We’ve spent the past six months building up our operations in the States, and the next time our US team head out to Miami, it’ll be on a one-way ticket.
We’ve gone back and forth over the pond a few times in the past 6-months, but our most recent visit was the best yet. We got our hands on the keys to our new Brickell office, took the chance to sit down with both clients and candidates, and immersed ourselves in the city’s biggest and busiest tech events.
If there are any doubts about Miami’s strengthening position in the world of tech, then Miami Tech Month will show you they’re misplaced. Thousands of the city’s tech workforce turn out for hiring fairs and happy hours, as well as plenty of speaker events and roundtable discussions. It was the perfect opportunity for us to get one last look at the landscape, before fully immersing ourselves in it in July – and here’s what we learned.
1. The universities are doing their bit
Both Florida International University and the University of Florida are offering amazing software engineering courses in Miami, but that will only take graduates so far. Just up the road at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, FL, this year’s South Florida Dev Conference offered workshops for Developers to learn to be more business savvy and entrepreneurial. Combined with the first-class education at the city’s universities, a strong talent pipeline is being created.
2. Our research was right
The more clients and potential clients we spoke to, the more we were told that local Recruiters just aren’t cutting it. Our research told us that Miami’s Software Engineers weren’t impressed by headhunters’ lack of knowledge of the market, and the amount of time it took them to find candidates or opportunities. In speaking to prospective clients at Miami Tech Month, we found they’ve taken to London or New York-based Recruiters instead, while many were excited to have a London agency on the ground in Miami.
3. Start-ups are thriving
While many established businesses are migrating to Miami from Silicon Valley, the city is also a thriving start-up hub. Many of the businesses we came across were young but growing rapidly. As a result, they need more than just talent solutions – they need a talent partner, a helping hand with their recruitment processes and hiring strategies. By coming to Miami with a wealth of experience behind us, that’s something we’ve been able to provide to the businesses that need it.
4. Hiring’s high on the agenda
The Venture Miami Tech Hiring Fair was like nothing we’d ever seen attended by hundreds of major Miami tech businesses, students, and graduates. We saw candidates walking from stall to stall with hard copies of their CVs having mini-interviews there and then. To see such active hiring going on – one firm hired five people on the day –told us everything we need to know about the priorities of tech businesses in Miami. They need talent, and they need it now.
5. Business on the beach
Okay, not quite – well, not that we saw – but business meetings are taking place anywhere, any time in Miami. Deals are being negotiated over drinks, and strategies discussed in diners. You’re never far away from someone hammering away at their keyboard or talking figures on the phone. It seems like the city and its people are fully focused on realising Mayor Suarez’s vision to make it a tech superpower, and if it isn’t already there then it’s certainly heading in the right direction.
We certainly chose the right city for our first US office, and we can’t wait to touchdown this summer and make it a permanent base.
develop are an international Software Engineering recruitment agency with offices in Miami, London, and Berlin. If you’re a business looking for first-class Software Engineers, or a candidate seeking their next role in Miami, then get in touch.