Summary. Technical recruiting focuses solely on finding candidates for tech-based positions. Due to the specific skills required for these positions, technical recruiting requires a specialized approach to evaluate candidates effectively.
In an age where data is a highly valuable resource and nearly all industries are affected by the latest technological innovations, it should come as no surprise that technical recruiting plays an important role in modern hiring processes.
Key Takeaways:
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Technical recruiting is different from regular recruiting because it requires more in-depth knowledge of the skills and experience required.
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Technical recruiting reduces the costs of bad hiring decisions.
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Tech recruiters and the rest of the hiring team need to establish KPIs and other qualification standards that can be consistent between candidates.
What Is Technical Recruiting?
Technical recruiting is the sourcing of job candidates for IT and other technology-based roles. Since many of these roles, such as software engineers, data analysts, and IT consultants, are highly skilled positions, companies need to be equally skillful in determining appropriate talent.
This is where technical recruiting helps. It is the specialized approach to finding skilled candidates for technical positions. For an organization to be effective at technical recruiting, its strategy and the people who implement it will need a robust understanding of the policies, procedures, skills, responsibilities, and experience they seek for their tech positions.
Technical Recruiting vs. Regular Recruiting
Technical recruiting is not the same as regular recruiting because it requires more in-depth knowledge of the skills and experience required of the job candidates.
This is because a technical recruiter, the one who handles the technical recruiting process, needs to be able to properly evaluate the talent. It makes sense when you think about it. If a regular recruiter was ignorant of specific technical skills, how would they know that their candidates are capable in their positions?
That being said, much of the process is still the same. Both types of recruiting include:
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Creating a hiring plan
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Posting job openings
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Sourcing talent
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Filtering through applicants
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Arranging interviews
Additionally, like regular recruiting, the size and scope of an organization affect the involvement of technical recruiting. For example, technical recruiting may include onboarding as well. This is particularly true for smaller organizations.
The Benefits of Technical Recruiting
Technical recruiting is very beneficial to companies that need employees for highly specialized technical roles because it:
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Allows companies to make more informed decisions about candidates. An effective technical recruiting process understands what the organization needs and how to evaluate people who fulfill those needs.
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Attracts talent away from competitors. In the modern workforce, technical positions are in-demand, but companies lack a consistent supply of appropriate candidates.
This means tech candidates have more choices among competing businesses. As a result, companies have to work harder to find great candidates. Technical recruiting ensures that you stay competitive in this labor market.
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Reduces the costs that result from bad hiring choices. Many technical positions play an important and complicated role in a company’s success. Therefore, organizations have more to lose if they make a bad hire. This is easy to do if the recruiting process does not fully understand the roles and responsibilities it is trying to address.
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Help diversify the workforce. Tech recruiters are specialists, and one of their specialties is their knowledge of the tech workforce. This can include their ability to find underrepresented candidates. If you are looking to diversify your tech positions, then a technical recruiter can help you create a more inclusive workforce.
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Builds an effective workforce that appropriately meets organizational goals. The final result of technical recruiting is that you have employees with the capabilities to fill both short-term needs and long-term goals.
What Does a Technical Recruiter Do?
A technical recruiter specializes in finding talent for technology-based positions. This includes sourcing, screening, interviewing, and sometimes, even onboarding candidates.
Since technical roles require highly specific sets of skills and experience, a technical recruiter needs to understand the role and responsibilities of the position, as well as the required skills, to evaluate candidates properly.
Technical recruiters usually have two to four years of relevant experience. They may have a background in either human resources or some technology field, but in either case, they must have comfort with both recruiting and technological procedures.
Technical recruiters can be one of three types:
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In-house. This is a technical recruiter who comes from your organization, usually as a member of your human resources department.
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Recruiting firm. Some firms specialize in technical recruiting. Your business may contract one of its employees to handle your technical recruiting process.
