Every company is now a technology company. Businesses across all industries and verticals have been disrupted by new technology solutions that are changing how we do business.
Enterprises use an average of 1,000 different cloud applications. That varies, depending on the industry; for instance, the retail and finance verticals average about 1,200 different services while healthcare and IT services average around 900.
To that end, now more than ever organizations of kinds are growing their IT presence in order to keep up with the growing amount of technology necessary for business operations. And the technology industry is competitive, with over half a million jobs available in the United States alone.
Software developers, database analysts, and application support specialists who can manage these applications are in high demand. In the decade between 2014 to 2024, companies in the U.S. will look to add as many as 135,000 new application software developers.
For many, especially those in industries that typically did not require such a significant IT presence in the past, hiring IT personal can be a daunting task. Here are some tips on what to consider when moving forward with IT recruitment for your organization.
Hiring Goals and Expectations
Before you even speak to a candidate, you must ask yourself what the company hopes to achieve with filling this position.
Take a look at your business applications. What does it take to operate your organization smoothly and efficiently? Do you have custom built applications that are unique to your organization that will require training? Are the majority of your systems legacy applications that require skills that are no longer taught in school, forcing you to look for specific, older talent that shrinks the talent pool you are looking into?
You also can’t expect to find one person who can fulfill all of your application needs if their underlying technology and programming languages are vastly different. It can be quite valuable to find someone who can fit a hybrid role but don’t bank on it by making your job posting to specific.
The current makeup of your IT team must also be taken into consideration. If you run a small team of five to 10 who are at max capacity just operating and maintaining your current systems, you have to account for training and how that may affect your IT operations in the meantime.
One of the top concerns of CIOs about hiring IT staff, in addition to recruitment, is staff retention. You want to hire the correct fit for your IT team that will stay in the long term. The goal is to eliminate any stress over repeated turnover in a position, and find that key personnel that can grow along with the business.
However, the industry that your company operates in must be taken into account. Think about what you offer to potential IT candidates. If you are in an industry like retail, finance, or agriculture for instance, how will you be able to convince IT talent to stick around in that industry. You don’t want to find yourself constantly hiring to replace legacy skills due to high turnover as IT professionals look to continue growing their talent elsewhere.
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Struggling to Find the Right Fit
Writing an accurate job description is crucial for finding a candidate that will best fit your business. If it doesn’t make sense, is too varied, or too vague, it may turn off potential great fits from applying in the first place.
This is where having a complete understanding about how the IT department operates is vital. While it is important to not post a laundry list of skills that can discourage candidates from applying if they do not meet 100% of the requirements, if vital aspects of your business require specific technical skills that cannot be learned on the job, that should be made clear directly on the posting.
But those necessary skills aren’t the only skills required in the modern IT workforce. According to a 2018 Robert Half report, 47% of CIOs indicated that their teams are collaborating with marketing to support digital initiatives. Soft skills like strong listening, critical thinking, and communication are vital when IT workers are collaborating with employees outside of IT more so than ever before. It has become as important as the core technical IT skills.
Candidates with the ability to relay technical information to other people in the company who may not be as familiar with the material are valuable in bridging gaps between departments and fostering communication. It isn’t just about finding a software developer who is capable of working with your systems; it’s also about finding the right person who can then explain how those legacy systems work to those without technology backgrounds.
Replace Hiring with Application Management Services
In some cases, continuing to grow the IT team in your business past the necessary on-site requirements may not be the best option. If you expect high turnover or difficulty in finding the right candidate for the job, the best option may be removing this headache altogether.
Application Management Services (AMS) aims to accomplish just that by allowing you to outsource the task of providing constant support for your applications to a third-party who specializes in maintaining and monitoring business software. It can remove the need to constantly hire or replace employees that need to be trained in order to responsibly monitor and release patches, bug-fixes, and any other minor enhancements needed to keep business operations smooth and stable.
Leveraging AMS can mitigate any of the risk that comes with maintaining a growing technology presence. After all, the end goal of accepting disruptive technology into your business is to grow operations and the business as a whole, not get bogged down by it.
Resolute Technology Solutions offers a complete AMS package that monitors, optimizes, fixes, and supports your business applications. Contact us to learn how we can eliminate your stressful hiring processes and provide a consistent IT presence today.
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