A senior .NET role open for six weeks says more than it seems
If you have spent more than a month and a half trying to fill a senior .NET developer position and it is still open, the market is sending you a message: that profile, with your budget and your conditions, is hard to find as a permanent hire. And in the meantime, the work that was waiting for that person keeps piling up.
Why it is so hard to fill
- Real seniors are rarely on the market; they are usually happy where they are.
- The profile you need, one that also understands your legacy, is even rarer.
- A long hiring process lets good candidates cool off or accept another offer.
The question almost no one asks
Do you really need someone on the payroll, or do you need the work to get done? They are not always the same thing. If the reason for the search is that the team cannot keep up, and not a mandate to grow headcount, there is a faster route: a senior external who absorbs part of the backlog with a fixed monthly commitment.
External support while, or instead of, filling the role
A senior contractor can start in days, not months, hold the backlog and the incidents, and take pressure off the team. If you eventually decide to hire, you reach that hire without the house on fire. And if you do not, the work is already covered without the fixed cost of an employee.
It is not one or the other: often the external is the bridge that lets you hire well, without rushing and without settling for the first person who shows up.