Motivations of Software Engineers and Developers

• Smaller companies can attract top software engineers and developers by highlighting some aspects that are important to them as most are looking for personal attention, the chance to make a real impact, the excitement to work with new technology, leaders who are developers/engineers, a strong developer culture within the company.
• All these aspects are not necessarily present at large tech companies and can be found in smaller ones.
• These need to find the right way to highlight them to potential employees in order to attract them.

Ways to Attract Top Engineers to Smaller Companies

• It is important for recruiters to essentially highlight the main aspects that makes the company unique or special to the potential recruits, in order to attract the ones that feel the most in line with these attributes and therefore can help keep the company keep them.
• When it comes to the interview process, it is crucial to formulate an offer rapidly and to facilitate the application process as top engineers are in demand and would have a choice between different offers. This would give them the opportunity to at least compare it to the ones they received from competitors.
• Assessing and discussing the cultural fit of potential new employees is another way to attract top candidates who might feel that they have more in common with the culture of a company compared to another one.
• Creating a career ladders document and sharing it with potential recruits would help them have a clear image of what it would take to progress up the ladder in the company and help them plan their career. 
• The company needs to have a visibility with a presence in local career fairs as well as philanthropic events that are in line with the company's mission and values.
• It also needs to have a presence on the major social media platforms in order to project its mission and values effectively.
• Companies that want to attract top engineering talent will have to work hard on their image, as employees tend to value working for a company that is respected for their social standing by their entourage. 
• This is especially true for millennial employees as they want their work to be meaningful. 
• In addition to a good reputation, companies can highlight in detail during the recruitment process the exciting problem or challenge that it is looking to solve, and the reason why it is looking for top engineers.