3 best ways to find the right tech talent

The IT-environment today is vibrant and changing, with new work/life trends and challenges constantly shaking things up. New companies get created every day - all to hunt in the pool of tech specialists. It’s no secret that certain jobs - security analysts, for instance - are harder to fill with professionals. These and some other positions (like system architects) are STEM-based (the acronym stands for “science, technology, economy, and math”) and require years of experience to master.

Even if you’re not looking for top-notch security professionals (which are mostly hired by international corporations), there’s still a layer of IT-specialists that are hard to find if you don’t have a five-figure offer to pull out. These include database professionals (Oracle specialists, for instance) or ERP software specialists.

So, if don’t want to hire an apprentice during IT-staffing, get ready to lure the talent in and fiercely fight for your next tech hire. There isn’t a sure way to make sure the job candidate you want will stay on board, however, some tips might come in handy during staff augmentation, job interviews, and contract negotiations.

Let’s go over 3 top ways to lure top tech talent into your company.

Way #1. Establish a personal connection with a candidate

To make sure your company is more than a position on a candidate’s “to consider” list, you have to offer him something your competitors wouldn’t manage. The best way to do it is by showing that the company has a nurturing environment that will give the candidate exactly what he’s been looking for. So, as a company owner or an HR-manager, you need to know how to hire a developer who’s excited about your company.

Here are some strategies that might come in handy.

Establish a social media connection. Most HRs are on in a good working relationship with LinkedIn - they’re actively using the platform to connect with their next hires. However, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of Twitter either - it’s one of the best platforms for professional networking and outreach. Comment on a field-related work the candidate has been publishing, find out what are his passions when it comes to working. This knowledge will prove useful in the interview.

Create a personalized outreach letter. A top candidate wants a certain exclusivity when it comes to reaching out with tech jobs. To prove your interest, avoid templates and cliches when writing a cover letter. Instead, lean on the truth: you’ve been following the professional for a while and keeping track of his work. When you found out he’s open to job offers, you felt like your visions regarding a particular field of tech match and you’re happy to offer him a position at the company.

Create a video job description. Technology has provided HRs with more tools to connect to job seeks but few of them actually use all that potential. For instance, one of the ways to excite people about the job is to tell about it on the video, giving a potential employee a glimpse on the team and the company. You’ll be in a winning position comparing to your colleagues that still hold on to plain text job descriptions.

Ditch job boards as a recruiting tool. Social media recruiting is a dynamic trend that is even stronger in the premium segment. So, if you want to choose among top talent rather than a bunch of fresh tech graduates, consider going to Twitter or LinkedIn instead of posting a job offer on Indeed.

Combining a traditional approach to headhunting with social media recruitment is also a solid practice many HRs use these days.

Way #2. Collaborate with local colleges

Early headhunting is a common trend these days. Even big corporations that should not struggle under the competition as much as small businesses, start early hunting for prospective employees. Both Apple and Microsoft, for instance, have a recurring practice of recruiting high schoolers to conduct internships at the companies.

While organizing internships and luring school students might prove inefficient long-term and is certainly expensive, you might benefit from collaborating with colleges that provide undergraduate and graduate programs in CS, AI, security systems, etc. Here are just a few benefits your company might enjoy as a result of local recruitment:

Developing an IT curriculum. Basically, you can change the academic schedule in a way that students learn the disciplines that will later need working for your company.

Offering internships at the company. A mandatory internship is a common go-to practice at most American colleges. Why not lure the future IT generation to your offices? The internship is a good way to evaluate students and find your future job candidates.

Creating a flexible ground for patent negotiation. If your company is looking to benefit from the work done in the fields of science, it might be a good idea to have friends in academia. That way, you can secure easy access to patents and save yourself some money in the future.

Fund the research that’s of interest to you. It’s no secret that academia is in the constant search of funding. As a matter of fact, your company can be the one to cover for a few PhDs. In return, you’ll be able to increase team efficiency getting research in the areas of tech that interest you, as well as a good reputation boost and strong press profile.

Way #3. Think out of the box

Another way to attract more quality tech talent to your workplace is by changing the workplace itself. Perhaps, it’s hard to lure a top candidate into a flexible, ambitious, and goals-driven environment because, in reality, your company doesn’t offer that much agility and as many challenges to the candidate.

With a few tweaks to your current pace of work, you might be able to broaden the tech talent search field. Here’s what we have in mind:

Consider working in a remote office. With a remote team collaboration, your employees can save their time by working from home. You, on the other hand, wouldn’t have to pay the rent for the office space. With enough determination and remote team management software, you can set up a paradigm that will make your remote work just as efficient as it was in-house.

Implement the horizontal management structure. More and more companies move aside from the hierarchical structure. Instead, they implement the horizontal management paradigm - the one where all team members are equal entities and everyone has a say during brainstorming sessions or standup meetings.

Consider hiring a distributed team. It’s hard looking for a developer on the American soil where an average software development cost is $50k per year with benefits and severance packages. Paying so much can leave you (especially if the company is a startup at the early-investment-stage) bootstrapped. It might be a solution to hire a team of dedicated developers. The salary of a software developer in Poland or Ukraine is rarely higher than $30k per year (according to the original source) while the quality of their services is as good (at times even better) as the one of a US developer.

Conclusions:

The talent pool in tech is wild west these days. Looking for a specialist is difficult if you want to hire a professional, not a fresh graduate with little-to-no-experience. In order to fight the tech talent shortage, it’s important to know a few strategies.

Establishing a personal connection with a prospective employee is a way to increase your odds at hiring him. You can do this by taking interest in the candidate’s previous work and other endeavors, use video to share job descriptions, or use social media instead of job search boards.

Local colleges are good starting points of looking for a strong tech candidate. Collaboration with a school gives you a ton of possibilities talent-, money-, and PR-wise.

Finally, it might be the change of perspective about your workspace to drive the change and attract more talent to the company. Implementing a new way of working, learning how to manage a remote team a progressive management system, or hiring a nearshore team are all valid strategies to get more tech hires on board.