Hiring Strategies in a Tough Market
Why Hiring Tech Pros Has Never Been Harder and What to Do About It
It’s no secret that the tech job market is candidate-driven, and that organizations large and small face significant challenges in finding and attracting the best people. With IT demand far outstripping supply, every role in the tech function is impacted. It doesn’t matter whether you’re looking for software engineers, security analysts, UI designers, or help desk; hiring tech pros has never been harder. Here’s why.
Your Employer Branding Misses the Mark
The interview probably won’t be the first impression on your candidate that you might expect it to be. The candidate journey starts much earlier, through many avenues, ranging from social media, job boards and Glassdoor reviews to website career pages, in-person referrals and more. In short, they have an impression of your company before they even walk in the door, whether it holds true or is based on mere hear-say.
All of those factors should be considered in a holistic employer branding strategy. It’s a brand that should reflect your internal culture and highlight why people love to work there. In the interview and throughout the hiring process, the same enthusiasm needs to be portrayed, or you risk losing candidate interest. With demand soaring, these candidates can afford to be choosy. They don’t just want a job to pay the bills. They want a career with a company that values them. Is that the message you’re sending?
Your Hiring Process is Too Long
Resume screening, phone calls, scheduling, paperwork, multiple face-to-face interviews, reference checks, background checks, and management approvals. That’s a long list of prerequisites that need to happen before a job offer is finalized and your candidate starts the job. For some companies, this can be a month-long process or more! That’s detrimental to your talent pipeline.
The best companies move fast when they’re searching for new talent. With demand this high, you can bet the people you’re interested in are also interviewing elsewhere. And those candidates aren’t going to stick around for weeks on end to see if you’ll extend an offer. Not only is a long hiring process a good way to lose quality candidates, it’s also a huge burden on the team whose deliverables can’t be met without more manpower.
Your Compensation Isn’t Competitive
In our experience, most companies base job offers on a candidate’s previous salary. The problem with this tactic (besides the fact that some states are making this practice unlawful) is that you may inadvertently fall short of competitive market rates. If a candidate was stuck in a low paying job early in their career, their salary history may not be representative of their actual abilities and potential.
There’s also the consideration that as demand for tech talent increases, so too does the average compensation. Though you always want to avoid money-motivated candidates, the fact is that salary is a big deal when someone is deciding which job offer to take. Doing your due diligence with market research and avoiding bidding wars with competitors is the fast track to attracting the best talent.
Your Employment Model Hasn’t Evolved
How familiar are you with the gig economy? Ever since the economic downturn of 2008, a growing number of workers, particularly in IT, have turned to independent contracting over the traditional W2 employment model. Even those who aren’t contracting through 1099 or corp-to-corp are reaping the benefits of contracting as W2 employees through staffing and consulting firms.
Why is this such an attractive option? Contracting presents the opportunity to broaden their work experience and develop their skill sets over a wide range of projects, organizations and industries. Additionally, these individuals often get paid more than they would as a direct W2 employee. Thus, the talent pool of IT contractors is growing larger, and if you’re looking in the wrong place, finding the people you need for your tech projects is going to be harder than ever.
At the end of the day, every company needs to adapt to a shifting marketplace and the evolving expectations of job candidates. Partnering with a competent staffing and recruiting firm is also a valuable option. At Matchsource, we’ve built extensive networks of A-player tech professionals, and we deliver a long-term, high-value partnership, positioning ourselves as a true extension of your team. We’d love to share more insight and learn more about you. Let’s chat today.