How to Attract Talent to Different Kinds of Businesses in the IT

Hiring is one of the most important aspects of running a business in the IT industry. It’s not just about finding the right person for the job, it’s also about making sure your company culture is appealing to potential employees. Talent acquisition strategies vary depending on company type and size. Thus, the recruitment strategy you use for enterprises won’t work for small businesses. 

If you want to get top-tier professionals to work for you, here are some tips on attracting talent to your company, organized by the size of businesses.

Hiring strategy for start-ups

Start-ups (less than 20 people) typically have fewer assets while having very competitive surroundings with little customer trust and awareness. For this reason, there is barely any applicant flow.

Who do start-ups usually look for? – People who will become valuable team members, are proactive, determined, self-motivated, result-oriented, and aren’t afraid of taking risks when necessary.

What should you do to attract talent?

• Offer the potential to express and put forth their ideas, let the candidate know that their opinion will always be heard and taken into account;
• Give them the ability to grow together with the company (if you get a senior developer on board, they have high chances to become a team lead soon) and work in a homely atmosphere;
• Allow your future employees to bring an impact to the project or product development directly;
• Offer flexible working hours and remote work. This is particularly important for students who want to work hard, are motivated, and have prior experience, but can’t do an in-house 9-to-5 job yet;
• Give a heads-up about the chance to work with foreign businesses, where English communication will help them extend their language skills – that can help with a relocation in the future.

Engagement strategy for small IT companies and medium-sized businesses

A small or medium-sized company (up to 100 people) already has spread some brand awareness and has several customers. Typically, there is already a well-structured organization with somewhat defined business processes. Still, the candidate flow is not high enough.

Who do small and midsize companies usually search for staff? – Successful professionals, who must be able to fulfill their goals while spending limited resources, generate new and innovative concepts, are skilled and flexible.

What can you offer these people?

• Promise them the potential of influencing business processes, like the ability to start a project or initiate a new product;
• Offer a chance to climb the career ladder fast and try team management in the future;
• Tell them about your valuable and prospective clients and partners, with whom they’ll get a chance to work in the future, either in product development or via outstaffing;
• Show them that you have minimal paperwork, no bureaucracy, and a small number of iterations;
• Develop cross-functional transitions that may be appealing to those who have yet to make their mind about their professional preferences, like when a system administrator can try themselves as a DevOps;
• Give them a competitive compensation package with cool perks like premium medical insurance, gym membership, and so on.

Hiring strategy for big companies

Large companies (200-800 people) are far less flexible than smaller ones as they have a more rigid organizational structure and well-defined business processes with precise values, missions, and strategies for the long term. 

Who do big companies usually look for? – Trustworthy, and hardworking people with solid reputations who will help the company grow and improve its brand.

How to attract skilled IT specialists here?

• Draw attention to the chance of career growth in one or a couple of directions, even for a worker with senior level (that gives you a privilege over start-ups, as a person can’t jump above the product level there);
• Show them your company’s stability in the market; a company your size is less likely to shut down than a startup, for example;
• Give the ability to solve large-scale problems for those who like to integrate into large processes;
• Offer candidates a salary above market rate and make it definitely higher, than your competitors; your company has a higher income than smaller ones so can pay more, and candidates know that;
• Add something new and unique to your perks, like discounts in certain shops or restaurants and cinemas, personalized bucket list experiences, give them more meaningful gifts and so on – employees in IT absolutely love new and exclusive stuff.

Engagement strategy for IT enterprises 

IT enterprises like Apple or Amazon are recognizable worldwide. Their products and services are used by millions of people. And therefore, the amount of people wanting to work there is enormous. Like start-ups, these companies pay close attention to cultural fit. They often conduct up to 5 interviews to see if the candidate and the team “click”.

Who do enterprises usually search for staff? – Experienced individuals with strong soft and hard skills who think outside of the box.

How to win over future employees?

• Promise them a chance to bring about their ideas, regardless of their position and the company’s big size;
• Assure them of stability while having a prestigious position in the IT industry leader;
• Allow them to benefit from the ability to enhance their soft and hard skills by giving a large budget for training and self-development courses, conducting a lot of team building and training sessions, etc.;
• Let the candidates know that they’ll be working on super successful products and projects, using cutting-edge technologies;
• Offer flexible working conditions without time tracking and harsh restrictions because you’re focused on the end result only;
• Provide your candidates with a possibility of relocation for them and their families in the future, if your company has offices across the globe.

“The easiest way to get the best talent for your team is to contact a recruitment agency. Professionals’ services help companies quickly and predictably hire suitable talent. Absolutely everyone can benefit from the services of recruiting agencies: from a small product to a global outstaffing or outsourcing company. Plus, if the business is small, it may not have in-house recruiters, then the RPO service can cover its needs by 100%”, said Yulia Kalinovska, COO at StaffingPartner. “Since we are experts and see the global picture, we are often approached not only for recruiting but also for market expertise (regarding tech stack, salary ranges, trends).”

Regardless of the company type or size, each applicant will look for a warm, welcoming atmosphere to work in, where they will be a valuable employee. Read more about How to Find and Win Over A-list Candidates for your company in our blog.

The strategies we’ve provided can help you attract the best candidates for your IT company. If these ideas sound like a good fit and you need some assistance in executing them, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today! We are StaffingPartner, the #1 IT recruiting agency in Ukraine, rated among the top by Clutch and The Manifest. Our recruitment team is here and ready to find the perfect candidates for you. No matter your company size – we’ve got you covered!