Hiring for Information Technology Companies: 7 Creative Strategies that Work

When there is a high demand for highly specialized labor and rapid development and growth, such as in the technology business, top tech talent to fill those roles is in high demand.

However, according to a Korn Ferry analysis from 2018, the skilled labor deficit in the tech sector might reach 4.3 million individuals by 2030. The skilled labor shortage translates to almost four million fewer trained tech experts than the industry requires.

According to a recent Indeed research, nearly nine out of ten hiring managers (86%) believe that identifying and hiring technical talent is complicated, with more than a third (36%) stating it is “very” difficult.

It’s a classic case of demand exceeding supply, and even though 2030 is still a decade away, tech companies are already feeling the pinch. As a result, companies compete for qualified candidates by offering more benefits and significant remuneration.

Do you find it challenging to hire the top IT talent? If yes, then this article is for you.

Seven Creative Strategies That Work

If you are looking for less radical ways to find tech talent, you might want to consider implementing these seven recruitment strategies:

1. Improve the Candidate’s Experience

Did you know that over 60% of job seekers have had a negative candidate experience, with 72% of them going public with their dissatisfaction?

As a result, you must provide a one-of-a-kind interviewing experience and market the job to attract top-tier IT specialists to get them to apply to your job postings on your job boards.

Most potential candidates go through the interview process to cut down their list of possible employers because top tech talent is in high demand. As a result, the job interview is your finest chance to win them over – or lose them to your competitors.

To appeal to your potential passive candidates, you’ll need to know how to be a great interviewer who can provide them with a fantastic, memorable hiring process and experience.

2. Recruit and Train More Interns

According to Julia Davis, executive vice president and CIO of Aflac, “To appeal to millennial job seekers and beyond, IT leaders must target them early on and give actual career chances.”

You can offer a two-year IT apprenticeship for selected internship graduates during job fairs or accelerated ten-week IT internship programs that give current college students hands-on experience collaborating with IT leaders on real projects.

This will aid in filling skill gaps, balancing the correct mix of experts to lead their respective sectors and identifying the ideal personality mix for team collaboration and communication. Your company culture gets an instant boost with these programs.

The apprentices also help IT leaders become more open and break down the hierarchical structure that might stifle an agile, team-based model through reverse mentoring.

“Most organizations are spending more time recruiting and hiring new college grads,” says Jon Toelke, senior talent acquisition manager at Paycor. He claims the IT job market has been the most competitive since 2008. “They’ve had to forego the habit of employing the ‘ideal applicant,’ and are now aiming to hire grads with a base of experience which can be trained.”

There are several things you could emphasize to entice interns.

For example, 47.3% of interns want access to executives and mentorship, while 43.6% want flexible hours – is this something your organization does and should promote? Interns are also curious about what they will learn during their internship. What will they remember for future job opportunities? Give them details about the project they’ll be working on, and make it substantial and relevant.

3. Dive Into Networking

Organizing meet-and-greet events in the local community is a new trend with recruiting value. For example, some companies are hosting happy hours with local businesses. This will allow tech companies to meet all kinds of new tech candidates. 

Hosting user group meetings on-site and providing free continuing education to potential IT hires can be one of the most attractive features of a successful recruiting strategy.

Sponsorships and employee referral programs are becoming increasingly popular ways to attract quality candidates.

“Great IT candidates want to work on fascinating projects with their friends, and this allows them to do both,” says Judy Collister, executive vice president of human resources at Park Place Technologies.

“IT recruiters are looking for candidates, and current recruits are aware of this. They’re chatting to their friends and looking for technology settings that encourage learning, growth, and creativity. We must go where people congregate and share their aspirations and desires. This means that traditional ways of recruiting [and] posting to public sources are no longer feasible options.” she further adds.

4. Provide Remote Work Opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic has had one of the most significant effects on the job market in the last two years. Many parts of the work environment advanced due to the pandemic, notably remote labor.

While remote work was critical at the start of the pandemic, many businesses elected to keep a full-time or hybrid remote work option for their employees.

According to a Mercer survey performed in May 2021, 70% of businesses intend to implement the hybrid approach.

• Both the employee and the employer profit from remote work
• During the recruitment process, you can save time and money
• It allows your organization to tap into a larger pool of qualified candidates through means of tailored job descriptions
• Allows you to compete with other businesses that provide similar services on niche job boards

5. Explore the “Gig Economy”

Companies can benefit from gig workers, often known as independent employees. Fifty-nine million Americans, or 36% of the workforce, are gig workers in the United States alone.

Leveraging this “on-demand” workforce can have several significant advantages:

• Using highly trained employees for one-time jobs that don’t necessitate a salaried individual.
• Gig workers can perform crucial projects quickly and effectively without requiring an extensive recruitment procedure, onboarding, or many other chores that consume your company’s time.
• By one-time outsourcing chores, your full-time employee may focus more on high-value work without being distracted.
• Due to the lack of employee benefits like insurance, paid time off, and retirement plans, the gig economy is particularly cost-effective for enterprises.

6. Think Outside the Box (Hackathons and Problem-Solving Games)

Top tech companies attend monthly tech recruiting events to discover top talent. It’s also worth considering hosting a hackathon or attending similar industry events. Traditional recruiting events such as employment fairs and open days are rarely attended by top tech talent.

You can indulge in conducting IT meetups, hackathons, boot camps, coding challenges, and other opportunities for participants to learn and refresh their expertise as major tech companies hold it. These make it easier for enthusiastic learners to broaden their skill sets.

You may also consider giving them the challenge to solve, to make the process more exciting and eventually know the participants better.

Hundreds of businesses now need tech talent and finding it with an outdated recruiting process is more complicated than ever. Non-tech companies hired more than 40% of software developers and engineers in 2019.

7. Create an Employee Referral Program

According to a recent study, 48% of working professionals would consider switching companies if they had a DEI strategy in place. When attracting top tech talent, you must ensure that you are not overlooking nearly half of the talent pool.

Expanding your recruitment beyond your usual sources is one type of recruitment strategy to help increase your DEI. When hiring tech personnel, examine capabilities and talents objectively rather than depending solely on credentials and prior experience.

Developers frequently learn about new possible employers through their content and media, according to a survey. When techies are looking for work, they look at your blogs, videos, and social media channels to get a sense of your company.

To attract top tech talent, you can consider the following:

• Collaborating with your marketing department to showcase all of your company’s fantastic employee initiatives is a terrific method to attract talent.
• Concentrate on creating content that highlights your company’s culture, training programs, and anything else that would be of interest to potential employees.
• The best programmers collaborate with their peers. Engage your talent in conferences and forums with other like-minded technologists.
•  Encourage your team to engage in hackathons and open-source projects so that they can share the stage with other professionals.
• Work with your top performers to find more. Create an experimentation culture that you’re proud of and that your team believes in, and welcome others to join you.

The pointers mentioned above should assist you in identifying the best IT talent before your competitors do. They’re some of the top practices in the industry, and they’ve always yielded the best results.

At Recruiter.com, we can help HR leaders find sought-after tech professionals, blurring the lines between supply and demand. If you’re interested in any of our tech recruiting solutions, contact us today to learn more!

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