1. Get the most information about the company you are working with
The website of the IT company contains most of the information you will need. Carefully study what the company writes about itself when looking for IT talent acquisition, what it offers, where the offices are located, and what they look like. It is also worth reading reviews about the company – it will become clearer what the company has ten out of ten and what will be an obstacle for the candidate.
Here is how to find out more about a potential employer
- Your awareness will increase your work efficiency at times. You will communicate with candidates as an expert, not an intermediary who answers any question: “I will check with the company”.
- It is also useful to find out what sources the company’s in-house recruiters use. It may turn out that they study Glassdoor and LinkedIn up and down, and rarely go to Facebook. Furthermore, it is logical to research first of all what was poorly researched before you.
2. Imagine that you are a candidate who is interested in your vacancy
What questions do you immediately have? Ask them to the company. Recruiters with experience usually have a template with a set of popular questions, which they update from time to time. Now, for example, it is important to find out everything about the conditions of remote work.
3. Expand your network of acquaintances with other recruiters
Networking for job search: where and with whom to make useful acquaintances
In the process, there are candidates for whom there are no open positions in the companies with which you cooperate. Suggest them to your colleagues.
- Firstly, this way you stay on the side of the candidates, helping them find their dream job.
- Secondly, networking works both ways: when you need to close burning vacancies, you can use the “help of a friend”.
4. Discuss the terms of cooperation on shore
In what format and how often do you need to clarify the status of the candidates you proposed? Will they sign a contract with you, and at what stage? When will the remuneration be paid? Most of these questions IT companies with a good reputation try to remove immediately, but if you forgot to say something, do not hesitate to discuss. “We will figure it out in the process” is a bad strategy.
Try to be flexible in non-principled moments for you. Accept the fact that the company has established processes that have been honed over the years (unless we are talking about startups). It is definitely easier for you to adjust to them than for the company to adjust to you.
5. Your candidates are your responsibility
Periodically communicate with those who have not been offered a job or who have not accepted the offer. Perhaps the candidate has improved his qualifications, improved his English, his circumstances have changed – in a few months you will be able to offer him a suitable position again.
6. Collect relevant and complete information about candidates
What to write in a resume for technical specialists? Basic tips and some specific ones
Your image as a recruiter directly depends on the quality of candidates’ resumes. A LinkedIn profile in a PDF file without contacts for quick communication is unlikely to be an attractive recommendation. Ideally, offer the candidate assistance in preparing his CV – it should indicate relevant experience, language skills, and contacts for quick communication.
7. Keep your records
Record whom and to which company you offered. Mark if the candidate accepts the offer and reminds about the start date. If the candidate for some reason did not come or refused – enter this information in the report.
The reports will help you to understand why only one of the ten proposed candidates has an offer (this is a typical ratio for both external and in-house recruiters). When you see that three candidates do not speak English, two already had offers, and two more were just monitoring the labor market, you save the company the need to answer obvious questions.
What to avoid when working with an IT company: 6 taboos
1. Offer all available candidates that you have found
There are great ways to see open to new offers specialists, for example, using the hashtag #OpenToWork on LinkedIn. But not all of them will suit your partner. First, check if there are open vacancies in this area, and check their relevance. If there is no vacancy, you can ask whether a candidate with such experience will be interesting. Just sending a resume under the slogan “suddenly it will work” is a bad strategy.
2. Look for only super-specialists for the sake of a big reward
As a rule, there are fewer open positions for leaders and architects in companies than for middle and senior. They have special requirements and more careful selection. Bonuses for such specialists are higher, but our statistics show that a freelancer is more likely to get a bonus by closing two copper positions than one leadership position.
3. Obsessively advertise your candidates
Advertising with general phrases about how great the candidates are rather plays against them: you may wonder about the trick they are trying to disguise. The best way to effectively promote a candidate is to collect real feedback from past jobs.
4. Offer candidates who already have offers
Sometimes recruiters think that if a candidate is about to respond to an offer, the company will quickly process it. This happens, but very rarely, there must be exceptional reasons for this. Usually, candidates go through all the stages, starting from the interview with HR. This is neither good nor bad, just keep in mind: candidates with hot offers are most likely a waste of time.
5. Do not tell candidates that you have passed their resumes to the company
We face situations when we contact candidates, and they do not understand what they want from them. This affects the image of the company, not in the best way. Bring the communication to the final point: the candidate must agree to be contacted by a specific company.
6. Be nannies for your candidates
Experienced recruiters have a connection with their candidates, and lead them from and to. This characterizes them as professionals, but some overplay their hand: they are too worried and want to clarify everything instead of candidates. A working model would be to advise the candidate to directly contact the HR specialist (or recruiter) from the company and discuss what continues to worry him, including the financial side.
