Neil O'Connor
- Pronouns: He/Him
- Talk Length: 60 minute
CTO secrets: How to get the best companies fighting to hire you
As a CTO, I spend a lot of my time hiring talent and building high performance development teams. I have hired hundreds of software professionals over the years, and I still insist on interviewing every candidate personally. I think I’ve got a pretty good hit rate: my teams have all had great reputations in their local tech community, and I would rehire - in a heartbeat - almost everyone I’ve hired in the past.
It’s never been a better time to be working in the software industry. Your skills are in demand, but that doesn’t mean that everyone gets to work on the coolest tech in the most forward thinking companies. How do you set yourself apart from the crowd and get those companies falling over themselves to hire you?
In this session, I’ll share some of my secrets about what I look for in candidates. What is it that makes a candidate stand out? What do I look for in their CV? What is it about how they approach the interview or the technical assessment that impresses me? How important is formal education? What do I look for in how the candidate spends their spare time?
One myth to clear up right here: not everyone has to be a “rockstar developer”. I look for a balanced mix of skills in every candidate, and I’m often much more impressed by the quiet one who has demonstrated great judgment, insight or a capacity to learn. To continue the rockstar analogy, I’d much rather hire the reliable drummer or the skilful backing singer over the egotistical and unpredictable frontman!
This session will offer clear, practical advice on how you can maximise your personal value in the industry. Some of it will be quick and easy to achieve, while some of it will require you to make longer term changes to your mindset. But whether you are an old hand eyeing your next career move, or you are looking for your first job in the industry, there will be something in this talk for you.
About Neil
CTO at Koodoo, a Nottingham-based fintech in the Blenheim Chalcot group
Neil has been building forward-thinking development teams since 1862. He was founding CTO at local companies Koodoo and Oakbrook Finance, and has worked in a wide array of techie roles in numerous industries. He believes that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right, and aims to create environments where development teams can excel at what they do best.