Out-Of-The-Box Places to Find IT Talent

Employer Insights

Ask any IT employer about talent development, and they’ll likely admit that top talent is hard to come by these days. Because of the growing IT staffing shortage, many organizations are struggling to find candidates through traditional recruitment methods, such as online job boards and career fairs. If your hiring team has exhausted most standby outreach methods, here are some out-of-the-box recruitment outlets to consider:

LinkedIn.

Even if your hiring team has their own LinkedIn profiles, chances are they aren’t utilizing the site to its fullest in terms of recruitment. There are many unique functions on LinkedIn, including direct messaging; private groups and forum discussions; and search tools where you can filter through hundreds of individuals and organizations. Investing at least 20 minutes a day using LinkedIn can pay off in dividends, just in candidate leads alone. If your hiring team needs to brush up on their LinkedIn skills, consider paying for an online course geared towards using LinkedIn for hiring and recruitment.

IT Industry Events.

Though it’s certainly an investment of time and money, making a point to attend IT industry events in your region and throughout the country can help to expand your candidate pool tremendously. Often IT seminars and conferences are filled with ample networking opportunities in which you can connect with job-seekers, as well as established IT professionals looking for new jobs. This is a very targeted networking approach, in which you can make direct, one-on-one connections with potential candidates and discuss with them what your organization has to offer.

College campuses.

There’s perhaps no better place to find fresh, new IT talent than college campuses. Consider coordinating times each year for your hiring managers to visit local colleges’ recruitment fairs and other events so they can educate upcoming graduates about your employment opportunities. By getting on students’ radars, you’ll open doors to an entirely new candidate pool, and most importantly, a group of students who will be actively looking for jobs upon their graduation.

Engage a trusted partner.

Teaming up with an IT staffing company can expedite your hiring process, saving you time and money. When you have an urgent IT staffing need, skip the long search by allowing the experts to help you find the right person for the job. They will have the connections to help you get in touch with the people who have the right skills for your IT positions and they have the experience to know when you have a good match.

Being more creative with your recruitment approach can lead you to candidates whom you never would have discovered through basic search methods. By tracking your candidate leads and hiring outcomes, you’ll get even closer to finding the right IT talent for your department’s needs.