Five Common Mistakes Made Hiring Technical Staff

Hiring the right technical staff can be a daunting process these days. Competition for good IT talent is at an all-time high, and it can be extremely costly to bring someone on that doesn’t have the proper requirements or doesn’t match company culture. Here are some mistakes to avoid when bringing on technical staff. 

1. Focusing too much on Education Background – This may seem sound like an oxymoron, but focusing too much on a candidates education background can leave you filtering out top-notch IT talent. There are plenty of great engineers from established universities, but there are also plenty of engineers that learned to code at a community college that worked their way towards becoming expert coders and technically savvy. Engineers no longer need to have four-year degree accreditations to prove they are capable of being excellent IT resources. Take the time to vet each candidate thoroughly and not get too caught up on university degrees. 
2.  Not Utilizing Contractors – Hiring multiple developers can be a lengthy process, unless of course you are a tech titan, like Cisco or Microsoft. So if you are in a pinch and need to hire an engineer immediately, it is pertinent to hire a contractor. There are amazing contractors out there and ready to work at a moment’s notice. Yes, this can be costly at times, but as long as the team you are comprising isn’t massive, then it shouldn’t burn your budget too much. 
3. Not Being Authentic – As mentioned in point #1, there is a surplus of opportunities for candidates with technical backgrounds. While this is great for the candidate since they have their pick of the litter of opportunites, this can be very limiting for employers. Companies need to stand out during the interviewing process and prove their authenticity and values as employers, or candidates will move on to a better opportunity. 
4. Not Hiring Talent Fast Enough – This goes back to point #4 that there are an abundance of options for the talent pool, but tech talent have lots of options for finding a company to work for. If the recruiting process is taking too long, or there is little to no communication between the interview process, talent will simply move on to the next position. It can be very tricky for employers to find the right balancing act for hiring tech because they want to make sure they vet a candidate properly. Employers need to be able to thoroughly research and vet candidates, but if they take too long or overcomplicate things, the talent will simply walk away, leaving employers scrambling. 
5. Not Testing Talent – As we mentioned above, it can be a difficult balancing act between making the hiring process seamless for candidates whilst also ensuring it is challenging enough that you are getting quality candidates. Employers may find that the candidates they are interviewing match company culture, but employers also need to make sure that candidates are also technically capable of doing the job. A good rule of thumb is to test candidates in the early phases of the screening process to determine if coding skills and technical knowledge are up to par with the demands of the job. By getting these portions of the interview out of the way early on, you can focus on the interpersonal aspects of the interview. 

Hiring anyone can be a daunting process, but it is especially difficult now to find top tech talent. By adhering these five steps, you and your business will be able to find the right candidate without scaring them away and also ensuring that they match the needs of the company as well as the candidate.