No Time To Waste. How To Hire IT Talent Faster In Tight Jobs Market.

In the tight IT labor market, there’s a huge disconnect between how long candidates are available (days) and how long employers take to select a candidate (weeks). In one of the tightest labor markets in history, IT workers disappear from the market in a flash. Meanwhile, companies are left shorthanded.

What are some ways to get around this problem? Let’s find out.

Full Time Endeavor in a Crowded Market

If you’ve ever tried to find a house to purchase in a tight real estate market, you know how intense it gets. You have to scour real estate listings every day, all day long or else someone else will land your dream home before you.

Finding quality IT talent is a similar challenge. Your search must be intense and constant. According to HBR, the majority of people who took a new job recently weren’t even searching for one. Instead, somebody came and got them.

If you consider that 261,000 new jobs were added in tech in the past year, it’s easy to see why it’s so hard to find quality talent. In August 2019, the number of software/app developer positions alone looked to add 95,200 workers.

No Time At All

These numbers explain why candidate vetting and hiring processes must be as fast as possible. With so many companies out there looking to add IT workers, any delay at all leads to failure. Plus, employers spend an enormous amount on hiring—an average of $4,129 per job in the United States, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

How can companies address this triple whammy of high demand, scarce supply, and the high cost of hiring?

The Strategy to Hire IT Talent Faster

Here are some concrete ways to go about getting that next great worker faster.

1. Revise your job description – It must be very detailed and insightful. Potential employees can pick and choose, so sell the job as effectively as you can. If the job description sounds dull and boring, what does that say about working for your company? Also, if you can, mention salary specifics.
2. Referral Program – Get your own team members on board to help recruit talent. You can even offer a cash incentive if their referral leads to a hire. Periodically remind key contacts and announce on social media you are hiring. Plus, check out passive candidates that are at other companies but might consider a change.
3. Tone down the qualifications – If you only look for a superstar, you might never fill the role. Instead, take it down a notch and plan to train your new employee to get up to speed.
4. Streamline the interview – Shoot for a 2-4 day vetting process. Establish a clear, written interview and evaluation process.
5. Hire a freelancer – While you look, consider hiring a freelancer. They might end up working for you full time.
6. Get help – If you consider the high price tag for hiring and project delays, hiring fast is a huge priority. It makes sense to engage with a human capital firm to do the work for you. As they commit all their time and resources to this task alone, their success rates are substantially higher and will enable you to spend the majority of your time on strategic initiatives.

Need an expert that connects top tech talent with great companies? Contact us to find out how we accelerate the hiring process.  

 

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