Desired Qualifications Sought in Entry Level Software Engineers

Global demand for software engineers continues to strain the technology sector with unfilled software engineering positions and stiff competition for hiring developers who are on the market. To attract more candidates, technology firms have increasingly been working closely with universities to recruit new graduates to fill their jobs. Universities hoping to minimize mismatches in job placement for new software developers should teach the skills and attributes that enable entry-level software developers to succeed. This paper presents a case study of hiring demands at one large, well-established technology company that reveals the most sought-after attributes in new hires. We discuss results of our interviews with five software development hiring managers and the results from a wide survey of engineers and architects from various levels and experiences. The interviews and surveys reveal that some qualifications are widely desired, and others have varying demand based on functional area, technology, or type of development. Ultimately, professional skills (e.g., teamwork) and personality traits (e.g., strong initiative) top the list of desired attributes, along with a few fundamentally broad technical skills. One key takeaway is that candidates who learn professional skills from university programs may be more readily hired into their first software engineering job than those whose education focused mostly on technical areas.