Creating an effective IT recruitment strategy is essential for any business that relies on technology to function. With the right strategy in place, you can attract top talent, reduce turnover, and improve the overall efficiency of your IT department.

On top of that, starting the year with a clear view of your recruitment goals will lead to focused recruiting efforts and will help keep costs in check.

By utilising these six key steps to develop an IT recruitment strategy, you will be able to streamline your recruitment process and make better hires that align with your company’s goals.

IT Recruitment Strategy Step 1 – Define your needs

Before you start recruiting, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the skills and experience you need in your IT team. Take the time to review your current staff and identify any gaps in expertise.

There are a few ways you can identify gaps in expertise within your IT team:

• Performance reviews: Regular performance reviews can help you assess the skills and knowledge of your team members and identify areas where they may need additional training or support.
• Skills assessments: You can administer skills assessments to your team members to evaluate their knowledge and abilities in specific areas, such as programming languages, operating systems, or networking.
• Job duties and responsibilities: Reviewing the job duties and responsibilities of each team member can help you identify areas where there may be gaps in expertise. For example, if you have a team member who is responsible for maintaining your organisation’s network but they do not have experience with network security, that may be an area of expertise that is lacking.
• Feedback from colleagues: Encourage open communication among team members and seek feedback from them regarding the strengths and weaknesses of their colleagues. This can provide valuable insights into areas where expertise may be lacking.
• Turnover rate: High turnover rate could indicate a lack of expertise, career growth opportunities, or lack of engagement in the team.

Once you’ve identified areas where expertise is lacking, you can then develop a plan to address the skill gaps, such as providing training or hiring new team members with the necessary skills.

Determine the types of IT positions you need to fill, as well as the specific qualifications and qualities you’re looking for in candidates.

IT Recruitment Strategy Step 2 – Identify your target audience

Once you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to think about where you’ll find it. Consider the types of organisations and industries that are most likely to have candidates with the skills and experience you need.

You should also think about the types of job boards and social media platforms that will be most effective in reaching your target audience. Job boards to reach potential candidates include:

• Indeed: Indeed is a job search website that aggregates job listings from various sources and allows users to search and apply to job openings, with resume building, company reviews, salaries, and more career tools.
• Glassdoor: Glassdoor provides anonymous reviews, salary information, and job listings for companies, enabling job seekers to research employers and make more informed career decisions.
• Stack Overflow: Stack Overflow helps companies to build their talent pipeline and know technologists and developers.
• Linkedin: This platform is designed for professionals and is particularly useful for recruiting in the IT industry. It’s a great place to post IT-related job listings, search for candidates with specific skills and connect with potential hires.
• Twitter: Twitter is a great way to promote job openings to a wide audience. You can also use hashtags to increase the visibility of your job listings and target specific communities of IT professionals.
• Facebook: Facebook has a large user base, and you can create ads that target specific demographics, interests, and locations.
• Instagram: While this platform is more visual, it can be used to showcase your company culture, values, and team.

IT Recruitment Strategy Step 3 – Develop a strong employer brand

In order to attract top talent, you need to have a strong employer brand. This includes everything from your company’s values and mission to its culture and perks. Be sure to highlight the following aspects of your company in your job postings, on your company website, and on your social media channels:

• A positive company culture: A strong culture is one that aligns with the values of the organisation and its employees, creates a positive work environment, and provides a sense of belonging.
• Employee satisfaction: Having a high level of employee satisfaction can indicate that the company is a good place to work and that employees are happy with their work experience.
• Clear mission and values: Having a clear mission and set of values that are communicated and upheld throughout the company can attract employees who align with those values.
• Benefits and perks: Offering competitive benefits and perks such as health insurance, retirement plans, flexible work arrangements, and professional development opportunities can be a draw for potential employees.
• Social responsibility: Companies that have a commitment to social responsibility and engage in sustainable practices may have a stronger employer brand, as these values align with many employees’ personal values.
• Glassdoor, Indeed, and other online reputation platforms: Positive reviews and ratings on these platforms can also contribute to a strong employer brand, as they are a public representation of what it’s like to work at a company.
• Employee testimonials and referrals: Employee testimonials and referrals can help to attract other potential employees who may be looking for the same kind of work experiences.

IT Recruitment Strategy Step 4 – Use targeted advertising

Once you’ve defined your target audience and developed a strong employer brand, it’s time to start advertising your open positions. Use job boards and social media platforms to reach potential candidates, and consider using targeted ads to reach specific groups of people.

Advertise on those sites listed in Step 2.

IT Recruitment Strategy Step 5 – Use a diverse range of recruitment methods

Don’t rely solely on traditional job postings to find candidates. Consider using some of the following to expand your pool of potential hires:

• Employee referral programs: An employee referral program is a process where current employees recommend potential candidates from their personal and professional network to the company, in exchange for incentives such as bonuses or rewards.
• Networking events: Technology conferences, trade shows, industry meetups, and Alumni events are all great places to connect with potential candidates directly.
• Job or career fairs: These events are specifically designed for job seekers and employers to connect, recruiters can meet with potential candidates and discuss job opportunities at the company.
• Recruiting firms: A specialist IT recruitment firm will act as an intermediary between companies and job seekers, using their expertise in the IT field and networks to match the right candidates to the right roles, and providing support throughout the hiring process.

IT Recruitment Strategy Step 6 – Evaluate & optimise the recruitment process

Finally, it’s important to regularly evaluate and optimise your recruitment process to ensure that you’re attracting the best candidates. Depending on the size of your business, consider implementing applicant tracking systems and using data to analyse the effectiveness of different recruitment methods.

Some popular applicant tracking systems (ATS) include:

• Bullhorn: This system offers customisable solutions to fit user’s needs. As well as applicant tracking, some of the features include job requisition management, customisable application forms, email templates, and reporting.
• Greenhouse: This tracking system aims to optimize every aspect of hiring – attracting and hiring the right talent, amplifying your team’s efficiency, building your ideal hiring tech stack, and more.
• JazzHR: This platform allows you to have end-to-end customisation of the recruitment process to suit your company’s needs. It allows sharing of feedback and notes with all collaborators just by mentioning their names.
• JobAdder: This platform allows you to manage candidates and jobs. You can automate applications, interviews, and assessments – and do it all from your mobile using this app.
• UKG: This system combines talent management and payroll from one unified solution. It helps streamline the hiring process – from sourcing and attracting candidates to hiring and onboarding them.
• Workable: This platform automates processes and manual tasks such as managing employee referrals, scheduling interviews, gathering feedback, getting approvals, and more.

By following these steps, you can create an effective IT recruitment strategy that will help you attract top talent and build a strong, efficient IT team.

How can we help?

If building a recruitment strategy seems a little daunting, or you would like guidance on any of the steps along the way, we would be happy to help.

As a specialist recruitment agency with a clear focus on IT and digital roles, we can build your IT team quickly, with maximum effectiveness and minimum fuss.

Contact us here to find out more.