The Case: Hiring a New Employee, What Really Matters?
In our company, everything revolves around creating software. We provide Software as a Service, also known as SaaS. In the early years, we came up with almost all new features ourselves. But with the growth in the number of customers, new ideas increasingly come from our customers. These ideas come in through sales, support, implementations, webinars, birthday parties, and so on. We collect all new features in Github (a development platform) and have weekly meetings to prioritize and assign them to the developers. Developers regularly have contact with the customers for whom they create software. So, within Payt, we are looking for developers who also enjoy communicating with customers and see it as an addition to their development work.
Currently, we have a vacancy for a senior frontend developer. Last month, a young guy applied, who graduated a year and a half ago. Everything was perfect; he is smart, has relevant experience, and is driven, we were all for it. Two developers with 20 years of relevant experience had already spoken to him and were enthusiastic. He had knowledge of all the software we use and also of new software that we are not yet using.
Our recruiter had conducted the first intake. She was also very enthusiastic. But something had stuck with her. He placed a lot of importance on the ‘senior’ label. Enough for a third interview. Soon the discussion was about where he should be. Not about the content, but about the stripes, salary demands, and outshining people with less knowledge. The litmus test was passed.
We slept on it, but I feel in every way that we shouldn’t do it. At Payt, the person with the most relevant knowledge decides. And above all, we do it together. With a heavy heart, we let this opportunity pass. It’s more important to keep the team together and let them work in harmony. No important new force can change that.
And what happens next to my great surprise? Within 24 hours of such a painful decision, a developer calls on her own to ask if she can now come work with us. She now has three years of experience and indicates that she is, of course, not yet a senior, but thinks she can grow a lot with us. Hired within two days. Wonderful!
Do you also want to work with us? Check out our open vacancies.
