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Right now it’s a talents’ market which means that for HR, recruiting for hard to fill roles can be an uphill struggle. Finding ‘high ticket’ talent is the hiring equivalent of saffron: hard to come by and expensive! DevOps Engineers, R&D, CISO et al have the upper hand, often flexing brand equity of tech giants as previous (or current) employers for proof of skills.So we’ve put together a list of things to think about if you’re recruiting top tech talent… 8 is the magic number, right?
1. Decode the exact shape of the role
If you focus less on ‘who’ and more on ‘what’ you’re looking for, that will pave the way for easier hiring. Work with your Hiring Manager to surface exactly which skills are needed to perform well in the role, and will propel the team or company forward. Are certain languages more important to have competency in? Full stack or a strength in front vs back end? Forget previous job titles — curate a list of skills and prioritize them to uncover the shape of the role. (Technical skills are vital but soft skills like EQ, communication, leadership, decision-making, organizational etc are just as important, especially when roles requires collaboration with others.)
2. There’s more to hiring than posting on job boards
Are you inside dev communities? Have you engaged through tech conferences, hackathons, code contests or user groups? Often, companies will create their own events, or have one of their professionals talk as a guest speaker at one. If you’re using LinkedIn, are you following hashtags, commenting on relevant posts and discussions, and interacting with the dev community? Remember — it’s better to be on the inside looking out than it is on the outside looking in!
3. Create a great referral scheme
Tech folk know other tech folk. Development is a collaborative endeavour and devs will be involved in their communities to solve coding problems, discuss open sourced work, and more. This means if you have tech talent on your team, you can leverage a referral scheme so they can get the word out that you’re hiring and bring in fellow devs. This strategy works with colleagues who aren’t in tech roles also. Consider cash incentives and must-have tech prizes. It takes some planning but a marketing blast is a great way to do this — make it into a little ‘work bash’ with snacks and drinks!
4. Be communicative
The hiring industry has widened its focus from onboarding to pre boarding and offboarding. Now — candidate experience is in the spotlight. If you’re conducting a messy hiring process, this can break a hire. Create and maintain relationships with the talents in your funnel. Be on time with feedback and especially offers, communicate effectively, and above all else, DON’T GHOST. Even if you don’t hire a talent for a role you’re filling now, you might meet them further down the line for a different role. In a competitive market, treating talents badly once is enough for them to keep their distance forever.
5. Vocalize your work culture, vision and values
You don’t want just any talent, you want talent that’s aligned with your culture, vision and values. Communicate these well from the start so you don’t find yourself later on realizing the parties aren’t on the same page for where your company is headed or your company raison d’etre.
6. Work with your marketing team
This can be a short-term hiring campaign or part of a long-term content strategy to improve market presence, but joining forces with your marketing team can help your brand become a voice of authority. Communicate your product, your roles, your perks, your values in blog posts and on social — this is all great info for attracting top talent.
7. What HR Tech are you using? Some companies use ATS (applicant tracking systems) with CV’s to keep track of their candidates. Some candidates use gamification to screen. Some use personality tests or simple application software (that takes hours to fill in, yawn). LNRD builds Job Simulators so that talents can pre experience the role and our clients can make hiring decisions based on data. We reduce unconscious bias as we don’t ask for discriminatory data. Whatever tech you’re using, ensure it engages with your audience and encourages Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to make the playing field fairer.
8. It’s not all about salary
You might have already experienced being turned down by a talent even after having made them a good financial offer. Well, tech talent is highly sought after — they were probably holding multiple offers. Why did they decline yours? A number of reasons- flexible working hours or total WFH, enviable perks etc- but keep in mind that the current talent market is looking to work in meaningful roles such as social impact, and in companies that encourage personal and professional growth. Don’t presume it’s all about salary. Whatever makes you unique, tell them about it!Feeling better about hiring for hard to fill roles? Good. Glad we helped.
If you’re unsure about going it alone, Unboxable offers
7 days record time to hire for the hardest-to-fill positions
63% increase in sourcing efficiency compared to recruiting agencies
93% immediate impact in quality hires.
Get in touch with Unboxable for more info!
