Novel Ways To Recruit More Tech Staff

Like many growing organisations, Australian developer Bigcommerce finds it challenging to recruit IT pros. Engineering director Soren Harner shared some of its more novel tactics, including leaving puzzles on “garage sale” style posters for potential recruits to solve.

Bigcommerce currently has 20 positions open across its locations. “It’s not just a numbers game; it’s about finding the right people,” Harner said. “It’s a constant problem because we’re constantly recruiting The universities aren’t putting out as many people. Finding women is particularly difficult.”

The garage sale recruitment poster

The posters, pictured above, were placed around Sydney University and included a tear-off tag with phone number that could only be called if potential recruits cracked the code. Harrner said the idea occurred spontaneously to the team while discussing ways to engage with students. “We put some up and then removed them, because we worried about council regulations, but we’re going to put out another round soon.”

Sponsor drinks at community events

It’s a cliche because it’s true: geeks enjoy free beer. Bigcommerce regularly sponsors drinks at developer-centric events such as Ruby on Rails meetups.

Make your referral cards memorable

Handing out cards to potential recruits in those environments is an obvious technique, but you need to make sure those cards aren’t instantly dumped. “We have nice glossy VIP referral cards cards made of plastic, so people tend to hang onto them,” Harner said.

Make sure your work environment is impressive

We’ve shown Bigcommerce’s Sydney office in our featured workspace series, and Harner says it often helps seal the deal. “It’s really important to create the right kind of environment.”


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