Technical professionals such as developers and programmers have always been in demand. Earlier, tech companies used to hire regular recruiters for developers as well. Things slowly changed, and now we have a technical recruiter for hiring technical talent.
What was the need for this new kind of recruiter? Who exactly is a technical recruiter? What extra knowledge or skills do they possess compared to a regular recruiter? Let’s find it all out.
Who Is a Technical Recruiter?
The task of the technical recruiter is to hire technical talent for their company. A tech recruiter is well-equipped for interacting with highly technical professionals such as coders and developers.
Similarly, their technical awareness also means that they are better aware of the requirements of the job. Based on this knowledge and familiarity, tech recruiters serve as a bridge between less tech-savvy managers and technically sound professionals they hire.
A human resource specialist, a technical recruiter leads to better hires for tech companies worldwide. The job of a tech recruiter also comes with challenges that are unique to them.
Even though aspiring technical recruiter vacancies are abundant, being a technical recruiter has its fair share of job requirements. Let’s understand the challenges that technical recruiters face.
Challenges Faced by Technical Recruiters
The biggest tech companies are in constant need of technical recruits. Hence, the vacancies that need to be filled by a technical recruiter can, at times, seem overwhelming. Although it is a challenge that all recruiters face, the onus is on the technical ones for hiring the best technical talent before the competitors lure them away.
Another major challenge faced by technical recruiters is identifying talented developers. They require a certain level of technical knowledge to separate the good from those pretending to be good. So, it requires extensive analysis and research on technical recruiters to find and reach out to the best developers around.
The best developers are never short on job offers. The best among tech companies are always competing to prize them away. Hence, technical recruiters play a significant role in attracting the best technical talent.
These technical recruiters provide potential recruits with a good candidate experience, build a relationship with them, and portray their brand’s unique image to attract the top candidates.
Lastly, the biggest challenge that a technical recruiter faces is dealing with the developer’s dislike. Why are developers not very fond of recruiters?
Those spamming recruiters annoy developers and ensure that their inbox is always filled up to the brim. Furthermore, developers also dislike the interview process as it often consists of questions that have nothing to do with their abilities.
A whopping 22% among developers go on to say that they “hate” the interview part.
Hence, a technical recruiter has to make their brand stand apart and make their interaction unique. Tech recruiters need to ensure that their recruitment process is more human and provides the best candidate experience.
Tips for Becoming an Able Technical Recruiter
There are a lot of diverse skills that you require to pull off as a technical recruiter. As a result, numerous factors make a successful technical recruiter. So, let’s list some useful tips that can help you become an excellent technical recruiter.
Technical Skills – to what extent?
As already mentioned, a technical recruiter is hired to assist in recruiting candidates for technical posts. Hence, being well-versed and educated with a technical background will surely turn out to be an advantage.
Although you get the edge for having a technical background, it is not a hard and fast rule. A lot of technical recruiters today have experience in Psychology or even Sociology. It is okay if you do not have a technical degree, but you must be familiar with programming languages, and your technological literacy needs to be up there. This is one tip on the list, which is an absolute must. Why?
Because you will be working with programmers and other professionals with a firm technical hand, remember, you do not have to possess the technical knowledge a coder might have. Still, you should, at the very least, possess informal knowledge.
Furthermore, staying up to date with what is new in the technical world will go a long way. To further elaborate the point, would football players be comfortable if the team selector was a gentleman who knew nothing about the game?
Non-Technical Skills
It would be best if you also brushed up on your non-technical skills as well. Analytical skills, communication skills, and a knack for being a swift negotiator come in handy for a technical recruiter. After all, your job is to find the best technical professionals for your company, and analysis, negotiation, and persuasion will prove to be necessary.
It is common knowledge that there are parts of the recruitment process that developers hate. Most technical recruiters do not understand this and continue to spam developers asking them to write cover letters or send in their resumes.
To stand out from this crowd, try to interact with developers and making the recruitment process more humane.
You can use the latest tech tools that test developer skills for you. After all, how will you gauge a developer’s skills if you do not have a technical background? Even if you possess enough knowledge about a programming language, tech tools make the process easier and much faster.
Being able to tell your brand’s story and be clear and concise also helps a technical recruiter. After all, developers get a lot of job offers, and you must try to build a connection with them to recruit the best ones. How do you go about doing it?
Well, telling relevant and relatable stories about your brand’s vision is the only way.
Organizational Skills
Organizational skills are a must if you are working as a recruiter for a demanding company. Some firms require tens or even hundreds of new developers every week. No matter how high the number, if your work is well-organized and segmented, it becomes easier.
Keep up with industry blogs and podcasts that have increased in number. Especially if you do not have a technical background, these sources help you stay in touch with what’s happening in the developer’s universe.
Making Technical Recruitment More Personalized
Today’s HR market always has a lot of room for technical recruiters. But as already mentioned, being a technical recruiter also comes up with its challenges.
Most importantly, they have to be in touch with what’s hot and not in the world of developers. At the same time, many resources can assist you in improving as a technical recruiter.
Furthermore, you also get better as you interact with more and more developers and build healthy relationships with them.
There is no better formula for succeeding as a recruiter than understanding candidates truly and not looking at them just as skill sets. After all, anybody would only want to work for a company willing to understand their career needs and doesn’t just see them as a skill set. And such a relationship between recruits and the company is possible only if it beings right from the beginning of the recruitment process.
The growing technical awareness and other people skills such as negotiation and persuasion are sure to take you a long way as a technical recruiter.
For reading through and staying with us, here’s another quick tip for technical recruiters. If there’s one thing developers and programmers despise, it is irrelevant questions! So, remember to avoid asking too many of them.
Devise Your Own Technical Recruitment Strategy
There are no universally accepted qualities that an able tech recruiter has. Different recruiters have different recruitment methods. Learning tricks from experienced colleagues and checking out tips on the internet is always a good idea, but your efforts shouldn’t end there.
Remember, as a technical recruiter, you deal with real human beings with distinct qualities. So, an inbox-spamming, heartless recruitment method will put off the talented developers you’ve been trying too hard to bring on board.
Devise your strategy or interaction and figure out unique ways to build meaningful relationships with potential candidates. After all, recruitment is not only about contacting and interacting with developers.
It is also about scouting and identifying upcoming talent before your rivals scoop them up. For that to happen, you have to have connections within the industry. So, don’t be afraid to experiment and step away from traditional recruitment methods and implement innovative strategies.
Christian has over ten years of experience in marketing agencies. Currently, he has been dedicating his time to a tech startup and also writing for major publications. He loves podcasts and reading to keep up with the latest trends in marketing.
It is amazing how the recruitment industry has changed over the past few years, pretty nice website by the way.
Thanks, Adrian!