According to an article by Jen Dewar on Glassdoor, most companies look at about 120 candidates before finding one software engineer to hire.
Why must they consider so many people?
And if recruiters are looking at so many applicants, how would you stand out in such a large crowd?
Unfortunately, even the best developers can be overlooked in such a hiring system. This is because recruiters often mistake their assignment. Instead of seeking the best person for the job, they look for the person with the most relevant experience, the most education, or the most accomplishments.
If you are lucky enough to get an interview, you may also be judged by your social skills and self-presentation—something that has very little to do with the actual job. You may also be given a technical test which will weed out the lowest scoring applicants. Such tests often fail to identify the best candidate, instead highlighting applicants who excel at test-taking, who are quick thinkers (though, perhaps, not very thorough), and who happen to have the same perspective as the test creator.
At the end of their process, conventional recruiters may end up with a real superstar. But more likely they will end up with a mediocre developer who looks great on paper, interviews well, and got lucky on the test.
Even if the chosen candidate is amazing, how can a recruiter know that they will be a good fit personality-wise? There are numerous types of developer jobs out there.
The new job may entail:
- Working alone for long periods of time
- Working closely with other developers
- Mediating conflicts
- Frequently communicating with non-developers about the nature of a project
- Supervising other developers and checking their work
- Routine maintenance
- Intense problem solving
- Abstract thinking
- Organization and documentation
No single individual will be able to excel in every area. Many recruiters use a time-honored and traditional method when looking for personality fit—they go with their gut and make their best guess.
Some even ignore the issue altogether, believing that it is the new hire’s responsibility to adapt to whatever the work involves.
In reality, people do not work that way. If a new employee is required to do a task regularly that they are markedly uncomfortable with, problems are bound to occur.
At Paladin & Archer, we don’t need to examine the resumes of 120 applicants to fill a software development position. Our rate is a little better than that.
On average, we only need to examine 6 people who have completed the application before we find one who is a great fit as a DevOps Engineer. Doesn’t 1 out of 6 sound a lot better than 1 out of 120? 
How can we do this?
Through our instruments, we can identify a good match earlier than others. A good software developer will not get lost in a morass of applicants. We take into account the whole person, including their quirks and non-technical qualities. We measure personality and temperament attributes to see how well a candidate’s profile matches the optimal specs for the role we are hiring, based on our research.
Our primary instrument, a questionnaire called the Trait Spectrum, is based on personality traits identified by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. By measuring the magnitude of each personality trait, we are able to use a visualization tool called the SPHERE to map out an area of natural ability for each candidate and determine how comfortable he or she would be in a particular role.
Take the Trait Spectrum and discover your placement in the SPHERE. To do so, just contact us at support@developerlevel.com. We’ll be happy to show you the ropes. Once you know yourself better, we can teach you how to be happier in your own skin and maximize your potential.