What’s the biggest difference between successful and struggling companies? Is it the available infrastructure? Maybe. Is it the funding? Could be. Is it the hardware? Debatable. Could it be recruiting the best tech talent? Bingo!
As important as these things can be, what separates the best from the rest is always the people. When you have the right talent, everything is possible. The most skilled partners can make the project work as much as the opposite can break it.
But since high-level talent is always worth its weight in gold, discovering and enticing these specialists is seldom simple. More often than not, these people will have received a few dozen offers before you find them.
Because that’s the case, tech recruitment may seem like an impossible challenge at times. The hoops and hurdles that HR specialists have to jump through are plentiful. And the competition is fierce.
Does the ultimate recruitment strategy exist though? Doubt it. The company’s location, its culture and structure, the project(s), and the recruiting team will always change things.
That being said, just because there’s no ultimate path doesn’t mean we’ll just leave you hanging.
It’s a bloodbath out there and, unlike the biggest players, small-scale companies cannot rely on clout. Instead, you have to be smart and proactive. And, provided you implement the following tips and tricks, you should be able to come out victorious in this battle for talent.
Understand & Define the Position
Obvious? Sure. But, as obvious as it sounds, you should always start at square one.
In the tech recruitment case, that means making sure the recruiters themselves understand the position. The issue is nothing new, but it isn’t always easy to do.
Most recruiters have a limited tech background (or none at all). And it shouldn’t rustle anyone’s jimmies or ruffle anyone’s feathers. Unless they tell you otherwise, HR personnel not being tech whizzes from the get-go is normal.
What’s not normal is letting these people take a sizable whack at it before they’re qualified. So, before you put them to the task, make certain that the job seekers know enough about the position you’re trying to fill.
There are many ways you can go about it. You can outsource the job (we’ll elaborate upon this model down below). You can hire someone whose tech knowledge is as impressive as his head-hunting expertise (they’re hard to come by though). Or, much more realistic, you can help and prep the HR personnel beforehand.
To start with, be as transparent, precise, and straightforward as possible. There’s a time and a place for vague offers, and tech recruitment isn’t one of them.
The recruiters should, nay, must be able to find and attract tech candidates with nothing but the job description. Make it as captivating as possible and you’ll have no trouble drawing top-notch specialists.
What should it look like? Needless to say, the description should include the responsibilities and the skill set you’re expecting from newcomers. Make them as accurate, concise, and well-defined as you can.
Apart from that, well-written JDs always contain the job title, the general mission, and the candidate’s primary duties and tasks. It should also outline required, desired, and favored qualifications and benefits.
Understand Tech Talent
Discovering and recruiting the best talent in tech is a lofty goal. Thing is, this is not the goal you can achieve without understanding these people’s aims, needs, and aspirations.
It’s not necessarily the ‘to catch fish, you have to think like a fish’ case, but the recruitment process should always start at the top. First things first is hiring managers who know what that ideal candidate looks like. The next step is figuring out what positions attract high-level specialists.
What drives these people? What motivates them? And, covering the opposite end, what might break the proverbial (and the literal) deal?
Looking at the latest Stack Overflow surveys, adequate compensation and benefits top the wants and needs chart. According to these surveys, tech specialists care more about the salary range and the potential performance bonuses than they do about different benefits.
In plain English, sweeten the pot. Otherwise, the first-class talent you seek will choose someone who is ready to pony up some extra dough.
Shifting gears toward less tangible but no less important criteria, recruiters that can speak the devs’ language always outperform those who cannot. Of course, we’re not saying that the HR personnel should be able to write code.
But, once again, it doesn’t hurt when the talent sources can boast reasonable tech knowledge. Plus, when the HR professionals know a thing or two about software themselves, potential recruits will always feel more comfortable making a positive choice.
Improve the Interview Process
Most techies hate small talk. Call it a generalization or a sweeping assumption – it’s the truth nonetheless. Nothing kills tech recruits’ motivation and desire to join a company than an unnecessarily long, drawn-out interview process.
No, this is the part that you should keep simple, clean, and effective. Aside from discouraging candidates, time-consuming interviews hurt the company’s bottom line like nothing else.
Smooth it out. Streamline the process. Trim the fat. Cut the fluff. Slash the question session, but make them count.
Drop the pen and paper tasks (unless they’re 100% necessary). Ditch whiteboard interviews. Resist the urge to ask irrelevant questions. These outdated and, to be frank, obsolete practices do nothing but waste time and rub otherwise perfect candidates the wrong way.
More often than not, developers don’t mind going through pre-employment evaluations (different test tasks and such), so start with those. Assuming you know what to test and how to test it, these evaluations will tell you almost everything you need to know about the candidate.
