5 Ways to Remain Competitive in the IT Talent Market

According to the study, Cyberstates 2015: The Definitive State-by-State Analysis of the US Tech Industry, published by CompTIA, IT employment in the United States rose by 6.5 million jobs between 2013 and 2014.  While other sectors continue to struggle with anemic job creation numbers, technology keeps growing. Here’s what your organization needs to know in order stay ahead of the competition when it comes to attracting talent in this growth landscape.

Tech Jobs In Not-So-Technical Places

The fastest-growing jobs will be healthcare IT, systems analysts, databases, big data, programming, software engineering, project management, security and web development.

The rate of IT job creation in the next few years will occur far more rapidly outside the tech sector than within it. While there are tech startups popping up each day across the country, every business in every industry needs talented professionals to design systems and applications, keep networks running smoothly, protect sensitive data and more.  This means that companies aren’t necessarily competing with tech companies for the best tech talent. Literally any business in any niche could be seen as a competitor for IT talent.

Strategies For Remaining Competitive In the IT Talent Market

The war for IT talent is fierce and it won’t slow down any time soon, especially when colleges and universities continue to produce fewer graduates than new jobs created in the market. Your organization can help insulate itself against a dry talent pool by tackling some ongoing strategies to grow and develop a pipeline:

• Develop a strong employer brand: What makes your company a place where a talented tech professional would want to work? Why do your successful employees love where they work? Develop, articulate, and most importantly, advertise your brand to attract the attention of top talent.
• Get in front of graduates: If you want to fill the top of your pipeline, you’ve got to go where the students are. Partner with colleges and universities to create internship and externship programs, and become an active on-campus recruiter.
• Become a mover and shaker: In addition, partner with local technology associations and professional groups. Sponsor their events, attend their events, and become involved in their seminars and educational conferences. Create a reputation as a business known for its support of and involvement with the local “tech scene.”
• Develop your own people: Provide your IT employees with resources to learn new skills and grow their careers within your organization to improve retention and increase the chances you can promote from within.
• Screen candidates for potential: IT skills become obsolete in the blink of an eye. Develop an interview process that looks beyond the skills someone possesses today and instead measures their potential to learn and adapt.

Bonus Strategy: Take A Shortcut To The Talent

Creating an effective tech recruiting strategy takes time, effort and resources, but when you’re battling it out for the best and brightest, you don’t have the time to focus on overhauling your process. If you want to connect with highly-skilled IT candidates, put a true expert in your corner. The award-winning team of recruiters at Talon can help find the talent that you need to make your company thrive. Contact us today to learn more about our strategy for your success.