“Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”
—John F. Kennedy
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat” … once applied to a monstrous (yet fictional) shark. Now the same applies to our approach to landing the “big sharks” of the IT and engineering talent market.
Get ready… change is already underway, and the market is warming up! Competition is fierce. Top talent is passively available, and when they decide to make a move, they now find multiple opportunities with great companies that all want to land best performers.
How do you create a competitive advantage (aka your “bigger boat”) to land your own top talent?
“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence—it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
—Peter Drucker
Create a competitive advantage!
A good first step is to examine your hiring methods. Strategies used in a buyer’s market (surplus of good candidates) might have worked a few months ago, but the market is transitioning now. Can you adapt to the current market demands to land highly sought-after candidates?
- Do you have a positive candidate experience? Is company culture portrayed positively online and in the interview process? People who are satisfied with their candidate experiences are 38 percent more likely to accept a job offer (IBM). Two of the top five pieces of information job seekers want are: Details on what makes the company an attractive place to work; and company mission, vision and values (Glassdoor.com).
- Is the job description clearly written? Are expectations clearly communicated during the interview process? An effective, engaging and inclusive job description is key to attracting the right talent. The best job descriptions combine a little bit of marketing, the reality of the role, the necessary skills and competencies and the company culture. With a little upfront effort, you can create the right job description to bring a wide range of highly talented candidates into your pipeline — and ensure you’re not turning off talent before they even apply (CIO.com).
- Do you have your hiring act together? Is the interview team all on the same page? Are they prepared to impress a star candidate? For a top candidate – who is talking to multiple companies – the client who has a smooth, seamless, and upbeat interview process will make the best impression. That’s often a difference maker. Put your best foot forward, sell your company, sell the opportunity, and let people know it! Your competitors are already out in the marketplace making connections, building recognition and selling their company to top performers.
“My greatest frustration in this business is seeing a good client miss out on hiring the very best person because of missteps in the interview process”, says Bruce Whitaker, President of The Whitaker Companies.
Top performers don’t wait around, they quickly identify and seize their opportunity for career growth. Now is the time to make your company and opportunity stand out to land top talent.
US IT jobs growth continues, with pandemic in the rearview mirror (Computerworld.com)
Both IT professionals and the tech sector overall again saw job growth in April, as the tech industry resumes year-on-year growth, new data shows.
Small Manufacturers Take on the Skills Shortage (IndustryWeek.com)
Manufacturers are smart to be planning now to meet future business needs — finding and hiring the right people and upgrading training to retain top talent once they have been hired.
10 tips for crafting highly effective job descriptions (CIO.com)
Hiring great talent starts with attracting great talent. Here’s how to create effective, engaging and inclusive job descriptions targeted to the best candidates for the job.
Contact our team today to learn more about how we partner with clients to deliver quality staffing solutions fast.