Thomas Griffin — August 1, 2018 As a startup or a non-tech entrepreneur finding technology hires can seem like an impossible task. According to Indeed, seven out of ten of the hardest to fill math and computer positions are software jobs. Technology experts have spent a lot of time honing their skills and they know they’re in high demand.
When looking at the exciting world of tech, it can seem difficult to stand out next to the competition. A lot of awesome tech candidates are getting wooed and snatched up by huge companies who provide catered lunches, game rooms and a ton of other amazing perks that many companies just can’t offer. But your company can nab some stellar talent too. You just have to know where to look and how to recruit them.
With changes in technology come changes in how candidates search for new jobs and how you can find new hires. You’re no longer limited to job boards and career fairs, there are many tactics you can use to find quality candidates who would love to work for a company like yours.
Here’s how to find great technology hires and tips to recruit them.
Look within your network.
You might not have any contacts that are tech experts but you probably know someone in your network that does. By doing some digging within your inner circle, you’ll be surprised at the number of professional connections you have, who know someone that can fill your tech position. In fact, all of our great developer hires have come from recommendations by network connections in our industry. When you hire within your network, you can get solid recommendations from people who can personally vouch for a tech hire, their specific technical skills, soft skills, and experience.
If you want to widen your network and connect with more tech talent directly, establish a presence in your local tech scene by attending seminars, meetups, and conventions. You can use a tool like Meetup to find meetups of all kinds in your area.
Tip: When networking, don’t just talk about salary and benefits, tell your company story and what’s important to you. Candidates will be excited to get behind a company that has a vision they also believe in. If you don’t have one already, make sure to create a job board on your site where you can easily refer the potential hire to apply.
Use LinkedIn to connect.
When hiring in the past, you were limited to choosing from the pool of applicants who applied to your job posting but with LinkedIn, you can reach out to talented people in the tech industry before you even post a job opening.
Do a simple search for people in the tech industry or by specific job title who you can connect with. While browsing profiles of potential tech hires, look for the desired skills and experience you want in a future team member. If you’re not familiar with tech, you can use a tool like Glossarytech to help you understand unfamiliar terms when browsing LinkedIn profiles.
Don’t forget to develop an online presence on LinkedIn by completing a company profile so that you’re making a great first impression and potential candidates can see what your company is all about. This goes for your personal LinkedIn as well. Marketing your company on LinkedIn will build up your brand and go a long way to attract potential hires. Candidates will be more impressed when you present yourself online as a trusted and established company in your industry.
Tip: Use Linkedin Profinder to find freelance workers first that you can then turn into full-time employees if you’re happy with their work.
Think globally.
Sometimes the candidate pool in a particular city with lots of big companies as competition can seem small and difficult to recruit in but you no longer have to limit your hires to your local city, state or country. With changes in technology, you can now hire people from anywhere in the world to work for you remotely. Some entrepreneurs are even choosing to get rid of the traditional office altogether and build a virtual team instead. Looking globally for tech hires is a very effective way to find talent that’s a great fit for your team while reducing overhead.
Hiring remote workers might make you nervous but by implementing some simple project management tools you can easily organize remote workers. You can post a job ad and invite candidates globally to apply or reach out to candidates personally by finding them on the web. Having an unlimited group of candidates to choose from will allow you to find talent that fits with your company.
Tip: Some job boards that I’ve used in the past are remoteworkhub.com, wphired.com, and jobs.wordpress.net for finding great remote tech talent. You can also post your job on Linkedin’s job board and add the word “Remote” to the title to stand out and get more applicants. Another tip is to also allow Linkedin’s Easy Apply so applicants can apply with their Linkedin profiles.
Finding and recruiting great talent isn’t like it used to be. While hiring a headhunter may work for you, it’s not always necessary these days due to the way technology has changed the job search. The job market can now be accessed by tech experts on their mobile phones 24/7 and people are willing to take their time to find a company to work for that they admire. But if you adapt to these changes, you’ll have no problem recruiting.
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