Tag Archive for: technology jobs

A Remarkable Website Will Help You Land the Best Technology Jobs

technology jobs

The Resume Sidekick That Can Take the Spotlight in Your Career

You want to land the best technology jobs, and though now is the best time to job search, you know you need to stand out against other candidates – but how?

Your own website could be a game-changing solution. According to Workfolio, 56% of all hiring managers are more impressed by a candidate’s personal website than any other personal branding tool. Yet only 7% of job seekers have one. This is your perfect opportunity.

Here, we look at why and how having a personal website and keeping it maintained and up to date can help you land your ideal job.

It’s a Real-Time Resume

You optimized your resume and ensured you eliminated all the mistakes. You also outlined your technical ability on your resume – but so have all the other candidates. With a link that directs employers straight to your professional and well-maintained website, they have evidence right before them that you are one giant leap ahead of other candidates.

It’s a Portfolio of Work

A website helps you showcase your work the way you want to. It is a portfolio of your work that gives employers a glimpse into what you have to offer as a tech candidate.

Showcase any projects that you’ve achieved and have permission to share on your website, with outcomes and results that portray you as a talented contributor to an organization’s success.

A section on testimonials will also back up your claims with powerful statements you’re unable to include on a resume.

If you’ve participated or managed any voluntary projects as an individual or as part of a team, show them off. This is particularly important if you’re new to the field with little or no employment history.

It Demonstrates Your Tech Ability

Using powerful graphics and a streamlined, user-friendly, yet innovative and stylish website will demonstrate who you are as a professional. Hiring managers will love your creativity of doing something different in their hiring process.

Your website is the one place where you have full control over what you are portraying as a candidate by showing off relevant skills and accomplishments in the fields of technology and engineering.

It Helps Connect You to a Professional Network

A personal website is an excellent way to connect with potential employers who may check out your work online.

When your skills and abilities are on the world wide web, you become increasingly visible – to clients, employers, and hiring managers. The more exposure you have, the more likely you’ll get headhunted.

A hiring manager or agency may reach out to you – even if the timing isn’t right for you, you may discover an opportunity you wouldn’t have as a passive candidate.

It Shows You Stay Updated with Your Industry and Technology

To land the best technology jobs, you must be keen to keep pace with change and innovation. Laws and regulations are also regularly updated, so employers seek candidates who have a genuine passion in both the creative and legal side of technology.

Your website is a great way to prove this. Having a well-maintained and knowledgeable blog page will drive traffic to your website (and further enhance your network and value), and show employers you take an active approach to learning the very latest trends and needs of technology.

It’s a Talking Point in Interviews

You’re more likely to land an interview when employers have already gained insight into your true ability and technical mindset through your website. You’ve already chipped down many bricks in the wall between you and your dream tech job (whereas other candidates will yet have much work to do). You can walk in with confidence, and have your website as a talking point that will often be raised with great interest by the interviewer.

Get Exposure to Some of the Best Technology Jobs Today

We’ve shown you how a website can really help your ability to find and land the best technology jobs. It certainly strengthens your application as a standout candidate! There is, however, a lot of things you can do to further fast-track your career.

How? Submit your resume to ITC today. We will ensure your resume is optimized to ensure our clients feel compelled to visit your website. We’ll also help prepare you for interview. Most importantly, we ensure we understand your career goals, and find the solutions and opportunities that you need to thrive. Get in touch and help us get you seen by the best in the biz.

Undeniable Skills Needed to Land the Best Technology Jobs Near Me

technology jobs

These Skills Feed the Future of Tech

If you’re looking for technology jobs near you, you’re in a booming field that is set to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. But what skills will you need to land the best technology jobs?

Whether you’re actively seeking a new position or happy in your current role, investing time into developing and showcasing your skills will serve you well throughout your career. It could also get you headhunted, as employers compete for the talent they need in a skills shortage.

Here, we look at the skills that will help you land the best technology jobs today.

Technical Skills

Technical ability and understanding are critical in tech jobs – it is the main driving force in the industry. The thing is, technology is constantly evolving, as are the skills most in demand. Here’s what’s trending in tech for 2021:

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Cybersecurity
  • Cloud Computing
  • Software Development
  • Project Management
  • Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
  • Data Science
  • Business Intelligence Analysis

Skills in these areas can provide a rewarding future for your career. Whichever is your key interest, you must ensure you continue to develop your professional skills in line with change and demand.

Soft skills

The difference with soft skills is that they’re here to stay. Nor can they be automated. No matter the evolution of technology, employers will always seek the following soft skills in their candidates:

·      Organization

Good organizational skills make you more productive and efficient with your time. Good time management, prioritizing tasks, and managing to-do lists helps you stay organized while working on complex technology projects.

·      Problem Solver

As a problem solver you can:

  • Identify the problem
  • Analyze possible solutions
  • Implement the solution

A problem solver can also bring a creative intelligence to the table that is different from the technical aspects of an issue.

·      Communication

Many IT jobs require problem-solving. Communication skills are essential between employees and clients. They help foster teamwork that is crucial to solve problems fast.

