For me, the most enjoyable meetings as technical recruiter are when you meet a self-aware and self-motivated person who already has a plan for their career and knows what way they should go. At one of the meetings, for example, I met a developer who knew lots of in-depth details regarding C# and .Net, and he also had an exact plan to develop towards becoming an Architect and all of this with only two years experience.
The difference between being a technical recruiter in a software house and in a corporation
In the beginning, this role was a bit overwhelming for me. I did technical interviews before, but when working for a big corporation (like I did recently), you almost exclusively focus on candidates’ technical skills. Because it’s an essential trait for that employer. But when I started working for Inwedo, the first thing that struck me was its founders’ values and how they approach the employee.
In this community, we like to think about ourselves like open-minded individuals who are taking care of each other. Inwedo’s motto is “Software to Go Beyond”, but I get the impression that you can’t go beyond if you first don’t build the foundation, which for both company founders and me personally are people that create this wonderful collective.
I can finally feel part of something bigger than me, which I could never feel while working for a big international company where you are the proverbial Mr. Smith.
How do I see the responsibility as a technical recruiter?
So you feel immense responsibility when you are interviewing someone because you care about hiring a capable engineer and, most importantly, a person who should feel as much appreciated as I do and the one who will add value to this collective.
A brief digression: a child dreamed of being a programmer
You should know that I perceive a software programmer job not only as a talented craftsman but somehow as an artist who uses its tools to shape (not only) digital reality. It has been my dream to become a software programmer since I was in primary school. I could make this dream come true because of a bit of luck, the help of friends, coworkers, and a tremendous amount of hard work. But after so many years in software development, I still feel that there is a lot to learn.
Socrates’ words, “I know that I know nothing,” are always with me. Learning one thing can be like candlelight that reveals ten more things you can’t wait to know.
I always want to know more, how to use language and libraries and, most importantly, how they work underneath. I want to be an aware programmer.
Once on one of the blogs focused on HR topic, I read that one of the “cons” of a software developer career is that you always have to learn, which made me laugh because it is one of the reasons why being a software developer is so satisfying for me.
Conclusions after technical recruitment: we lack real mentors
After many interviews with developers, I concluded that there are many great individuals for whom learning and competence development are most important, but they lack a person who could help them gain that knowledge and someone to learn from, a Mentor.
I’m grateful that I can work in a company developing its mentoring program and is introducing an atmosphere and mental state to encourage team members to work with each other so that more experienced developers or/and with different perspectives can advise and share their knowledge and experience.
Creating a mentoring culture at Inwedo
The important aspect of Inwedo’s culture is that we still, even in the time when the pandemic makes running business harder, are hiring junior developers when we’ll notice they value the same values and are willing to learn, while most of the tech companies wouldn’t even invite them to the interview.
Somewhere at the beginning of Spring 2021, we met an enjoyable person who had all the necessary attitude, willingness, and openness but unfortunately lacked the necessary expertise, so we rejected his candidacy but made him an offer. We sent him several sources from which he could improve competencies in technologies that are essential for our company and promised to contact him in a few months to reevaluate his application once more.
Mentoring has a chance only when it favors the whole organization
It seems that I would never think to follow the path of mentoring if the circumstances and the atmosphere would not be favorable. I should also point out that I have my Mentor in Inwedo whom I admire and learn from, and who helps me develop in this direction.
All of this experience and the path I chose caused me to put even more effort into gaining as much valuable knowledge as possible to share it further with everyone who would like to learn from me.
For everyone who would like to make a change in their lives and careers, to get involved in projects that make a difference for the environment, ease others lives, help in their work, you should know we are always looking for talented people, and if or not we will hire you, you can ask me to become your Mentor.
