While IT jobs continue to be highest in-demand in the market globally, lack of skilled workforce is hampering the hiring process. The available skilled workforce is fielding job offers from multiple organizations. Here is where the HR professionals need to distinguish themselves in order to be the preferred employer.

When it comes to hiring tech talent, you need to create an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to attract candidates. When the job applications start trickling in, do the basic screening process to separate the unqualified ones from the qualified. Skill assessments need to be carried out to check the candidates’ technical skills so that you can take data-driven decisions. After multiple rounds of interview, you can zero onto candidates who are the best fit for the roles and onboard them.

Introduction

At 44%, IT continues to be the highest in-demand with employers globally. But employers are finding it difficult to fill the open positions considering the ongoing talent crunch. Even with the talent available, a streamlined process needs to be established to judge the candidate’s technical skills in order to take data-driven decisions in hiring.

Screening in recruitment is one of the most crucial tasks as here is where the qualified talent is separated from unqualified. Some recruiters use pre-employment assessments like skill assessments to screen talent. Further, there are many rounds of interview and assessments for the candidate to go through.

It is tough for HR professionals to design the hiring process for tech talent and make it as candidate-friendly as possible. With this guide, we’ll attempt to make that process a little easier.

 

What challenges do HR face while hiring?

1. Attracting right candidates

Getting candidates that are the right fit for the role is difficult. The problem multiplies when you have a talent pool of mostly unqualified candidates. There is stiff competition from other HR professionals who are trying to hire from the same talent pool. Cutting through the noise and being able to reach the right candidates is a massive challenge.

2. Engaging qualified candidates

Qualified candidates are often easily identified and multiple HR professionals pursue them for their own job positions. It then becomes crucial to be able to make yourself stand out in the sea of emails the candidates receive. Offer the job position in such a way that they will be curious interested in applying for it.

3. Building a powerful employer brand

As HR professionals, you need to make your organization the preferred employer. You can do this by building a powerful employer brand for your organization. A good employer brand attracts qualified candidates and increases the chances of a good hire. It’s not easy to make this happen and you have to clear out time in your daily tasks to do this.

4. Creating a streamlined recruitment process

HR needs to set up a streamlined process for hiring. This is especially important when hiring in large numbers. You have to be on top of everything at every step of the way. A good CRM or an applicant tracking system can be helpful here.

5. Giving a good candidate experience

When recruiting, a good candidate experience will give you an edge over other recruiters. Be prompt in your responses and give helpful information to the candidates. This goes a long way in building a strong employer brand as well.

With all this in mind, let us now understand in detail how to hire tech talent.

 

Steps to hiring tech talent

1. Identify hiring needs

The process of hiring begins with identifying hiring needs within an organization. These needs could vary from hiring for a vacated position, to hiring more to better support the team, or hiring to expand the organization. So, job roles are to hire more employees or to fill vacated positions.

2. Prepare the job description

Based on the hiring need, you need to create job descriptions that encompasses all the prerequisites, qualifications, and experience. These should be distilled down into skills that are necessary for those job roles.

It is not enough to just list down the skills though, the job description needs to be enticing enough for the candidates to stop and notice. Also include the perks and benefits that will be provided by the company.

3. Create Employee Value Proposition

Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is the benefits that the employee receives in exchange for the skills and experience they bring to the organization. EVP is a part of employer branding and is one of the ways organizations can attract and retain top talent. In fact, according to a study by Gartner, organizations that build well on their EVP can decrease annual employee turnover by 69% and increase new hire commitment by nearly 30%.

If your organization doesn’t already have it, it is essential to build an EVP to make sure you’re the preferred employer. EVP encompasses the unique offerings of the company to its employees and the reason why employees are proud to be associated with the company.

In order to build an EVP, you need to understand the existing perceptions of the company. Run surveys or focus groups to find out what perception do your existing employees and potential employees have of the company values and culture. Then find out what sets your company apart from every other company in the market.

This EVP that you build should then be marketed in creative ways. This will essentially build a brand for your company.

1. Refresh your knowledge of technical terms

As a non-tech professional, you may not be familiar with the technical jargon. But since you have to hire for multiple tech roles, you need to build a large library of technical terms. This is a must as candidates may have questions regarding the job roles and you need to have sufficient knowledge to be able to answer them correctly.

2. Advertise the position

There are many ways to advertise the job openings. You could start by circulating the job roles internally. Employees who are interested in switching their role might apply or they might refer their acquaintances for the role. If the role isn’t filled internally, then you should post the job requirement on online job portals to get maximum number of applications. You can also advertise it on your website and social media platforms. Other ways include being a part of job fairs and placing ads in local newspapers.

3. Screen the candidates

Once you have advertised the job roles, applications will start trickling in. You can start screening them by rejecting applications who do not meet the basic requirements of the position. The remaining applications can then be reviewed individually to assess their potential for the job roles. Here, you can have short phone interviews with the candidates to understand their profile better. In this step, you can select candidates that have the potential to best fit into the job roles.

4. Administer skill assessments

 

Skill assessments let you to evaluate candidates on the skills that are needed for the job role. It helps you narrow down to candidates who are most qualified for the role. It also brings to light the skill gaps that need to be filled which can be done as a part of the onboarding process.

