Recruiting tech talent was already at the top of a 10-point scale of difficulty before the pandemic. Now, recruiters are facing an off-the-charts challenge. Two-thirds (66%) of companies aim to hire more tech staff in 2021 in a market supplied with very few unemployed candidates. What is the secret? Here’s what we know.
Tech talent leadership counts
Tech roles are known to be high-turnover positions. In a rapid-shift industry that attracts people who seek a challenge, it’s bound to happen. But what if you could lengthen your tech talent employee lifecycle by recruiting tech leaders their own managers rate as the best managers they’ve ever had? A data-driven hiring approach is the secret to achieving this. Tech talent managers need technical skills, and that you can check with coding assessments. Evaluating candidates for people skills and their fit for and interest in the position is the key to improving tech talent recruitment.
This is the approach a multinational technology company and Modern Hire client has taken, with measurable results. Modern Hire’s Virtual Job Tryout™ is a pre-employment assessment customizable to the job and the organization. It is integrated into Modern Hire’s science-based virtual hiring platform. Modern Hire created a Virtual Job Tryout that highlighted the client’s core values and critical responsibilities of the software developer role, emphasizing the soft skills needed for the position. Exercises were designed to evaluate culture fit, work style, work history, prioritization/delegation, situational judgment, problem-solving, and project management skills.
The results were remarkable. Candidates who scored in the highest percentiles were:
- 28% more likely to be rated by their manager as the best software development managers they ever had
- 38% better at acclimating to the role quickly.
- 22% better equipped to manage and coach others
These are the tech candidates every organization wants to be leading their teams and keeping the tech talent they’ve worked so hard to recruit challenged and motivated. Data-driven insights into candidates’ soft skills and fit can help you and your hiring managers make more informed decisions and combat tech talent shortages.
What else can you do to improve tech talent recruitment in 2021?
There are some additional strategies to integrate in your hiring practices:
Differentiate your employer brand. In today’s day and age, nearly every company needs employees with technical skills. You’re up against not only tech talent recruitment by the tech-first industry but recruiters from financial, healthcare, and an array of other sectors, too. Strengthening your organization’s reputation as a top choice for tech talent will help you win the battle. Tailor your recruitment communication to highlight aspects of your employment experience that are important to tech candidates:
- Flexibility – 83% of software engineers want remote or hybrid work options post-pandemic, according to a recent survey.
- Opportunity – opportunities to take on new challenges and to advance in your organization can attract tech talent.
- Diversity and inclusion – 20% of tech employees surveyed rank Diversity and Inclusion as a top-three value in employers. Making your organization’s progress in this area known in tech talent recruitment can set your company apart and broaden your candidate pool.
Expand your candidate pool. If remote work is on the table at your organization, take advantage of the freedom to recruit tech talent across the country or even across borders. Devskiller reports that the U.S is the number one driver of technical hiring for the third year in a row.
Make giving candidates feedback a priority. For several years, Talent Board’s candidate research has indicated that candidates are more likely to rate their hiring experience as positive and be more willing to increase their relationship with the company if given feedback. But, if that’s not enough of a reason to prioritize feedback to tech candidates, here’s another: 48% of tech candidates surveyed say they’re frustrated by a lack of feedback after interviews.
Need to learn more about data-driven hiring? Read the latest research on ways companies are using talent analytics to solve their toughest hiring challenges and prepare for the future of hiring.