And, sure, you can’t remove technical reviews from the equation altogether. But you can make them worthwhile, and that’s more than you can say about most tech companies out there.
Use the Right Recruitment Tools
No one hires without recruitment tools. Not anymore. They’re valuable assets and, when used right, can ease things up a great deal. These tools help HR personnel avoid common mistakes and unfortunate misunderstandings with potential prospects.
Some tools track the candidates’ progress. Others improve internal collaboration and streamline hiring management. But, before these come into play, you should start with the candidate sourcing software.
Using platforms like Sourcing, you can solve several frequent hiring challenges like filling niche positions and standing out from the sea of competing companies.
Next, we would recommend picking a fitting ATS (applicant tracking system). Using these systems, recruiters can scan numerous resumes within seconds, picking out from the inputted keywords and phrases. Besides saving recruiters’ time sorting through countless applicant resumes, ATS’ can also identify qualified talent from otherwise seemingly questionable matches.
Setting tracking systems aside, the best recruitment tools can also increase company awareness. You can choose to notify future employees about new job openings, reminding them of the company and strengthening candidate relationships.
Of course, as useful as they are, recruitment tools are not the be-all and end-all. Every tool has its purpose, and some can do as much damage as good when you over-rely on them or use these things incorrectly. Not every recruitment tool will work for every company, so think about the company’s hiring needs first and plan accordingly.
Upgrade the Online Presence
Everything is sales. No one watches movies without reading reviews or watching trailers anymore. No one buys anything without reading up on the product. And, like it or not, job hunting is no different.
Reputation matters and the company’s online presence determines its reputation. To get the ball rolling, polish the ‘site. Make sure that it includes all the relevant information and that the general interface looks inviting and candidate-oriented. Also, optimize the content in regards to its target audience.
Then again, as much as the company’s website matters, social media is king. Barring the obvious employment-oriented examples (say LinkedIn), platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter can play a huge role in recruiting as well. The biggest social media channels on the planet, these platforms can make the company’s online presence as much as they can break it. In the right hands, however, they can be turned into powerful assets, so don’t sleep on these spaces.
Otherwise, reviews are as important in the employment business as they are in the movie business. A low score on sites like Indeed and Glassdoor can kill the biggest company like nothing.
At the same time, the score is not everything. What’s also important is how you act towards employee reviews. In general, candidates like when you’re responsive toward them. Acknowledge the reviews, respond, and make the people behind them feel heard. The recent reports also suggest that sharing the company events and overall work environment online can improve its brand image. It is indeed caring, or so they say.
Outsource Tech Recruiting
Everything that we’ve covered above will yield positive results, that much is guaranteed. At the same time, the competition is fierce, and you won’t just be going up against the competitors’ HR personnel. No, you’ll also be tussling with professional recruitment agencies, and they can be brutal.
Because that’s the case (and because qualified tech talent is sought-after like crazy), outsourcing the recruitment task might be the play. Operating in the background, third-party recruitment agencies continually discover candidates, pre-screen them, and send you only the best matches.
The best tech recruitment firms know the market inside out. That, along with the experience, knowledge, and data these firms should have can help you build a perfect team. What’s more, professional recruiters manage large candidate banks that mere mortals don’t even have access to. Because of these factors, they don’t just direct the best candidates your way, but also find them in less time than you would.
20 Years of Experience
Speaking of the best talent seekers, the leaders atwe at Wonderment Apps have been recruiting tech and product management talent doing it for more than two decades now, and our results speak for themselves. Between our unique sourcing and assessment models, we’ll help you find and hire the absolute cream of the React development crop. How do we do that?
First, we utilize several regional sourcing channels, tapping into the talent pool that’s unavailable to most.
Second, our thorough and rigorous assessment system narrows the search down, helping us find qualified candidates as quickly as possible. Apart from evaluating the candidate’s experience, expertise, and communication skills, we also determine how engaged they are before the technical interviews.
Third, because of our experience, we’re able to accurately assess the candidate’s skill set. Grading them in multiple key areas, we’re able to thin out the herd, leaving us with only the highest-level specialists.
Of course, we don’t stop there. The fourth step is the second technical interview, more meticulous than the first. At this stage, potential employees talk with department managers. In addition to diving deeper into the tech aspects, our managers also gauge the individual’s soft skills (his personality and how well he might fit our client’s company). We also make sure that they’re able to communicate clearly and effectively.
The fifth step is where you come in. At this point, we offer you the crème de la crème, the top of the heap, the best pick of the litter. All you have to do is choose from carefully vetted and curated specialists to join your team.
And, last but not least, the bonus sixth step will provide onboarding and ongoing support. This way, we can guarantee that you’ll get along with your new team members and the Wonderment Hive!