Nowadays, finding talent in tech is a particularly tough challenge for recruiters. A shortage of candidates with specific skills and knowledge is making the search increasingly difficult both in Italy and the rest of the world, with very unpromising statistics for the future of tech companies. Secondo un sondaggio di Stack Overflow, un sito di domande e risposte per programmatori professionisti e appassionati, il 75% dei talenti tecnologici è interessato a nuove proposte, perciò è di vitale importanza che per conquistarli i recruiter cambino il proprio metodo, assicurandosi di creare un’offerta sì attraente ma anche realistica e onesta. Tutto ciò è possibile attraverso l’utilizzo di un approccio chiave per attirare i talenti tech: il Tech Recruiting.
1. What is tech recruiting and what tech recruiters are about
Before understanding how to build the perfect proposal to attract tech talent, it is important to understand what is Technology Recruitment, ovvero:
"sourcing, screening and evaluating candidates who fall into specific technical roles."
This set of processes is put in place by tech recruiters, the recruiters of technology figures belonging to an organization's talent acquisition team. These are human resource professionals who have a good understanding of technology while not necessarily having to have a technical background; moreover, like traditional recruiters, they must be able to listen to people, build trust with them and maintain relationships.
Specifically, tech recruiters, before starting to search for the most suitable candidates, must:
1️⃣ Define hiring needs and understand the position: it is necessary for every tech recruiter to be familiar with the role's information, objectives, requirements, required experience, knowledge needed, working conditions, and benefits;
2️⃣ Getting to know tech talent: before going on to write the job description, tech recruiters need to get to know their target audience, thoroughly understanding the goals, views and aspirations of tech talent, so that they can build an offer that meets their needs and is immediately recognized as appealing;
3️⃣ Drafting the job description: it must be clear and indicate precisely what the duties, responsibilities, and skills expected of a candidate will be. A well-articulated description allows candidates to get a clear idea about the open job position and attract the most suitable ones.
2. Come migliorare i processi di Tech Recruiting della tua azienda
To find the tech figures they need, tech recruiters need to take specific steps in their selection processes, starting right from the way they approach a candidate's resume.
In fact, a tech recruiter should not limit himself or herself to a simple review and/or evaluation of a LinkedIn profile or on another platform, but should use technology recruitment software useful for assessing candidates based on skills and levels. They are equipped with various functions to help understand which talents are the best including:
📌 Effective ads: utilize a brandeed career website allows ads to be customized and made unique. With VGen, for example, we create corporate showcase pages that serve as a real business card to publicize the company, its history and values, job opportunities, and attract new talent;
📌 Better applications: recruitment software allows you to purchase a template for certain job positions or draft an application for them, or customize applications according to the needs of the organization;
📌 Free access: it is possible, thanks to recruitment software, to keep an eye on recruitment processes without constraints of place, device and time;
📌 Best collaboration: all members of recruiting teams can access the software and work together on the selection process, making joint decisions.
In addition to recruitment software, tech recruiters must also use the SJT Test (Situational Judgement Test): these are tests that are not easily and immediately solved by which candidates' soft skills such as analytical skills, problem solving, analytical thinking, decision making, planning and organizing, and resilience and flexibility are sought to be assessed.
In addition, technology recruiters can also arrange for some Hackathon, online or live coding challenges that consist of providing candidates with appropriate skills assembled specifically a problem to solve, or Challenge, or job simulations on case studies and real practical projects.
3. Benefits of adopting tech recruiting processes
Compared to traditional recruiting processes, tech recruiting involves the hiring of technology-intensive candidates. Although classic processes require HR professionals to understand the requirements of each role, in the case of tech recruiting they must have at least a strong understanding of the technical terms and professional requirements needed to make the offer appealing to tech talent.
This, combined with tools such as Challenges, Hackathons and the use of recruiting software, brings numerous benefits including:
✅ Customization of the offer: a specific approach dedicated to tech talent is instrumental in making the offer more appealing precisely because of the greater attention and attention to detail given to the specific needs of potential candidates;
✅ Decreased distance between company and candidates: the need for tech recruiters to master technical terminology helps to shorten the distance between the company and talent through ads that speak 'their language.'
✅ Practical and merit-based selection: tools such as challenges and hackathons allow recruiters to directly assess candidates' skills without stopping at a simple and often passive glance at resumes;
✅ Increased credibility of the company: the personalized approach of tech recruiting allows you to gain the trust of candidates and thus improve brand image and brand reputation, as well as benefit to theEmployer Branding strategy.
Tech Recruiting therefore represents an opportunity for companies to implement their own processes for recruiting and hiring tech candidates, allowing them to create offers tailored to their needs and adopting an approach that, through hands-on, merit-based selection using innovative tools, succeeds in closing the gap and restoring hope for the future of tech companies.
