Tech Talent Acquisition Challenges: Top 11 Tips To Secure Great Tech Talent

90% of businesses leaders reported that tech talent acquisition was a moderate or major struggle in 2023.

With many businesses facing tech skills gaps, attracting and hiring great tech talent is becoming increasingly important.

If you can relate to this with your company’s own workforce challenges, then these top tips are a great place to start your new tech talent acquisition journey with!

11 methods for improving tech talent acquisition:

Before you start considering how to attract tech talent to your business, it’s important to take the time to assess your current workforce. Depending on the tech talent you are looking to hire, you might be able to offer opportunities for upward mobility within your existing team, instead of taking on new hires. Through upskilling opportunities, apprenticeships, and knowledge transfer between contract and permanent members of staff, you may be able to improve your skills gap without the expense of recruiting new tech talent for your organisation.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible. You might not have the technical knowledge internally in the first place, or perhaps you have an urgent requirement that cannot wait or you lack the time or capacity internally to facilitate training. So if you are in need of solid advice for attracting tech talent to your business, these tips will set you on the course to success.

Consider career progression and training

Time and time again we see career progression and training rating high in importance amongst working professionals. According to a recent survey, 92% of candidates will consider an organisation’s training and development opportunities when choosing between two job offers. In particular, Gen Z employees (predicted to make up 30% of the working population by next year), have pointed to training as being the most important factor when considering which employer to choose.

Offering training could give your business the advantage you need over your competitors. Employees who receive the training and career progression they are looking for are also 94% likely to stay longer with their employer. Offering career progression and training is a win-win for everyone!

Create an efficient recruitment process

I have come across many businesses that insist on their recruitment processes having multiple unnecessary stages with tests for candidates to complete. They also lack the speed and efficiency needed to recruit great professionals who are often highly desired and in demand.

Always assume that your candidates are interviewing with other companies. If your process is unnecessarily long and complicated or you are not quick to respond to candidates, they will likely either drop out of the process or choose a competitor. Providing a negative experience is only going to hurt your employer brand in the long term.

Ensure your processes are fair

If you have a strong focus internally on DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion), this should be reflected throughout your operations, including your recruitment.

If you do not scrutinise your recruitment processes, you could be inadvertently creating barriers to attracting and hiring great tech talent. Consider instilling diverse recruiting practices throughout your processes, such as auditing job adverts, standardising interviews, and anonymising candidates. Your tech talent acquisition will be impeded if you are not doing all you can to attract a diverse pool of top tech talent.

Consult your team

The team your new hire will be part of should be an important part of your tech talent acquisition. If you are recruiting for the role via your HR team, it is likely they do not have the right technical backgrounds and knowledge. This makes including the tech team in the recruitment process extremely important. Whether that be providing integral tech insights and requirements or letting you know what type of personality would best for the team. Of course, if the tech talent you are hoping to hire will be working alone, make sure that the manager they will be reporting into is involved in the process.

We would also recommend undertaking an internal happiness survey, to ascertain any parts of an employee experience that is found lacking. Addressing problems with structure or procedures will mean that your new hire is likely to stay after onboarding.

Check the job description is clear

You would be surprised how many job descriptions are published which are vague and incoherent. If you’re writing a job description, put yourself in the shoes of the candidate you are looking for. They may be looking at a number of adverts a day. If the description isn’t transparent with references to skills, compensation, responsibilities, and type of tech involved, they will likely skip it. Furthermore, a vague description will mean unsuitable candidates may apply, costing you valuable time in the recruitment process.

Give yourself the best opportunity to succeed in your tech talent acquisition by making sure the job description is clear and includes all the right details.

Provide attractive benefits

If you find yourself struggling with your tech talent acquisition you should consider reviewing your compensation and benefits package offering. Doing your research (or working with an IT recruitment agency) to ascertain if you’re offering market rate or above your competitors is important. You can find insights into salary rates and benefits packages by researching the market yourself or communicating with your current employees. However, the most insightful information will be known by experienced recruiters. Working with a recruitment agency that talks with candidates every day is a safe bet on finding out what individuals actually want from their benefits and compensation packet.

Consider flexible working

If you’re unable to compete with your competition on salary thresholds, you might like to consider alternatives to help you attract tech talent and stand out from the crowd. Flexible working is particularly popular among tech professionals, whether it’s hybrid working practices or flexible hours.

A LinkedIn poll of nearly 2000 employees found that 77% of them rated flexible working as more important than a pay rise. If you have the capabilities to offer such flexibility, your chances of securing a great IT professional will increase and get you out of a hiring rut.

Use data and analytics

Where possible, use analytical data to evaluate your recruitment process (if you’re using a recruitment agency – this will be done for you!). You can gain insights from your marketing team to track which sourcing channels are getting the most engagement and whether that relays into higher application rates. You can also use information gleaned from your Talent team on insights received from job boards.

Data is best used as part of an ongoing recruitment campaign, to best optimise your internal procedures, however, it can be useful even on an ad-hoc basis to see whether you are getting interest in your roles or not.

Use an employee referral scheme

Your current employees are the best advocates for your business. An employee referral scheme could include a bonus or commission that is given if the candidate is hired and remains at the company for a set time. For tech roles, this can be particularly handy, as tech professionals are often well connected. Many attend tech meet ups, coding camps, training updates and often have peers in the industry. This also includes IT contractors who make many contacts through doing multiple contracts with different employers over time.meet peers from previous contracts.

By using your employee’s network of industry peers, you can find great talent that will suit your business and fit into the team. As they’ve been referred by a current employee, you could also find that the candidate gets a better insight into your business. This way they know more about internal work culture, if it will suit them and limit chances of them leaving soon after. It also gives them a point of contact at work to help settle them in.

Promote your employer brand

Having an excellent workplace culture counts for very little in tech talent acquisition if you’re not effectively promoting it. Candidates won’t know how good your company is if all they have to go on is a job advert.

Utilising your company website and socials to show team building, socials, incentives, trips, rewards, and all of the work to attract great professionals who want to join your business. Additionally, encouraging Glassdoor reviews can also showcase your company culture. Whilst some might think this is risky, if you’re confident your employees have a good experience working for you, there shouldn’t be any major surprises.

Another thing to consider is even poor candidate experience can affect your employer brand, as professionals discuss their experience in dealing with your company. This makes improving your recruitment processes crucial to your tech talent acquisition.

Use an IT recruitment agency

IT recruitment agencies, such as VIQU, have the expert knowledge and insight to attract and hire new tech talent. They talk to fantastic professionals each day and find out both why they are leaving their current company and what a business could do to entice them. Recruitment agencies also likely have closer insights on your competitors so can ensure you are doing all you can to recruit the right professionals for your business without them being stolen by someone else.

Working with a recruitment agency, you can dictate how involved and in control of the process you want to be. Whether you want it to be off your hands or just get their expertise on optimising your recruitment processes, there’s no one option for working with an agency.

If you want to improve your tech talent acquisition and secure a top IT professional, VIQU is an IT recruitment agency with over 150 years of combined experience in hiring both permanent and contract IT professionals. For expert advice and tailored support, contact our team here.