Get advice from an expert for your next IT recruitment
IT specialists are among the most sought after candidates on the job market right now.
In fact, they are so sought after, that 59% of the top executives in the IT industry have had trouble attracting qualified workers in recent years, according to Børsen.
So what should you do, when the need for a new developer or IT supporter arises?
In this article, you will get advice from a specialist in IT recruitment, Garny N. Srisgandarajah from Recruit IT.
What is the most important piece of advice for IT recruitment?
– and how do you effectively use job listings as a headhunter? Garny answers this, in the video below (in Danish):
Her take-away points include:
- Be realistic with your ‘wishlist’ for the candidate
- Focus on chemistry between the candidate and the department
- In the listing, promote not only assignments but also technology
- Save the good candidates
From desire to reality
According to Garny, it is difficult, with the way the market is today, to find the right candidates to fill specific positions. The challenge lies in finding a match – transforming the company’s ‘wishlist’ for an ideal IT specialist into concrete candidates.
“It is not one specific type of IT employee who is particularly difficult to find, it is just difficult to find IT people in general,” Garny says, elaborating: “Given how the the market is these days, we experience a huge demand for .NET profiles. This does not mean that a .NET candidate fits several of our .NET positions, as different demands are placed on the technology, experience, personality and so on.”
As an example, positions in start-up departments or new work areas can be a challenge to fill, as special demands are made with regards to personality traits as well as to extensive experience in technology, architecture, project management and more.
Get off to a good start
When it comes to IT recruitment, your network is the obvious place to start, Garny says. Often, it is best for candidates to be first contacted by a recruiter they already know. This recruiter can gain a more in-depth knowledge of the candidate’s personality and strengths.
When it comes to assessing candidates’ technical skills, Garny says there are no shortcuts:
“As an IT recruiter it is important that you have knowledge in IT, as well as an interest in keeping yourself up to date. Otherwise, it will be difficult to ask the candidates the right questions so that they can assess their competencies.”
Chemistry or competencies?
Although the pool of potential candidates is smaller in IT, Garny does not believe that the challenge is much different to in other industries. The challenge lies more in matching human values with the job listing:
“Companies do, of course, have some requirements and wishes for the candidates’ competencies, but the candidate with whom the hiring committee has the best chemistry may not have all the required competencies.”
Therefore, it is sometimes necessary for companies to assess whether chemistry or competences is the first priority. And here, Garny recommends starting with chemistry, because it is important that both the candidate and the department thrive in their daily work. It is easier to learn and develop skills, than it is to change the chemistry.
Focus on the task
According to Garny, many IT specialists are happy and able to immerse themselves in a task. For this reason, she believes that companies should focus their career opportunities and job listings on the specific tasks and technologies that the candidate will face.
“The candidates have to be passionate about what they are going to be doing – otherwise IT will be really heavy. They must be motivated to solve the challenges they will face,” Garny says, elaborating: “We usually get our graduates on the exciting assignments. It is rarely the high salary that makes people choose a job in IT.”
Finding managers and heads of IT departments
At times, Garny finds that certain tasks may be more difficult to assign to IT specialists. The position of manager or head of an IT department is a position that can be difficult to fill.
“This can sometimes be a challenge, as developers will usually be interested, but there are not many developers who are extrovert and who have the skills required for sales. It can be difficult to find candidates who are also passionate about that part of the job.”
Keep a list of strong candidates
When Garny embarks on a new recruitment assignment, one of the first things she does is to look for the skills that the company requires. She first uses social media, looking at other companies working with the same technologies. She uses both LinkedIn and Facebook to find potential candidates and start the initial dialogue.
Once she has spoken to the candidate and received a resume, she saves it (with permission from the candidate) in case they match another position.
“We screen our candidates in person, and then we submit their resume and profiles into HR-ON to accumulate a list. We use HR-ON as a database for our candidates, where we can sort candidates by tags and competencies.”
In this way, Garny avoids discarding a candidate who doesn’t fit a particular position or business. Instead, the candidate is added to a list of talented and interested candidates who can be called in quickly if a relevant position is posted.
