Traditional hiring strategies struggle to reap the same results during an IT talent shortage. High quality candidates are available for shorter periods of time and get presented with multiple opportunities) from which to choose. In this market, successful companies commit themselves to sourcing strategies that target and acquire the best technical talent. Here are three such strategies that IT staffing companies use to maintain the flow of top candidates into their pipeline and that your business needs to harness.
1.) Build the Pipeline in Advance
When businesses react to technical needs rather than anticipating them, the quality of IT talent available is subject to drastic fluctuations. The number of active job seekers varies from one week to another and does not offer reliable quantities of high quality candidates. This is especially the case for scarce specialties like cybersecurity professionals, UX developers, and data scientists. Rather than playing the odds, successful companies are those preparing themselves for the future.
For starters, they forecast their workforce needs to achieve their business goals. The best place to start is with internal data. Does your business routinely hire IT talent at predictable intervals? Are certain IT consultants needed to complete projects on a cyclical basis? Hiring with predictive analytics takes data about your workforce and operations to identify when new talent needs to be hired and which skills will help your business grow.
Once workforce forecasts are made, your business needs to identify potential candidates and build relationships with them in anticipation of your future plans. For example, our recruiters connect with as many highly skilled candidates as possible, regardless of whether or not their skillsets fit our clients’ current job openings. That way, we learn our candidates’ needs and goals, build up our rapport, and reach out to them when their dream job becomes available.
2.) Stay Informed with the Latest Market Trends
When the skills gap puts highly skilled IT professionals in short supply, negotiations are in their court. Job offers that fall short of industry and regional compensation benchmarks are less likely to be accepted. Even entry level tech talent can demand higher wages or rates – if they have the right technical skillsets. This makes it all the more important for companies to maintain awareness of the latest market and compensation trends.
Which considerations matter most to direct hire salaries and IT contract rates? Here are the main factors to keep in mind:
- Supply & Demand: CareerBuilder provides geographic supply and demand data for your region (down to the ZIP code), pulling data from job ads and candidate resumes to help companies pinpoint competitive offers. This information helps hiring managers stay strategic with job offers, identify each skill shortage, and keep up with the competition.
- Top Technical Skills: Technical skills influence compensation on a more granular level. The top programming languages still heavily impact compensation, and big data skills like MapReduce and HBase manage to easily push salaries into six figures. The demand for technical skills ebb and flow on a regular basis, making it essential to routinely evaluate compensation trends.
Unless your business is hiring a high volume of candidates, it can be difficult and time-consuming to track tech compensation. Recruiters can be an excellent resource when evaluating how IT skills impact compensation. By regularly working with a range of companies and candidates throughout the market, they have a comprehensive sense of which offers will attract top technical talent and overcome the talent shortage.
3.) Reach Out to Passive Candidates
Tech professionals increasingly have the option to wait for opportunities to come to them. Tech unemployment is around 2.5%, lowering the number of IT pros who are urgently seeking out their next opportunity. When there is less pressure to search, high quality candidates are content to remain in a position – unless the right opportunity presents itself.
Fortunately, 84% of tech professionals are willing to leave their job if they find an opportunity that aligns with their career goals. The challenge is to not only get their attention, but convince them a position is right for them. You need to sell your brand to candidates as much as they need to sell their skills to you.
That is the core concept behind recruiting passive candidates. Your business needs to use multiple channels and strategies to build authority, foster relationships, and convince candidates your business is the right home for their skills. Though passive recruiting strategies require considerable time and effort, they fortify your ability to consistently hire despite any IT talent shortage.
Want to Keep Hiring Throughout the IT Talent Shortage?
Companies hoping to maintain a steady flow of top talent in a market impacted by an IT skills gap cannot afford to overlook the above strategies. Unfortunately, building talent pipelines, monitoring IT compensation, and recruiting passive candidates require a full-time commitment. Most companies are focused on their primary business to give each strategy proper attention – unless they work with the right IT staffing firm.
Want to learn how to overcome the IT talent shortage and connect with passive candidates to increase your hires? Get your complimentary copy of our eBook “The Complete Guide to Attracting Passive Candidates”.
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