How to recruit the best talent for your startup

One aspect of this was the offering of 6,800 additional permanent migration places for tech workers as part of a promised 20 percent increase in this year’s overall permanent migration count.

This is excellent news for the technology sector and will go a long way in addressing the skills shortage that has plagued the industry for many years.

But while the tech and startup communities wait to reap the benefits of these measures, there is still talent to be found and vacancies to be filled in the near term: unemployment rates are falling and job vacancies are up 13.8% since February 2022.

So how can tech startups find talent now despite the current staffing shortages? The answer should be obvious to the technology sector: use technology.

Step 1: Expand your talent pool

The most effective way to improve your chances of finding great employees is to expand your talent pool to include all possible candidates capable of meeting your company’s current and long-term needs.

But to grow that database of potential new hires, you need to think outside the box — and use data strategically.

For example, most companies lose track of previous unsuccessful candidates, candidates who have been offered jobs but never turned up, and former employees who may be interested in returning to the ranks.

These past unsuccessful candidates or ex-employees can be golden in times of shortage.

But in times of staff overflow, when specific positions have attracted hundreds of applicants, or when there is high staff turnover, it can be easy to lose track without the right technology.

In addition, your business and the opportunities available may change over time. This means that you may now be the right choice for former candidates and former employees. It’s important that you keep these groups on track by treating them like alumni, former hotel guests, or lost customers.

Using the right relationship management platform to maintain ongoing communication is essential, while staying in touch through various social channels is also a far richer experience for the candidate.

Step 2: Automate heavy lifting with quick filtering

All HR managers have fallen victim to the old “spray and pray” approach of some job seekers at some point. These hopefuls will apply for any job within a 100-mile radius, whether they’re totally unqualified or unsuitable, making finding the right candidate a little more difficult.

Instead of filtering through a barrage of mismatched resumes on its own, applicant tracking software can process resumes and create a digital profile of candidates. In some cases, advanced artificial intelligence can even rank skills and competencies to bring the cream to the surface.

With all the time you saved by automating this process, you can now jump back in and engage the candidate with stories about brand mission and vision, and explore how a shared journey could work for everyone.

Step 3: Have these references (and others) checked before the competition

According to a LinkedIn study, only 30% of companies are able to fill a position within 30 days. Others take a daunting 1 to 4 months, during which the best candidates could be hired by other companies.

This is definitely not ideal in a market where everyone freaks out about finding talent from a tiny talent pool.

You’ve already filtered out your top competitors by obediently following my advice in the previous section. What a great start. But how many weeks do you want to waste manually searching for multiple references and other checks?

None if you follow this next piece of advice!

This “verification” part of the process can be the most challenging for the candidate, who often has no insight or control over the progress of their references or verifications. It would be devastating to lose a candidate because you took too long or didn’t keep them informed when the job and company are ideal.

Automated reference checking services can provide the necessary ID, employment, labor, and criminal background checks in hours or even minutes. But the more sophisticated vendors like Xref continue to expand this service to offer additional innovative trust products that perform more sophisticated checks, such as: B. the verification of university qualifications or the analysis of social media activities.

These checks from the start are essential if you want to avoid repeating the hiring process in the near future after some questionable (fire-hazardous) online activity by your promising new hire has surfaced.

Use technology to take away the heavy lifting, provide insight, and delight your candidate with all that extra time you just created to tell your employer’s story and really get to know the candidate.

Because the more technology you use in this process, the more time you have to spend getting to know them as people.

Happy Talent Search.