Finding a bodyguard can be a difficult and time-consuming process. You want to find someone who is easy to work with and whose characteristics match your personality since the consequences of hiring the wrong candidate could be significant.
Just like hiring a bodyguard can be difficult, hiring a new IT employee can take just as much effort. To illustrate the number of decisions a hiring manager must make when filling an open position, we imagined how you might go about hiring an Avenger as a bodyguard. Let’s take a deeper look at how you can choose the right hire for an IT position.
The Challenges of Recruiting
Recruiting the right employee for an IT position can prove challenging for even the most successful companies. In the highly competitive tech sphere, you need to work to attract qualified employees while simultaneously determining who will be the best fit for your business. Though you need to make a fast hiring decision, you also need to ensure your new hire will meet the requirements of the position and fit with your company’s culture.
Some of the specific challenges companies face when recruiting include finding applicants who meet highly specific requirements, choosing one person to hire from a large pool of similar applicants and keeping strong candidates engaged to retain them throughout the hiring process. In addition to working with an IT staffing agency, you can address these challenges by using the following guidelines.
How to Hire the Right Candidate
Before you can choose the right candidate for the position, you need to attract them to your business. You want to encourage the best of the best to apply so you’ll have a strong applicant pool to draw from. Here are several tips for attracting talent to your organization:
- Look for applicants beyond your immediate industry: IT professionals come from a wide variety of backgrounds and industries. Instead of limiting yourself to applicants with a long history of experience in your industry, broaden your minimum requirements to include those who have the skills and enthusiasm to transition to your industry.
- Bring something to the table: Remember that applicants are trying to evaluate your company’s value as much as you’re trying to evaluate them. When advertising a position, emphasize what distinguishes your company from your competitors, such as the benefits, compensation or company culture.
- Look to competitors for potential applicants: If you’re struggling to attract the kind of applicants you want, look to your competitors. If another prominent company has laid off many workers recently, target these potential applicants.
Once you have a strong applicant pool, you need to narrow down your options and make the best possible selection for your business. As you compare resumes, consider some pieces of conventional hiring wisdom.
Staffing professionals cite many reasons not to hire a candidate. For example, you might avoid employees who switch jobs often or display personality traits that clash with your culture. There are also many good reasons to hire a candidate, such as having a history of performing well, displaying an interest in your company and fitting in with existing team members. Remember to consider all factors of employee success when making a hiring decision.
Hiring Through a Tech Staffing Agency
Hiring the right employee can make an enormous impact on your organization, which is why many companies turn to outside IT staffing agencies to help. At The Computer Merchant, we do the heavy lifting of hiring for you. Using our large technical database, we can help you fill your next open IT job, saving you time, money and energy. Contact us to learn more about our staffing services today. Call (800) 617-6172 for one of our representatives to assist you.
