The coronavirus pandemic has meant that jobs and hiring have had to change over the last 12 months or so, and there is still more change afoot. However, the IT industry, and related jobs such as science and engineering, is still going strong, and recruitment in this sector is going up rather than down. If you’re looking for the best candidates to fill IT-related jobs, what should you be offering? Read on to find out.
Flexible Workplaces
In the past, many IT-related jobs were in-house, and that was a literal thing. Managers wanted their staff in an office, all together, working as one. Today this is no longer the case; even those companies that would prefer to work in the traditional manner have had to change their perception, and once the working from home cat was out of the bag, it has proven impossible to put it back again.
That means that candidates aren’t just looking for flexible workplaces that give them a choice as to where they can work, they’re expecting to find them. Any hiring manager who insists their staff have to go into an office five days a week for eight hours is going to have a hard time filling that role.
Bear in mind, though, that candidates aren’t necessarily looking for full-time work from home roles. It’s the flexibility that counts, and they like the idea that there’s an office, even if it’s a shared hub, to go to if they want to.
Soft Skills
IT, engineering, science… These careers have more than one thing in common, but something that was particularly of interest to recruiters was technical ability. Nothing else really mattered; if someone had the right degree and perhaps some experience, they were much more likely to land a role.
Today it’s not quite the same. With so many people having to reassess their working lives, either through necessity or because being at home on furlough seemed like the perfect opportunity to really think about where they were heading, many more people have decided that IT-related industries are right for them; after all, technology isn’t going away any time soon.
This means that there is a glut of candidates, and it’s why soft skills including teamwork, leadership, a good work ethic, and interpersonal skills are becoming more important. Technical skills can be learned; the right attitude is much harder to find.
A Work Culture
Culture didn’t mean a lot just a few years ago. Perhaps it meant there was a Christmas party, or maybe dress down Friday was a ‘fun’ idea. But that was about it. Today, company culture is much more important, and it’s something that IT recruits are looking for.
Candidates want to join companies that they can really be a part of, that they can make a difference in, and no one wants to be a nameless cog in a machine anymore. A company with a work culture is lifeless, going nowhere, and problems with recruitment will show exactly that.
