Hiring professionals know just how tough it is these days to hire and keep tech talent. In fact, around the world, employers in Asia report the most difficulty in attracting and retaining talent, according to a study by WillisTowersWatson. For those whose companies operate in specialised industries or emerging trends, hiring can be twice as hard.

To deal with the tech talent crunch, hiring professionals are getting creative—and personal. They recognize that mere job posts and online connections are not enough. Hiring professionals need to step out the door and into the spaces, where the talents they seek converge.

One effective way to do so is by attending industry events. For hiring professionals looking for developers, this means attending tech and development conferences, meetups, exhibitions, and related events.

Why Hiring Professionals Should Attend Developer Events

1. Staying updated on new advancements

Sometimes, the first time the industry hears about a breakthrough or a new tool is at a conference—especially one that involves research paper presentations.

Thought leaders also use these events to introduce revolutionary issues or present controversial opinions on an issue.

By learning about these, you can look for developers with skills and knowledge that are useful both for current and future trends.

2. Understanding developers’ challenges

You’ll know more about the difficulties developers face when you attend their events.

This knowledge will help you make an impression on developers—after all, hiring and job interviews are a two-way process—and shape a job offer that can help them overcome those challenges.

3. Forming personal connections

When people attend conferences, they’re typically hungry for new information and open to meeting new people. That’s where recruiters come in.

When you talk to developers during a networking session or a break in the talks, you have the chance to subtly weave your company’s working culture into the conversation.

4. Observing potential hires

Events that include workshops or team activities are a great way to observe a potential hire (don’t be creepy, of course!).

You can observe how the person works with a team, or even take note of the quality of questions he/she asks during talks. That’s a great way to get a sense of the person’s work ethic even before holding a formal interview.

Developer Events in Singapore in 2019

Are you ready for next year’s recruitment drive? Take note of developer events happening around the country, and identify those you need to attend.

We will be updating this list as more developer events in Singapore are confirmed, so watch this space!

Microsoft Ignite

Date: 16 to 17 January 2019

Location: Marina Bay Sands

Registration is free for this event, which targets developers and tech professionals. With more than 100 deep-dive sessions and workshops at Microsoft Ignite, you’ll be facing a large pool of potential hires.

EmTech Asia

Date: 22 to 23 January 2019

Location: Marina Bay Sands

Start the year by meeting influential tech innovators, scientists, and business leaders. Around 1,000 participants are expected to join.

IIER 578th International Conference on Advances in Business Management and Information Technology

Organizer: International Institute of Engineers and Researchers

Date: 2 to 3 February 2019

ICABMIT focuses on “novel and fundamental advances” in business management and IT. It draws engineers, scientists, and researchers.

International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Date: 12 to 15 February 2019

Location: Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay

ICEECS is an opportunity to meet respected scholars from around the world in the fields of electrical engineering and computer science.

5th International Conference on Virtual Reality

Date: 23 to 25 February

Location: NTU@one-north

This will be the first time Singapore hosts ICVR, which was held in the US, China, and Hong Kong in the last four years. The conference will include discussions on new developments in virtual reality. It will bring together domain experts, senior technical professionals, researchers, and academics.

DevSecCon Singapore

Date: 28 February to 1 March 2019

Location: Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre

Network with Development, DevOps and Security professionals at DevSecCon. If you don’t speak cybersecurity code, you can choose to attend the networking session on the first night instead.

2nd International Conference on Intelligent Autonomous Systems

Date: 28 February to 2 March 2019

Location: TBA

If you need to establish connections within the intelligent autonomous systems (IAS) industry, check out ICoIAS’2019. The event is billed as an interdisciplinary platform for discussing innovations, trends, and issues in IAS field—so expect to meet experts and highly engaged professionals.

494th International Conference on Internet Technologies and Society

Date: 2 to 3 March 2019

Location: Village Hotel Changi

ICITS is a platform for both practitioners and academicians to share their research findings with global experts. Students will also be participating—so if you’re on the hunt for interns or looking to groom students for future employment, ICITS may be the perfect opening.

FOSSAsia Open Tech Summit

Date: 14 to 17 March 2019

Location: Lifelong Learning Institute

FOSSAsia offers several tracks at this summit—AI, blockchain, cybersecurity, database, and more. The event aims to attract developers, startups, and contributors. Its previous events have attracted up to 3,000 attendees, around half of whom are women.

IoT Asia

Date: 27 to 28 March 2019

Location: Singapore Expo

The more niche and new the technology, the tougher it is to find talent. IoT Asia 2019 promises to bring together “technology heads, design / solution architects, [and] engineers” together in one place. This is your chance to meet IoT professionals with skills and knowledge in the areas of smart cities, AI, blockchain, data analytics, and industrial IoT.

Voxxed Days

Date: 30 to 31 May 2019

Location: Marina Bay Sands

You won’t want to miss Voxxed Days—this international conference is all about developers and their expertise. With an affordable ticket price and topics covering programming languages, big data, cloud infrastructure, and more, this event is designed to attract passionate and talented developers.

ConnecTech Asia

Date: 18 to 20 June 2019

Location: Marina Bay Sands

While this event is more of an exhibition—with over 1,700 exhibitors—it’s worth a visit if you’re hiring for tech management positions. Of the 40,000+ expected attendees from more than 100 countries, one-fourth hold C-level or senior management positions. Focused tracks will help you get a sense of attendees’ areas of expertise.

Seamless

Date: 26 to 27 June 2019

Location: Suntec Convention Centre

If your company is in the payments or e-commerce space, you might find a potential hire at Seamless. The show has eight events, each devoted to a specific niche—payments, e-commerce, retail, identity, banking, cards, fintech, and financial inclusion.

Industry of Things World Asia

Date: 10 to 12 July 2019

Location: Marina Bay Sands

If your company is part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, you’ll want to be at Industry of Things World Asia. Companies like Google, Procter & Gamble, Ford, and Coca-Cola have attended the event—so throw your hat in with the big guys and get your best networking game on. As a bonus, the event offers an AI-powered app that helps you establish connections with event attendees.

SaaStr | East

Date: 19 September 2019

Location: Marina Bay Sands

If you’re looking for a developer who lives and breathes SaaS, this is the perfect event to attend. More than 1,000 B2B founders, executives, and venture capitalists worldwide—especially from Asia Pacific—are expected to attend.

talk.js

Date: Monthly

The group GitHub group SingaporeJS is also active on Meetup. It already has monthly talks planned out for the entire 2019, but it’s best to check their Meetup page in case of changes. The meetups are opportunities to discuss “all things JavaScript, Node.js, and the modern web." Their GitHub page welcomes posts about job opportunities.

Over to you

While attending conferences can be time-consuming, you can make it worth your while as long as you come prepared.

Do research beforehand. If possible, identify potential hires before or on the first day of the event, and make a game plan for meeting as many possible, suitable candidates as possible.

Time to take out your calendar and save the dates.

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