Tips for finding the best tech talent

Foreword: In this article I'm going to put a lot of emphasis on Le Journal du Hacker, its community and everything that revolves around it.
there is no commercial agreement, they don't even know I'm writing this article...
When I publish a Tech article, I'm lucky enough to be read by the Journal du Hacker community, and I get feedback by e-mail, always with great benevolence and kindness.
So I'd like to take this opportunity to give them a wink: thanks, guys, you're the best!

My life in Tech

Before getting to the heart of the matter, I thought it would be appropriate to give you a bit of my background, who I am and why I'm taking the liberty of writing this article, so here goes.

I started with computers at the age of 6, playing with an Amstrad CPC (the one with the car game in the ROM, as well as basic) before getting a PC with a 486 in my hands.
Then, at the age of 10 or 11, I got interested in programming and GNU/Linux (I love penguins!).
I spent my teenage years tinkering with game servers, programming stuff (C, Delphi, PHP...), going out very little and spending my nights learning, learning and STILL learning!
The free software community has taught me everything I know, and I've spent many a night on the Debian-facile and Ubuntu-fr forums, I can tell you.
And of course, in my adult life, I've continued to do so (as proof, have you seen the geeky site you're on?).
Anyway, all that to say that today I can easily recognize guys who are technical nuggets... and I can tell you that on the hacker's journal, there are a lot of them....

What is a "tech talent"?

Already, I don't like the term "tech talent", but the recruiting world seems to have agreed on this term, so to make the article digestible for everyone, I'm using it.

Constantly on the lookout

In fact, he doesn't wait to be told what to do to keep an eye on technology, he's aware of what's going on in his world.In my case, as you'll have gathered, I'm not very interested in proprietary technologies. I couldn't care less if Microsoft comes out with something revolutionary, but Symfony 6? ?, hot-patching the Linux kernel ???.
As a result, I don't wait to be told (and even more so as a freelancer/contractor) to take an interest in my subject, I love it! And that's the craziest thing about this job... you're always learning.

A strong Internet culture

It's a very personal opinion, but the best profiles I've met in their respective fields, well, we understand each other right away, we have the same references
In short, the Internet is OUR home! the 6th continent?

Where to find the best profiles?

You might think it's Linked In, but it's not.

Personally, I'm on LinkedIn because it's necessary for my business and, I won't deny it, I've met some great people on this network. But the "business overkill", the "vanity metrics" all over the place... I really don't give a damn... I prefer people who talk about concrete things.I have much more admiration for a small team of guys doing crazy things with very little money than for the 74th startup chasing its fundraising to start doing something.

The Hacker's Journal

Of course, the first place that comes to mind is the Hacker's Journal, where I often go to read what my friends have to say about their experiences, opinions and misadventures.

Everyone has their own blog (their own little place) and the link published on JdH for everyone to enjoy.

On JdH there are the "bloggers", i.e. those who like to write and give feedback, so these are the people who post their articles. You'll easily find them because when you arrive on JdH it's their articles that you'll see.

Then there are the more discreet readers, who read the content and "upvote" the ones they like, and sometimes also comment to give their opinions. Of course, they're also part of the talent, they're just more discreet (it's not unusual for me to exchange e-mails with readers every week, which is great fun!)

Of course, some people do both, like me for example, the content product, but I also read what my friends have to say.

Social networks

Yes, of course ... but not Linked In, I said?
Twitter is a place where you can find a lot of things in Tech, of course, the network is pretty geeky at heart, I even often come across recruiters who are there and who clearly fit into the ecosystem, for example Shriley, has her own way of communicating, she's at home?
Another example of Tech talent well known on Twitter, there's Cécile, 21 years old, and she's extremely gifted in infra, but like really.
The people who follow her are themselves passionate?

To take it a step further, Mastodon!
Now that's heavy stuff, especially for fans of decentralization and open source.
Mastodon is based on the Twitter principle, but is not controlled by a single entity like Twitter. By the very nature of the network, you'll find people who know all about self-hosting, open source software and so on.

How to recruit without being a big slacker?

Here's a little detour that happened to me when I was writing this article.
A classic e-mail offering me a freelance assignment, well, why not, BUT ... there's a tracker in it and, of course, my e-mail client detected it...

When you're targeting techos, forget traditional trackers, they don't work....

Now that we know where to find the best tech talent, it's time to talk to them, but without being a big slob.

Keep communities alive

In fact, I'm going to talk directly to you here about affiliation, but I'm not talking about giving money to big groups like Facebook, even if they are independent of each other, with the Journal du Hacker, there's the courrier du Hacker and as you can see, it's possible to sponsor them and have your brand displayed in every e-mail sent. Personally, I always look at the names of the companies that help these initiatives by sponsoring them, and they're my favs, bravo?.

In addition to Hacker Mail, every week I see the Linux Job offers. Once again, you're supporting a small initiative created by and for enthusiasts, so don't deprive yourself?

Finally, I don't know if it's possible, but I imagine it must be possible to contact the hacker's newspaper for sponsorship of your own, so I'll leave it to you to find out.

To sum up, from a very personal point of view (and I don't think I'm the only one), I'm always going to be more interested in those companies that make this ecosystem work and live, and so for me they have a great brand image?

Don't spam like big shots

I know, you're in a very difficult market, with lots of demand and limited supply.

But I think inbound marketing is more interesting than outbound in this market. As I said above, make sure you're seen and respected by the community.As I said above, make sure you're seen and respected by the community, they'll give it back to you x1000, believe me, personally, I know the recruiters at Tomorow Jobs in Eastern France, they're very good, and they do their job very well, so when they publish jobs on LinkedIn, I try to boost their reach a little?.

The case of telecommuting or "full remote

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! the thorny subject.
On the one hand, we have companies who want to work face-to-face, and who will grumble even when we make it clear that we're the "full remote" type, and on the other we have a good part of the tech community who like their "full remote".

From that point of view, I don't think there's any point in forcing the issue on either side. I see Techs pushing for full remote, and on the other hand, companies pushing for face-to-face. In fact, on this side, things are very simple: you simply can't work together, no more, no less.

In my case, I only want full remote (and sometimes I visit my partners with great pleasure), so I only work with people who allow me this freedom....

Conclusion

And that's it! My little article comes to an end.
I've tried to put myself in everyone's shoes in the tech job market, which is a tough one, but there are ways of getting things done.

Come on! let's support the hacker's journal and its ecosystem (what? What do you mean, I'm forcing you?).

Have a great week?