·      Creativity

Creativity is essential for problem-solving. It helps you to discover more efficient ways to complete tasks, delivers greater innovation, and inspires others. Be creative.

·      Analytical Thinking

As an analytical thinker, you look at different perspectives and identify potential solutions that haven’t been considered yet.

Analytical thinkers use knowledge to solve problems, make predictions, and find meaning and patterns in data, to develop new ways of doing things or invent new products.

·      Perseverance

Perseverance is having the consistency and will to continue doing something. It is taking the time to do what needs to be done, even when faced with difficulties – a common occurrence in the world of technology.

·      Willingness to Learn

Tech changes rapidly and frequently. Having this skill will ensure you keep up with the changes in tech and continue to acquire new skills to excel. You’re not afraid of change.

·      Commercial Awareness

Technology companies are looking for people who know how to use and sell the products. They want someone who knows what’s going on in the wider world, not just in the tech world.

·      Leadership

Leadership skills help you to develop better relationships with your teammates and motivate them in different ways. Effective leaders:

  • Are knowledgeable about their work and try to develop mastery over it
  • Have a clear vision for their organization, its mission, and its goals
  • Make decisions based on what is best for the organization’s progress

Show you have leadership qualities such as trustworthiness, fairness, and logical thinking skills to make rational decisions.

·      Curious

Curiosity is an important characteristic to have for tech jobs. It’s a skill that will help you adapt to the fast-paced, dynamic world of technology and invention.

Find the Best Technology Jobs for Your Skills

If you possess some or all of these skills, then we want to hear from you. Let us help you find the role and employer who will allow you to flourish in an incredible career.

Submit your resume to Irvine Tech and discover the opportunities.

11 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring for Technology Jobs

technology jobs

The Trips and Hurdles That Block You from Talent

Hiring the right talent for technology jobs can be difficult, expensive, and time-consuming – especially if your strategy is littered with errors.

To prevent a significant decline in productivity, an increase in turnover, and a decrease in competitiveness, you must implement the right tactics to fill technology jobs in a skills shortage. CareerBuilder estimates that 74% of companies that made a poor hire lost an average $14,900 for every poor hire made.

You must boost your market competitiveness by having the best talent on board. Here are the mistakes to avoid in your search.

1.    Your Job Description Is Dull and Inaccurate

The tech industry is innovative and exciting. Don’t let your job description be a buzzkill for candidates. The most talented want to be a part of something big to spread their tech wings. Trash the cliches. Let your culture shine through, and ensure the job details are accurate.

2.    The Application Process Is Clunky

The people you want are fast workers with tech, right? Don’t put them off from applying with a clunky application process. Make sure it’s tech savvy, mobile friendly, and smooth.

3.    You Don’t Have a Clear Hiring Structure

You must have a pre-defined, documented hiring structure before starting the hiring process. It will benefit your finances, resources, and applicants, as well as leave quality candidates impressed.

4.    You’re Slow to Respond

It’s the equivalent of seeing that annoying timer on your screen. You don’t know what the next page will look like. You refresh… you might even just click off the page. It’s the same for skilled tech people. Be slow to respond, and they’ll head elsewhere.

5.    You Don’t Check for Culture

Technical jobs aren’t all about technical ability. Great teams consist of unified individuals. If you don’t test for cultural fit, you risk personality clashes that could cost in quality, productivity, reputation, and turnover.

6.    You’ve Drawn in Your Own Search Net

Posting a job ad on a big, monstrous job site won’t get you the refined skills you’re looking for – just a swamp of jobseekers applying for every job on the board, slowing down your process. Get out there. Search online. Get to jobs fairs. Partner with a specialist hiring firm. A lot of talented potential hires are passive candidates.

7.    You Can’t See Past a Resume

Tech people are good at tech, not resumes. Ensure your hiring manager isn’t eliminating potential standout talent just because their resume isn’t that of a professional resume writer.

8.    You Don’t Test Abilities

You just took their word for it? Big mistake. Get technical tests in early in the process. This eliminates anyone who can’t fulfil the groundwork, leaving you to examine for soft skills and fit.

9.    You Rely on First Impressions

Don’t get too excited over one candidate. Continue with rigorous vetting or you’ll risk your gut instinct making the wrong choice. Equally, don’t immediately disregard a candidate just because he or she wasn’t as privileged academically. You must dig deeper to uncover both qualities and downfalls.

10. Your Hiring Managers Are out of Their Depth

Make sure whoever is interviewing or assessing high-quality candidates knows what they’re talking about. They’ll know what to ask, understand the answers, and won’t leave excellent candidates feeling underchallenged.

11. You Don’t Look After Unsuccessful Candidates

Don’t disregard candidates who don’t make it through the process. Always keep them in the loop, thank them for their interest and time spent, and leave a positive impression. You never know when they might just flourish into the ideal candidate for your next open position.

