The market for recruiting Software Engineers and other specialist IT talent has really heated up in 2021 in Ireland. Fortunately, Ireland still remains an attractive location for Software Developers and tech workers to live and work. The tech cluster in Ireland continues to attract talent and Ireland’s bridge between the US and Europe is still attracting international organisations. The IDA continues to present a compelling proposition to international tech companies. Also, exciting local software companies continue to build new teams in Dublin and other centres across Ireland.
We have conducted research on the recruitment process and talent acquisition strategies for our client companies, and this article highlights some of the pitfalls companies make when they are motivated to grow their IT and Technology teams quickly. In an active job market, many software development and IT companies are using recruitment consultancies to help them attract the best talent. So, let’s assume that the recruitment agency has provided a qualified candidate pool for your recruitment process.
What can you do to ensure that you hire the best tech talent?
Clearly, salary and conditions are one of the motivations for candidates to join your organisation. Please find our up-to-date IT Salary Survey.
It is essential that the recruitment process remain nimble and able to change during periods of high demand in the IT recruitment market. When the demand for IT talent increases and your organisation wishes to hire a talented software developer, it is safe to say that other companies would also like to hire these prospective employees.
Increasingly, we are seeing organisations eager to build their IT teams and execute their recruitment strategy but sometimes this creates errors due to their enthusiasm to hire.
How do we adjust our recruitment process during a high-demand period for IT skills?
It is important to explore ways where your interview process could be more efficient. The interview process doesn’t necessarily need to be shortened but rather the process needs to be more efficient.
One error that has emerged for organisations during 2021 is that the interviewers are offering the position to an IT candidate during the interview. The hiring manager is delighted with a candidate, and they are eager to hire the job seeker. The hiring manager has met a few candidates in their talent pool and this has provided a solid term of reference. The candidate meets their technical skills requirements for the position and they offer the position directly to the candidate. However, the candidate doesn’t start!
When should I make an offer to a candidate?
When you have met a candidate that you are eager to hire, it is best to take a breath and not make an offer to the candidate during the interview. Unfortunately, an interview is an unusual situation when compared to daily life and many people behave differently than they would in a normal working situation. We reviewed over 72 cases where hiring managers offered candidates the position during an interview – we found that 92% of people accepted the position during the interview with only a staggering 24% actually starting the position.
There is a significant amount of psychological and external personal circumstances that occur when someone considers taking a new job. However, the key reason for “Fake Acceptance” is that the candidate is more agreeable in an interview situation and is more likely to say yes. However, they have probably not considered the situation thoroughly.
How should I make an offer to a candidate?
If you are a hiring manager and you are offering the position yourself, here are some tips.
If you have used a recruitment consultancy to generate the candidates for your recruitment process or talent pool, then you should let the recruitment consultant deliver the offer. At this stage, the recruitment consultant has met the candidate or at least has had a video call with them, debriefed the candidate after previous interviews and should understand if this is a good match. With the top IT talent, they may have been speaking with the candidate for several years. A well-trained recruitment consultant will understand the candidate’s motivations, professional and personal objectives and circumstances which will help your organisation understand if this is right for your company and the candidate.
Interestingly, the candidate is able to talk to a skilled recruitment consultant as a third person who has been through this recruitment process and should be able to act as a sounding board to explore the pros and cons in either a formal or informal way. We found during a survey that 78% of candidates were more likely to discuss concerns with their recruitment consultant than with the company directly.
For more information on hiring the best IT talent or a consultation on your current recruitment strategy, please contact Kieran Tumulty.