Acquiring passive candidates in IT, or how to find talents?
The IT industry is a rapidly growing sector. This is due to the fact that the demand for new candidates is constantly growing among the companies operating in it. Combined with the talent shortage, this results in an effect that we have been observing for several years – IT specialists, thanks to their market position, receive more attractive terms of cooperation than experts operating in other branches of the economy. It can be difficult to find qualified employees when few candidates are actively looking for a job. The solution to search for talents in IT among passive candidates on the market – if we do it skillfully, it will be possible to supplement any staff shortages in the company and fill open positions with the best candidates from the IT industry. So what should talent search in IT look like?
Is recruiting talent in IT different from other recruiting?
To begin with, let’s focus on the fact that differs slightly from recruitment carried out in other industries – especially due to the aforementioned passivity of candidates. There are a lot of job offers in IT on the market, qualified candidates even get a dozen or so offers a day from recruiters. Of course, there are candidates who have now completed a project, looking for new challenges or looking for a change. However, when it comes to general trends in the industry, it will usually be necessary to reach interesting specialists directly with a job offer. They do not actively apply for advertisements, they have good working conditions and only a fascinating offer is able to attract their attention. Importantly – along with the growing demand for IT specialists, there is still a shortage of candidates on the market, which means that reaching an interesting specialist and drawing his attention to a job offer is a real challenge.
When recruiting talents in IT, two things are most important – a system of recommendations and a well-developed network of contacts of the recruiter. Building a positive relationship with candidates is the key to potential cooperation – if not with this candidate, then with his friends in the future. If the candidate knows that a given recruiter is a trustworthy person, he is willing to send his friends’ applications. It is worth noting that in the IT industry, employers almost never require a cover letter from candidates – real qualifications that can be confirmed by experience, skills, a portfolio of completed projects or the completion of a recruitment task for the company are more important. This makes the IT industry famous for its pragmatism and focus on technical competences in the context of conducting recruitment processes.
What are the most effective methods of searching for IT candidates?
The fundamental action will be to seek talent in IT. The most popular portal is Linkedin – the largest number of candidates has their professional profiles there. However, LinkedIn is not the end – similar results can be achieved through GoldenLine, where you can still reach interesting candidates. It is also worth sourcing on GitHub or StackOverflow – you can immediately see the repositories of interesting specialists there. For IT, people are often looking for people who, apart from the knowledge of the quite standard English language in the industry, must also know other languages, e.g. German. Then Xing becomes a valuable source of specialists.
Another method worth using in your activities is Google X-ray search. Using an effective analysis of the resources of portals and websites, this solution allows you to reach passive candidates who meet the requirements of the offer. For efficient and effective recruitment, a recruiter looking for specialists should have a good command of boolean search. It allows you to narrow the search results to people with the most relevant competences. If you have the opportunity to participate in technology events, you can get to know many interesting candidates by networking.
How to communicate with IT candidates?
In order to communicate effectively with IT specialists, the first thing to remember is that candidates appreciate when a recruiter is a substantive interview partner. It does not require a strong knowledge of specific technologies or technological facilities. It is enough for the consultant to have an understanding of technologies, distinguish between tools and programming languages and understand the job profile. The legendary “Java and JavaScript” is fundamental knowledge today – an IT recruiter should have a general knowledge of what is a language and what is a framework, what are the differences between development, testing or architecture-related positions. Talking to candidates and proving that you know what you are talking about is essential – a candidate with a lack of knowledge will catch you right away. When contacting via messages, remember to include specific information in the first message to the candidate. Technical candidates usually do not support presenting the details of the offer only by phone, they prefer to be able to familiarize themselves with the offer sent calmly in their free time and have access to the details immediately. Meet the agreed deadlines for e-mail, phone and feedback – for candidates, feedback about the recruitment process is very important, and time plays a huge role in the employee market. Show applicants that they are dealing with a professional, and they will pay the same back.
External recruitment support
For some recruitments it is worth using the support of professionals. When it comes to the IT industry, crowdstaffing is the most effective recruiting model. Talent Place has more than 4 years of experience working with the best passive candidates on the market. It is a remote community of HR experts specializing in a variety of industries – especially IT. The commissioned projects are implemented by recruiters dedicated to a given project, with experience in a given profile, who know the industry they are looking for, and who have an extensive database of candidates. Operating from different locations, they know the local labor markets, salaries and competition very well. They know how to conduct their activities to provide clients with the best candidates.
Talent Place focuses on a good understanding of the position filled – recruiters know the client’s key technical requirements, know the competency characteristics and carefully implement the sourcing strategy. They are ready to provide reliable feedback from the market regarding the position. Candidates verified and recommended by the Talent Place recruiter are people carefully selected from the market, matched to the position. In addition, Talent Place rejects the settlement model, common in the HR industry, based on a success fee, i.e. remuneration only for employing a candidate. Due to the fact that recruiters are held accountable not only for employment, but also for recommendations (including candidates in the process), they are obliged to implement the project, even if it is difficult and reaching the right specialists is a big challenge. As a result, the employer has a guarantee that the process conducted on behalf of Talent Place will be successful.
Summary
The IT industry is famous for its significant development dynamics, which causes an increasing demand for new employees. Due to the shortage of specialists on the market, it is necessary to search directly among passive candidates. This will allow you to fill the staff shortages with real specialists in your industry. Recruiting talents in IT is different from other recruitments, so you need to remember about the proper form of contacting candidates and finding the right sources for their acquisition. A recruiter using specialized tools, portals and methods, having appropriate technological knowledge, inspires the trust of specialists and is able to effectively and efficiently carry out recruitment processes. When reaching the best passive candidates on the market, it is worth using the support of experienced Talent Place recruiters, a community of HR experts who know the local labor market very well. Thanks to their specialization, they know how to conduct activities to reach the best experts in the IT industry, accelerating the closing of recruitment processes at clients. We hope you already know what acquiring passive candidates in IT should look.
