No-Hassle Screening for IT Jobs

The NexTech Solutions to Screening Headaches

You want your IT jobs filled as soon as possible, but screening candidates in a skills shortage is sapping your resources. Are there any corners that can be cut in the hiring process?

You know a gap in your team will cost you. Glassdoor calculated unfilled jobs at a cost of $20.1 billion in the U.S. tech market alone. Yet, you also know that hiring the wrong person is costly. The U.S. Department of Labor said it can cost you up to 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings.

You’re in a catch-22 situation. You know screening for IT jobs is essential, but it’s hard work, and drains your resources. Here’s the solution.

Why You Must Screen Your Candidates Thoroughly

Your hiring strategy must avoid the ‘butts on seats’ methodology at all costs. No matter how much you need to increase workforce, selecting the wrong candidate due to poor screening will cost you:

• In productivity
• Financially
• In team morale
• In reputation

You cannot avoid the need to screen candidates, no matter that screening takes time, effort, and resources. Here’s what you must screen for:

Well-Crafted Resumes

The resume is often your first point of contact with a candidate. Though many highly skilled IT professionals are not great at writing their resume, it should detail their technical skills, history of employment and achievement, and explain any gaps in employment. It should also give you a flavor of the candidate’s fit for your role.

When reviewing a resume, make sure that the candidate possesses the hard and soft skills you require.

Telling Cover Letters

Cover letters can give you an insight into an applicant’s:

• Motivation
• Attitude for the role
• Career goals
• Consistency between resume and cover letter
• Strengths and weaknesses

Assess an individual’s intentions at the first opportunity.

Technical Skills

Your IT jobs will require certain technical abilities. You should test for the essential skills required prior to interview stage, and assess a candidate’s desire to further their skillset.

Personality

Hiring for technical ability alone is a mistake. You must look for the surprising soft skills that will strengthen a candidate’s ability to contribute to the company positively for the long term. These are difficult to test for – thorough personality tests will help identify the personal traits and attitudes you need.

References

Previous employers can be a great source of insight into a candidate’s true ability and personality. Ensure who you’re calling is a genuine referee by doing your own contact research, and listen to what they say – remembering what they don’t tell you can be just as telling.

Cultural Fit

Be clear on your cultural expectations from the off, and take time to see how a candidate would fit in. Look for conflicting personality traits. Introduce candidates to the team, or have trial days and monitor dynamics before committing to a signed contract.

You may also search for the candidate on social media, to discover if their interview persona matches their actual persona.

Criminal Records

Never make assumptions based on face value. Protect yourself from risk and cover all bases.

Quick Candidate Screening Tips – Interview and Trial

Interviews – whether they’re in-person, virtually, or pre-interview calling – are essential to discover whether a candidate meets the criteria for the role.

Interviews must be structured to assess candidates across all needed and desired skills and attributes, consistently and without bias. Remember, too, that the interview is your opportunity to promote your company, your team, and the role.

If you think you have found the ideal candidate, you may wish to test them first. A few hours ‘on the job’ and with the team can tell you what you need to know, and confirm this is the right person for the job. Approximately 20% of new hires leave within the first 45 days. Thus, many companies are now adopting this strategy to make sure of fit.

Shortcut Screening for IT Jobs

Here’s how NexTech – your specialist staffing solutions firm – is your remedy for screening headaches:

• We understand who you are as a business, so that we can find the right person to engrain into your culture and vision
• We execute a refined search for the most talented individuals for your unique business needs
• We only present the most promising candidates, meaning you save time without the need to interview candidates who don’t make it through our screening processes
  We carry out all due diligence and safety checks to protect your business from damaging poor hires
• We source, rigorously vet, and quality-check even the absolute best candidates, to mine the talent in a skills shortage and bring them to you

Contact NexTech Solutions today. Leave us doing what we do best for your needs, so that you can do what you do best for business growth.