Partner with a Staffing Agency for Contract-To-Hire Staffing

There are a lot of common mistakes out to trip up your search for talent. They’re easy to make, because avoiding them requires dedication, expertise, resources, and time. Irvine Tech provides the support and expertise you need to execute a successful search for tech talent. We will:

  • Offer the talent you need on various contracts that suit your requirements
  • Test candidates for technical knowledge, communication skills, and cultural fit
  • Flex our experience and expertise to seek out the skilled individuals you need and advocate your business to them
  • Provide thorough screening, as well as a technical team that guarantees candidate success
  • Use aggressive referral and networking programs to broaden our continual search
  • Provide payroll solutions and cover employee benefits
  • Provide a flexible and affordable, cost-effective executive search

Allow our team to find the talent you need, when you need it, to propel your business to its strategic goals. Contact Irvine Tech today.

10 Tactics to Fill Technology Jobs During a Skills Shortage

technology jobs

Stay Ahead of Your Competition

You need to fill your technology jobs with high-end skills. But where do you find them and hire them during a skills shortage?

As technology dominates the global economy in every industry, you must hire to boost your market competitiveness. But in the face of a technology talent shortage, supply of the skills your business needs is being trampled by demand. Korn Ferry says the U.S. could lose out annually on $162 billion worth of revenue unless more talent emerges.

Your hiring strategy is integral to your business growth. In this article, we outline 10 tactics to use to ensure you always have the skills you need.

1.     Pay Attention to Your Job Description

Some job descriptions come across as uninviting. It’s important to list all the must-have and desirable skills you need. Just as important is to highlight the reasons a candidate should work for you – not only an attractive salary, but career progression and an exceptional culture.

2.     Hire Temporary Personnel

A staffing void can lead to staff attrition, reduced productivity, poor-quality deliverance, and missed deadlines. Use the facility of temporary contracts through specialist staffing solutions providers like Irvine Technology Corporation. Whether it’s until you find a permanent placement, or to meet a project deadline with correct staffing levels, this is a great solution for business needs and budget.

3.     Hire Temporary Skills

You may require a certain skill that comes at a cost that is unbudgeted for a full-time hire. If there’s a project or task that requires a specific skillset, hire only for those skills for an agreeable period. This is also highly advantageous when trialing a new position and an individual’s impact on the business.

4.     Upskill Your Current Workforce

This is a long-term strategy. Always invest in your own people, routinely assessing ways to nurture their future in-house. It keeps your talent focused, motivated, and loyal, and attracts new talent who seek career progression.

5.     Outsource Offshore

Remote work is allowing us to reach far and wide – even globally – for the skills we need. Don’t limit yourself to a small radius. Do, however, consider complications in time zones, cultural differences, and the effects on collaboration and deliverance.

6.     Promote an Employee Referral Program

Allow your own staff to vouch for new talent through word of mouth with an incentivized referral program.

7.     Treat Your Candidates Well

Pump resources into executing a hiring strategy seamlessly. New talent will hopefully enter your hiring channels – don’t put them off with lackluster efforts. Keep them informed, and treat them as you would your clients.

8.     Commit to Employer Brand

Long term, invest in your employer brand to improve how passive candidates see you. And when 73% aren’t actively looking for a job, this can be the game changer. Be the go-to online resource for the latest industry news, tech trends, and innovative online presence that draws positive attention without even advertising, and unlock an untapped pool of skills.

9.     Nurture Your Talent Pool

This requires effort and dedication, but could potentially keep leads warm for when vacancies do arise. Check in with previous applicants or ex-employees, and keep your arms open to them.

10.  Partner with an Expert Staffing Agency

Specialist staffing agencies are experts in this field. Here at Irvine Tech Corporation, we cover all these tips under one focused hiring umbrella. We can provide who you need, when you need them – from as little as one day of coverage, to full-time permanent integration into your skilled workforce.

At Irvine Tech Corporation, we cover the big picture and the details to understand who you need from our nurtured talent pool of technical skills.

We aggressively implement our resources to ensure your staffing needs are met, so that your company can stay ahead of its competition.

Get in touch with us today and discover how we can provide a clear and expertly executed solution to your staffing needs.

Technology Jobs: 4 Trends You May Have Missed

technology jobsThe Tech Staffing Solutions in an Evolving Skills Shortage

Technology jobs are a massive contributor to your company’s ability to succeed. But what are the trends that dictate which tech talent you should be hiring?

Technology is moving at an exciting pace. IBM has estimated that 90% of the world’s data was produced in the last two years alone. The pandemic has seen developments across every industry develop by five years in the space of one.

Here, we’ll identify the four biggest trends that are defining the technology jobs in most demand today.

1.    AI as a Service

Artificial intelligence has been a key contributor to the tech industry over the last few years. Most recently, its use has increased with more industries finding a need for the solutions it provides. The need to forecast business risk is now a rigid business protocol – and AI is a carrier to do so.

With other business areas using AI to assess maintenance, improve performance, and prevent problems, those in AI technology jobs will remain consistently high value to organizations.

2.    Augmented Reality

A study by Statista shows that the augmented reality market has risen from a value of $200 million in 2016, to a colossal $50 billion in 2021.

AR is being developed across all industries, from gaming to healthcare, entertainment, and education. An innovative and creative team will be required for organizations’ technology jobs to thrive and strengthen competitive stance.