According to a report by Allied Market Research, global candidate skill assessment market size was valued at $1.93 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $5.64 billion by 2030. When the world is moving towards skill assessments tests, you must too.

Depending on the requirements of the roles, you can decide which assessments to administer, like coding, full stack and more.

For those of you who are already using assessments for hiring, are you using the right assessments?

Here Yaksha Assessment Platform can be of help. Yaksha offers skill-based, role-based and full-stack assessment solutions for tech organizations across the industry. To know how Yaksha can offer customized assessment solutions for your organization visit our website.

1. Conduct interview

Keep the interviews candidate-friendly because you have to remember that while you are evaluating the candidates, they are also evaluating you. In fact they have been assessing your organization since the moment you posted the job requirement. Giving the candidate a good interview experience will help tilt the scales in your favour.

Also remember to keep the number of interviews to a minimum. Figure out what the optimum number of interviews is for your job roles as more number of interviews discourages the candidates and they tend to drop off at this point.

You can also tie up with partners who are industry leaders to help you streamline your interview process so that your hiring is goes smoothly.

2. Do a reference check

Ask for two or three references from the candidate. These could be past reporting managers or colleagues. Make sure to follow through with the references about the candidates work ethic and general temperament.

This will be a verification check for the information submitted by the candidate and also help you understand if they are a right fit for the role.

3. Extend job offer to selected candidates

After candidates have been selected for the position, share with them the initial offer letter containing salary, benefits, start date, company’s terms and policies, conditions of employment and whatever else you deem necessary. This will likely be followed by a negotiation. You need to decide which aspects are negotiable and which are not and accordingly share that with the candidates.

4. Onboard selected candidates and align them to their job roles

Hiring does not stop at sharing the offer letter. The ones that accept the job offer need to be onboarded. This onboarding process should be smooth and easy for the employees as it will set the tone for what is to come. You can do any number of things to welcome your new employees like give them a gift basket, hold a special orientation, give them a tour of the office and more. You can also assign a work buddy or a mentor to them to ease their onboarding process.

While onboarding, help the employees understand their job roles better so that when they start working they are already aligned with what is expected of them. After the skill assessments, if you have noticed any skill gaps in the employees, now is a good time to train them and bring them up to speed. With Techademy, you can customize a Learn Before Joining program for your newly hired employees.

 

We have now understood how to hire tech talent, but how can we attract them in the first place? It is notoriously difficult to get skilled tech talent on board. Let’s explore the ways HR professionals can attract tech talent.

 

What should HR professionals do to attract tech talent?

The competition for top talent is particularly fierce in the Information Technology sector. With the shadow of the Great Resignation looming, it’s not surprising that HR professionals are finding it tough to find skilled talent.

1. Personalize the outreach

It takes more than a plain, old job posting to entice top talent to apply to your organization’s job opening. Chances are, the candidates right for your role are either employed somewhere or fielding multiple offers. What can you do to make them interested in your job role?

Personalize your outreach to match candidates’ interest. Don’t rely only on automation for this process. Utilize a combination of automation and human intelligence to customize outreach efforts and support it with research-focussed HR marketing.

2. Offer competitive salary

A lot of times, the decision to pick one job over another boils down to the compensation. So be prepared to cut out a decent budget for your candidate’s salary. Also, it’s better to be candid about the salary upfront. So rather than waiting for the candidate to ask, you should release this information in the beginning itself.

In addition, also share with them the various perks and benefits that the company is ready to offer them, like joining bonus, health benefits or extra vacation days. This might skew the decision in your favour.

3. Showcase good company culture

Candidates need to know what kind of organization they are applying to. If they know about the company culture, their outlook towards the company might change for the good. Also important is to show your commitment towards good employee experience.

4. Provide information on career advancement

Candidates often have many job offers to choose from. Make it easier for them to choose you by giving them complete information on the career advancement they will have if they join you.

Chart out their career plan if you can, this will give you an extra edge. Offer them learning and development opportunities as well to help them upskill for current and future job requirements.

5. Provide flexible work arrangements

Most tech jobs involves working only with a computer. If the candidate’s role doesn’t require them to be in office, offer them the option of remote work. This not only offers them flexibility but also makes your hiring location-agnostic.

But in case your office policies call for hybrid work or full-time in-office work, explain them the reason why it is mandatary for them to be in office. Or if you are making remote working mandatory, make sure you offer all the necessary equipment and resources to them.

6. Showcase interesting clients

Before a candidate considers your organization as a potential workplace, you need to create value for them. The candidates need to know why they should associate themselves with your company. For that, showcase the kind of work your organization does and the clients you have worked with.

The younger generation, in particular the Gen Z are very conscious of the brands they want to associate themselves with. Most of them only want to work for those brands whose vision they can align with.

Hiring tech talent starts with attracting qualified candidates. Throughout the hiring process, you need to make sure that the candidates are engaged enough to continue through the various rounds. You have to show the candidates that there is value in the job roles they are applying for.

Keeping in mind the Great Resignation and the Great Reshuffle, the power is in the hands of the candidates. So our hiring efforts need to double if we want the best talent to be a part of our organization. Personalize your outreach and bring value to the job roles. And streamline the processes while taking data-backed decisions in hiring.