With digital transformation dictating the sustainability, efficacy, and profitability of businesses across all industry sectors, securing top tech talent is essential.
Your recruitment process is critical. From start to finish, both your hiring strategy and your operational procedures needs to be seamless.
2023’s tech A-Players are very much aware that their skills are in demand and plenty of companies are in the race to harness them.
Luckily, there are some ways to ensure that you can optimise your recruitment strategy that will help your hiring process stand out from the rest.
Read our recent blog on creative recruitment strategies here.
The war for A-Player tech talent.
‘A-Players’ are in the top 10% of available talent for a given job, salary, and location.
Yes, the digital skills market is particularly tough at present. But top tech candidates are rarely out of work and of such high value to their existing employers that they are able to command high remuneration. Securing A-players has always been challenging.
Here are some top tips on how you can get the best from your tech recruitment strategy and make sure you are an attractive option to tech A-Players.
Want more on tech recruitment in 2023? Read our rundown on tech recruitment trends in 2023.
How to optimise your hiring process.
Speed it up.
A-Players are in demand, so to make sure you retain their interest, you need to move quickly. Top tech candidates aren’t going to wait for red tape or lengthy decision-making.
Work to a 7-day deadline. Interviews, testing, AND offers should be made in this timeframe. By working quickly, you tick many boxes. Not only do you cut down the risk you’ll lose out to a competitor, but you and your organisation will appear dynamic and agile.
Top tip – Our advice is to involve a financial decision-maker in the recruitment process. Someone who can make fast decisions regarding salary will be an asset. So many offers are delayed while a decision is made over meeting the financials of a job offer.
Set clear expectations and requirements.
Before you start advertising a role or even writing a job advert, be clear about what function the role should fulfil. This will enable a clear and accurate job description and person specification.
Without clarity over the purpose of the job, you won’t be able to attract tech candidates with the appropriate skill level.
Working out the deliverables will also ensure you offer the right salary to attract the right experience level.
Top tip – Our advice is to establish your top 3 measurables that this role would impact. What are the criteria that would define success in this job?
Create excitement through the job ad.
Tech A-Players have lots of exciting options on the table with remarkable companies doing progressive work. This means that your job ad needs to be engaging and make you stand out from the competition.
Your work in creating clarity from our last point will help you here. If your job description, your requirements, and salary parameters are clear then your field will self-select. Only those who are prepared to do the work for the salary you are offering will apply.
Work with your marketing team and make sure your copy is SEO friendly and your ad is both dynamic and readable. This will help it stand out in a Google search.
Widen your lens.
A-Players can’t be boxed, or pigeonholed. Some tech A-Players won’t have years of commercial experience and may not have taken the traditional academic route to get to where they are now.
Top tip – Our advice is to broaden your search and look for top tech talent in a more diverse selection of places.
Use your team.
When going through the interview process you should involve your team. This will create a hiring environment that is collaborative with a range of different perspectives.
Top tip – Our advice is to make sure all your leadership team is trained in interviewing techniques. Tech A-Players go to lots of interviews. They are exposed to great interviewers and terrible ones. Make sure yours are great ones. Interviewing is a skill that needs to be taught.
Like attracts like.
If you want to secure top tech talent, then you need to wheel out the best talent you already have. A-Players will attract A-players.
You need to switch to sales mode and your existing team may be your best sales tool. A Players thrive on influence and ambition. If you involve the best talent you have in the interview process, then you’ll appeal to both of these characteristics.
Top tip – our advice is a two-pronged approach; showcase both your culture and the work. Introduce them to a senior C Suite colleague and supplement this by asking your best ‘people person’ to take the tour. Your top tech candidate will get a great 360 view of your business and will know their worth by the fact you are bringing out the big guns to woo them.
More advice?
Retaining your MVPs in this recruitment landscape can be just as challenging as finding them. Here are our tips on retaining your MVPs.
Do you need help finding top tech talent?
Our network is crammed full of tech A-Players from all over the UK. So whether you need a data scientist in London or a developer in Manchester, we can help.
Call us today to find out how we work.
