Tips for When Hiring In-Demand Tech Talent

Your organization can do more than be on the outside-looking-in when it comes to in-demand tech talent by taking into consideration the way you reach, interview, and keep in touch with your coveted candidates

Successfully hiring professionals with in-demand tech skills can be challenging even for the most experienced recruiters. Apart from having to compete with other companies for talent, there is also the matter of actually being able to identify who has the skills you are looking for, and their being in-demand that gives them their pick of jobs and the power to not have to sign up for the first one they come across.

It’s all but a given that salary is usually your top contender for swaying in-demand tech talent your way, however, this is often also eventually affected by competition, location, corporate culture, and budgets. This makes it important to be able to convince prospective employees on the other benefits of taking their tech talents to your team, a message you can get across before, during, and after their job interview.

Pinpoint Exactly Who You Want

While tech talent is high in demand, it’s still important to ensure that the people you reach out to have the exact qualifications your company requires. It can be easy to get caught up in the competition for talent, to the point that you may end up with hires that may indeed be skilled, but not quite the best fit for your team.

So even before they apply, make sure you are in contact with the exact tech professionals you want by listing the specific needs and expectations from candidates. For example, when listing jobs on Kalibrr, you can take the opportunity to be specific with the qualifications of each. Using Artificial Intelligence, the platform will recommend your jobs to those who have the skills you are looking for. This significantly reduces the time you spend sifting through resumes. This allows you to focus your efforts to recruit the in-demand professional/s.

Apart from narrowing down your choices to the best fit, using Kalibrr can also assist you in not missing out on candidates who have the ability and potential, but not necessarily the educational credentials other employers typically look into. Via built-in assessments, and a feature that allows you to upload your own custom tests, tech professionals are able to provide an up-to-date sampling of their skills, be it Cloud Computing, UX Design, or any other.

Matchmake More Than Recruit

As mentioned, professionals with highly in-demand skills are well aware that they don’t need to accept the first job that comes their way. So what’s a good way to draw them to your company? Start with making sure that what you offer aligns with what they need. For the most part, you’ve likely already determined that they have the skills you want, so during the interview, it may be better to focus a little more what’s important to them, rather than just the company’s agenda.

Start by shifting your mindset to that of a salesperson, the best of whom first ask about what is important to their customers. You can ask questions that pertain to their current or prior jobs, answers of which can help create openings to discuss subtle intangible selling points such as autonomy, growth, or appreciation. For example, if in their previous job they felt they were micromanaged too often, you can say that their skills will be better valued as they will be trusted to work a little more independently in your company

You can also open up topics based on what they indicate on their resume. For instance, bring up the training or certifications they listed, and segue way into asking what others they would like to earn, then highlight how your company can further support their professional development. Ultimately, making these types of inquiries not only allows you to know more about your coveted candidates, but also makes them know that you are interested in who they are, and how they and the company can best benefit from coming together.

Involve Others in the Interview Process

Job interviews for highly technical, in-demand roles are not the time to do it alone. For one, the various nuances of a tech role would likely be confusing to a recruiter whose expertise does not fall under the category of technology, digital, and data. Additionally, some candidates may feel that their skills and talents are not being considered enough with the lack of an in-depth discussion about the job.

Improve your interview process by involving others who are pertinent to the roles you are recruiting for. Ideally, you should include a technical supervisor, a company “peer”, and a company advocate.

Technical people tend to trust those who share similar skills than they do recruiters. Through a technical supervisor, they get to talk to not only someone who shares similar know-how, but can specifically discuss with them about the day-to-day aspects of the role. They can even ask them their views on a technical problem or two, effectively showing that the company values their opinion.

Having company peer, or someone who has a similar role in the company, is also beneficial in recruitment, as this person can help the candidate be comfortable with the team and his/her co-workers. They can also speak of the office environment and can best elaborate on how the job aligns with the candidate’s interests.

Then there’s the company advocate, this role involves not as much asking questions as it does “advocating” for the company, making mention of the various pros of working in the company and with the manager and team. The task is to essentially excite the candidates into signing up, and can actually be a role also fulfilled by the company peer.

After having spent time with these colleagues, take the opportunity to circle back with the candidate, asking if any other concern or expectation they have still remains unaddressed. Ask questions such as “Anything that you’ve seen far that has caught your interest? Do you have any other concerns?” to get a sense of whether the role you’re offering is a good fit.

Keep in Touch

It goes without saying that when courting qualified, much more in-demand, talent, keeping in touch is a must. However, apart from making sure to not “ghost” highly coveted talent, there is actually more than just contacting them in less than a week that can help make them feel valued.

For one, you can go beyond the typical practice of most other companies, and ask them to visit the office again to meet more colleagues. Additionally, you can be a little more detailed with your process, letting them know of the steps you’re taking, such as contacting their references and waiting on their replies. When hiring on Kalibrr, you can recommend your applicants to keep tabs on their application on the website, as the status will be updated at every stage of the process.

In the instance that your company is participating in or holding its own event, you can also ask them to visit to see how you operate at a commercial capacity, and even have them participate in some of the activities. When these are centered on tech, you’ll get a chance to observe their talent further, and on their end, they’ll have a sense of involvement with the company which will encourage them further to get hired.

But Also Act FAST

Of course, you’ll also want to actually end up hiring your coveted tech talents, hence you’ll need to make an offer as soon as possible. Highly in-demand tech professionals don’t stay unemployed for too long, making it important to not let perfectionism slow the hiring process down. So while crafting an official job offer, still make an offer, even if just a verbal one, as soon as possible.

Need help with recruitment? Sign up for Kalibrr and start hiring better today!

Kalibrr is a technology company that aims to transform how candidates find jobs and how companies hire talent. Placing the candidate experience at the center of everything it does, the company continues to attract the best talent from all over, with over 2 million professionals and counting. Kalibrr ultimately connects these talents to companies in search of their next generation of leaders.

The only end-to-end recruitment solutions provider in Southeast Asia, Kalibrr is headquartered in Makati, Philippines, with offices in San Francisco, California and Jakarta, Indonesia. Established in 2012, it has served over 18,000 clients, and is backed by some of the world’s most powerful start-up incubators and venture capitalists. These include Y Combinator, Omidyar Network, Patamar Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Kickstart Ventures.

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