Tech giants with deep pockets often dominate the recruitment race for top engineers. It’s no secret that enormous salaries and enticing perks are regularly thrown around by big players, but that doesn’t mean smaller and midsize tech companies are out of the game. In fact, by honing in on what really matters to engineers, these companies can level the playing field without having to break the bank.
In this article, I’ll explore practical strategies that founders and recruiters at small to midsize tech firms can implement to compete in the battle for top engineering talent.
What do Engineers Value When Choosing Roles?
To begin with, it’s important to understand that not all engineers are motivated by salary alone. There are many top-tier engineering professionals that are motivated by a desire for problem-solving, innovation, continuous learning, and the opportunity to make a real impact. There can be other motivating factors that can influence an engineer’s career choices, like work-life balance and cultural fit.
In general, larger companies might be able to offer larger salaries, but working there usually means that engineers will need to work within existing systems and teams, which reduces the opportunity for innovation and the recognition of individual contributions. Larger companies might also be less willing to allow for work flexibility that an engineer could be looking for.
Smaller companies offer engineers an opportunity to stand out, and even play a hand in shaping the processes and tools being used to suit their preferred ways of working. The greater flexibility and agility of smaller companies also offers more scope for flexible hours to support work-life balance.
Now, this doesn’t mean top engineering talent will be willing to work for nothing. You’ll still need to offer salary packages that are at least livable, and are preferably competitive. But, by emphasizing the benefits they can receive by working in your company that larger companies usually can’t offer, and being smart with who you target for recruitment, you can secure top engineering talent.
Leveraging Small Company Advantages
There are several advantages to a role in a smaller company that you can leverage to attract top engineering talent. A lot of this is related to flexibility and control in ways of working. The rigidity of larger companies means that individual engineers will likely have to use established processes and tools that might not be to their preference.
In a smaller company, you can provide the room for your engineering talent to use their own preferred approaches.
Fast-track Progression
One of the most significant is fast-tracked career growth. In a small or midsize tech firm, the path from junior roles to leadership positions is often much shorter compared with larger organizations that have more layered and slower-moving hierarchies.
Direct Project Ownership
While in larger companies, engineers are often just one part of an extensive team, which usually doesn’t give them much opportunity to stand out and get recognition for their contributions. In a smaller team, engineers can work on entire projects from start to finish, giving them the autonomy to innovate and make decisions that directly influence the product’s direction.
This not only gives them more control over how they approach projects, but they can also see directly how their work makes an immediate, visible impact.
Techstack Control
Small tech firms can often be more agile when it comes to technology stacks. For engineers, there’s plenty of appeal to having complete flexibility to choose, experiment with, and implement their preferred technologies since they won’t necessarily be constrained by legacy systems.
Tactical Strategies to Attract Top Talent
Turning unique advantages into tangible recruitment strategies involves a few key tactical approaches.
Develop Your Employer Brand
Even if your company doesn’t have the deep pockets of the giants, you can still convey a compelling story that showcases your mission, values, and culture. Your website and social media platforms should tell the story of how your firm is innovating, growing, and nurturing its employees.
It’s about creating a narrative that emphasizes the opportunity for fast-tracked growth, the excitement of working on impactful projects, and a culture that values collaboration and innovation. Transparency about these aspects builds credibility and trust with potential hires.
Employee Advocacy
Word of mouth can do wonders. Engineers will listen to other engineers if they recommend your company as a great place to work. That’s why you must empower your current engineers to become brand ambassadors. Their testimonials, success stories, and genuine enthusiasm about the work environment can significantly influence the decision-making process of prospective candidates.
When talented individuals hear firsthand accounts of how their peers have rapidly advanced or taken on influential roles in your company, it acts as a powerful motivator. Instead of relying solely on compensation figures, encourage your employees to share their experiences on platforms like LinkedIn or during industry events to build a grassroots reputation for your company as a place where engineers thrive.
Offer Alternative Compensation Packages
While you may not be able to match the sky-high salaries of the tech giants, you can offer innovative perks that appeal directly to what engineers value.
Profit-sharing plans, realistic equity options, or performance-based incentives can create a strong sense of ownership.
Extended research time, where engineers are encouraged to pursue their own projects or learn new skills, can foster continuous innovation and further their professional growth.
Other attractive benefits such as flexible work schedules, remote work options, generous paid time off, and unique perks like wellness programs or work-from-home budgets show that you care about your employees’ work-life balance and their holistic well-being.
Optimizing the Recruitment Process
Your recruitment process itself can play an important role in attracting top-tier engineering talent. You want a process that balances efficiency while still being personable to give you as much opportunity to show why you’re a great place to work. Relying heavily on automated systems can leave candidates feeling like just another number or trying to game your applicant tracking systems. Instead, focus on genuine human interactions that give lots of opportunity to show your brand’s winning personality and how much you value candidates.
Throughout the recruitment process, emphasize the aspects of your company that make it an attractive place to work over a larger firm, like cultural fit, flexibility, and fast-tracked career progression. Give them pride of place in your job descriptions and throughout the interview process.
You can use the interviews as an opportunity to share stories of how team members have grown from the benefits you provide. Ideally, you want those people in the room themselves to present a relatable, human face, and let the candidate discuss things with them directly. When candidates see that your organization offers a dynamic, collaborative environment that rewards initiative, they’re more likely to invest emotionally in the opportunity and overlook higher salaries from bigger firms.
Finally, to ensure you’re only bringing in the best of the best, incorporate capability tests and real-world problem-solving exercises into your recruitment strategy. Give them interesting examples of the types of work they’ll be doing and emphasize how important that type of work is to your organization.
You could set them a coding challenge, or ask their viewpoints on how to enhance your processes, like improving your datafeed management, or their perspectives on sustainability initiatives. These assessments allow candidates to showcase their technical strengths and demonstrate hands-on competency. These approaches also allow you to explore candidates who might be highly talented, but don’t have much on-the-job experience.
Retention Strategies: Keeping Your Top Engineers
Attracting top talent is only half the battle: you’ve also got to retain them. Once you’ve convinced a highly sought-after engineer to join your team, it’s essential to deliver on the promises made during recruitment. Consistently providing challenging, innovative projects that align with their career goals will help in keeping them engaged over the long term.
If you’ve promised a culture of continuous learning, regular feedback, mentorship, and opportunities for professional development, you’d better deliver. A positive and inclusive work environment, where every team member feels valued and part of a community, goes a long way toward ensuring retention.
Conclusion
Ultimately, hiring top-tier engineers isn’t just about paying higher salaries; it’s about offering what the giants can’t: a personalized, flexible, and engaging work environment that enables real growth and measurable impact.
This means investing in your company’s culture and development potential, streamlining your processes, and consistently delivering on your promises to your teams. With these strategies, smaller companies can not only attract the best engineering talent but also retain them.
