Why you should hire junior and graduate developers

Thu Aug 25 2022

Many companies are competing to hire from a limited pool of senior developers. I think they should be shifting their focus to hiring more junior and graduate developers. Here's why:

1. Quick to learn

Since they're freshly out of education, graduates are used to learning new skills and information quickly. They're usually eager to learn and great at absorbing information.

2. Fast

Juniors often deliver work quickly because they don't consider all the what-ifs that seniors would. This can be super useful to produce prototypes, MVPs, etc. quickly.

When these considerations become necessary, it is easy enough for a senior to review and help refactor their code.

3. Engaged and creative

Juniors are often very engaged and eager to show off their skills at their first jobs. Since they don't have as much experience with existing solutions, they will often come up with creative solutions that seniors perhaps wouldn't have considered.

4. Strong theoretical knowledge

Recent graduates still have theoretical computer science knowledge fresh in their minds. Their knowledge can be useful to build solutions that require a strong theoretical foundation, like cryptography, machine learning, blockchain algorithms, etc.

5. Fun and curious

Juniors often bring a fresh perspective and positive attitude because they're not yet as jaded by the workplace as some of us older folks can be.

6. Soon, they won't be junior anymore

Within a year or two, given the proper training and support, your juniors won't be juniors anymore. You'll have a bunch of intermediates on your team who would've been hard to hire otherwise.

Treat them right over time and they will rise to become your seniors and team leads with lots of experience within your company and with your specific tech stack.