Owing to the trend of remote teams and limited budgets, all while still expected to achieve the same outcomes, tech recruiting has become an increasingly difficult challenge in the current hybrid working era.
According to research, 53% of recruiters encounter obstacles related to assessing the appropriate skills while recruiting tech talent. Additionally, 45% of their budget is inadequate for this purpose.
This article addresses tech recruiting challenges and provides solutions to improve your recruitment strategy for assured results.
Why is Tech Recruiting Challenging?
As technology becomes increasingly crucial to the world, the demand for skilled tech employees continues to grow.
McKinsey’s research reveals that within the next five years, a minimum of 44% of prominent organizations will face a technology skills gap.
Offering remote work options is now a more effective strategy for attracting developers than offering high salaries or extravagant perks.
While the number of developers worldwide is significant at 26.9 million, the shortage of software engineers with the necessary skills is a genuine issue. Below we discussed 6 critical challenges that make tech recruiting daunting.
1. Identifying Suitable Applicants
The scarcity of developers continues to rise as many candidates frequently lack the demands of the necessary qualification. This further prolongs the recruitment procedure.
In addition, HR teams lack experience in assessing tech professionals from other countries. Expanding the recruitment process to a global level can present challenges such as:
- Unfamiliarity with foreign IT certifications
- Language barriers
- Cultural differences
Here’s how to overcome this challenge:
- Avoid Overemphasizing IT Degree Prerequisites: Self-taught developers may not have an impressive academic background, but they could possess the experience and specific skills required for the job.
- Diversify Your Hiring Strategies: To overcome tech recruiting challenges, it’s crucial not to limit yourself to a single recruitment strategy or channel. Here are some proven channels to diversify recruitment:
- Referrals: 27%of developers found their current job through a referral from someone they knew.
- Code-a-thons: Code-a-thons or coding competitions effectively observe and assess a developer’s performance and abilities.
- Leverage Indeed: Indeed is utilized by 56% of companies to recruit tech candidates. It is also one of the competitive job portals in the market.
2. Urgently Seeking New Hires
Urgent hiring is needed to avoid costs and delays in operations. A lengthy hiring process due to a shortage of qualified candidates or internal struggles may result in losing top talent to competitors.
Here’s how to overcome this challenge:
- Review your hiring process: Ask if all stages are necessary, if we’re sourcing candidates effectively, and if communication is efficient. Utilize recruiting metrics in your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) for answers.
- Long hiring timeline for challenging roles is agreeable: Communicate realistic expectations to hiring teams and emphasize the importance of thorough hiring to avoid costly mistakes.
3. Differentiating from Competitors
The IT industry is highly competitive, with companies vying for skilled candidates in an ever-evolving technological landscape. Industries now require developers to boost their digital presence and stand apart from competitors.
A CodinGame survey showed that 25% of IT recruiters struggle to differentiate their company to attract talent. Understanding candidate preferences is crucial to overcome this challenge, especially for resource-limited startups.
Here’s how to overcome this challenge:
- High salaries are crucial for tech candidates, but remote work and healthcare benefits are top priorities.
- A Dice survey confirmed these preferences, and a Digital Ocean study showed that 43% of developers consider remote work a must-have for job offers. Consider attracting talent with such perks that matter.
4. Attracting Passive Talent
Given that 70% of the worldwide labor force consists of inactive job seekers, LinkedIn states that nearly 87% of active and passive job seekers are receptive to new employment opportunities.
Here’s how to overcome this challenge:
To tap into this pool of potential hires, here are three solutions:
- Implement a recruitment management system to organize and track your pool of inactive job seekers within your current database.
- Design customized job promotion emails to boost the response rate from inactive job seekers during labor scarcity.
- Highlight your company culture and employer branding to attract inactive job seekers by sharing images of your office, testimonials, and participation in workplace activities.
5. Tedious Tech-tasks
Time-consuming IT tasks can complicate tech recruitment. It can result in candidate dissatisfaction and withdrawal.
Here’s how to overcome this challenge:
To overcome this issue, consider alternative methods of evaluating technical skills, such as:
- Coding exercises
- Pair programming
- Pre-screening interviews
If you do use test tasks, keep them concise (2-3 hours) and consider providing compensation.
6. Enhancing Your Employer Image
A strong employer brand attracts quality candidates, with investment in branding yielding three times more successful hires.
Here’s how to overcome this challenge:
Elevate employer branding and improve candidate experiences. Showcase your company culture on social media and seek support from current employees.
To achieve the best results, respond graciously to online reviews. Encourage employees to share their experiences and, at the same time, be responsible and reputable employer.
Summing it Up
Tech recruiting presents unique challenges including identifying suitable applicants, differentiating from competitors, and enhancing employer image. To overcome these obstacles, consider diversifying hiring strategies, prioritizing remote work options, and improving candidate experiences.
Ultimately, partnering with technology staffing companies can provide valuable support and expertise to navigate these challenges and secure top tech talent for your organization. Reach out to Kasmo to solve your tech recruiting challenges once and for all. Email us at sales@kasmo.co now!
