How to Take Control of Your IT Recruitment

Jun 24, 2021 | IT

The IT jobs market is HOT right now! With lots of jobs and not enough candidates, it’s more important than ever that you choose the right IT recruiter for you.

If you’re looking for the ideal IT recruiter for your company but feel overwhelmed with the number of recruitment agencies out there, keep reading.  From characteristics of a good recruiter, to ways of finding the best fit for you, here’s a go to guide:

Consider your company needs

What are you recruiting for? And how do you make sure you choose the best agency for you? Understanding your company needs is key when looking for your IT recruitment agency of choice. Therefore, you should look to the agencies who specialise in IT and the specialist role you are looking to recruit.  Agencies that are true specialists will have a stronger network in their sector than a ‘one size fits all’ recruiter.

Consider your budget

It goes without saying that it is imperative that you take your recruitment budget into consideration. However, many recruiters work to different percentages. Some will even reduce their rates for multiple roles or exclusivity. So remember to ask that question to help ensure that you find a recruiter who’s within your reach financially.

Qualities of your ideal IT recruiter

• Specialised knowledge: Are you recruiting for a specialised area of business? Say you’re looking for a Systems Analyst who has the ability to use all the latest technologies and methodologies. It makes sense to collaborate with a specialised recruiter, who understands the ins and outs of what it takes to succeed in this role.  Some recruiters will have even worked in their chosen specialism themselves.
• Shared values and working styles: It is crucial that you work with a recruiter who understands and even shares your values and ways of working. Collaborating with a recruiter should make your job easier and take away any stress. This is equally important when it comes to considering your candidate experience. A recruiter is the first point of contact for candidates in your application process. Make sure you are happy for them to represent you.
• Experience: Another way to understand whether a recruiter is ideal for your business is to take their previous experience into consideration. Have they worked on this area previously? Do they regularly work on senior placements? What success stories can they share with you. With the market as it is at the moment, it’s really important to partner with an experienced IT recruiter.
• Quality of database and network: You’ve probably heard it before. All an agency does is advertise a vacancy and screen the responses. Then they charge a fortune to do so! And yes, for some recruiters this probably does happen. However, by partnering with a company who has been building a solid database over the last 10 years or more is worth its weight in gold. A recruiters database and network is where your ideal candidates are hiding. They are not waiting to see an advert on a job board. The best candidates are the passive candidates. Those that can be attracted to your company with a unique opportunity. This is where an experienced recruiter stands heads and shoulders above the rest. You want the best candidates IN the market, not the best ON the market.

How to find your ideal IT recruiter

Now you’ve considered your recruitment goals and the type of recruiter you need; it’s time to narrow down your search. But how?

• Look on LinkedIn: And we don’t just mean look for recruiters. Look in the jobs section and see which recruiters are advertising similar roles. Take a look on the company website too. Whilst this won’t tell you how successful they are at filling them, it’s a good place to start. You know that a company has trusted them to recruit that role. Therefore, it’s an easy way of narrowing down your search.
• Ask for testimonials: By looking at testimonials, you will gain an understanding of the type of companies’ the recruiter has worked with. Additionally, you’ll gauge how a recruiter has been perceived by candidates depending on their level of support. Sometimes this information will be on an individuals LinkedIn profile too.
• Have a conversation: A golden oldie – having a conversation. Sometimes you can gauge a recruiter’s passion simply through a phone call. By talking to a recruiter, it gives you a chance to ask how they work. Spend the time you need with the recruiter to make sure that they understand all your requirements clearly. You can usually rate a recruiter on the questions they as you!

If you’re searching for specialist IT recruiters we can help. Our personal experience along with our recruitment expertise makes us stand out in the market. Contact our team today!

Hiring in IT – How Long Should the Recruitment Process Really Take?

Jun 9, 2021 | IT

When it comes to hiring in IT, there seems to be a disconnect in the market with regards to expectations on timescales. It’s a candidate driven market and the power is in their hands. Are you losing out on securing strong candidates?

With the skills shortage still having a big impact on IT roles, how do you make sure that you can still secure the best and quickly?

But it’s not just securing the best candidate, it’s also the reputation of your company. You need a hiring process that’s able to set expectations with candidates. This way, even if a candidate isn’t successful in securing a role with you, they will have had a positive experience. They may share this with their friends. You never know, they could have people in their network who could be your next perfect hire.

So, if you’re looking to secure the best IT talent, this blog is for you.

Or, maybe you’re a job seeker, wondering how long securing a job can take, and what happens behind the scenes of the hiring process?

Candidate expectations of your recruitment process

Candidates expect the process of securing a job to be quick. They need a short, hassle free application process that keeps them engaged throughout.

Research suggests that a high percentage of candidates expect an initial response to an application within a week at maximum. They expect to attend interview within a week, followed by same day feedback from interviews attended. Without keeping communication consistent, engagement will reduce. And this can decrease the likelihood of top IT talent accepting a job offer. It can even influence candidate’s perception and likelihood of future applications.

Clients – keep this in mind when you’re moving top talent through the hiring funnel.

Top 3 reasons why you should consider candidate expectations when hiring

• Candidates are in demand: With a high skills shortage in the IT market, companies are left fighting over the best of the best. Without an efficient hiring process, candidates will disengage.

• Candidates have multiple opportunities at their fingertips: More than likely, talented, highly experienced candidates will be arranging 3-4 interviews a week. Actually, this figure may be even more now. With remote working and video interviews, candidates are able to ‘attend’ multiple interviews a day.  Therefore, if your hiring process is slow, there are plenty of other options available to attract them.

• Candidates with low engagement may engage with your competitors: There’s nothing worse than witnessing top talent involved in your hiring process accepting a role with your competitors. If your hiring process is unnecessarily lengthy, overcomplicated or disengaging, candidates will go elsewhere.

Hiring in IT – we can help you to secure the best candidates

At Langley James, we live and breathe the IT market. We’ve been doing so since 1999 and we have a strong reputation for having our finger on the pulse.

We can advise you on best practice to secure the best IT candidates. Whether it’s time to hire, salary guides, or contractor availability, we have the answers for you.

Here’s our tips for a successful IT recruitment process –

• Aim where possible to provide CV feedback within 24 hours. If you’re not, then your competitors will be!
• Communicate timescales to your recruiter. This helps us to manage the expectations of candidates to keep them engaged. this includes the number of interviews in the process, any testing etc.
• Conduct interviews within 3 working days of CV feedback and give interview feedback within 24 hours
• When making an offer, ensure that you get a contract or offer letter to us on the day of verbal acceptance. This will help prevent someone accepting another offer, even after giving verbal acceptance
• Delays should be avoided as much as possible. But if a delay is unavoidable, let us know and we will do the rest.

And our final tip – bear in mind that websites like Glassdoor are an open review platform where not only employees but also candidates who have experienced your recruitment process can leave a review. Protect your brand.

If you are looking to fill an IT job and require support to ensure that you can find, and offer, the best candidates, contact our team today. Likewise, if you are a job seeker, looking for a quick turn around when securing a job, we can support you too!