General Tech and Hiring Trends in Colorado

Thanks for checking out this blog post! To give a bit of background, I (Kevin Doran) am one of the co-founders of Code Talent, and we started in early 2012 and have helped companies find the technical talent they need to grow, and on the other flip side of the coin find awesome jobs for software engineers, designers, and all kinds of roles at (mainly Denver area) tech companies from CTO’s to sales.

The Denver Devs slack channel expressed some interest in hearing about what I’m seeing in the great Denver area market, so I thought I’d throw it in a blog and see if it’s interesting. If it is I’ll try and make it a monthly feature. Please let me know your feedback on what type of stuff you’d like to hear about or if it’s worthless junk my skin is thick enough to enjoy that feedback as well J

None of this is particularly scientific, and has a tilt toward startups, although some of our startup clients from six years ago are now publicly traded or very large companies. This isn't meant to be anything more than what I'm seeing.

·      Where did PHP go?? We’ve traditionally loved working with PHP shops, and the first major meetup group we got involved was the Front Range PHP User Group (shoutout Dave, Xander, and about 50 other folks who we’ve built relationships with through the years!). These days it seems like PHP has all but disappeared from companies building large scale applications. We have a few clients left, but for the most part it seems a lot of companies have moved to Node or other newer languages. PHP is still pretty common in digital agency type companies, either raw or using Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla, etc

·      Python is back! A lot of companies are using Python for data work, but a recent trend we’ve seen is a few awesome new clients using Python for actual application development.

·      Developers love Vue.js – I’ve talked to a ton of front end focused developers in the last few months who love Vue.js. It sounds like a great framework to use for certain types of applications and a fun one to code on a daily basis. It seems companies haven’t started using en masse yet, but I’m sure it will happen sooner than later as a lot of folks want to work with it.

·      React is the most used JavaScript framework for new UI Development – Again, this isn’t scientific at all, but I think React has passed Angular as far as companies using it. They are very close

·      Speaking of Angular, 2+ is a lot more popular among developers – We have a few clients using AngularJS and there is a lot of people who only want to work with Angular 2+ and Angular 4/5. A lot of upgrades are happening from AngularJS to the newer ones.

·      Big Data is getting bigger – Almost every industry can use data to improve their business, so there is a race to build out software to work with the big data. Both Data Scientists and Data Engineers to build out data pipelines. Python seems to be a popular language to build tools to leverage the data and R and SQL are the big ones to sort and analyze it.

·      Salaries are going up! – Compensation has gone up even over the last few years for mid to senior level engineers. It seems to even be keeping pace with the crazy housing market.

·      California companies are opening Colorado Engineering offices – As crazy at the demand for mid to senior level software engineers is here in Colorado, it’s even worse in California. A huge number of Bay Area and Los Angeles based companies are opening engineering offices in Boulder and Denver to take advantage of the awesome engineers living out here. There are the big names like Amazon, Twitter and Facebook but a lot of less widely known yet still fairly large and prominent companies. It’s happening enough to definitely be considered a trend!

·      Awesome community – Per capita, Colorado probably has the most engaged community in tech in the country. From Denver Startup Week (https://www.denverstartupweek.org/) to a monthly meetup focused on just about any topic you could want to the awesome Denver Devs slack channel  (https://denverdevs.org/#/) there a ton of awesome people looking to help each other.

I hope this is helpful somewhat and I’d love any feedback you have. The best way to reach me is email, kevin@code-talent.com. Thanks!

Why Code Talent is the Top Technical Talent Agency in Denver—Written By a Former Intern

**This article is written from the point of view of a former intern and marketing manager at Code Talent. The writer has never done recruiting work for the firm and no longer works at Code.

01. Code is Small

The Code Talent team consists of 8 recruiters and an operations manager. Only 8 recruiters. This ensures that either you as a job seeker or your company gets treated like family. No assistants to patch you through, hundreds of recruiters hounding you, or corporate processes slowing you down. The recruiters here don't forget names, they know their clients well, and they know how to treat people throughout the hiring process. You'll always be able to contact your recruiter when needed, and get the information you need when you need it. 

02. Code is Well-Connected 

The recruiters at Code Talent know the Denver tech scene like the back of their hand. With some recruiters logging over 15+ years in the industry, the networks and relationships Code has with the entire Denver tech community is strong and developed.

The diversity of clients in the agency is also a major factor. Code works with some of the oldest, most established companies in the city, while also working with some of the coolest up-and-coming startups. No matter what position you or your company is looking for, Code Talent's connections and deep roots in the Denver community can help find the perfect fit. 

Partner Conor Swanson talking with Twitter. 

03. Code Knows Technology

Recruiters at Code Talent don't just throw around keywords in hopes of finding something. They actually know their stuff. All of the recruiters at Code have a deep understanding of the positions and skills for tech workers. Some employees even worked at their own tech startups before coming to Code, others have taken the time to learn and understand languages and skillsets. Either way, you're getting a knowledgeable technical recruiter who knows what they're talking about—not just throwing the word "JavaScript" around. 

Thanks to @nginx @CodeTechTalent and everyone who showed up to last night's meetup! Great turnout and an interesting talk #Microservices pic.twitter.com/0rXGlS3D8J

— Denver Microservices (@decouplers) August 24, 2017

04. Code Cares About a Good Candidate Experience 

Candidate experience is the way job seekers experience an employers' sourcing, recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding process. Here at Code, recruiters are with their candidates every step of the way, and do their best to ensure a positive experience—whether the candidate was hired or not. Code works hard to find the right people in the right way, update candidates and companies with information as timely as possible, and give constructive feedback to candidates to improve their next interview experience. 

Creating a Better Candidate Experience: Interview Feedback.

NEW on the blog: https://t.co/xgVCldxaH5

— CodeTalent (@CodeTechTalent) October 19, 2017

05. Code Loves Denver 

From hosting dozens of meetups every month, to organizing Denver Startup Week, to meeting with important tech leaders in the community, Code Talent goes above and beyond to stay connected with Denver as a whole. Recruiters are not only constantly sharing new and exciting news about Denver with each other and their networks, but they're also out in the community participating and supporting the growing ecosystem. To top it off, Code's work with startups in the community help them find the right employees to grow and be successful.