Finding the Right IT Talent
We all know it can be difficult to find the right qualified candidates especially to fill your open IT jobs. The average amount of time it takes to fill a job has been increasing for years. Our eyes quickly glaze over when we look at the typical job boards. Tapping into your personal company database can be difficult nowadays as well, since people are starting to feel drained from the “Ask” So we thought we’d take a look at five “unusual” places where you can find talent to fill your job.
We know there are more than just five but these are the “Top 5” in our humble opinion.
1) Go Online
Have you noticed that less and less people are answering phone calls these days?
In the staffing world this is a big cause of frustration. Yet candidates will answer a text within seconds. Online communication is the way of the future, actually it’s the way of the present and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Social Media should now be a big component of your online recruiting efforts, but it extends beyond that. All over the internet there are little pockets and communities of the people you are looking for, you just have to know where to look. Sites like GitHub and Reddit that are known to be populated by tech people. Find the online communities related to your industry, become familiar with them, and start interacting.
The way of the recruiter is no longer just a telephone, it’s a keyboard and smartphone.
2) Tap Universities
You might need to look at tomorrow to find IT talent if you think of recruiting as a long-term process.
What about grooming a young fresh grad? Gone are the days of doing a database search and making a placement (well you can but not at the same frequency that you used to be able to).
Now what? Think outside of the box.
Start your relationships with candidates while they are still in school. Understanding that they might not be a fit for the position you are staffing for now, but they can be in a few years. Earn their trust and respect now and it will last.
3) Attend Meetups
Philadelphia is starting to be known as a tech start up town. And one of the things that we see more and more tech people doing in Philly is going to “meetups”, such as ones sponsored by Technical.ly or other local companies.
Developers, designers, marketers, etc want to meet each other, learn from each other, and build their networks. And meetups are a perfect facilitator for that providing a fun and friendly environment for people of the same industry to meet, mingle, and discuss the things they are passionate about.
Take advantage of the organic conversation and meetings and get networking.
4) Link Your Personal Life to Business
Your personal life is often your biggest underutilized tool.
You might be surprised by how many connections you actually have to the types of candidates you are seeking. Consider who you know and more importantly who they know.
Your college roommate’s cousin’s best friend might just be the perfect fit for your open job. But how do you find them, if you’re not connected?
As an active user of LinkedIn you can utilize your connections to their utmost potential. As well as keeping your eyes and ears open at your next family/college reunion, dinner party, or friend’s birthday party. It’s all about networking, on and off line.
If you focus on making actual human relationships with people and educate them on what you do then you can take the extra step to connect online where the potential grows exponentially.
5) Everyday Life
The person ordering coffee in front of you, the person sitting next to you on the train during your morning commute, or behind you in the grocery store, the happy hour crew you’ve heard talk about programming could all lead to your next placement.
The possibilities are endless for where to find the right people to fill your open positions. When you are a recruiter you have to be willing to look, engage, and build relationships, it’s part of the territory.
If you are in IT for the long haul, then start building your relationships now!
As you may have gathered these five tips are really taking everyday life and reminding you to “make the connection,” go to where the talent is and keep the conversation going.
Where is the most unique place you’ve found a candidate that filled a position? Let us know in the comments section below!