3.    Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity continues to be a trending factor. With cyber intelligence ever-evolving, businesses of all sizes and industries must ramp up their protection efforts through skills and awareness. Problem solvers and critical thinkers are in high demand.

As reported by The New York Times, Cybersecurity Ventures believes there are 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs. Consequently, organizations may have a hard time securing the best cybersecurity for their technology jobs. The earlier you start and the more proactive you are, the more effective your hiring efforts are likely to be.

4.    Blockchain

Blockchain is drastically transforming business processes. 2020 saw many organizations shift their workforces to remote environments. Blockchain became increasingly crucial and significant – particularly for financial institutes. Gartner has forecast that blockchain will increase business value generated to $176 billion in 2025, and $3.1 trillion by 2030.

Tips to Fill Technology Jobs with Skills

As tech trends are shifting, so too are hiring trends. For your organization to hire the tech talent you need in the depths of a technology skills shortage, you must implement these trending hiring strategies:

Mobile Sourcing

If you’re not creating a mobile-friendly experience for tech job seekers, you’re eliminating a whole lot of opportunity. With most people accessing the internet through their mobile devices, it’s crucial you get your technology jobs vacancies in front of them with optimized viewing and compatibility.

AI

The hiring process can be time-consuming, seeing you lose out on the best candidates. Reduce the process by implementing AI through automation, scheduling, assessment, filing, and acknowledging candidates.

Social Hiring

Social media is a powerful tool that you must be using to entice the most skilled tech candidates in the market. You must use social media as part of your marketing strategy to make your vacancies visible, and get your employer brand in front of passive tech talent.

Diversity

Companies are experiencing huge advantages from a diverse workforce, including:

  • Improved bottom line
  • Improved collaboration of your workforce
  • Reduced employee turnover
  • Enriched work culture
  • Desired employer brand

For better performance and higher productivity of your workforce, you should hire with diversity and embrace the benefits this brings your organization.

Staffing Agency

A specialist staffing agency is the most successful and productive channel to link your organization with the best candidates for your technology jobs. At ITC we provide:

  • A nurtured talent pool
  • Executive search
  • Payroll solutions
  • Aggressive referral schemes
  • High-level hiring expertise
  • Various contracts to suit your staffing needs

Here at ITC, we take time to understand your business needs, and the candidates you require to accelerate toward your business goals.

Keep Pace with Trends and the Right Skills in Your Technology Jobs

The sweeping trends today are defined for us, but it’s down to you as a company to define your workforce. Are your team’s skills matched to the trends that are dictating the future of technology in your business?

Whether you need expert navigation through permanent hires or temporary contracts to deliver timely projects, Irvine Tech Corp is here to enrich your hiring process, so that you can onboard the skills you need. Contact Irvine Tech Corporation today.

How Do You Get Headhunted in Technology Jobs?

Uncover the Best Technology Jobs and Make Sure They Discover You

Passive candidates in technology jobs usually receive the most interesting and rewarding job offers, yet you’ve never been approached. You’ve got all the skills, and your experience would grace any resume. So why is it that you have never been ‘headhunted’?

It is estimated that as many as 80% of jobs are not advertised. If you’re relying on jobs boards, you’re only making yourself accessible to one in every five jobs available. By making yourself more visible to potential employers, you could enhance your career choices and become the one receiving regular approaches from hiring managers and staffing agencies.

The real question then, is not ‘Why have I never been headhunted?’, but ‘How do I attract hiring managers?’.

In this article, we share our tips to make yourself the passive candidate that employers want to speak to.

Why Do Employers Use the Hidden Job Market?

Before we look at how you can make yourself more visible in the hidden job market, it’s important to understand why employers are avoiding the traditional jobs boards in favor of going undercover. Advantages of approaching hiring this way include:

  • It’s cheaper – companies can effectively avoid advertising expense
  • To hire quietly – tech companies may be making a new move that requires hiring, but they don’t want it overpublicized
  • Recommendations and referrals can prove more fruitful – Instead of a cold search, employers find great candidates through recommendations from employees who know the role and company culture, and can provide strong potential leads

5 Ways to Make Yourself Visible to Headhunters

Now you understand why hiring companies employ headhunting strategies, you can develop tactics to become more visible to them. Here are five ways to remove the cloak of invisibility that currently surrounds you.

1.     Develop Your network

Develop your network by creating more professional connections. This doesn’t have to be an awkward process. First, try not to have jobhunting at the forefront of your mind, and instead focus on building new ‘friendships’ with likeminded people. Consider these options:

  • Connect through social media
  • Attend more in-person conferences and tech events (when the world allows)
  • Offer voluntary help in tech advice or manpower, without expecting anything in return

Remember, networking takes time. So, commit to it, and you’ll lay good soil for new opportunities.

