How to Effectively Hire Top IT Talent

Hiring talent (read: employees) for a company isn’t just about paying someone to push buttons. 

For companies that want to make a difference and change the world, hiring is about the who (the person behind the resume).  

The who is a combination of: 

• Does this candidate that the right skills for the job? 
• Are they a culture fit? 
• Are they able to learn new skills and adapt to the demands of the industry (i.e., if their current skills don’t 100% fit the job description will they figure it out and succeed)? 

Which is why if your IT department is looking to have an impact, you need to both attract and retain the best people for the job.  

...but this process starts internally.  

To attract the best talent, you need to make sure your company is a place where talent can grow and develop without tarnishing their resume. How do you do that? Look at your company brand and identity. Is your presence and reputation (online and offline) positive? A positive brand image attracts IT professionals who are high-performing and in-line with your company ethos—this makes your job as a hiring manager significantly easier. 

This blog post will explore what employees want from companies, where IT managers can find IT talent, and an overview of the process for hiring IT talent. 

What employees are looking for from companies  

When contemplating a job change, employees consider (and weigh which matters most) a variety of factors. It depends on where someone is in their career. It also depends on what industry they’re in. Depends on if they’re trying to career jump. Depends on if they want to go back to school. That said, there are common factors, no matter what stage or industry someone’s in, that influence employees' decisions to move jobs. Below is a list of what employees care about, aka, what your company needs to be aware of when looking to hire top IT talent.  

• Compensation and Benefits – Is your salary competitive for the skills and experience listed? Do you offer health insurance and PTO? Do you match their 401k contributions? Do you provide tuition reimbursements for college credits? Do you give bonuses? Are there any additional wellness or company perks (e.g., a free subscription to Class Pass)? 
• Career Advancement – Does your company provide the opportunity for career development and training? Will the IT professionals acquire new skills? Is there a clear career path for promotion within or between departments? 
• Company Culture – Is there work-life balance? Is remote work possible or is there the option of hybrid work? Do employees feel valued? Is the workplace a positive, inclusive place for all? Do employees tend to job hop or stay with the company for years? Are there performance reviews? 
• Job Security – How stable is your company growth? Have you recently had mass layoffs? How is your industry performing right now? 
• Company Reputation – Do you have a positive brand image (do past employees say good things about you)? Are your practices ethical? 

Where to find IT talent 

While there’s no one way to find top IT talent for your organizations, one thing remains true: if you stay proactive in your search and combine multiple strategies, you’ll significantly increase your chances of offering the position to a candidate who fits your company’s needs. 

• Online Job Boards – LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and Dice are some of the most popular places online to post job openings because they attract a large pool of IT professionals who are actively seeking new opportunities. For more specific technical IT roles, specialized IT job platforms such as GitHub Jobs Stack Overflow Jobs are good places to post openings.  
• Your Company Website – IT talent that’s interested in your company will check out your company’s career page when they visit your website—make sure you have an informative, “easy-to-yes" careers section with the available job postings where candidates can apply. 
• Recruitment Agencies – Not looking to do the hiring internally or don’t have the capacity to do so? Find an IT-focused recruitment agency that has an extensive network and can help to find vetted candidates with the specific skills you’re looking for.  
• Social Media – If you have a job opening, make the most of your company’s audience and organic reach on platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to spread the word. 
• University Partnerships – A great way to tap into fresh talent is to forge partnerships with colleges and universities. By building relationships with academic institutions, you’ll gain access to career fairs and lectures to pitch your company to an excited audience of young professionals entering the job market. You can also use these partnerships to promote internship programs with your company to identify and nurture talent as they begin their professional journey—this, in turn, builds a pipeline for full-time positions.  
• Tech Conferences – Industry and niche-specific conferences/meetups in the IT industry often have dedicated spaces for networking. If not, there’s plenty of opportunity within the conference to engage with others and gauge potential interest of other event attendees. 
• Hackathons and Coding Competitions – Sponsoring or participating in hackathons and coding competitions (events that attract top talent) are great (and fun!) ways to observe potential candidates in action to see how they work in various environments.  

5 Steps for Hiring IT Talent 

Before hiring for an open role, you need to understand the IT job market. What key skills and roles are in high demand? How do those skills and roles meet the goals and needs of your organization? Once you’ve updated yourself on IT industry trends and emerging technologies, below are some additional important parts of the process for hiring top IT talent to help meet your hiring needs. 

1. Understand the role – What's the budget for the salary? Where does this role need to be located? When is the ideal start date? What skills does this person absolutely need to have (on the flip side, what are some nice-to-haves)? 
2. Create a job description – Clearly outline the responsibilities, qualifications, and expectations for the role. Highlight the exciting challenges and opportunities your organization offers. Also, be sure to mention your company’s values and culture – you want to make sure you attract candidates who align with your ethos.  
3. Post the job – Upload the job on your company’s career page and publish it on the online platforms of choice (e.g., LinkedIn, Dice, and GitHub). 
4. Initial candidate screening and pre-assessments – Prior to publishing the open IT position, your IT department should have developed a well-outlined candidate screening process— a systematic approach to review resumes, conduct initial interviews, and assess technical skills. This is also a good place to implement pre-employment assessments to provide insights into a candidate's abilities (making sure they can perform key responsibilities). 
5. Interviewing – Once candidates’ resumes, cover letters, and online social channels have been vetted, it’s time to move on to interviewing. The number of interviews and who is interviewing, at which stage, should be outlined and organized before the job is posted. Tip: It is helpful at one of the interview stages for the IT talent to speak with team members and their direct manager to make sure there is a culture fit. 

Hiring top IT talent is a multifaceted process that starts long before a job posting is published on your company’s website.  

It requires strategic planning, effective communication from all parties, and a deep understanding of the company’s needs and objectives on top of the years (or months) of brand building to establish a positive public image. The strategies and suggestions outlined above will help hiring managers, recruiters, and HR staff to find and hire top IT talent to join their growing teams. 

Need help keeping your top IT talent efficient and happy with their work once they’re on-boarded? Check out EasyVista’s ITSM solutions that increase productivity, reduce downtime, and increase end user satisfaction.