Three Steps to a Winning Tech Talent Acquisition Strategy

In the past five years, the need for emerging tech talent has increased by almost 200 percent, driven by the ever-increasing spread of technology into every aspect of our personal and work lives. With the demand for valuable tech talent expected to continue to increase in the coming years, companies that hope to be successful in their recruiting efforts need to ensure inter-departmental alignment of their processes. It’s no longer effective for hiring efforts to be the sole province of recruiting leaders. Leaders in IT and recruitment have to be in alignment throughout all phases of the process to win the battle for tech talent.

Here are three ways IT and recruiting leaders can work together to secure and retain valuable tech talent:

Document Technical Requirements

Before recruiters start searching for talent, IT leaders should thoroughly and explicitly document what requirements candidates need to be ready on day one. While most job descriptions provide a general overview, you’ll increase your chances of finding the best fit for a job if you drill down past generalities. Don’t stop at technical skills, either. It’s often a candidate’s soft skills, such as aptitude and attitude, that will make them an effective team member. It’s important to look at your current team and decide what soft skills will best complement it.

Assess Current Recruiting Practices

If your current tech talent acquisition process is falling short of your expectations, take some time to evaluate where it’s falling short. Breaking the process down into specific steps and identifying the sticking point can help you find opportunities for improvement. Three key indicators many organizations use to evaluate their recruitment process include quality, speed, and cost. These aren’t the only evaluative measures you can use, however. Sit down with your department leaders and other internal stakeholders to solicit feedback about the hiring process. Pay particular attention to any sticking points that made the process more difficult or resulted in a poor outcome.

You may find that you only need to make a few tweaks to your current process to see significant improvements. On the other hand, you may find that a new technical recruiting process is needed.

Define Success

Before you can determine how to be effective in your efforts, you have to know what success looks like for your IT department and your recruiting department. Successful end results for both departments will likely have significant overlap, but there may be variations in each team’s top priorities. If your IT department is overwhelmed from lengthy unfilled searches for tech talent or a high attrition rate from individuals that weren’t a good fit, they will probably prioritize goals such as on-the-job effectiveness and day-one readiness. Your recruitment department may be more focused on long-term retention rates and diversity. An effective recruiting process should address both perspectives.

At Revature, we understand the difficulties inherent in IT recruiting and retaining tech talent that aligns with your company’s strategic goals. We are the largest employer of emerging technology talent in the US. Reach out today to find out how you can go beyond traditional talent acquisition with the talent development partner of choice for Fortune 500 companies.