Does Your Hiring Process Reflect Your Market?

  

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By: Murshed Chowdhury 

Although unemployment remains high nationwide, the IT market remains strong and job growth continues. Some reports I have come across even indicate that there is a shortage of technology talent with more open jobs than available talent. This seems crazy when looking at a national unemployment average at 9.1%. Basically, it pays to be in the technology field, and in many cases, it pays well.

The top markets vying for tech talent are the NY Metro, DC Metro, Chicago, Houston and the N. California areas to name a few. In these areas, top tech talent is not only difficult to find, but when they are discovered, they don't remain in the market for long. This puts the burden on employers to ensure their hiring process reflects market conditions.

Just a few years ago, companies could take their time when weeding through available talent. The recession forced many to go on the market looking for work and only a few companies were hiring. Now, good IT talent is becoming harder to come by and there is increased competition for that talent.

What companies can, and need to do, is really take a good look at their hiring process. Is the process that you have in place reflective of market conditions? What can be tweaked or improved to better attract and capture talent?

A few things come to mind right away, when looking at a company's hiring process:

• Is this position approved?

• Do you have someone dedicated to filling this role? 

• Are you going through the resumes quickly and effectively? 

• When a matching resume comes across you desk, are you conducting interviews right away? 

• Are candidates coming in for multiple rounds and days of interviews, or can they be condensed into a day or two?

• Is everyone who needs to meet with the candidate available, and if not, can you proceed without them?

• Are you providing proper feedback?

• If and when you find that right hire, are you able to pull the trigger and make an offer?

• How long do you let them hold on to your offer?

These are just some… and I mean just some… of the things that we see that can be improved upon. What I am NOT saying is that you need to compromise on being thorough, but rather, be thorough and efficient. The longer a position remains open, and the more drawn out the hiring process, the more resources (money, time) are being wasted that can better allocated elsewhere.

We approach the 4th quarter which typically is a busy quarter for the IT recruiting market. Vacations are over, the fiscal year is ending for many, budget reviews are taking place, bonuses are being decided and a new year approaches. Are you positioning yourself, your team and your organization to meet the challenges of a competitive and aggressive IT employment market?