As an HR manager in a recruitment and human resources company, we often have to recruit a wide variety of roles. These can range from junior positions to CEOs for companies in sectors as diverse as insurance, fashion, pharmaceutical, or IT.
Facing the unknown is always a challenge that usually comes out much more potent than at the beginning. When you dive into a search for an unfamiliar industry, there are several points to keep in mind. Currently, one of the sectors that have the most activity is IT, where being up-to-date in tools, software, hardware, and skills can mean more than ever the difference between finding the candidate we need or not.
Many professionals and coordinating teams always seem to give more problems than the rest, either due to ignorance, due to the abstract nature of some positions or the terminology used.
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Challenges
Here are some of the challenges that can make hiring IT specialists more time consuming than usual:
Very Competitive Market: There is a great demand for this type of professionals, so we are facing an extremely dynamic market. Competition is fierce, and although this generates a lot of mobility, it also means that candidates do not remain unemployed for long or that their working conditions are perfect. They are not interested in change.
IT Consultancies: There are many IT consultancies in the USA, in line with the great demand for IT professionals. This causes more competition for candidates, and it is more difficult to retain staff. These agencies are also able to specialize in technical profiles.
Understanding: As I have already anticipated, it can be challenging to know what kind of developers are required. It is much more than searching for a word: you need to understand the technology and role of each position.
How to Start
An excellent way to start the recruitment process is to spend some time discussing the profile with the person in charge of the process or the person who will evaluate our candidate so that they can give us detailed information on what they need ( in this phase, it is important not to take anything for granted or not affirming that the technologies and procedures are known if they are not; it is better, to be honest than to make mistakes since we run the risk of ending up finding a different profile than the one we need and having to start from scratch).
To complement the information that our contact gives us, you can always go to the Internet to delve into the particularities of software, an environment, or a framework. However, the best source is still the technical professionals themselves. In our company, we work together with the R&D and product development team that does not hesitate to help us understand specific profiles.
Once we have a complete idea of the profile and know what the requirements are, it’s time to start looking for candidates.
Channels
The main channels we use to find candidates are:
- CV Databases (Monster, CaTalent)
- Our networks of contacts
- Social media (to further publicize the position)
- Publication of the vacancy: In different job portals, especially in those specialized in IT positions.
How do I know if it is the Right Candidate?
It is as important to select candidates well as to find them. Although we have understood the profile very well, it isn’t easy to know if the candidate is as good as it says on their resume. This is a point that must be discussed with the client since, in many cases, they have their specific tests. When working with these kinds of positions for a long time, you can see if someone has a good CV for the type of projects they have worked on, but it is still vital to check that they know the technologies at the required level.
To confirm that the candidate has some experience with the tools, it is important to make a checklist and ask what level of knowledge they have of each one or, if there are few or of vital importance, to detail what type of projects or roles they have carried out with a specific language.
It is important to assess the candidate’s response, see if he gives us very specific details (when he has been working in IT for a long time, it is easy to assess a candidate’s expertise due to the associations he makes between tools), if he feels comfortable or if he knows what We are talking. Last but not least, keep in constant contact with the person in charge of the process.
In this way, he can know the difficulties we are encountering, and we are up to date with changes to the profile sought. Besides, we can resolve any doubts that may arise as we conduct the interviews. We must use it to maximize the chances of success of our search and optimize the process.
In the personal interview, it is essential to carry out a part focused on detecting basic skills for the job. It is important to do it when the candidate is comfortable since nerves could skew these competencies. It will be useless for a candidate to master a technology if he or she does not know how to communicate or adapt to the philosophy of the company efficiently.
As in everything, the path is made by walking, and here every day, new technologies and new requirements come out, and we will only get to know them by reading, speaking, and LISTENING.