2.     Improve and Maintain Your Profile on Social Media

Having an online presence is crucial if you want to be headhunted. Many organizations now conduct their own research as opposed to only relying on well-composed resumes. With a more meaningful social profile, you will find it easier to make industry connections and remain in touch with tech developments. To optimize your social media profile, you must:

  • Ensure that your social media profile matches your resume, and keep it updated
  • Run yourself through a Google search and detox anything that may deter an employer
  • Make sure you’re ‘searchable’, complimented with attractive qualifications and recommendations
  • Connect with likeminded professionals
  • Add value to your contributions through advice, feedback, resources, and information that you share

You should also connect and interact on forums and group chats, to increase traffic toward your social media platforms.

3.     Develop a Personal Website

Those who stand out are headhunted. Developing a personal website provides a stage for you to showcase your skills, ability, creativity, and experience in tech.

Link your website to your social media profiles, developing a personal brand that represents you as a professional and the ideal candidate to hire for technology jobs.

4.     Register with a Specialist Staffing Agency

Registering with a specialist staffing agency provides you inside access to the latest technology jobs that may not be advertised on jobs boards. Companies use specialist staffing agencies because they provide many of the benefits of headhunting without the enormous effort and commitment needed to execute their own ‘undercover’ recruitment strategy.

Registering with a staffing agency also provides you with professional guidance and advice on your resume and interviewing technique, and introductions to employers who are the best matches for your skills and personality.

Additionally, they may also present you with opportunities such as temporary or contract-to-hire roles, which allow you to broaden your network, learn new skills, and get your foot in the door for potential permanent roles with your favored company.

5.     Always Say Yes When Headhunted

If you’ve been approached, always say yes to meeting. It does no harm to talk, and can do you a lot of good. You’ll learn about possible positions available and the salary that you might be offered, and you can get feedback on what tactics you have used that have brought you to the attention of the headhunter. Plus, you’ll get a cup of coffee, or maybe even lunch!

Take Your First Step to Being Headhunted for Technology Jobs

How you present your skills and qualifications goes hand-in-hand with how you present yourself online and in-person. A specialist staffing agency can help guide tech companies in your direction, and provide you with professional guidance and incredible options and opportunities in technology jobs.

Contact Irvine Tech today and start creating a new career path today.

Could Now Be the Best Time to Search for New Technology Jobs?

In-Demand Jobs in Technology in 2021

If you’re dissatisfied in your current role in technology jobs, you may be concerned that you’ll be stuck in a job you don’t enjoy for the next few months. With the United States economy still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, wouldn’t it be an unwise move to start job searching now?

The answer is that now is a great time to start your search for a new job in technology. While sectors like hospitality, ente

rtainment, and travel are struggling, other sectors are growing. The demand for technology jobs is expanding, and technology skills are in short supply.

Which Technology Jobs Are Most in Demand and Why?

The pandemic has accelerated digitalization and the shift to home working. It has also revolutionized the way people live their lives. For example, data shows that:

To enable this seismic shift, companies must boost their tech capacity. In the third quarter of 2020, the unemployment rate in technology jobs stood at 3.5%, and, according to the Dice Tech Job Report, 68% of the largest technology employers had increased the number of job postings from the second quarter.

So, what jobs are likely to be most in demand as we move through 2021 and through the mass vaccination program that could help the world eco

nomy recover?

Cloud Engineers and Cybersecurity Specialists

Cloud technology has enabled the world to continue to work and live. Professionals in data, systems, network, and security are in demand as organizations increase their reliance on data for their business operations.

Moving forward, Cloud Engineers will help to create the infrastructure that enables companies to stay on top of compliance and regulations, and ensure hardware, software, and networks are fit for purpose. The most in-demand skills in these jobs include:

  • Up-to-
    date knowledge of the latest cloud technologies
  • Good communication skills
  • Teamwork and collaboration
  • Experience of scaling cloud-based applications

The amount of data that is collected and stored is increasing, and this brings extra need for a host of cybersecurity skills to ensure vulnerability is reduced and network security is maximized. Roles in these disciplines ask for skills such as:

  • Good communication skills, with the ability to explain policies and procedures
  • Experience in managing security vulnerabilities
  • Up-to-date industry regulation knowledge

DevOps Engineers

Software and DevOps Engineers are essential as companies progress their own digital transformations. Python Developers, Full-Stack Engineers, and DevOps professionals are in demand. Companies are seeking strategically-minded developers who can help to accelerate development to and drive innovation in technology solutions.

Sought-after skills include:

  • Strategic thinking
  • Accuracy
  • Knowledge of security issues and regulations
  • Experience in accelerating development cycles
  • Collaborative and business-minded

Data Engineers and Data Scientists

Organizations must use data effectively to be sustainable and competitive. The complexity of collected data requires a set of key skills to clean, store, and analyze. These skills include:

  • Curiosity
  • An analytical and detail-oriented mind
  • Use of statistical theory in problem solving
  • Experience in data modeling to answer the needs of the business

AI Engineering

Artificial Intelligence professionals are in demand as organizations seek to use their data to manage and grow their operations. As processes become increasingly automated, employers will seek skills that include:

  • TensorFlow
  • Python
  • Java
  • Natural Language Processing

COVID-19 Is Accelerating Demand for Talented Technology Employees

As we move through and out of COVID-19, it’s a great time to be searching for new technology jobs. Companies are redefining their business models, processes, and the roles they need to accelerate their own digital transformations. Consequently, many businesses are bringing in new staff to facilitate these changes.

