10 things I realised when recruiting IT professionals in 2022
1. Every hour counts
When you’re a recruiter, your work is like an onion — it consists of your work and many other people’s decisions. Sometimes it’s hard to convince workmates to submit their feedback regarding candidates right away, and it’s understandable — they have their own priorities. If you are a recruiter, you’re like a hunter so you know that it’s important to not lose focus on your goal. In 2022 every hour counts because candidates take part in many recruitment processes at the same time and often the first submitted offer wins.
It’s true that they can take part in a hundred processes at once and pick offers, but we’re all human and no one wants to recruit for all eternity, so… act fast 🚀
2. “Yesterday I was a junior but today I’m a senior”
Yes, for the market it’s really difficult to deal with the fact that every company has their own standards, rules, and skill expectations at a certain level of seniority. It makes candidates confused and can lead to bad experiences with potential employers who reject them or recognize them as someone with a lower level of knowledge than they declare at the beginning.
One day you’re an expert, the next day you feel like an intern. And then we think some candidates are too confident but it’s not their fault. The system is flawed.
3. Not every “the other company wants to give me more” is real
There’s a trick that sounds like: another company wants to pay me x, so I need time to consider all the options… In fact, sometimes there’s no better offer at all, and… it’s just a strategy to get more. Just saying.
4. Social skills are not a huge problem anymore
Where are all those isolated, socially detached people? I don’t know, I’m still waiting for the day I finally get to meet all those geeks from the basement. Anybody?
Here’s the game-changing observation I’ve made. Maybe it’s just my lucky sample but I don’t meet many candidates with a real social skills problem that we connect with stereotypical tech persona.
Besides, here we have a change in people’s thinking which is worth noting — society starts understand that being a good specialist in your field and nothing else is not enough. Younger generations know it well. Also, they become more and more aware of their rights and needs as employees. This means that even if they are introverts, it doesn’t prevent them from getting it.
I guess generational changes are not the only reason. The second is the fact that new people join the industry, and they were not born to code. They just changed their branch because they have their reasons to do so. Among them are people who, for example, have studied journalism and are naturally outspoken, so it’s no wonder that this community looks different today.
So, on the one hand, we have new people coming to the industry who do their best to land the first job, and on the other hand, people who already are in, feel more confident and privileged. Then, the image of the industry is changing, and it’s not recognized as just boring typing on a keyboard anymore 🙃
And… it makes the IT industry more inclusive.
5. Nobody wants juniors but juniors are all we have
Maybe this sentence is too contrasting but companies don’t have time for mentoring juniors or they just don’t want to. The problem is that there are few available seniors on the market so even if you want to create some mentoring path, you have trouble with hiring highly experienced people to lead this venture.
The truth is brutal — after all, every employer will have to do this because the market constantly provides new juniors or beginners who finish their studies, bootcamps and courses. There is no trick that will make the market magically turn juniors into seniors.
6. Candidates would love to give their feedback… on one condition
Yes, they’ll do it if you… ask them. Not many people feel so confident or powerful to do this without our explicit request, so do it and you’ll be surprised how much you can get out of it.
PS. They do it even when the final decision is unfavourable, so it’s proof that it’s possible👌🏼
7. We’re not so different and we all need an interesting project and a warm blanket to hide from the bugs
I always ask candidates what are their needs. What are they looking for in their future workplace, what are their expectations?
An interesting project solving a real business problem, the newest technologies, experienced teammates, and an opportunity for constant development... All juniors, regulars and seniors want it. Of course, there are exceptions, but in general, it all comes down to these few things.
8. It’s high time to review all the basic recruitment questions
Some of them are out of date. Forget about this obsolete question like “Why should we hire you?” Instead, we should wonder why he/she would like to consider our offer. After doing so, make sure that other recruiters in your company or outsourced headhunter know and share with candidates the same unique value propositions. Coherent and consistent story about company is the key.
The next common question like “What do you like about our company?” also doesn’t work anymore. Candidates rarely know in which cities companies have offices. It’s not like they don’t care, remote work makes it irrelevant. Of course, other things like case studies or the company’s business area would be good to know but they don’t have time for coding tasks — as a necessary stage — so why would they have time for research before the introduction meeting? They have so many invitations to many recruitment processes, so they just don’t have to.
9. Length of service is becoming shorter and shorter, and nobody’s looking for a job at the moment
How long should we work in one company, what is the appropriate time? Who knows? I know one thing — I reach out to candidates that have been working in one company for a very long time and after doing so, often it turns out that they just simply forgot to update their LinkedIn profile after accepting a new offer.
There is also other type of candidates who don’t want to change the job at all — they just want to check out new possibilities in some other places and often waste time of both sides 😉
10. Even in 2022, recruiters still reach out to the wrong candidates, with poorly selected technology or with the recipient’s name unchanged
This is an interesting point. The market has changed. Recruiters are extremely needed and suddenly everyone respects them more for fear of leaving the company. But so what if recruiters still make the same mistakes?
I still receive unmatched offers, or I do not get answers to the questions I asked. It’s fantastic that the world starts appreciate the important role of good HR and recruitment and its impact on business. I am just not sure if the higher demand for recruiters will have a positive impact on morale and the level of professionalism.
Well, that’s it! I thought that the end of the first quarter of 2022 would be a good time to share some new observations and check if you have similar feelings. So now tell me, do you?
