The IT market is changing rapidly, and today we feel it more than ever. The demand for IT specialists is only increasing, and every month it becomes more and more difficult to meet the candidates' expectations.
Such a situation in the IT market is forcing many companies to reconsider recruitment processes, reduce the number of selection stages to a minimum, refuse test assignments, and offer salaries higher than IT specialists receive at their current place of work.
Yet, given the dynamicity of the IT industry, a high salary and a cool project are far from all that employees now look for. As the founder of the international IT recruitment agency
Some words about the trends of 2021
In 2021, IT recruiting was characterized by two key trends - the need to build a strong HR brand, as well as the necessity to upgrade the qualifications of IT recruiters.
Those companies that took into account these trends were able to actively hire IT, employees. In addition, since 2021, fortunately, candidates have been complaining less and less about incompetent recruiters confusing Java with JavaScript.
This is a huge step towards ensuring that recruiters and candidates will be on the same page, without causing mutual dissatisfaction from communication.
These days the trends have changed a bit, and now the key focus is not on the “hard” skills of employers and hiring managers, but rather on “soft” skills.
Kindness and sincerity
The image of work, which comes down to the classic “Subordinate-Supervisor ” relationship, has long fallen into oblivion. Employees have long ceased to be perceived as “little cogs” maintaining the functions of a large corporate machine.
Every employee today is an important element of the company. You need to take care of them, show their importance, be truly responsible for their quality of life.
Therefore, experts pay more and more attention not only to the company's product but also to the good deeds with which the brand is associated. Specialists consider it important that employers contribute to a charity and assist other people.
The humaneness which lies behind the company name is especially relevant now, and many candidates will be more willing to consider such employers.
Trust
The fear of making a mistake is perhaps one of the fundamental ones in the work of any employee, not only an IT employee. If a company manages to create an image of understanding and a loyal one, it has more chances to attract new employees.
A culture of trust, without fear of making mistakes, trying something new, developing is the corporate culture of a healthy person.
Even large companies put a lot of emphasis on a humane attitude towards employees, trying to build relations on mutual trust and not total control. In such companies, as a rule, there is less micromanagement and, therefore, more responsibility, which is built on internal motivation rather than external fear.
Quality, not quantity
“We have the largest candidate database” is a classic advantage of recruitment agencies. Given the new trend towards trust and humanity in companies, this focus is also changing.
Now it is not the number of candidates that the recruiter is able to process that matters, but the quality of processing. It is important how trustful and reliable the conversation with the specialist turned out to be. It should be built without formalism but based on warm, friendly (at the same time not going beyond business) communication.
Showing off a large number of candidates in the database is no longer a trend. The trend is to brag about reliable relationships with candidates, keep in touch with them, and focus on long-term communication.
Refusal of arrogance
Companies that have an inflated sense of self-importance, even if there is a reason for this, will look less advantageous in 2022 compared to companies that understand that they and specialists are equally interested in each other.
Communication which is based on the principle of partnership, is what you should be aiming for in 2022.
Acceptance of market realities
In 2020-2021, the IT hiring market went crazy: all over the news, we heard about the collapse happening in the tech market heard that the market was overheated while the candidates with their salary expectations went crazy.
It's time to move on to the fifth stage of accepting the inevitable and be at peace with this fact. Yes, demand exceeds supply, but this is no longer a reason to dramatize.
The fact that IT candidates ask for high wages compared to other industries for work is quite logical because demand really greatly exceeds supply. It's time to take the new market rules in good spirit.
Recruiting automation
HR-tech is now on the rise; platforms that can assess the level of soft skills of candidates through video interviews process their emotions are being actively developed while advanced CRM systems are being created.
Even though recruiting is more related to the humanities, that doesn't mean the industry doesn't have the same tools as the tech industry.
Therefore, I recommend following trends and learning how to quickly master new solutions in the IT recruiting market.
The need for communication
Many people are now working remotely. This, of course, is no longer a trend, but because of this, many candidates lack communication. Companies that understand new requirements of candidates and satisfy not only the need for remote work but also compensate for the absence of an office through online meetings for coffee or more regular corporate parties are in a higher priority among candidates.
Therefore, in order to be an attractive company for IT specialists in 2022, it is important to create conditions for corporate communication, pay more attention to informal communications, think about the leisure time of employees in a quality manner, minimizing the negative aspects of remote work.
Counteroffers
The latest trend of 2022 is a counteroffer made for every second offer. Therefore, after the candidate accepts the offer, it is too early to break out the champagne. It's better to “process” the candidate in advance; prepare him or her for possible dismissal, thus including such a conversation in an obligatory element of interaction with the candidate.
Being closely connected today with one of the most dynamic spheres today, IT recruiting is changing rapidly, new HR technologies are emerging, the needs of candidates are changing, the focus is shifting towards a more progressive system of employer-subordinate relationships.
Therefore, in this tough struggle for worthy IT specialists, those companies that can quickly evaluate candidates, quickly give feedback, quickly interview, respect each employee, with an emphasis on humanity, loyalty, and partnership with candidates, will definitely win.