There’s no beating around the bush finding great testers is a tricky business.
Even once you have found the right tester, there’s still the task of getting them through the door and interested in your company and role! So how can you do this?
Consider these five factors when attracting the best software testers, manual and automation testers, test analysts, and QA engineers.
Technology and Product
Are you using the best technology in testing to attract the best software testers to your business? Is your product solid, substantive and fun to work on?
- When it comes to your product, to attract the right testers your code and the environment it is running on needs to be enjoyable, cutting edge and enough of a challenge to feed that problem-solving hunger that most software testers have.
- That also means offering meaningful testing challenges that are complex and susceptible to change for them to sink their teeth into.
- Offer them the right tools for the job and make sure you also have a great manual and automated testing software for your type of business.
Salary
You may think salary is the most important to candidates, but it is not always the dominant factor. Whereas rewarding testers on their value to the company and role is.
- Do you know the industry average for software testing roles such as the one you are trying to fill?
- Take a look at our salary survey here that covers roles from test analyst to automation engineer and work out if you are paying competitive rates.
- If you don’t compare your salary offering then you may have to work harder on other selling points of the role or consider investing in a testing engineer with less experience to train up.
Hiring Process
Implementing the right hiring process is crucial to attracting the best software testers, test analysts and keeping the right individuals in the long run.
- The first step when attracting the right candidate is to figure out exactly what your business is looking for. Avoid difficulty further down the line by having a clear understanding of the types of attributes that are important to the software testing role.
- How are you attracting testing candidates? – consider using a copywriter to bring your job ads to life and sell your company better. Make your application process concise and simple, avoiding multiple stage interviews, which will also benefit from losing out to the competition.
- Remember, hiring is a two-way process. Which means don’t forget to sell the company’s employer brand, culture and role to the candidate at each stage of the interview, offering why it would be better than the competition.
- Are you judging testing candidates based purely on their C.V? – many companies make the mistake of hiring based on gut feeling, without giving attitudes and behaviours the time of day. We cover the problem with hiring tactics extensively here.
- You can get to know the potential candidate through three levels of assessment; how they appear, what they can do and what they will be able to do.
Employer Brand and Culture
So you’re not quite Google or Facebook but you are a great company none the less. You should be attracting the best software testers. I cover this extensively here, but in short;
- The Employer brand is more than a logo, a foosball table in the office and even free fruit Fridays.
- Evaluating your employer brand requires you to step back, think about what your company stands for and what it’s really like to work for you and show that you are offering more than just a paycheck.
- Find out what your previous staff thought about you, look on Glassdoor, a review and information site for employers with anonymous submissions.
To fully evaluate your employer brand, take a look here!
It is possible to foster an inviting culture without breaking the bank and investing in the wellbeing of your staff, happy employees will spread the word and over time some of the best software testers will want to work within your business.
Benefits
Find out what it is that motivates your potential new hire, and once you know what it is that will get them through the door- if you can – offer it to them.
- Do you offer remote working?
- How many holiday days do you offer excluding bank holidays?
- Do you offer coaching, training and personal development for the candidate?
- Do you offer small perks such as free lunch, perk box, cycle to work scheme?
- What tools and equipment do you offer with the role; laptop/computer/phone?
When presenting the position to the candidate, consider offering a complete benefits package that includes the little things that you know will appeal to them.
By taking into account the five factors mentioned above when you are attracting the best software testers, you will have a greater chance of bringing them into the fold and keeping them in the long run.
At Eligo Technology, our mission is to help our clients recruit better. From helping you to benchmark salary expectations with our industry-wide knowledge and salary survey to writing creative copy for your job ads, improving your hiring process as a whole to reduce cost, and time and avoid any more hiring headaches in the future.
What’s more, we know who and where to find the best software testers, test analysts, automation engineers, quality assurance engineers, manual testers, QA analysts and more. Get in touch today to discuss your testing recruitment needs!
0208 944 4180 or email at rick@eligo.co.uk