Say goodbye to 2020 in the best possible way. Get a new job that makes you excited to go to work – in office or at home.

For help taking the next step in your career, submit your resume to our team today.

7 Strategies to Hire for Technology Jobs in 2021

Tips to Eliminate the Skills Shortage and Hire More Effectively

Despite the effects of COVID-19 on the United States economy, technology jobs continue to be in high demand. With a skills shortage that threatens a huge shortfall in talent in the coming years, you will need to be more skillful when hiring for tech talent.

Recently, we published a blogpost discussing how to adjust your hiring strategy for the skills shortage. In this post we delve deeper, and outline a few of the most effective tactics to use to develop a talent pool that will eliminate the problems caused by a lack of skilled candidates in the general technology jobs market.

Hiring for Technology Jobs Is Going to Get Harder

According to technology jobs analysis conducted by 8allocate, the forecast shortfall in technology talent is approaching a huge tipping point. In 2019, almost two-thirds of employers struggled to fill their technology jobs within 12 weeks. The figures for the impending shortfall in tech talent in the United States are staggering, and include:

  • Fintech and BFIS will be missing 10.7 million tech workers by 2030
  • High-tech, media, and telecom will be missing 4.3 million digital workers by 2030
  • The NYC tech ecosystem is believed to be most affected by the talent shortage

With such a backdrop, those companies who fail to strategize their hiring are likely to be those who are worst affected and consequently fall behind in an economy that is increasingly dominated by organizations with highly effective technical capability.

Developing Your Own Talent Pool to Hire From

One of the major reasons that companies find it hard to hire talent for their technology jobs is that they only consider their hiring strategy when they need to hire. In other words, hiring is not encompassed within the overall strategic direction of the company, but rather as a short-term solution to what is really a long-term need.

If you treat hiring as a strategic aim, you can build a strategy that will help you develop a talent pool from which you can draw when needed. You’ll be swimming in an ocean of talent instead of dipping your toe in to test the water.

A Talent Pool Washes Up Many Benefits

With a talent pool ready to dive into, you will also eliminate a lot of the hard work that accompanies recruitment. For example:

  • You won’t need to craft compelling job descriptions
  • You won’t need to advertise your open technology jobs
  • You won’t have to spend huge sums of money to market your jobs
  • You won’t waste time screening and interviewing unsuitable candidates

Developing your own talent pool is the most effective way of hiring the skills you need, when you most need them. It’s faster and more cost-effective.

Here are seven strategies to put in place to help develop your talent pool.

1.    Start with Who You Know

Previous candidates who were close to being hired can be a good source of potential recruits. They have shown interest in joining your company, and may only have been a whisker away from an offer.

To develop these candidates as a potential source of future talent, you should ensure that you provide a good candidate experience and a reason to keep you on their radar. Instead of a simple rejection letter, give positive feedback on their performance and the reasons for rejection. This will give them direction on which skills to develop to be an ideal fit next time.

2.    Look Within

Especially if recruiting for a middle management or senior management role, never neglect your internal talent. Do your existing employees have the skills, ability, and experience to be promoted? The reasons for hiring from within include that your employees are already engaged with the work they do, they are good cultural fits, and they understand your strategic direction.

To generate an internal talent pool, you should ensure that you put training and development strategies in place that develop the hard and soft skills your business strategy needs to be successful. When you provide the framework that supports your employees’ personal development, you will develop employees who are ready to assume more senior roles when they become available.

3.    Develop an Employee Referral Program

As well as being a valuable source for internal recruitment, your employees could be a conduit to external employees. Referred candidates are often faster and cheaper to hire, and generally good cultural fits. To garner more referrals from your employees:

  • Keep your employees updated about your vacancies
  • Ensure that you provide detailed job descriptions
  • Reward those who deliver good referrals

4.    Create a Technology Jobs Community

Another great strategy to encourage talented candidates to apply for your technology jobs is to create an online community.

Begin by ensuring the careers page on your website is continually updated with available jobs, relevant company information, and employee experiences.

Don’t neglect your social media. LinkedIn is a particularly useful tool to foster engagement by participating in existing technology groups and forums and encouraging talented candidates to reach out to you.

Other tactics that can be used include fostering relationships with education establishments, and being active in trade shows, recruitment events, and delivering consistent and continuous online content, as well as newsletters, videos, and webinars.

5.    Review Your Remote Working Policy

There may be a skills shortage in your city or state, but this does not mean that those skills are impossible to hire. For many technology jobs, the skills you require are more readily available by casting your net wider.

To take advantage of skills that may be located across the United States, you should consider your remote working policies and hiring strategy. While this may mean adjusting how your team works, and putting in place processes and practices that enable effective collaboration online, the benefits of hiring remote talent are plentiful.

