How To Optimise Recruitment in the Tech Industry

Tech recruitment has always been a challenge, but with the industry becoming more competitive and the skills required by organizations becoming more complex, the task is even more difficult. To get a handle on your recruitment and ensure you’re building the best IT team for your business, here are some optimisation tips to apply to your tech recruitment. 

Promote skill development and education

Businesses are constantly innovating, and if we stop learning — especially in the tech industry — we’re at risk of being left behind. What 75% of developers say they want in a job is the chance to learn new skills and get to grips with new technologies as they arise, so when it comes to recruitment, employers need to prioritise this for their staff. Self-development is a plus for candidates, but it’s also a bonus for employers because it means that they can retain the most skilled team and stay ahead of the competition. 

Sell the role

To attract the right people to your company, you need to advertise the role correctly and highlight what makes a job at your organization different from others in the industry. As one leading business coach explains “If you’ve done the work on the job scorecard, you can be crystal clear about the expectations of the role and the salary. People will self-select as they read your ad, and the field of applicants is narrowed down to those who will do the role for the money you’re offering”. If you’re not making yourself stand out as an employer, you’re unlikely to bring in the best candidates for the role. 

Keep skills testing short and sweet

Developers often complain about ineffective interview processes with companies, with random questioning that’s irrelevant to the role or pen-and-paper tasks that have no bearing on how a developer would work on a daily basis.

But this negative experience doesn’t need to be the case and if you can set yourself apart by providing a shorter but more relevant skill-based interview, it can help you in attract other candidates in the future. 73% of developers will complete a coding test that’s sent to them in the pre-interview process, so making it relevant and tailored to the role will benefit you in finding the right person for the job. With the right methodology and execution, companies can screen technical skills without depleting their talent pool. 

Understand what you’re testing for

Each job will have its own unique set of required skills and capabilities, but in tech, those differences can be significant. Programming languages, processes, and software all vary from role to role, and they also impact the salary and benefits a job has associated with it. Employers need to do their research into the job they’re advertising for and be very clear on the skills needed, so they know what to test for.

Research shows that regardless of the specialization of a developer, they’re likely to be tested on database skills, but how relevant is that to the role you’re advertising for? Be clear on what you need from a candidate, so you can test the right skills and get the best person for the position. 

Invert the funnel

You know what skills you need to check for now. But if you’re taking a skills-based approach to recruitment, move skills testing to the top of the funnel and start the process with these tests before moving on to the next phase. Tech roles are highly competitive and a role can see hundreds of applicants sending in their CVs. By inverting the funnel and kicking off the interview process with a skills test, you whittle that number down quickly, without ruling out anyone who has the capabilities to do the job.

It saves time for everyone involved and narrows the field efficiently while also combating bias since applicants are moved on exclusively based on skill, and not by age, qualifications, employment history or gender. 

Support remote hires

Companies are increasingly digitizing their processes and operations, and this couldn’t be more true for IT and development roles. Physical meetings no longer need to take place and staff can work collaboratively using virtual tools. With this in mind, businesses can find top talent from anywhere in the world. Geographical boundaries no longer need to hold you back in recruitment, so use this to your advantage and create a team that can operate remotely if need be. It broadens the pool of potential applicants considerably, but it’s also a benefit that many candidates look for in a job. The flexibility that making your vacancies open to remote hires could go in your favor and theirs. 

Choose the right benefits

A benefits package is a fantastic way to retain the employees you have, but it can also work as a way of attracting people to your company too. With a historically low unemployment rate in tech, attracting and holding on to technical employees is a challenge. But choosing the right benefits to make people want to work for your business can make it easier. Training and education are some of the top benefits that tech staff look for, as we’ve already highlighted, but employers can also offer perks such as unlimited paid leave, private healthcare, equipment allowances, and competitive salaries to attract people to the business. 

Attracting the best tech talent isn’t easy, and the goalposts are always moving. But to succeed and make your recruitment process as effective as possible, you need to know not only what you need from a candidate but also what they want and value. Make sure that when you’re targeting tech professionals, you’re prioritizing flexibility, progression, and benefits that matter most to people in this industry.