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Independent consultant. A technical recruiter may act as a freelance consultant and, similar to those who come from firms, will be contracted to manage technical recruitment.
Technical Recruiter Skills
Technical recruiters require more skills than the average recruiter because they need to be able to understand the technical capabilities of their candidates. A technical recruiter needs to have skills such as:
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Comfort with current technological trends and vocabulary
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Rudimentary experience with relevant technical processes
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Understanding of where to find technical candidates
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Proficiency with ATS software
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Good data analysis skills
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Excellent organizational skills
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Project management skills
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Communication and interpersonal skills
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Negotiation and strategy skills
Working With Technical Recruiters
As an employer, you have to decide whether or not to work with a technical recruiter. Unless you or someone on your team feels fully qualified to seek out and evaluate candidates for tech positions, it is likely in your best interest to work with a technical recruiter.
This is because a technical recruiter relieves you of the burdens that come with hiring top talent, especially in the tech field. Technical recruiters use their knowledge and resources to find the proper candidates.
This gives you the ability to focus solely on your aims of deciding who is a good fit based on what you are presented with. However, for this stage to be successful, it requires constant communication and feedback between you and the technical recruiter. You want to make sure you are on the same page about your end goal.
Create an effective system of accountability by setting up the following:
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Key performance indicators (KPIs) that determine qualifications
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Interview and assessment scorecards that are consistent and objective
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Assess deficiencies in the current workforce
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Additional standards of qualifications
7 Steps To Technical Recruiting
The technical recruiting process can be broken down into seven stages:
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Create a hiring plan. Before you begin to recruit, your organization should know exactly what it is trying to achieve. This means understanding:
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The organizational needs and goals to be achieved
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The type of role you are trying to fill to meet those needs
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The qualifications of an ideal candidate.
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Standards of assessment, KPIs, interview scorecards
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Timeframe and budget
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Necessity of hire
From this, you can gather further information, such as who will be in charge of recruiting and where candidates will be found.
A well-thought-out hiring plan is important to successful recruitment. It allows you and your organization to review your current needs and address them strategically.
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Recruitment. This is the process of seeking out qualified candidates. Recruitment can take place in multiple sectors, such as:
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Choosing to look internally or externally.
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Actively recruit candidates, that is, look for talent through professional networks and social media.
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Compile a job description to be posted on job opening websites.
It is in your best interest to assign a technical recruiter to manage this process. They will know where to find candidates and how to evaluate their technical qualifications.
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Assessment. Because the role in question requires specific skills, you need to assess your candidate to make sure they can perform basic functions. A technical assessment is usually a series of tests or projects that the candidate must complete to show off their abilities. Make sure your assessment:
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Can be scheduled easily
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Is monitored with proper technical support
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Is realistic and takes up no less than an hour
With the right technical assessment, you can filter out the most unqualified candidates. This gives you time to focus on your desired talent. However, it is important to make sure your assessments are fair and are not affected by subconscious biases or unforeseen errors.
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Recommendation. Once the technical recruiter has determined who is a good candidate, they will make a recommendation to the hiring manager. This has to be a careful consideration, especially when it comes to how candidates did on the assessments.
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Introduction/Interview. The candidate is then introduced to the rest of the team. This can occur in one-on-one or panel interviews. It is good practice for the candidate to meet both the hiring manager as well as potential coworkers.
Even if the candidate has proven their technical qualifications, at this stage, you want to make sure the candidate is a good fit with the company culture. This can be accomplished through monitoring interpersonal and behavioral skills.
To help you remain as objective as possible, keep your interviews fair and consistent. Be mindful of biases that may affect your evaluation of candidates.
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Decision. It is now time to make a decision. The technical recruiter, you, and the rest of the hiring team need to agree on who is the best candidate. Therefore you need to make sure everyone shares a common standard of qualifications.
It is helpful to have KPIs and interview scorecards that can help provide objectivity when comparing candidates. Through proper analysis, the decision will be one that meets both the technical and professional responsibilities of the position.
