techniques, tools or architectures.

Conclusion

Close the interview with a stimulating closing question. Such as: ‘Why should we hire you’? This immediately checks whether the candidate can respond appropriately to unexpected situations, which is useful if they will be giving presentations in the future. Finally, ask whether the candidate has any questions. End the interview by thanking them for their time and agree when you will contact them to plan any next steps. 

Good luck! And... if you’d prefer to work with us to recruit your ideal international IT professional, we’re more than happy to help!