The fiercely competitive tech talent marketplace is making it immensely challenging and tedious to hire the right candidate. With industries heavily depending on technology for day-to-day operations, talented tech experts have an array of choices and job preferences. Companies looking for top tech talent can no longer sit back waiting for incoming applications. Today, potential talent is also evaluating companies more closely than companies assessing them. So, how to hire tech talent?
With tables turning, businesses should work proactively to demonstrate that they are not just offering lucrative opportunities but are also eager to meet the expectations of today’s workforce. According to the Bureau Labor Statistics, by 2028, there will be a 21% increase in the need to recruit software developers. Thus, there will be a steady demand for tech talent, but the supply remains the same. Despite all challenges, how to recruit top tech talent?
Read on to know more.
To know how to recruit top tech talent, it is fundamental to understand the major challenges. Sometimes, even the most promising tech recruiting strategies are not enough to understand how to hire tech talent.
Some major bottlenecks that hiring managers are facing with hiring quality tech talent are as follows:
Besides these aforementioned challenges, hiring managers are also exposed to factors like higher salaries, brand reputation, and limited technical knowledge of the hiring team. However, these challenges are not difficult to overcome. To know how to hire tech talent and retain them, read on.
#1: Write A Precise Job Description For Each Tech Role You Are Hiring
With the rapid rise in demand for tech roles such as developers, software engineers, and more, finding the right tech talent is as good as looking for a needle in a haystack. As IT companies are offering brilliant positions for technical roles, attracting suitable employees is easier said than done. It is prudent to have tech recruiting strategies in place to entice top talent. Job description plays a key role here.
Crafting an incredible job description will give you an edge over other popular tech giants. Personalize it to make it more appealing to job searchers. Here’s what you should pay attention to:
#2: Clever Ways To Source Tech Talent
#3: Create Candidate Pipeline And Keep Them Engaged
Building a talent pipeline is a proactive strategy of talent acquisition. It identifies, engages, and recruits talent to create a robust pool of tech talent to fill vacant positions. Talent pipeline moves job candidates through different stages of engagement that leads to new hires. Like modern recruitment strategies, the talent pipeline is derived from proven marketing and sales strategies.
With the correct talent pipeline, companies can choose from a qualified talent pool who are equally familiar with the organization. To ensure the success of talent pipeline strategy, organizations should focus on candidate engagement. The hiring managers are not just focused on filling vacancies, but they are also thinking of ways to meet the talent needs in the future. By building good relationships, it is possible to engage with top talent.
Besides better candidates, a talent pipeline also allows organizations to diversify their talent pool, provide personalized experiences to candidates, and improve the overall employer brand. Engage with candidates through social media – the top recruitment marketing channel today. A Glassdoor study reveals that 79% of job applicants prefer social media for job search. Hence, it is imperative to engage with prospective candidates and present a favorable employer brand on social networks to measure how to hire tech talent.
#4: Understand What Tech Professionals Are Expecting From The Job Role
To hire for a technical role, your scope is not limited to the technical qualifications of candidates. Soft skills such as team collaboration and initiative are equally important. Moreover, you have to understand what professionals are expecting from their job role.To improve hiring, recruiters and HR departments should focus on enhancing the recruiting process by introducing efficiencies like tech recruiting tools.
An effective approach is to focus on candidate experience and think like one. It includes improved virtual candidate and video interview experience, since almost half of 70% of the companies are now hiring and onboarding virtually. To do that, companies must deliver what tech talent seeks:
#5: Share Real-Life Technical Challenges
Technical challenges can bring out the best in the talent you want to recruit. But how do you assess candidates accurately, measure their potential and how to hire tech talent? Choose iMocha’s technical assessments, live coding, and AI-LogicBox to measure applicants.
#6: Provide Great Candidate Experience Throughout The Hiring Process
Starting from screening candidates to onboarding them, let the process be smooth and transparent. Keep the interview short because you are handling tech talent and not just any other talent pools. This will save your time as well as effort.
Besides explaining the benefits of joining the organization, including perks and privileges, the HR team should also focus on explaining the career prospects of the job profile and how it can help in increasing their knowledge and skills. In addition, highlight more about the company culture and how that creates a work-life balance and harmony.
#7: Create Attractive Work Culture
A good work culture makes a difference to the hiring process. While compensation and scope of work matter, so do perks and benefits, but nothing can replace the importance of work culture.
#8: Background Check Before You Invite For Interview
Before sending invitations for tech interview, it is important to check the background of candidates in the tech community. For instance, if you are hiring a developer, visit an active developer community to find out more about the candidate’s craft, their projects, past experiences, teamwork, vision, and deliverables. This will give you an insight into the skills and qualities of candidates and help the hiring team prepare for the interview.
#9: Ensure You Are Hiring A Diverse Tech Talent
Hire diverse talent to maintain an equitable workforce. Some of the common platforms to find diverse talent are:
In addition, companies that provide remote work opportunities are more preferred. Microsoft Work Trend Index report published in 2021 revealed that 66% of employers globally are redesigning their offices to accommodate hybrid culture. In fact, remote arrangement is a permanent worldwide trend, typically tech and IT jobs.
