Hiring software engineers for LendTech

When applying for jobs, most engineers don’t put much weight on the company’s industry.

Engineers care most about the role and tech stack.

Same about employers.

While prior industry experience is nice to have, it’s usually far down the list of priorities when making a hiring decision.

Engineering leaders prioritise role competence and tech proficiency.

With neither engineers nor employers prioritising industry, does it even matter?

It does, but not in the way you think.

Let’s say you’re looking for a backend engineer in a Python stack.

Regardless of the company's industry, the fundamental skills required will be the same.

An engineer must be skilled in designing and implementing services, integrating APIs, and proficient in the Python stack.

Industry knowledge alone doesn't make engineers excel at their jobs.

Skilled engineers can usually pick up the business domain quickly.

However, when considering an engineer within the industry context, certain skills and experiences become more valuable than others.

Where does this difference come from?

The difference comes from what software engineers build.

Each industry has different software requirments.

For example, in the healthcare industry, it’s common to build telemedicine apps and work with HL7/FHIR integration.

In the lending industry, backend engineers often build Open Banking integrations.

Both require the same foundational skills, such as implementing SDKs and APIs, but each has its intricacies.

An engineer who has already integrated Open Banking providers will ramp up much faster at a lending company than someone who hasn’t.

Conversely, the same experience and skills won’t be as valuable to a healthcare company building a telemedicine app.

Does it mean that to find the best engineers, you need to hire for prior industry experience?

Not at all.

What matters is that the engineer has skills and experience that are valuable in the industry context.

Fortunately, those skills can be present regardless of the industry experience.

For example, Open Banking experience can come from engineers working at payments companies, accounting SaaS platforms, or banks.

Understanding the skills shaped by your industry context allows you to find the best talent for the technology that you’re building.

It’s hard to find the best talent when you don’t know what you’re looking for.