The fast-moving nature of the techie world is clearly reflected in the way those who work in the field view recruitment.
A survey from one technology and IT recruiter, published this autumn, found that IT professionals think that if a job has been vacant for 67 days (that’s 14 working weeks), it must be an opportunity no-one is interested in. Others in the British workforce only start to think this after 74 days, the poll found.
And for techie workers, the perfect recruitment process lasts just 29 days, or a fraction under six working weeks.
For the survey, just over two thousand members of the public were asked to define how long a vacancy for a permanent position would need to be advertised before it began to look like an unattractive opportunity.
Similar research has revealed that those doing
IT jobs believe they are doing the work of 1.5 people, which, if accurate, would mean they are completing the equivalent of an extra two and a half days’ worth of labour in a typical working week.
As one industry insider put it: “Tech professionals are a lot more concerned about how long a vacancy has been open than the rest of the British workforce. Clearly, this is a fast-paced environment, in which things change daily, so if a job is advertised for too long, people start to believe there may be something wrong with it.
“If that happens, and posts aren’t filled, there is even more pressure on colleagues who are left to cover because an organisation is short-staffed. Given that they say they are already doing the work of more than one person, positions need to be snapped up as quickly as possible.”
So while those in tech jobs don’t start to have doubts about vacancies for 67 days, in fact the ideal period for
IT recruitment, as perceived by those working in the industry, is under half this time.
The first step in getting the very best technical talent to sign on the dotted line for your organisation is, of course, to have a clear recruitment strategy in place before you’ve met your first candidate.
Even simple things like making sure everyone’s around who needs to be involved in the decision can make a big difference to getting the calibre of people you need in key posts quickly.
And reports suggest that swift recruitment is unlikely to be achievable by relying solely on social media platforms like LinkedIn.
So, whether you’re hiring contractors or permanent staff, it’s important that you team up with the right recruitment partner, and advertise through a website or agency that can get details of your vacancies in front of as many IT professionals as possible.
If you choose to work with a specialist website like CW Jobs, you’ll also be able to stop on top of all the latest industry developments, as well as having access to the CVs of more than 400,000 professionals who are actively looking for a new role in their fields. These candidates are drawn from all skills and industry sectors, across the UK and Ireland. Learn more online.
