Dive Brief:
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A new study found young developers need a better way to connect to potential employers beyond the traditional method of searching job sites and filling out job applications.
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The survey of more than 1,700 student developers, conducted at hackathons by Devpost, found three common problems for job-seekers: an absence of information about good opportunities, job applications that don't accurately portray the actual job, and poor interview processes.
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Many student developers are finding alternative ways to hunt for jobs, such as going to hackathons or doing an internship.
Dive Insight:
Companies looking to hire IT talent may want to rethink how they are going about it.
"If you really want to recruit developers, that information has to come from developers," said Brandon Kessler, Devpost's CEO.
The study found that when it comes to developers, skills and projects are often more important than where they went to school.
According to a 2016 developer survey from Stack Overflow, 69% of today’s developers are primarily self-taught and do not hold computer science degrees.
The shortage of tech skills is an issue with real bottom-line impacts as practically every company effectively becomes a technology company. A recent report from Appirio and Wakefield Research found that a shortage of IT talent often prevents businesses from meeting their IT goals.