How to engage the best candidates? How to attract and hire top talent? What do top developers want?

If you want to hire the best, you need to understand your audience. You need to step into their shoes for a moment. Let’s take software engineers as an example. If you speak to them they will often tell you that they have turned off email notifications, don’t share their regular email and generally get approached a lot regarding new job opportunities making them see it as an annoyance.

So if you post boring job descriptions with a list of must have skills, the best people won't care. If you force people to complete a self assessment, the best people will close that browser window before you even have a chance to talk with them. If your hiring managers don’t prepare for interviews or know how to engage, actively listen, and pitch your business as well as vision you won't convince A-players to join you.

So what do you do?