In today’s job market, there is a huge shortage of tech talent—and it’s only expected to get worse. The Korn Ferry Institute predicts that by 2020, the global technology, media, and telecommunications industries may be short more than 1.1 million skilled workers.
This shortage has made hiring for tech positions a challenge for recruiters. In fact, almost 9 in 10 recruiters (86%) find it difficult to identify and hire tech talent.
However, by proactively networking and establishing a presence in the tech community, you’ll gain referrals and build a pipeline of technical talent to pull from in the future. Read on to learn how.
1. Understand the tech industry
While managers should let you know the exact technical skills they are looking for in a new employee, a general understanding of the tech industry will help you in your search for the perfect candidate. Besides general knowledge of tech salary scales and culture, you absolutely must understand the skills needed for the specific tech positions you are looking to fill.
With this knowledge, it will be easier for you to identify and connect with tech professionals who are suitable for your open positions.
2. Know your audience
Before you start reaching out to tech talent, get an idea of who you’re talking to. Stack Overflow’s Global Survey reveals that:
About 3/4ths of professional developers are younger than 35
Nearly 90% of developers taught themselves a new coding language
The majority (57%) of developers have less than 5 years of professional experience
About half of developers have taken a new job within the past 2 years
Hone your pitches to appeal to the profile of a young, innovative, and ambitious tech professional.
3. Learn to speak their language
Nothing annoys a tech professional as much as a recruiter who didn’t take time to learn more about the position they are trying to fill. Familiarize yourself with tech language as best you can before speaking with any prospective hires.
Asking your tech teams for help or reviewing online glossaries is a great place to start. Once you’ve learned more about tech lingo and culture, think of ways to reword your employee value proposition for them, so they can connect with it on a deeper level.
4. Look in the right places
Because skilled tech talent is in such high demand, most tech professionals will already have a job. They probably won’t be scouring job boards looking for work.
Some might be reachable on professional websites, like LinkedIn, or tech community forums and sites like GitHub. For more personal connections, attend local tech community events, where you can form relationships with prospective employees in a casual setting.
5. Organize an event
Hosting events can be challenging, but are an excellent opportunity for forming relationships. There are certain tips for any good recruiting event, but to pull off a tech event, you’ll need to follow two additional best practices.
Invite your tech team. Knowing your audience can get you only so far; ask your current tech team to step up and add more authenticity to your event. These team members can be your best salespeople by showcasing their favorite projects and showing enthusiasm for your brand.
Keep it fun. Tech professionals attend recruiting events to connect with other professionals and have fun. Ensure you have entertainment lined up, even if it’s coding related, like a hackathon or coding challenge.
By integrating yourself in the tech community, you’ll become a go-to recruiter when your connections decide to make a change.
Need help recruiting tech talent? We can help.