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Offer. Your organization can now offer the position to the candidate. This may be done by the technical recruiter or by the hiring manager. Sometimes, the technical recruiter will inform candidates they have been rejected as well.
In these cases, understand that the candidate may ask for reasons why, so be ready with a response. You don’t necessarily have to provide reasons, but if you do, make sure they are delivered in a professional manner.
Tips For Technical Recruiting
Consider the following tips to create an effective technical recruiting process:
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Understand organizational goals and needs. Before deciding who you need and for what role, you should understand why you need this position filled in the first place. That comes from understanding how your organization’s goals depend on certain factors that can only be met by specific roles.
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Be familiar with technical skills, vocabulary, and responsibilities. Even if you have a technical recruiter managing the process, everyone else involved should have a firm understanding of the skills and qualifications needed.
This means being at least somewhat comfortable discussing the responsibilities and jargon that come with many tech positions.
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Be specific in your job description. Candidates for tech positions will want to seek out roles that fit their interests and skills. Make sure your job description clearly lays out expectations so that you can attract appropriate candidates.
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Consider internal hiring. Your organization may already have the talent you seek. Promote this opportunity and be open to hiring from within, even if it means a lateral move for some people.
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Use employee referrals. Your employees have a network that can help you source out potential candidates. Provide compensation for employee referrals to incentivize their assistance.
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Build a network with local and online tech communities. Many talented individuals are involved with various tech communities. Use your organization’s resources to create a presence within these communities. From this, you can begin to network with individuals.
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Have an attractive brand. Tech positions, in particular, have the leverage to choose from a wide variety of places. Make sure your organization is a place where people will want to work. Consider how your company’s website and social media presence help establish your brand.
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Be present at trade shows and industry events. This is a classic networking opportunity that still holds merit. Go to these types of events to meet qualified members of the tech industry, even if it’s only to build up a list of potential candidates for future use.
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Make the application process easy. A difficult or confusing application process is going to make it hard for applicants to apply. Have a streamlined system in place and keep your screening assessments flexible to the schedules of your applicants.
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Be prepared to negotiate and lose candidates. If you are looking for top-quality talent, the chances are you are not alone. These individuals will likely have multiple offers, so you need to be ready to negotiate and come to a compromise.
You also need to be ready that some candidates may choose somewhere else, so it is good to have a list of candidates to choose from.
Technical Recruiting FAQ
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What are examples of technical recruiting?
Examples of technical recruiting include seeking individuals for positions in areas such as:
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Software engineering
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Data analytics
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Information Technology Consulting
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Web development
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Cybersecurity engineer
Technical recruiting occurs in any field related to digital technology that requires specialized skills from its candidates.
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How is technical recruitment different from general recruitment?
Technical recruitment is different from general recruitment because it requires a good understanding of the technical capabilities of candidates. This means the process needs to know where to look for good candidates, how to communicate with them, how to assess them, and how to make a compelling job offer.
Technical recruiting that is unfocused or insufficient can result in bad hires that have a negative financial impact on a business.
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Is technical recruiting hard?
Yes, technical recruiting is hard, or at least harder than general recruiting. The technical recruiting process is resource intensive. This is because it requires more technical knowledge and the targeted sourcing of a specialized workforce. Time, money, and energy are all spent, but when done correctly, they pay out as worthy investments.
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Are technical recruiters in demand?
Yes, technical recruiters are in demand. This is because tech jobs, in general, are in demand, and many companies want to be more targeted in their recruitment process. Technical recruiting provides such focus and results.
References
Author
Conor McMahon
Conor McMahon is a writer for Zippia, with previous experience in the nonprofit, customer service, and technical support industries. He has a degree in Music Industry from Northeastern University and in his free time he plays guitar with his friends. Conor enjoys creative writing between his work doing professional content creation and technical documentation.
