Author: Pankaj Jindal, Co-Founder of Sense
It has been a challenging start to 2023 for many tech professionals. Layoff headlines mean many thousands of tech professionals are out of work, while many others are nervous about their own job security.
At the same time, jobs growth data is promising, and here at Sense, we’re seeing many customers hiring for tech roles. In fact, data suggests that while big tech layoffs are gathering headlines, there is still a shortage of IT talent across the country. The situation changes rapidly, but delivering consistent, positive candidate experiences has never been more important.
Job scams are on the rise
During times of uncertainty, your ability to put talent at ease, and make them feel confident in your ability to find them not just a job, but the right job, is essential. Unfortunately, along with a rise in layoffs has come a rise in opportunistic scammers finding ways to take advantage of stressed out professionals. Job phishing scams are on the rise, and they can add a massive layer of stress to an already-stressful situation.
And if you haven’t seen the headlines, maybe you’ve seen first hand accounts of job phishing scams on LinkedIn. They’re sobering, for sure. And they can make it difficult for tech recruiters to earn and keep the trust of talent.
Building – and keeping – trust is critical
Highly skilled and experienced tech talent will always be in demand, and keeping your database engaged in any economic or hiring market will be essential for when demand does increase. That means whether you have five open IT roles or 50, building and keeping the trust of tech talent should be a top priority.
Our Sense 2023 State of Staffing survey found that 96% of staffing leaders expect to grow this year (across all verticals), while maximizing productivity and efficiency are at the top of their challenges and priorities for this year. That means while you should be focusing on building and keeping trust, your team is also trying to do more with less across the board.
How to establish trust with tech talent
It can already be difficult to build trust with tech talent, particularly for MSPs where you have to move quickly and ask for some pretty private information (like social security numbers) early in the relationship.
Scams are everywhere: LinkedIn, email, text. So choosing one channel over another doesn’t automatically mark you and your job as “safe.” So what can you do? Technology can play a big role here. Here’s how today’s staffing technology can help you establish and nurture trust with tech talent:
Only reach out with the most relevant jobs
It can trigger an immediate red flag when someone claiming to be a recruiter reaches out about a job that isn’t a fit. It can be tempting to blast talent when you have a particularly-urgent opening. Incentivized recruiters can sometimes reach out to candidates who have any semblance of a keyword in their resumes or LinkedIn profiles, when in fact there isn’t a fit.
Candidates expect to be contacted only with jobs that are relevant to their background and goals. Outreach for jobs that aren’t a match (especially when there are multiple messages) can seem like a phishing scam, rather than a real job opportunity. And unfortunately, once a negative connotation like that is associated with your staffing firm, it can be hard to shake that reputation. The potential ramifications are worse if candidates share their experiences with other talent or on social media.
Technology today can leverage AI to match candidates in your database with only the most relevant jobs to their background and interest. Leveraging automation, today’s most sophisticated talent engagement technology can even automatically reach out to candidates in your database with relevant jobs, inviting them to apply.
Be transparent about job/client details
Reaching out about job openings without disclosing important details is another red flag for talent. In your job postings, and especially in cold outreach, be sure to disclose critical details like salary, benefits, location, and any requirements. Being clear and up front about these details shows that you respect talent, and makes it much more likely that the opportunity is “real.” In our recent survey of over 1,000 job seekers, better salary and benefits were cited as their top non-negotiable. And 41% of respondents listed transparency as something “most important to [them] when working with a recruiter. Putting this information out there immediately, therefore, can not only earn trust, it can save you time and cost.
With some states now requiring a salary range in job postings, there are employers who have tried to circumvent this requirement by posting extremely wide salary ranges. Excessively wide salary ranges can be another trigger for talent that is concerned about phishing scams, so whenever possible, be extremely specific with details. In fact, this may prompt some important conversations with clients that may be afraid of disclosing salary up front.
Respect their time + Prioritize candidate experience
These two really go hand in hand. And really, I’ve been touching upon it throughout this piece. When you’re up front and respectful, when you get back to talent quickly and with the right information, you build trust. And you are providing a great candidate experience.
Throughout our job seeker study, the theme of response time from recruiters was prevalent. Quick response times after applying was the #1 most important factor when working with a recruiter. Faster response times were cited as the #1 way recruiters can make the job search/application process better.
Getting back to candidates quickly is a powerful way to build trust and create better experiences. And that trust won’t just lead to better metrics in the short-term, but will increase the likelihood of candidates responding to your outreach down the line
Today’s candidate engagement technology is a game changer
While technology can help you build and nurture trust with tech talent while improving metrics across your staffing firm, choosing the right technology is essential. As you vet potential technology partners, look for platforms that consolidate point solutions and offer a 360-experience for recruiters and talent. When deploying the right solution, your recruiters will be empowered to improve those response times and build the trust that is so critical to your success.
