How To Hire Top-Notch Tech Talent
By Ashkan Rajaee, TopDevz
When it comes to attracting top-notch tech talent it can feel like an uphill battle if you’re not one of the world’s most admired tech companies. It’s tough to stand out from the crowd when you’re not Google.
However, it’s not just the “glamazons” you have to compete with, industries not typically known as tech powerhouses are clamoring for talent. Digital transformations are a critical business driver, and companies are expanding its tech workforce at record rates. In fact, according to Bloomberg more than 25 percent of Goldman Sachs’ staff are engineers.
There Are More Jobs Than There Are Qualified Candidates
In 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor projected a massive 1.4 million job openings for computer and technology specialists in 2020. Although it seems like a dream opportunity for tech candidates, the other part of the report had a contrasting reality to convey. The reality is that out of the 1.4 million job openings, only 406,000 of them will be filled and the remaining 994,000 job openings will be due to the shortage of graduate candidates.
Great Tech Talent Isn’t Just Limited To Top-Notch Universities
While everyone wants superheroes in their company, your job as a hiring manager is to find heroes who are simply super in their skill. Great tech talent isn’t just limited to top universities and can be found in a much wider range of places than one might have thought. There are far more qualified college applicants than there are spaces at coveted universities so don’t let shiny degrees distract you. Not to mention, not everyone is aware of their talents when they’re 18 and are forced to declare a major.
Aim To Attract A High Number Of Applicants
Make sure candidates don’t assume they’re unqualified based on an over-the-top sounding job description or impossible qualification requirements. Otherwise, you could be missing out on exceptional talent that decided against applying because they thought they were unqualified due to their educational, professional, or personal background.
Make The Hiring Process More Efficient
Hiring is not an easy process. That said, it’s not an impossible process either. Is there a way to make the hiring process more efficient and less redundant – for both the interviewer and the candidate?
Start with a simple and straightforward job description. The best job descriptions are easier said than done so invest the necessary time to understand the pulse and core requirements. Involve other team members, preferably ones that have the same or similar roles.
Vague job descriptions and titles invite excess (read: unmatched) applications. In the time it takes to sift through those applications, the real hero you were seeking has already been called for another interview and likely offered a letter of engagement. The more time you spend crafting the job description, job title and mission of your company, the less time you will spend attracting the right candidate.
Have A Hiring Blueprint
The most successful interviews are well planned and conducted relatively the same each time. This is especially true when hiring for a tech position. Be sure the interviewer is prepared with the questions and the candidate is briefed on what to expect during the interview.
At TopDevz we found the hiring process to be sensitive and time-consuming. In order to help our organization accelerate the screening and vetting processes with greater accuracy, we decided to invest in the development of our own AI-based on-demand video hiring tool.
We built the AI-based recruitment tool to be customized across the entire ecosystem of the recruitment process. This means the tool will receive and screen the resume, prompt appropriate questions to the candidate, schedule interviews, and even monitor the time taken by the candidate to answer those questions. The candidate can then, at his convenience, record a video answering the questions and submit the same back in real-time.
What Can Your Company Offer That Others Can’t?
If you are looking at hiring low-skilled talent, this wouldn’t be a concern. But the rules change, especially when it comes to executive-level hires. Every candidate’s needs are different, and you might be surprised they’re more interested in what comes with the job than the job itself.
In order to convince top-notch talent that your company is the right one, help them visualize what it would be like working there. Describe what your company work culture is like on a day-to-day basis. What is the energy like in the morning? Do people often meet up for happy hour? Are there afternoon volleyball games? Maybe your company focuses more on flexibility and work-life balance. Whatever it might be, painting an accurate picture of your workplace culture will ensure you’re attracting talent that also will be a good fit.
It’s also good practice to describe what it will be like getting the actual job done. Do they have the flexibility to work from home? How responsive are other team members and what platform does everyone communicate on? What are the communication expectations? You can even go a step further and attest your endorsements with a video of your company and the people they’ll be working with.
Be sure not to leave out important details like compensation and bonus structure, paid time off, benefits and any other important factors.
Set Appropriate Expectations
Even with the implementation of advanced hiring tools and technology, there is still significant time between the interview and making the actual offer of employment. While some companies take a couple of weeks others can take up to several months. It’s important that we inform the candidates of what timeline to expect and the next steps, as this will help set the right expectation from the get-go. Don’t leave them hanging.
Having a solid recruitment process and efficient hiring practices are important in order to grow and scale your company. Implementing the proper tools and protocol will enable you to secure the most appropriate and qualified talent.
About The Author
Ashkan Rajaee is Founder & CEO of TopDevz.