Attracting talent 

Talent attraction is important for any company, but it’s particularly pertinent when you’re dealing with a candidate-short market like tech. 

We take the consultative aspect of our role seriously and we’ll always provide feedback where necessary in order to help our clients get the talent they need to drive their business forward. As recruiters who specialise in the tech market we’ve got a lot of experience with different candidates and clients in the market and we know exactly what kinds of experiences causes clients to lose candidates.

We wanted to distil our experiences into this handy guide which will help you to attract the best candidates for your business. 

Flexibility 

The more flexibility you offer the more people will want to apply to the role. This can take the form of flexible hours which make it easier for people to work around other commitments, such as family and can actually increase efficiency. Equally, offering hybrid and remote options is vital. The pandemic meant that most companies were forced to move their workforce into a remote model which also proved that it works. The vast majority of people we speak to are only open to remote roles with a smaller section open to hybrid and a slim minority wanting to go into the office every day. Realistically, one of the best ways to stay competitive in the current job market is to offer remote working options. 

Interviews Are Two-Way 

It’s easy to forget that during the application and interview process the candidates are assessing the hiring manager and the company too. Any company which forgets this fact is in danger of losing out. Applicants are investing time into your company and spending time outside of the interviews preparing or using their free time to work on technical assessments. It’s important to respect that and to act accordingly. For example, a job ad which is just a list of requirements won’t get nearly as many responses as one which sells the company and talks about the company culture and benefits of working there. Throughout the interview process it’s important to consistently provide candidates with reasons why they should want to work with you. Getting a candidate excited about the role is vital if you want them to stay invested throughout the process and accept an offer at the end of it and it’s even more vital in a candidate-short market. 

Provide Feedback 

This is really important but often overlooked. Once somebody reaches the interview stages you should always provide specific feedback if you’ve decided not to progress with their application. Feedback can be really helpful for candidates, helping them improve and land their next role. It also really makes a rejection easier when you know why you were unsuccessful and how to improve next time. It can also leave a lasting positive impression on the candidate. You might be interviewing someone for a junior role and in two years be looking for a mid exactly like them when that person is looking for work again, if you’ve left a positive impression then they’re likely to apply again, if they got to a final stage interview and rejected them without qualification then they’re very unlikely to apply. People also talk about bad experiences with colleagues or friends so a negative candidate experience can also harm your company’s reputation. 

Make Suitable Offers 

If you’re offering a below-average salary then you’re going to struggle to find people who want to work for you, especially in tech. Even if you do manage to find someone who’ll take that salary they’re not likely to be the best candidate on the market or to stay invested in the company for long. It’s also important to take into account what the candidate is looking for. When we’re screening candidates we’ll always ask their salary expectations so that we’re never wasting someone’s time on an opportunity which isn’t offering what they want. It’s really important to consider someone’s expectations when you’re making an offer. Trying to lowball an offer to see if you can save money will almost always backfire and result in you losing the candidate even if you do then raise the salary. We can provide salary reviews and insights to help ensure that you’re company is truly being competitive and help secure the right talent. 

Working with the Right Agencies 

Working with agencies can be a great way to help attract talent, but it really does rely on the recruiters you chose to work with. Having recruiters who don’t understand the market or the skillset that you’re looking for can be detrimental. It can also be a problem internally if you’re relying on people who don’t have much technical knowledge to screen candidates and write job ads. This is one of the reasons why Acorn hires people with in-depth knowledge of the industry. Dan worked Dan previously worked within the Project Management Office for some of the largest employers in Wales so really knows what the roles entail and is familiar with a wide range of technology and he now specialises in recruiting similar roles for our clients. Caroline specialises in software development because she grew up surrounded by developers and solutions architects and codes herself. We routinely use our knowledge when we’re talking with clients to ensure that we fully understand every role so we can accurately represent the role to candidates and ensure it’s really a good match. 

If you’re interested in finding out more about how we can help you attract talent to help build your business or team then get in touch with one of our consultants today for more information about how we can support your recruitment needs.