Recruitment has evolved from simply finding and filling in a vacant position into art and science wherein recruiting begins before there is a job vacancy and before the recruitment specialist connects with the applicant. In information technology (IT) recruitment, the challenge is bigger, and recruitment is even more complicated. One, IT is a technical field, and hard skills are not the only ones recruiters are looking for when finding talents. They also look for soft skills, character, potential, and other factors that would make the candidate the right fit not only for the job, but also for the company, its environment, and its employees.

Second, the workforce is highly dominated by Millennials—a new breed of highly talented but somewhat unpredictable workforce demographic. In 2015, millennials surpassed the Generation X as the biggest cluster of working professionals in the U.S. According to the Pew Research Center report, one in three American professionals is a millennial.

This finding has a huge impact on recruitment, particularly in the IT sector, as millennials have a different take on technology compared to other workforce demographic. The collective shift in the workforce and the modern challenges of recruitment require IT recruiters to overcome a new set of difficulties and upgrade their expert search. Here are some of them, as well as tips to overcome the new hurdles.

Locating and Attracting Talents

In the old days, job seekers are the ones “seeking” for the vacancies, so it really doesn’t matter where you post the job ad because the candidates will find them. These days, however, more recruiters are going after talents who are not even actively looking, and they’re doing it online.

They are also using social media to research where the best talents can be found and how best to connect with them. This is called lead generation. Instead of simply posting the job ad online, go to where the talents are hanging out. Research on the groups and ask to be introduced to the talents on your radar.

Build relationships with them even without job vacancies in the picture because the top talents are, more often than not, currently employed and are not looking. It makes sense to stay on their radar and remain relevant through content marketing, so when a job opportunity arises, you will be the first one to get dibs.

Learn Their Language

As mentioned, IT is a technical field, and as a recruiter, part of your job is to ensure that the candidate has the right hard skills, along with the other factors that would make him or her effective in the new job post. This means you also need to be effective in your post.

You need to learn their language to evaluate the experienced ones. Tech recruiters should have a strong background in IT. They need to communicate with the business, its stakeholders, managers, and team, as well as understand the business goals and needs to come up with a comprehensive hiring process that will highlight the top talents in the application batch.

Long Hiring Process

While every organization has its own hiring process checklist, many have long hiring processes that are often frustrating for both the applicant and recruiter.

In a 2015 survey, 47 percent applicants declined job offers because they already accepted other offers from competition companies. Usually, a long hiring process does more harm than a job. An effective hiring process should deal with other challenges such as resume distrust or background check. This is why many tech recruiters need to learn how to pull out the right resumes from the pile effectively. This will help them shorten the time it needs to fill a position and save on cost.

Remote Hiring

As the world continues to get smaller, recruiters are widening their search area and are looking for talents outside of their cities and even countries. Since IT is a technical field, many professionals are either hired remotely or offered a comprehensive overseas package.

Recruiters should have an effective plan in place for overseas talents. Thinking and planning ahead will prevent them from scrambling when they find the right candidates outside of their own cities and countries.

Evolving Challenges

As technology continues to evolve, expect the challenges to change as well. However, technology also provides recruiters more channels and methods to become more effective in finding the right talents and overcoming technical difficulties involved in IT recruitment. The key is to evolve alongside technology—to create solutions using data gathered from both employers and job seekers.

Hiring a recruitment agency can help your business find the best talents that are not within your current geographical location. These experts are well-trained to address specific challenges tied to the science and art of both recruitment and IT as a technical field.