We are all having trouble finding technical talent. One issue that’s unique is when you need tech talent, but you also need that talent to have experience with the latest technology! I’m not talking JAVA, I’m talking technology and languages developed in the past zero to three years.
You know, when that great IT Manager of yours asks for five years of experience, but the technology has only been in use for three!
That ‘new’ tech talent.
The other issue many of us face is that we have a need for tech talent, but we aren’t a traditional technology company. We make widgets, we’re a bank, we’re an insurance company, we build automobiles, we’re a hospital, etc. All of these organizations have an extra challenge on top of finding the talent as well because they aren’t known as ‘tech’ companies.
So, which places would I look for the newest tech talent and how would I go about doing it? Here are five ideas to try:
1. You need to create a “Hit List”! Find out the companies that are using the technology you need your talent to have experience with, and target those companies with your recruitment efforts. How do you find those companies? Many times the actual company that makes the technology you’re looking for, will have a list of their clients on their website! Or, just ask your sales rep for a list of other clients using their technology. You might have to have your hiring manager do this for you, but it’s so valuable to know!
2. Find out who’s teaching the ‘new’ tech. Great niche pools of tech talent can be found through those organizations and instructors who are teaching the latest and greatest tech. Nanodegree programs from organizations like Udacity are teaching courses on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Autonomous Vehicle Technology, etc. You’ll find experienced IT Talent learning the newest technology. I’ve had success connecting directly with college professors teaching those courses as well, as they know which students get it, and which don’t! Skip career services, connect with the profs teaching the tech!
3. Sponsor New Tech Competitions. Competition platforms like Kaggle, a platform for data science competitions. Kaggle helps companies solve difficult problems, recruit strong teams, and amplify the power of your data science talent. This is just one example of one tech, but think how this same idea could be used for the new tech that you need!
4. Advertise differently than your competition. Let’s face it: new tech talent isn’t looking for jobs. But, they are still online living their lives. Programmatic advertising works to find individuals away from job boards and postings on sites that we all use daily in our normal everyday time on the web. We can’t keep doing the same thing and think it’s going to work.
5. Automate your referral program. The best place to find new talent is usually in your employee’s living room on a Friday night, or out with our employee at the bar, or at church with your employee on Sunday morning. You need to make referring friends and colleagues as easy as a click of a button, and it should be technology driven where the tech is constantly reminding employees of the needs your organization has.
Finding talent that has the newest technology on the market will always be hard and there is not one silver bullet. You must be willing to try multiple avenues, all at once, and be diligent about never letting up in your pursuit. Most tech talent gets hit up multiple times per day. It might take you five to seven contacts to really get them to take notice.
Need new pools of IT talent? Udacity is turning IT recruiting on its head by delivering great pools of talent that curious, value professional development and come with experience to give you the diverse perspectives you need. Check out Udacity’s Talent Source today to find some of the top Nano-degreed IT professionals on the market. Udacity is a proud sponsor of Fistful of Talent.
If you Google “Tim Sackett” you’ll find our Tim, and a truck driver chaplain. Our Tim is NOT the truck driver chaplain, although how awesome would that be if he was!? He is a prolific writer in the HR and TA space who just happens to also run an Engineering and IT contract staffing agency (HRU Technical Resources) out of Michigan. He also writes every day at his own blog, the Tim Sackett Project. Weirdly, he’s known as an expert in workplace hugging, which was kind of cool years ago, but now seems painfully creepy, but we still love him and he’s fairly harmless. Tim is also on the board of the Association of Talent Acquisition Professionals (ATAP), lifetime Michigan State Spartan fan, husband to a Hall of Fame wife, 3 sons, and his best friend Scout. He also wrote a book with SHRM called The Talent Fix, you can find it on Amazon.