The Undercover Recruiter

Technology positions can sometimes be hard to fill – with a recent CareerBuilder/Sologig.com study showing that a third of IT employers having open positions which they are unable to fill.

Here are 5 steps to make the process easier:

1) Finding the candidates

Candidates can be easy to find, but you have to be willing to take part in the communities where they can be found. Places such as Github and Stack Overflow are good places to start, and can be extremely useful to SEE what candidates can do, instead of just reading about their potential. If you know where to look, and how to find people, you can find them – but make sure you build up a name for yourself first.

2) Make the job postings easier to find online – and realistic

Twitter technology jobs search If technology talent is looking for a new position, they want to be able to find their perfect job easily and without much hassle – they want to be able to search a few hashtags on Twitter, and find a link straight to the job description. Additionally, make sure the job description is realistic – don’t ask for 10 years experience in three different skills: these candidates do not exist. Ask for what is the bare minimum, and make it appealing to the prospective talent.

3) Make your company look appealing, but don’t fake it!

Technology talent will be using social media websites already – use these to make your company one that they will want to work for. By using YouTube and Twitter well and with a respectable budget to document a side to your company that technology talent will want to see, however don’t fake it! Add in the prospective of working with “sexy” technology (as it is known), such as Ruby, HTML5 and other tools, with training, and you are sure to receive a lot more interest. Perks can also help make your company look more appealing – flexible hours, free food and a competitive salary are just a few that may reel in the technology talent.

4) Communicate – ask them what they want – and make sure recruiters are tech savvy

It is important to ensure that your recruitment team is tech savvy, otherwise the candidate will have a very low opinion on the company, and look elsewhere. Technology talent can easily tell if a recruiter does not know what they are talking about. They don’t need to be able to do the job themselves, however they need to understand the language and the roles in the organisation to be able to reach and keep hold of the right people.

It is also crucial to keep in contact with candidates – keep them updated on the process overall, and always make sure that emails are answered as soon as possible. Finally, it’s crucial that recruiters understand what the technology talent want – they want challenges, interesting work environments and projects which will push their boundaries and use software that will entertain and excite them.

5) Use your employees as a recruitment source

Treating your employees well, with respect and giving them trust and responsibility will ensure they work hard and become a source in recruitment in themselves. Reports have shown that employee referrals are one of the highest resources of candidates for hire, so a technology worker who loves their job will promote the brand – and further entice more talent. If you do not treat your employees well, this can cause bad word to spread, and can highly damage the image of your company.

In addition, encourage your employees to keep their past employer relationships, so you can then recruit from the competition – if they continue to interact with the competition and other brands, you have a higher chance of gaining the better talent and growing your brand in the right way.

Conclusions

There are five easy steps to recruiting, attracting and, most importantly, keeping technology talent. Have you tried any of these out? If so, what is your success rate? Are there any you think we should add?

photo by: shoutabyss

Laurence Hebberd

Laurence Hebberd is Community Manager for Link Humans in London. He also runs the Link Humans Twitter feed - @LinkHumans.

Recruiting videos can be compelling stuff, if done right. And by “right” I don’t necessarily mean expensive equipment and video production. What really makes a compelling recruiting video is a strong employment brand, or an authentic portrayal of the company and employee experience.

Gallup describes an employment brand as “the way your organization’s prospective applicants, candidates and employees perceive you as an employer.”

That’s the one thing missing from most recruiting videos. Many companies fall into the same trap of only showing company leaders in the video or overly scripted scenarios or employee testimonials, failing to give potential candidates an accurate perception of the employment brand.

Companies that effectively use video to promote their employment brand do so by showcasing their employees and work environment in the most realistic way possible. Because if job seekers can visualize what it would be like working at your company, you’re likely to attract more enthusiastic applicants who truly know what they’d be getting into.

In its recruiting video, Zendesk highlights some of the everyday aspects of working there, such as the door greeter, the elevator or the mural of the company’s mascot behind the front desk. Small details like these add color to the personality and culture of Zendesk.

The Rackspace video also gives potential candidates an authentic view of the company by letting employees tell their story in a less scripted way.

HubSpot’s recruiting video also showcases its employees and work environment to shape the employment brand. This video shines more light on the people who work at the company as they’re filmed talking about the tools they use and the projects they manage.

What do you think of these examples? What else do you think makes a successful recruiting video?

Jennifer King is an HR Analyst at Software Advice, a company that compares and review human resources software. She blogs about trends, technology, and best practices in HR and recruiting. Follow her on Twitter at @HRISadvice.

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How to Recruit Technology Talent in 5 Easy Steps