OfferZen’s innovative platform – a marketplace for companies to hire top software developers – supports long-term satisfaction for both parties, at a time when there is a great demand for software developer skills. By Staff Reporter
Online recruitment marketplace OfferZen, recently achieved and surpassed the milestone of 250 companies actively hiring software developers through their platform, having averaged 40% compounded growth each month since its launch twelve months ago. OfferZen is now placing one developer into a permanent position every day.
OfferZen was launched in November 2015 after South African brothers Malan and Philip Joubert returned from Silicon Valley, where they had been working with South African startup Journey Apps on developing successful mobile solution, Apps Against Ebola, built to aid in the fight against Ebola in West-Africa.
Having learnt a lot from Silicon Valley, where software developers are the centre of innovation, they sought ways to apply their insights back home in Cape Town. They settled on an online marketplace for companies to hire top developers. Brett Jones, a compsci graduate with 10 years experience in the recruitment space, joined their team and together they launched OfferZen.
Software developers who are looking for new opportunities complete a profile on the OfferZen website. They are then taken in hand by a Talent Advisor who has insight into the market and the hiring processes of the companies on OfferZen, who helps the developer to negotiate their salary, prepare for the interview and understand how to sell themselves best. Talent advisors are different from recruiters because they don’t receive commission, ensuring their incentives are aligned with the software developer.
To ensure that only top tech businesses and startups are utilising the platform, OfferZen curates which companies get access. One year into operation, OfferZen’s clients now include big-name companies like Barclays, GetSmarter, Takealot, Zappi, Superbalist, Allan Gray, RhinoAfrica and 24.com.
“We wanted to provide a platform where software developers can find meaningful work that pays well. We flip the normal recruitment model around, so instead of applying for jobs, companies send you interview requests with upfront salary,” says Philip. “The
advantage of receiving interview requests with the salary offered upfront is that the developers don’t spend valuable time interviewing with companies that can’t afford them.”
The OfferZen team understands that developers want transparency, not just about how much money they are going to make, but also what the tech stack that they are going to be using is, the learning opportunities they’ll have and what the mission of the company is. “They like to know that their work is going to have meaningful impact, and that they won’t be just another cog in the wheel,” Philip adds.
On the flipside companies don’t spend valuable time interviewing potential employees that are outside of their pay range. Essentially, developers are matched with employers based on their needs and mutual compatibility in a number of different metrics.
“We’ve been really excited by this exceptional growth in such a short period of time,” says Malan. “OfferZen has done really well through word-of-mouth – people and companies love the service and they are telling others about it.”
The testimonials of the developers using OfferZen highlight the speed, functionality and accuracy of the placement process.
“Within two weeks I have a job with a company that I believe in and doing work that I love. I would recommend OfferZen to anyone,” says Greg Newman, who was hired by HealthQ.
And Sandile Ximba, who was hired by SweepSouth, says, “OfferZen provides exactly what it promises; a hassle-free experience and the easiest way to find a suitable job. I would recommend OfferZen over anything else out there.”
The Joubert brothers and Jones have launched their company at an optimal time. The mid-year Career Junction index showed that the IT industry has the highest demand within the South African job market – with a vacancy rate of almost 30%. The index reported that programmers and software developers were at the forefront of market demand.
Cisco estimates that South Africa needs between 30 000 and 70 000 skilled employees in the IT sector – positions that are not being filled by sufficient numbers of graduates. WeThinkCode has sought to address this shortage by training young people to become world-class software engineers. Progress though this may be, the fact remains that there are many current positions still to be filled.
“This is what makes our role so crucial,” continues Malan. “We ensure that the companies signed up with us are top-level employers, so that software developers can be sure that they are finding the best jobs that are out there and the companies are finding the best software developers available to them.”
Sourcing highly skilled talent is proving to be a challenge for many companies and shortage of skills is a contributing obstacle. Top software developers can have a significant impact on a company’s ability to innovate, and OfferZen provides a quality pipeline of high-calibre talent into a market that sorely needs it.
- Photo Credit: OfferZen FB page – SnapScan offices