#10: Clearly Mention Compensation Along With Other Perks & Benefits
Clarity and transparency are the two factors that build trust. Especially when you are handling top tech talent, be very clear about the benefits you are offering, including the compensation breakdown, variables, and additional offerings. This strategy sets up an amicable scene wherein you can discuss and negotiate to arrive at a conclusion. Any ambiguity, and you are at a risk of losing the right candidate.
#11: Offer Internship Programs
Offering the right internship programs often lead to top talent, especially the ones you have not considered. The scope of internship programs exceeds beyond the projected prospects. You can find new potential candidates with this strategy.
In addition, it gives another chance to your organization to assess a candidate before hiring them for a top tech role and full-time position.
For candidates, this is an excellent opportunity to experience working at the organization and develop a sentimental connect with the company. This encourages the chances of hiring candidates for long-term.
#12: Arrange Virtual Job Fair
Virtual job fairs are a great avenue to showcase your organization and demonstrates your qualities as an employer. Moreover, with the emerging trend of remote work, candidates are prepared for virtual hiring process.
You can participate in such events by enrolling for an upcoming event organized by some other company. There are many virtual job fairs that allow companies to represent their performance and build connections with potential candidates.
You can also host your virtual job fair for IT roles to let tech professionals know about the current job opportunities in your company and create that space for communication with experts from the industry through webinars. Whether you host a fair or join one, ensure your concepts are developed and state the expected number of attendees and participants.
#13: Arrange Coding Bootcamp
Coding bootcamp is a brilliant tactic for creative recruitment. Although this method is complicated that also requires resources, it can connect you with trained programmers as per your preference.
Irrespective of technology, coding bootcamps have one common goal – to teach technical skills to developers and get them a top position in this job market. Employment is, definitely, a noteworthy motivator to sign up for coding bootcamps. Approximately 80% of bootcamp graduates secure jobs using the skills they’ve mastered at a bootcamp.
The idea is to expand bootcamps and encourage hiring opportunities. Start the course by announcing an interview with leading companies for successful graduates. This would be an incentive to motivate active participation and you would get a large pool of talent to consider.
#14: Be Communicative In Entire Hiring Process
Communication is the key to a smooth hiring process and streamlined transition. The HR team and IT recruiting managers should have an open and approachable communication channel to ensure candidates can raise their concerns. Maintain 100% transparency at all times to reduce communication gap.
#15: Campus Recruitment For Tech Roles
Campus recruitment opens up new doors to hire fresh graduates and raw talent. Unless you have a looming deadline that requires senior developers, you can hire and train juniors. It is a beneficial recruitment strategy that leads to long-term success.
Scout local campuses for fresh graduates in computer science. Even though you may not come across impressive resumes, some of them could still become valuable assets to the company, especially for smaller businesses with a defined growth plan.
Besides having sound theoretical knowledge, new graduates are eager to hit the vast job market, which gives you a highly motivated developer.
#16: Equip Yourself With Data On Current Tech Hiring
Successful technical recruitment depends largely on the use of quality data about the latest market trends. Use the data available about the recent condition of the job market, trends of workforce, and related factors influencing tech talent recruitment results. So, the answer to how to hire tech talent also lies in data.
#17: Learn Technical Jargon
Knowing technical terms is quintessential. After all, you are expected to understand what you are discussing!
Understandably, not all recruiters are developers. So, it is imperative to be aware of the frequently used technical terms associated with the post. To hire the best talent, you should know the fundamentals. Also, you cannot create a precise job description without knowing the job role.
However, do not go overboard with technical terms. Be specific and not like a machine.
#18: Automate Technical Hiring
Recruitment automation involves the use of technology to facilitate recruiters to select the top talent. Hiring managers can add value by applying their perspective, judgement, and expertise. The following recruitment touchpoints can be automated and explored:
#19: Bring Your Top Employees In The Hiring Process To Share Their Experience
Involve your best employees in the hiring process. Let them share their work experience with prospect candidates to give them a better perspective of their role and draw robust inspiration. Tech talent always prefers to meet and communicate with fellow technologist, regardless of their role. So, make sure you involve developers and engineers in relevant roles in the interview panel. Include peers and top-level employees to share their experience and firsthand knowledge, which will help the prospect understand what to expect.
#20: Interview Tips
Finally, equip yourself with the right kind of questions and get ready for a solid tech interview. When you are hiring for a tech role, it is prudent to look beyond the technical qualifications. Soft skills such as collaboration and initiative are equally important.
Here are a few questions you can ask:
Besides, you can introduce live coding interviews, coding simulators and video interviews through iMocha’s talent acquisition platform. Ultimately, the top talent will be eager to showcase their capabilities through real-time coding.
That answers how to hire tech talent!
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FAQs
How to assess developers?
Assess developers through the following steps:
What is a coding assessment?
Coding assessments, also called coding skill tests or coding challenges, involve a set of standardized coding questions, problems, and challenges for developers to measure their skills. There are different forms of coding assessment, either created in-house or used from a relevant pre-existing technical assessment platform.
Why is technical recruitment difficult?
Technical recruitment is difficult because the industry is growing rapidly and there is a steady demand for skilled and specialized candidates. There is a scarcity of skilled tech professionals to meet the growing demand and organizations are competing for the top talent by offering perks and higher salaries.