Hiring Entry Level Software Developers Improves Your Company Culture

A hiring decision always seems to be a bit of a leap of faith. Is the candidate truly as good as she says she is? Though he has the “book knowledge,” would he be able to fit well into your company culture? Should her long work history and light academic background be considered an asset or a liability?

When looking for quality developers, it’s even more of a challenge. Because the “programmer” field is so varied, skills used at one job may not apply at another. Programming languages that were mastered five years ago may be more obsolete than a VCR rewinder.

At the same time, there’s always a bit of fear that “the kids” coming out of schools, even in well-regarded computer science programs, may not have learned what they need to make it in a modern workforce. Wouldn’t someone with more on-the-job experience be a smarter idea?

Time to make that leap, says Forbes contributor David K. Williams, owner of Fishbowl. He shares that a willingness to learn and a good attitude are what he prefers in candidates, and makes the argument that hiring someone with a light work history is a better investment than someone who has been around for a while “and has the battle scars.”

This isn’t just culturally – Williams said a young, relatively inexperienced employee that you take a chance on might want to stick around for a long time. They won’t have bad habits to unlearn, possess the passion to learn more, and may even bring a higher amount of loyalty. Speaking purely budget-wise, someone with less experience but willing to jump right in may be fine with a lower salary than an industry veteran with a long track record and higher financial requirements.

A big pro of hiring someone right out of an accredited school is that they will likely have the latest educational training. This isn’t just programming languages, which can be self-taught, but hopefully the faculty will share practical ways to use them and evaluate that the student adequately learned them.

Modern academic programs should also require more than theories – there may be guest instructors from local companies or advisory boards of local tech pros that can share what skills are most prized, and guide the faculty in curriculum planning. The academic program may even require an internship to complete the degree or certificate program, which can provide some professional exposure but still be part of the course load.

Airbrake, an application that provides error tracking, said in its blog that start-ups especially could benefit from bringing in someone with little experience, much more so than someone with a long resume. Since start-ups usually have a brand-new team trying to get everything up and running fast and figure out creative solutions, someone more seasoned could even cause more harm than good. They might be guilty of saying “can’t do it” too often or not want to move at the same pace as everyone else.

Longtime developers may beg to differ with this entire premise, since they certainly want to feel valued and that their years of on-the-job and academic training have been worthwhile financially and creatively. There certainly are opportunities where this experience can be an asset.

Companies would benefit from partnering junior and senior developers together – the veteran can share some of the “stuff you won’t learn in school” and the newcomer can pass on the most current knowledge. Or, they can head back to school themselves to keep current and show employers that they’re willing to start over.