Finding Good API Developer Talent Is Hard

The shortage of good API developer talent is something I see regularly, with the constant stream of job and project offers I get via email and LinkedIn. The first place companies and recruiters go when looking for API evangelists, developer evangelists, and API developers is apievangelist.com.

I feel bad for some of the newbies I encounter, thinking they are going to easily find API talent. There just aren’t enough developers who demonstrate their API skills, and even fewer who strive to be API evangelists. With the growth of the space, this is increasingly a problem, something I think is beginning to turn around.

I recently stumbled across a site called APIXChange which focused on delivering API developer talent, but has recently pivoted to become Workmob:

Workmob

WorkMob is a company built by freelance developers, for freelance developers. Its founders have been on both sides of the freelance fence. We've been developers who hated the hassle of sourcing work, dealing with mindless projects, and competing with one another as low-priced commodities in a freelance meat market. We've also been founders and product managers who needed to hire freelance developers to supplement our teams. We overcome many of the same hurdles from the other side. Finding the great freelancers in the noise of all the mediocre ones, accurately describing what we're trying to accomplish, and keeping our hires on track and productive.

URL: theworkmob.com

Then I read about AirPair’s network of pay-per-hour API experts want to make your next integration a doddle on Nextweb:

AirPair

AirPair is an extensive network of experts with deep knowledge across many technology stacks and solutions. AirPair accelerates software development by “pairing” experts with engineers in real-­time via video and screen sharing - leading to better software, produced faster, and at lower costs.

URL: airpair.com

I think Workmob and Airpair are just the beginning. We will see talent shops who focus specifically on API developers, and eventually specific API sectors like healthcare, government, and education. We will also see PR agencies emerge that offer API evangelism and developer advocacy as a service, grooming the next generation of evangelist armies, and satisfying the needs of a growing API industry.

It is interesting to watch the API universe expand and new crops of specialized services that are focused on APIs emerge.