Fikr Talks - What Hiring Managers look for when Hiring Software Engineers - Mukhtar Hakaale
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What Hiring Managers Look for When Hiring Software Engineers was the topic of a Fikrcamp Talks event that took place on Sunday, August 7, 2022. — The main goal of the event was to provide a sense of awareness about the technology and skill trends of the market and to provide the community and students of Fikrcamp software development with the most crucial criteria for selecting applicants for software development employment.
The guest speaker of the event was Mukhtar Hakaale who is a seasoned veteran in the software development sector, he is the Director of Som Digital Solutions a software development and consultancy company in Hargeisa. He has previously worked for Somtel as the Software Development Manager and before that served Dahabshiil as a senior engineering manager. He obviously has a lot of experience in the area of hiring software developers both at his previous roles and at Som Digital Solutions CEO, which makes him the right person to speak about the topic.
The event started off with an introductions and welcome from Fikrcamp’s product manager and co-founder Ridwan Tukale who has set the scene and welcomed the participants and both the speaker.
Mukhtar then took over the event and presented his thoughts, experience and insights from the most important aspects that eases his decision making process when hiring software developers. He mentioned five important points including.
1. Updating your core skills often and easily
Hakaale mentioned that he himself had to close the skill gap when he graduated from university to learn more relevant skills in the field of software development. Hakaale emphasized that once a candidates displays that he is continuously improving his/her skills and is willing to adapt new environment and technologies guarantees him/her a solid consideration.
2. Learn the necessary software developer skills
Mukhtar remarked on that the selection process does not only involve selecting candidates based on their technical skills but on their analytical skills, comprehension, problem solving and communication skills with a special emphasis on collaboration and critical thinking skills that goes a long way in the development of a engineer — “A candidates needs to asses himself/herself all the time to recognize gaps in their overall skills and plan on how to improve areas that needs enhancements” Says Mukhtar Hakaale.
3. Build an active portfolio of projects
Mukhtar put emphasis on displaying your problem solving and technical skills through projects you have developed and published on Github and or personal sites. This proves to whoever is hiring you to make a calculated decision and give a hint of what you are capable of in terms of pushing the commercial aspiration
4. Tap into the professional platforms
Make use of the important social media platforms for professional networking to share your work, display your experiences and connect with other professionals who can help you navigate the job markets.
5. Always update your CV
CV is what gets your foot in the door and from there on you get to prove your worth and value, but without an updated and solid CV you will not make the cut.
The session was then followed up by and Q&A session in a participatory way, the participants took part of the discussions and asked their questions, the talk was then concluded with a networking session over tea.
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