Dev recruiting: “suits to hoodies ratio”

Almost every startup I advise or invested in needs help with recruiting technical talent, the people who build products.

I can (and probably will) write several posts on this topic. But here’s one very concrete, easy tip you can use to help your technical recruiting. I call this the “suits to hoodies ratio.”

When considering how to find engineers, spend your time at low “suits to hoodies ratio” events / locations / activities.

(Or, alternatively, a high “hoodies to suits ratio.”) The more suits, the worse your odds.

To be clear: I’m using “suits” and “hoodies” to represent roles or personality types, not genders or other such groupings. All of this applies equally to women, men, various minorities, etc. For example “suit” might be a pantsuit, skirt suit, traditional suit, any formal clothing. Whereas “hoodie” might be a t-shirt or another very casual article.

XKCD hoodie, which you can buy at their excellent stre.

Another example of “hoodies,” which hopefully makes the meaning clear. Count(suits) == 0. From the excellent #ILookLikeAnEngineer hashtag, by Hackbright Academy.

This is as simple as it sounds. Look for meetups or other events where the number of people in hoodies is much larger than the number of people in suits. At the very least, go to those events. Ideally, go present something, give a talk, contribute code, or otherwise help the community.

Here’s an example of an upcoming local meetup with a good ratio for recruiting purposes: Boston AWS Group. Here’s one that’s less likely to be useful, though otherwise it looks awesome, fun, entertaining, and delicious: IDEATE meetup.

The 5 on the left: “suits.” 2 on the right: “hoodies.” “Casual” is border-line. Image from realmenrealstyle.com. While this example shows men, again this is not gender-specific. Just an illustration of formality.

Please do not go in a suit and just throw money at the event. Sponsorships are fine as an extra, in addition, but not as your main recruiting tool.

I’m sure there are some exceptions to this guideline, e.g. if you’re recruiting people who have to wear suits to work every day.

Years ago, I thought this goes without saying, but having seen numerous unfortunate attempts, I’ll be explicit: please don’t simply ditch your suit for a hoodie for the evening. It doesn’t get you credibility. You’re doing yourself and your company damage that way :) Send people who wear hoodies most of the time.

Note: I have nothing against suits and dressing up in general. This is about knowing your audience for effective recruiting.