6 tips for attracting top tech talent

Attracting top talent is one of the top struggles for tech companies, and it’s only getting more challenging as demand for the best employees grows.

Posting a generic job ad as you did 10 years ago and hoping for the best doesn’t cut it anymore. Luckily, there are practical methods you can use to find and engage the best tech professionals, from offering benefits beyond a high salary to exploring different recruiting avenues.
Why finding tech talent is a struggle

In a 2023 Deloitte survey, almost 90% of technology industry leaders said recruiting talent is a moderate or major struggle.
This wasn’t always the case, says Chris Czarnik, CEO of the Appleton, Wisconsin-based Career [RE]Search Group.

“Companies have always kidded themselves that they’ve been good at recruiting because there were more people than there were jobs,” Czarnik says. “Companies were selling ice water in the middle of the desert.”

Today, however, it’s a job-seeker’s market. Fewer highly-skilled individuals are actively job searching, and there’s a massive demand for their talents.

Competitive pay is no longer enough to attract tech experts in software development, data analysis, cyber security and other fields. So, how do you attract them?

6 ways to attract top tech talent

Here are six powerful methods to attract tech professionals.

1. Understand your ideal candidate persona

Many hiring managers assume that writing a job ad is their human resources department’s job. But HR doesn’t do those jobs, they don’t understand how to present them in an attractive way to tech candidates.

One simple tip? “Enlist your hiring managers and their top performers in those jobs to put their time into writing a job ad in the persona of their ideal candidate. Ask your top performer what they do, what are the outcomes, deliverables and sizzle about their job, that’s what needs to be in the job ad!” says Susie Japs, managing director of Wejungo, a national talent strategy consulting firm located in San Diego.

When you write a job ad, Susie Japs suggests putting a draft in front of the highest-performing person in that role. Ask them to rate it on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 equals boring — they’ve already stopped reading it — and 5 equals compelling — they’d consider leaving their current job if this ad were true. If they rate it anything lower than a 5, “your job ad is not on the mark.”

Czarnik agrees that understanding your candidate persona is vital when creating a job ad. “Describe the person you hope applies,” he says, “not the job you want them to fill.”

Susie Japs reminds us that “You should focus on how someone does/performs the job, not just what skills and experience they have. Remember, even if someone has the skills and experience required for the job that doesn’t mean they will be a high performer in your company, culture and job.”

2. Offer the right benefits

In the tech world, where pay tends to be higher than in other industries, a competitive salary is just one factor in attracting talent.

Czarnik believes that opportunities for growth, exciting challenges and problem-solving are the top benefits an IT company can offer. He puts it simply: “When people stop learning, they start leaving.” Companies should emphasize that they’re offering an opportunity to grow.

Susie Japs shares a powerful quote by Virgin Group Founder Richard Branson. “Train people well enough so they can leave, but treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”

You can do this by creating an equal playing field with your competitors, for example, if they provide three weeks of vacation, offering less can be a dealbreaker. Or if they offer career pathing, you better have that well documented and communicated as well.

She adds that “by 2025, 75% of the global workforce will be millennials and that generation oftentimes value flexibility, learning, culture-fit and vacation more than pay.”

3. Showcase your employer’s brand

Demonstrate that your company is somewhere top talent wants to be by explaining the employee experience.

Susie Japs suggests telling stories of your most successful employees who have grown within the company. “Have them share their stories,” she says, “not in generalities.” To go one step further, you can share employee stories through short videos.

Czarnik agrees that the best way to highlight your brand is to utilize your current employees.

“Ask your people, ‘What’s one thing you didn’t know about our company before you got here, but now it’s the reason you choose to stay?’” he says. Then, share their answers in your job posts. They might include flexibility, growth, exciting problems to solve—anything that aligns with your brand.

4. Try different recruiting avenues

If you’re relying on one or two traditional recruiting methods, you might be missing out.

Czarnik has a specific recommendation: LinkedIn Recruiter Lite.

“Think of it as a Google search for people,” he explains. You can type in your desired parameters, such as location, industry and years of experience. LinkedIn Recruiter Lite will show you only the profiles that fit your requirements. From there, you can message each person directly to gauge their interest.

The service costs around $170 per month — much more affordable than a headhunter, as Czarnik points out.

Susie Japs shares that for some positions, job boards are a good starting point, but only if they’re specific to tech. “Who are you looking for? If it’s a new grad, college partnerships, career counselors or job fairs are the way to go. But if it’s a mid-to-senior-level engineer, then networking, referral programs, alumni associations or utilizing LinkedIn Recruiter Lite to reach out directly will be much more effective than posting a job ad.”

What is one method she recommends? Networking. “Make sure your best people at your company are provided scripting and directions on how to reach out to their network. Imagine you ask your top 5 employees to reach out with a 5/5 rated job ad and networking script to their 500+ networks, that is direct access to the passive talent market, not the active job seekers, which is only about 18% of the market right now,” says Susie Japs.

5. Stand out from the competition with job ads

Susie Japs and Czarnik agree that one way to stand out from the competition is to use a finely-honed job ad.

“I like to use a fishing analogy,” says Susie Japs. “Even if you go to a lake where you know your fish is, but you do not bring the right bait, you will not catch very many of those fish.”

Job ads need to focus on what’s in it for the applicant. As Susie Japs says, in most cases, the potential employee already has a job and they aren’t looking. They’re thinking, “I don’t need another job. So what’s in it for me? What’s the opportunity here?”

Czarnik puts it another way: “If you were dating, you wouldn’t list the qualifications, duties, tasks and responsibilities of your potential spouse.”

He recommends addressing pain points by marketing your job opportunity like you sell your products or services. In other words, “Connect to the person’s current unhappiness,” he says.

6. Actively promote diversity and inclusion

Showing you’re committed to diversity and inclusion is critical in today’s hiring landscape.

Almost 80% of respondents to a 2021 CNBC and SurveyMonkey survey said that “they want to work for a company that values diversity, equity and inclusion.”

These days, employers are eager to recruit and hire a diverse workforce, but what exactly does that mean? It begins with defining diversity within the organization, says Susie Japs, and then proactively seeking out diversity during the recruitment process. “Don’t just post a job ad and wait until they come to you,” she says. “They may never even know you’re hiring.”

Susie Japs recalled a client in the tech space who wanted to hire more women but had a man leading the recruiting process. “How many female candidates do you think they ended up attracting and engaging? Only three,” she says. “I suggested they have a female engineer write the job ad and be the first person to interact with their applicants. That was the game changer.”

By utilizing the methods above, you will have a better chance of attracting talented tech candidates, even in today’s challenging market.

Susie Japs also points out that a recent increase in tech company layoffs is good news for companies seeking tech hires. “It’s a little unique right now with a lot of layoffs. There’s a lot of really good talent floating out there that you could maybe get with a job ad — if your job ad is rated 5/5, but don’t put anything less than that out there.”

Related Resources

The CEO Pulse: Hiring Resource Center

Big picture implications: Hiring in 2024

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