[jph]

The #1 area to improve IMHO is enabling people to get to know the company and team in depth ahead of time.

One way that works well is for companies to try using techniques of college recruiting, because the level of commitment has parallels: a one-time high-stakes multi-year decision, that involves many new people, new schedules, and new learning.

The getting-to-know-you approach leads directly to teams making smarter choices overall, such as publishing interesting sections of their own codebase, writing about challenging areas of their own workflows, and so forth.

When the teams directly show people the real work and the real organization, then the recruiting experience can become more like a college campus tour-- the developer gains a better understanding of what's involved, and where the learning and growth opportunities are, and why it's worthwhile to apply.