6.    Consider Contract Staff to Plug Talent Gaps

Contract staffing is a cost-effective way of filling technology jobs, providing access to talent without the need for long hiring cycles and training of new employees. The staffing agency conducts all the sourcing and screening to deliver the talent you need at speed. You have lower liability to provide benefits, further reducing your costs.

7.    Offer a Little Extra Than Your Competitors

If you find that the offers you make are rejected, it may be your compensation package that is lacking.

Ensure that the salaries you offer for technology jobs are competitive, and be mindful of other benefits and perks that help to attract top talent to your roles. Increasingly, we are finding that the most talented candidates are attracted by offers of equity, signing on bonuses, and great in-work benefits (including an element of flexible work arrangements) rather than salary alone.

Start Developing Your Talent Pool Today

Building a talent pool is not something that happens overnight. It takes a strategic approach, investment, and a lot of collaborative effort.

Creating a community, getting your people involved, and providing training and development opportunities for existing employees are all strategies that will help you to build a wider and deeper talent pool.

The sooner you start, the more effective your talent pool will be. We’ve spent years developing our talent pool and connections, which is why our contract and consulting services, direct hire, and executive search capabilities are second to none. Whatever your staffing and hiring needs, contact Irvine Technology Corporation today to benefit from the breadth and depth of our talent pool.

Who Should You Hire in Technology Jobs to Boost Your Market Competitiveness?

In a Market Short on Skills, You Cannot Afford to Stand Still

In today’s digital age, the people you hire into technology jobs has a huge bearing on your bottom line. While many may not be customer-facing, tech staff are the backbone of your organization. They are the ones who design, develop, and maintain crucial technology and systems – without which your organization could not operate.

The Critical Nature of Capability in Technology Jobs

The capability of your tech employees has a direct bearing on your ability to take advantage of emerging technologies, like digitization, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. The technology that will improve your organizational agility, speed of change, work processes, and productivity.

In its report ‘Are we long – or short – of talent?’, McKinsey & Company has found that 60% of executives believe that half their workforce will need to be replaced or retrained within five years. If your organization expects to gain competitive advantage via its technical capability, it won’t happen without the people who can deliver your strategy. As McKinsey says in its report:

What might seem like an irritating talent gap today could prove a fatal competitive liability in the not-too-distant future.

Marrying Organizational and Individual Capability

Your organization’s capability can be described as the ability to deliver across two distinct functions:

  1. Technical – your functional competence
  2. Social – your leadership competence

When your technical and social competencies are combined, you deliver the capability of the individuals within your organization. Without these competencies, your organization’s potential is damaged, and it will cease to benefit from competitive advantage. For example:

  • If you have no project management skills, you will not be able to deliver projects successfully
  • If the teams in your organization are not well-led, they will not deliver the promise of the sum of their individual members

How Can Your Organization to Improve its Potential?

As highlighted by McKinsey’s research, within five years your existing employees will no longer exhibit the competencies to maintain your competitive advantage. The question, then, is how can you improve your potential?

The answer, of course, is to embrace strategies today that deliver a continuous improvement in the technical and social competences of your individual employees. There are four ways to make this happen:

1.     Training and Development of Existing Employees

An important internal strategy, providing training and development opportunities for employees will help to deliver improvements in individual, team, and organizational capabilities. However, this is a time-consuming strategy that takes energy and commitment.

There are also no guarantees that your people will not take advantage of their personal development and seek new opportunities that may become available for their newly acquired skills.

2.     Hire the Skillset You Need

The second strategy is to hire the skills that you need. However, as you have probably experienced, the skills shortage makes this increasingly difficult. In its 2019 Emerging Risks Survey, Gartner describes the shortage of tech skills as the number one challenge facing IT leaders today.

To beat the competition to sign highly competent candidates, in a market that is suffering from a shortage of talent and a growth in demand for that talent, you must develop recruitment strategies that attract talent.

3.     ‘Borrow’ the Talent You Need

The quickest way to deliver the competencies your organization needs is to ‘borrow’ them. Especially for short- to medium-term needs, contract hiring options can deliver immediate returns on your investment.

4.     Rinse and Repeat

Remove poor performers, retain top performers, and hire for new talent. Rinse and repeat. This should be a continual process within organizations, though, of course, one which you should also try to avoid. If you are having to let too many people go because they are performing below expectations, then it is likely that your hiring process needs to be re-engineered.

The Difference That Talent Can Make

By hiring the right people, your organization will boost its competitiveness across many characteristics. These include:

·      Speed and Agility

You will improve your capability to recognize new market opportunities and deliver the products and services needed to take advantage of them.

·      Accountability

Talented employees are natural self-developers who thrive on taking responsibility and ownership. This accountability drives problem-solving capability, collaboration, and creativity.

·      Innovation

Individuals who are forward-looking focus on what could be rather than what has been. They continually seek to improve products and services, delighting internal and external stakeholders.

·      Leadership

When your organization employs for leadership qualities, they employ people who think strategically, share knowledge and experience, and who are capable of ideation.

·      Learning

Imparting their knowledge, experience, and expertise, high-quality employees help to improve the competencies of those around them. This leads to improvements in experimentation, the generation of new ideas, and cross-functional collaboration.

