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!