How Do Recruiters Source Technical Candidates?
Introduction
Candidate sourcing is an intricate issue that must be done through rigorous assessments. It is important to attract only those persons who serve as assets to the organization. Therefore, when sourcing technical candidates, it is essential to use exceptional candidate-sourcing strategies. Recruitment sourcing strategies must consist of activities that source the best candidates that represent the future of the organization and boosts the odds of hiring the finest prospects for the future growth of the organization. An ideal candidate will increase overall productivity and reduce employee turnover. According to reports, 70% of tech employers anticipate a skills shortage in the tech industry. Hence, the talent acquisition team must be aware of the channels they can use to source qualified tech candidates and come up with the best sourcing strategies to source and recruit technical candidates efficiently.
Platforms Recruiters Can Use to Source Qualified Technical Candidates
While trying to recruit tech professionals, the first thing that comes to the recruiter’s mind is where to source technical candidates. There are various platforms available online that can be used to source tech candidates. Some of the most popular online platforms that can be used to search for qualified technical candidates are listed below:
GitHub
GitHub is a great online platform for recruiting tech candidates. GitHub is an online platform where developers can store their code and share their work for others to view. The term ‘git’ refers to an online drive that is used to store projects developers are currently working on or work they want to reference. GitHub functions similarly to Dropbox for developers. All users’ code is labeled and can be used by other developers. Developers can categorize their work based on the programming language they use to write their code. Recruiters can search for candidates based on the preferred programming language for the role they are looking for.
Stack Overflow
Stack Overflow is the world’s most popular Q&A website for tech professionals, especially coders and developers. The idea behind Stack Overflow is that when developers join the platform, they can use it as a forum to get answers to technical questions from their peers, or they can provide answers to others’ questions. Developers and coders answer relevant questions on the website and can earn gold, silver, and bronze badges for their efforts which indicate their skills and knowledge. The site is also gamified, so users can vote on their favorite questions and answers, and points are awarded as a result. Thus, employers can assess a candidate’s expertise in relation to the job requirements they are looking for by checking the number attached to their username.
AngelList
You may not have used AngelList for sourcing before, but it is well worth using when looking for tech talent. AngelList is a great online resource for startups to source candidates for technical positions. To expedite the recruiting process, you can only contact people who are interested in the organization by creating a company profile. Recruiters can simply go to the ‘People’ section of the website and filter by ‘Job Title,’ ‘Location,’ ‘School,’ and ‘Market.’ Recruiters can also include the search term ‘Skills’ to search for tech candidates with specific skills. Recruiters won’t find a lot of information on people’s individual profiles, but they will be able to find the social networks of potential candidates as they are linked to their profiles.
LinkedIn is a common and popular professional platform for sourcing technical candidates. It is a popular talent-sourcing channel for recruiters, and they can gain relevant insights by joining industry-related groups. There is a huge pool of web developers and designers available on LinkedIn. LinkedIn Recruiter’s algorithm-based network allows you to find candidates based on job titles, industries, and locations. Therefore, you can easily search for the ideal tech candidates with the relevant skills, knowledge, experience and expertise easily on the platform.
Sourcing Strategies to Source Technical Candidates
Sourcing candidates refers to the process of hiring or recruiting individuals for roles. Recruiters often get stuck on how to source technical candidates and what sourcing strategies they should follow to source top technical talents. Here are some candidate-sourcing strategies that recruiters can use to source technical talents:
Create a solid job description with proper technical terms
Before sourcing for technical candidates, it is important to create a clear and comprehensive job description because tech positions need specific skills, qualifications and knowledge. Thus, it is essential to be sure about the skills and experience you are looking for while searching for technical candidates. Once recruiters have a clear understanding of the job description, they can move forward with looking at the various channels they can use to look for tech talents.
Utilize various specialized online platforms
To source highly qualified tech candidates, recruiters should be aware of the various platforms and channels available that can be used to look for qualified tech talents. It is not always easy to simply search for technical candidates on job portals and job boards. So, utilize online platforms and channels such as – GitHub, Stack Overflow, AngelList, and LinkedIn. Most of these platforms are usually used by developers and coders, and recruiters can source potential candidates from all these channels.
Set up various online and offline tech events
Although digital platforms can help recruiters find tech talents, face-to-face interactions are always important. Set up meet-ups, career fairs, and hackathons to build relationships with interested tech candidates, give them a look inside the company’s values, and learn more about their skills and knowledge. These events are a great way to interact with potential tech candidates and assess their skills. To pique the interest of potential tech candidates, introduce existing employees and their completed projects using cutting-edge technology. If you prefer to work online, organize global tech events such as webinars to make an impact and source top tech talents from around the globe.
Conclusion
Recruiting candidates can be made easier by choosing effective recruitment sourcing strategies. Having hiring managers or attending career fairs are some of the ways to spread the word and source technical candidates. The organization can collect a pool of job-seeking individuals using these strategies on any technical candidates’ hiring platform, such as social media networking sites or any online job boards or job portals. Using any of the above-mentioned strategies would bring in an influx of resumes and applications to the job vacancies.
FAQs
1. How do you source technical talent?
Technical talent can be sourced in the following ways: posting job descriptions on online job recruitment sites, attending career fairs, using a social media platform, and attending recruitment networks.
2. How can interviews as a service help with the recruitment of tech employees?
Interview as a service can help businesses streamline their technical interviewing process by removing biases and bringing structure. It helps businesses to conduct the initial rounds of interviews and shortlist the top talents for the final round, enabling them to scale their tech teams quickly and save on internal bandwidth.
3. What should recruiters look for while shortlisting resumes of technical candidates?
When shortlisting the resumes of technical candidates, crucial aspects to evaluate are their education, competencies, abilities and knowledge, job experience, and personality attributes. Shortlisting technical candidates requires industry specialists with extensive domain expertise, such as Backend, Frontend, DevOps, and so on.
