All leading IT organizations are always on the lookout for talented technical professionals for various business-critical roles. This has given rise to another strategic position that is highly sought after – technical recruiters. Technical recruiters bridge the gap between developers and the not-so-tech-savvy company managers and founders by hiring employees for them. In today’s world, a good technical recruiter is highly valued and respected in the industry.
According to the Holloway Guide on Technical Recruiting, “A recruiter may see more candidates and hires in one year than a hiring manager might in their entire career. The relationship between both parties can make or break the entire recruiting process.”
A skilled technical recruiter holds better ownership over the recruitment process vis-à-vis other recruiters, as they are capable of finding well-suited candidates for technical roles with little or no support from the technical team. Here are some ways to be a great technical recruiter –
1. Know Your Candidates
As a technical recruiter knowing your candidates is imperative to make the right hire. Among other aspects, technical recruiters should have clarity about the candidates’ skills, qualifications, and expectations from the job. On the other hand, technical recruiters should also know what an ideal candidate for the job looks like. Spend some time researching the background of a candidate before recommending for hire. Make sure there is no mismatch of expectations on either side.
2. Think Strategically
Technical recruiters cannot afford to focus on only one candidate or one recruitment process and hope that the hiring goes through. It is important to have an understanding of the industry as a whole and a pipeline of eligible candidates for critical roles. Look at the larger picture to get an idea of the options available to technically skilled candidates and their expectations from the job you’re offering.
3. Develop Strong Interpersonal Skills
As a technical recruiter, strong interpersonal skills help you build relationships with candidates before you sell the role to them. Technical recruiters usually begin their interaction by building good rapport with candidates. They listen to what the candidates have to say, talk about different topics like sports, cooking, and more before they get down to discussing the job offer. If you have a good relationship with the candidate before you make them an offer, you’re much more likely to be a successful technical recruiter.
4. Technological Aptitude
Technical recruiters need to have sound technical skills and an understanding of the technology you’re recruiting for. Foundational knowledge of the technology you are recruiting for allows you the first-hand judgment of a candidate’s technical skills and experience. This means constantly educating yourself about the work done in your
the organization, larger industry trends, and the new technologies in your field.
5. Be Clear with Your Principles
The job of a technical recruiter can tempt you to get into unethical practices to close a hiring process. Successful technical recruiters have crystal-clear principles that they stick to, irrespective of the urgency of the recruitment, or the size of the paycheck. For instance, if you are working with a candidate who has another opportunity that is better
for them – don’t talk them out of it, instead guide them towards the better offer.
6. Outstanding Communication Skills
Developing exceptional communication skills is an important stepping stone to being a successful technical recruiter. It is important to know how to make a connection with the candidate and to develop good listening skills to understand candidates better. This is also a useful skill when it comes to engaging with people, networking with your
contacts, and talking to clients.
Also, recommended: 6 signs that the future of work is here today
The key difference between a technical recruiter and others is the technical process they possess and the hard work you need to do to keep up with technical knowledge. The recruitment process is always more precarious for technical recruiters as they are required to create a positive hiring experience for their candidates. Don’t be afraid to work hard on research. And in the end, remember that developing the skills needed for being the best technical recruiter takes time, practice, and industry expertise that is not attained overnight – so keep persevering until you achieve excellence.
[Guest Blog]
Sanghamitra Roychoudhary
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