Find great digital talent: 4 top tips

1. Build a comprehensive job description

Without knowing what you actually want, how do you find the right person?

A good recruitment partner will find you the best talent when you put thought into your job description. You need to think about the role in the greater context of your business goals.

Consider:

  • How critical is this hire?
  • What impact will it have on your business if it takes 2-3 months to secure someone?
  • Can you wait for a person that ticks all the boxes? Or can you compromise on some technical skills to accommodate a candidate who culturally fits your team, and then invest in training?

Sit down and think about your business needs over the next 12 to 24 months, and identify skills gaps.

A great job description:

  • is strategic in its development (i.e. aligns recruitment to your mission, values and long-term goals. It considers the greater context of your business)
  • defines exactly the skills you need, plus some skills that would be beneficial / optional
  • gives the candidate and interviewers clarity around the role, your company and expectations
  • enables your recruitment partner to respond quicker and with better matched candidates

2. Think about your culture & benefits

  • A massive selling point for new hires is culture; how do you define your company’s culture?
  • What are the added perks for working in your office? Why would someone want to leave their current role, performing in much the same function, to join your team?
  • Do you need a quiet achiever who needs lots of structure to excel?
  • Or will a self-starter with a big personality flourish?
  • Tell your recruiter this, so they can “sell” your business to passive candidates.

3. Be available & don’t delay decisions

  • Communication is key to our most successful partnerships. Great recruiters communicate, follow up and take action.
  • Regular contact with our clients is paramount at critical stages of the recruitment process. Particularly at application submission, interview, post interview and final negotiation stages.
  • Be available for those crucial conversations, this will help keep applicants engaged, and by doing this, you’ll have a better chance of capturing them.
  • Delays will cost you. So many great candidates are lost at critical stages due to tardy responses from hiring staff. Indecision and delay creates candidate uncertainty.
  • You need to keep candidates engaged and excited about working with you; especially when 92% of candidates will have other interviews bubbling away, in succession with yours.

Remember:  you’re selling your brand just as much as the candidate is selling their skills to you.

If your focus is on hiring talent, make time in your diary to schedule interviews and follow up promptly.

4. Engage a great recruiter. Really.

So many recruiters get a bad rap in the market, and from the stories I hear, I can understand why. Some criticism may be deserved, some isn’t. There are some highly ethical, genuine career recruiters out there who really do take your best interests to heart.

After all, your success is their lifeblood. True consultants are there for the long haul and will be worth their weight in gold.

They’ll stay in touch and provide you with market information even when there’s no specific engagement for them.

They’ll be available to talk through your ideas and give solutions to your concerns. They’ll be true consultants, saving you hundreds of hours and adding enormous value to your human capital and bottom line.

So, let’s talk. At Big Wave Digital, we specialise in digital, data and technical hires.

  • We find the very best digital people
  • We’re there for the long-term
  • We’re partnering with dynamic clients
  • We’re driving clients’ digital transformation
  • We achieve great career outcomes for candidates

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