4 Ways to Consistently Attract Top IT Talent

4 Ways to Consistently Attract Top IT Talent

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According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is expected that within 5 years, there will be 1 million more technology-related job opportunities than college graduates to fill them.

This means that over the next decade, recruiting top tech talent will be a top business challenge, for a sector that is already notoriously hard to recruit.  IT workers are usually not actively looking for new employment opportunities.  If something does happen, and they suddenly find themselves out of work, they usually are gainfully employed in a matter of days.

They are the ultimate passive candidates. They probably will not respond to your job board posts; more than likely, they will not have an updated resume; almost certainly, they are not interested in taking a day off to interview.

So how do you attract this top IT talent?  You market to them, and you market to them in a variety of ways. Everyone is different, and different hooks appeal to different people. By employing a variety of tactics, you can effectively engage your targeted IT candidates. Here are 4 ways to do just that.

  • Offer certifications and interesting work. If you offer to pay for the training and testing costs for certifications AND provide challenging projects you will attract more IT talent. The ability to boosting their skill base and solve interesting problems are two key things that IT workers look for with new employment opportunities.
  • Push out content focusing on company culture. Tech workers spend a lot of time at the office.  The collaborative nature of IT work (the very nature of their jobs) dictates that they do not usually telecommute or work from home.  Therefore, provide content (blog posts, day-in-the-life videos, etc. ) of your office environment and the perks of working for your company.
  • Build relationships. This is not going to provide you instant results, but recruiting passive candidates is about building relationships and keeping in touch with them until the right job comes along. So connect with them on social media and stay in touch with them.  Send them targeted job descriptions and invite them to relevant events.  Build the relationship both online and offline.
  • Personalize every piece of communication. Most top IT professionals get 20+ LinkedIn InMails and emails every week. Many of them are generic job blasts that go out to everyone. Generic communications equal spam in most peoples’ minds.  Offer to have a phone call and learn about the person; then use that information to send her (or him) personalized content based on what you know.

At Snelling, we know how to recruit top IT talent.  We have the resources, the skills and the know-how to help you find the best-fit people – with the right skills – when you need them.  We can help you build a talent pipeline that allows you to seamlessly and continuously recruit and hire the best people – no matter the job…no matter the market.  So contact us today!