The current shortage of talent in the tech industry may be a blessing for recent IT and engineering grads, but recruiters and hiring managers aren’t experiencing the same benefits. With fierce competition for talent and the comparatively short shelf life of job-seeking IT specialists and engineers, many companies are finding that they have very little time to make a decision on a qualified candidate. By choosing too quickly, they risk hiring underqualified or incompetent workers, and hesitation can be just as detrimental. These three industry secrets will help you fine-tune your talent acquisition process so you can avoid the risks common to the IT hiring process.
Focus Your List of Skills
When hiring managers prepare for an interview, they often create a list of ideal skills and traits that they’d like to see in their interviewee. As a general rule, each of these desired skills can add one-to-two weeks onto the time it takes to fill the position. When searching for IT talent, time is of the essence, so hiring managers in the tech industry should trim their list of skill sets down to three to four critical items. Longer lists can not only take more time to fill, but they may actually discourage qualified candidates from applying for the position.
Evaluate Your Needs
Once you have your list of skills, it’s important to evaluate the needs of the company. Will the position be full-time or contract? Is filling the position high-priority? What are you willing to pay for IT talent? IT specialists and engineers are aware that their skill set is in high demand, so most will demand a competitive pay scale. You should choose a number that can keep your company competitive without over-investing in the position. Having your needs outlined ahead of time will help you in the negotiation process when you’ve selected a candidate.
Plan and Prioritize Your Interview
To get the most accurate results, your interview should be concise and well organized. Having a pre-determined structure and list of questions will help you get a clear picture of each candidate’s competencies, and it can allow you to present an appealing image of your company’s brand. You should also create a scoring matrix in order to objectively evaluate each interview. Rate the interviewee against your key requirements, as well as a list of hard or soft skills that would complement the position. Once this is complete, weight their score against the importance of each skill or trait. A planned interview process will help you remain consistent and thorough with each candidate.
In order to make a compelling offer to talented tech workers, it’s important that you utilize each of these three acquisition techniques. Not only will they help you choose the right candidate, but it can present a more cohesive, organized image to interested interviewees.