·      Diversity and Inclusion

Research shows that hiring for diversity and inclusion has many benefits, including improving the workplace culture , developing better relationships with customers, driving financial performance, and improving your reputation as an employer (and consequently your ability to attract the best talent).

So, Who Should You Hire into Technology Jobs?

Many organizations make the mistake of hiring candidates who look like those they already employ. They take the view that the success they have experienced to date will be replicated by people with the same qualities and characteristics as those they currently employ. This is not the case.

Only by hiring diverse candidates who bring something new to the table – different thoughts and ideas, experiences, and expertise, for example – can your organization grow. It is these people who will help you develop the new competitiveness that will drive your success and financial results, through a period during which hiring of talent will become more difficult and increasingly critical.

At Irvine Technology, we introduce our clients to a large pool of talented candidates, from diverse backgrounds and industries. Candidates with the technical and social competencies to enhance your organizational capability. Candidates who will help drive your results to new levels.

To learn more about our services – which include contract placement, direct hire, and executive searchcontact us today.

8 Tips to Recruit Talent for Information Technology Jobs

Beat the Skills Shortage to Hire the Best in Tech Roles

Hiring talented candidates for information technology jobs is difficult, whether the economy is booming or in recession. As an employer, you face challenges that include skills shortages and an employee base that is increasingly value-oriented – they want to work for organizations with which they can identify.

Gartner’s research has consistently shown that hiring the right skillset is getting more difficult. Its 2019 Emerging Risks Survey cited the shortage of tech skills as the number one challenge facing IT leaders today.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has forecast that the number of information technology jobs in the United States will grow by 12% between 2018 and 2028. That’s a huge 546,200 new jobs in the sector.

With a shortage of talent and a growth in demand, what strategies should you be using to attract the most talented candidates to your IT jobs?

1.    Know What Skills and Experience a Candidate Really Needs

Many top-quality candidates are deterred by job descriptions that ask for a Christmas list of skills and experience. What you should be doing is considering what skills are essential, and which are preferable. Consider which skills could be learned by talented hires to improve impact in the role, and which are crucial to hitting the ground running from day one. Then compose your job description around these.

2.    Understand What Talented IT Professionals Want from Their Next Job

What is it that the most talented IT professionals want from their jobs today? We’re finding that the best candidates are not all about the money. They want a role in which they are challenged, which helps them to grow professionally, and that offers them opportunities to improve their work/life balance. In addition, they want to work for organizations that have a high moral code and strong diversity and inclusion policies and practices.

3.    Develop Your Employer Branding to Emphasize IT

Potential employees will search your online assets. They will want to see that you emphasize technology, and that it is a mainstay of your business strategy. Therefore, ensure that you highlight your IT efforts, strategies, policies and practices on your website and social media accounts. Make IT an integral part of your branding.

4.    Set Up Employee Referral Schemes

Who better than your current employees to become your employer brand advocates? They are likely to have people in their networks who are both talented and open to changing jobs. Set up an employee referral scheme to reward those who help you find talented new recruits.

5.    Streamline Your Hiring Process

According to a 2018 Growth Hiring Trends Report, almost half of respondents reported a time to hire (from application to job offer accepted) of between 7 and 14 days. If that sounds fast, then your hiring process is probably missing some great candidates.

Your competition is probably snapping up the most talented while you are still thinking about whether the next candidate will have one of those preferred but non-essential skills you detailed on the job description.

Many organizations don’t have the experience or human resources to streamline the hiring process. If this sounds familiar, you should consider using a professional recruiter who specializes in IT and technology jobs.

6.    Consider Remote Candidates

It may be that the talent pool is shallow where your business is located. In such a case, it may be time to look further afield. A remote candidate could provide the skills and experience you need. See our guide on how to conduct the perfect virtual interview for technology jobs for tips on interviewing remote talent.

7.    Search for IT Talent Where It Is to Be Found

You aren’t likely to find the most talented tech talent on generalist job boards. The best talent is usually hidden. They may be happy in their current job – the most talented new recruits are often passive job seekers.

You’ll find these talented candidates in tech communities, LinkedIn forums, and local (and global, online) tech events. And, of course, via specialist staffing agencies with a reach to passive candidates.

8.    If You Use a Recruiter, Make Sure they Understand You

Finally, if you use a recruiter it is crucial that they understand you. It’s essential that you articulate and communicate all the necessary project, role, and culture-fit details to your recruiter. First and foremost, it’s a partnership between you and the staffing agency. It is the recruiter’s job to not only find the right talent for the role, but also the right fit for your organization.

A recruiter who comes from a tech background themselves will understand your language, and know how to describe the role you need to be filled in the language that candidates speak. That’s going to help attract the talent you need.

Summing Up

As demand for information technology jobs continues to rise and the skills shortage continues to worsen, it is likely to become more difficult to hire the most talented candidates. These hiring tips should help you overcome the recruitment challenges you face and hire the talent that will help propel your organization to the next level.

If you are finding it increasingly difficult to hire and retain talented candidates for information technology jobs, contact Irvine Technology Corporation today