Good programmers are more like artists than sweatshop workers. If we are serious about recruiting good programmers, we should not treat them like sweatshop workers.

An employment is somewhat like a marriage. The relationship starts by finding a partner on a dating/job listing site or through the referral of a trusted friend. After that, you start dating/interviewing. After a period of dating/interviewing, you end up writing a marriage/employment contract.

One of the keys to a successful dating/interviewing is for it to be reciprocal. You tell me something about you and I tell you something about me. We both spend time together.

Some, mostly bigger, companies forget the reciprocal part. For them, it is all about efficient selection, like they are buyers on some kind of slave market. “Send us your resume. Fill out this form. Do this task.” They forget about courting the future employee and inspiring them to join.

They forget about courting the future employee and inspiring them to join.

At every step in our recruiting process, we should not only think about what new information we will get about the candidate, but we should also think hard about what the candidate will learn about us. If we don’t, we will likely end up losing the best, most qualified, and most attractive candidates. It is, after all, an employee’s market.