Software Engineer: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a software engineer?

Software engineers design software, but they are also responsible for modifying existing software. Often entering the field with a background in maths, science or software-related degrees, they also require experience with coding languages and applications like C++ and Java. They are an essential, specialist asset to your company if you are looking to create an app for your company, are designing games or are looking to develop and maintain a website. They are different from software developers in that they apply engineering principles to the development and testing of software, usually working as part of a team.

Qualities of a great software engineer:

• Proven experience of troubleshooting complex IT system issues
• Keeps your website and content up to date
• Designs and modifies apps in a way that makes your company more user-friendly to customers and clients

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance software engineer

Whether you should recruit a software engineer on a contract basis or full-time permanent basis depends on what kind of company you run. It is a good idea to identify your needs first, so that you can save time and money sourcing the right software engineer for the job. 

Full-time and freelance software engineers have differing role expectations, in that you will probably only recruit a freelance software engineer for the completion of a specific project. However, the downside of a freelance software engineer is that if there are any future issues, they may no longer be available to help fix them if they are contracted to another company by this point. Therefore, you should consider carefully whether a permanent or freelance software engineer is right for you at the outset.

What are the different types of software engineer?

What kind of software engineer you choose to recruit will depend on the nature of the project that you are looking to complete, as well as the kind of company that you are. If you are looking to build, update and maintain a company website, you should ideally consider a software engineer who has chosen to specialise in web development.

If you run a games company, you will need to find games designers with proven experience of storytelling and designing engaging gaming systems. If you are looking to collect, use and base predictions on customer data, you may be looking to recruit a CRM project manager.

• Games Designer: Games designers help you to build gaming systems using pre-existing models, or from scratch.
• CRM Project Manager: CRM project managers help collate and analyse customer data, building systems and apps to collect such data.
• Web Developer: Using web coding tools, web developers help design and build interactive, reliable websites for your company.
• Front-end Engineer: They design, build and outline digital user interface experiences for your customers.
• Full-stack Engineer: These professionals work within the server side of your applications, building and debugging your software, and writing clean code for your software.

Where to find a software engineer?

To find the right software engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Local social media groups: You can post a job advertisement linking back to your website on social media groups for software engineering. This way, you get direct access to a large pool of workers who already specialise in this field, and you can avoid confusion regarding what the role entails, so you are less likely to get applicants who are not a good fit for the role.
• Word of mouth: It is a good idea to discuss your opening with your current IT department or software engineering team, to source personal recommendations. 
• Tech developer website listings: You can find world-class talent by posting advertisements on popular tech developer websites.
• Creating an advertisement/job description on your company website: When posting job advertisements on other websites, you can link back to a broader job description on your company website.

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a software engineer on Indeed to find and attract quality software engineer candidates.

Skills to look for in a great software engineer

A great candidate for a software engineer role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• technical know-how
• attention to detail
• adaptability
• business acumen
• curiosity
• lifelong learning

Writing a software engineer job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified software engineer candidates. A software engineer job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your job description for a software engineer, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for software engineers, according to Indeed data:

• software developer
• software engineer
• graduate software developer
• developer
• software
• graduate software engineer
• java developer
• python developer

Interviewing software engineer candidates

Strong candidates for software engineer positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• experience of building applications
• troubleshooting
• customer service and communication with clients
• business background
• interest in your company

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of software engineer interview questions for examples (with sample answers).