How to Spot Up-and-Coming IT Talent

Hiring good tech talent can be a headache. There are only so many qualified candidates for your open positions, and the numbers of open positions continue to grow. So what can you do to give yourself an edge?

Find candidates before anyone else does.

Not by posting a job on a website, but by identifying and participating in the communities where they can be found. Sites such as Github and Stack Overflow are good places to start. They allows you to see for yourself what younger candidates can do, instead of just reading about their potential.

You may need to use your own internal staff to do this, but scope out events like hackathons, which are becoming increasingly popular and offer an opportunity to observe how people work together, or tap into Meetup groups.

You can also reach out to recent grads on Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn—but don’t feel you have to make a hard sell. Start chatting with potential candidates and present them with real-world issues. For example, “We’re trying to build up this function, and you’ve been doing it for a while. Want to give me insight on how you do it?”

If you want to check out talent that hasn’t graduated yet, set up internship and co-op programs for local students. Sometimes professors can be a terrific resource, telling you which of their students really excel. And bringing them on board early allows you to test them in a hands-on setting.  If they’re really good, you can offer them a permanent job after graduation.

Also, if you’re working with a recruiter or staffing agency, they can do some searching for you, but make sure they’re tech savvy—that they understand the language and the roles in the organization. Otherwise, potential candidates will develop a low opinion of your company and look elsewhere. Technology talent can easily tell if a recruiter doesn’t know what they are talking about.

Finally, don’t forget to use your employees as a recruitment source. Maybe they know someone from their college program who was always a hot shot. Or they have friends who are rising stars at one of your competitor companies.

If you need someone good, and you need someone now, call Triumph. We have more than 15 years of experience working in the IT arena and can find the person you need quickly.