One of the biggest obstacles recruiters in the information technology space have to overcome is that they have very little knowledge of certain technologies. When the candidates you look for have a lot of technical skills and experience and you don’t it can be very intimidating. Most recruiters come from a communications/sales background and there is a very small number of recruiters who have “coded back in the day.”
Here are a few tips that can help recruiters “up their game” when it comes to learning new technologies.
Utilize the people around you
- When you are a recruiter looking for a candidate whose technical skills you have never seen before or don’t understand, utilize the people around you. If you have an IT team at your company, they are considered the SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) in the office. Be sure to utilize their knowledge and understanding of technologies.
Learn from your candidates
- When talking to a candidate about technologies you are not very familiar with, have the candidate explain them to you. If the candidate is able to explain their technical skills to someone who is considered non-technical, they will not knock the socks off to a manager when explaining their skills and experience!
Join a technology group!
- If you are looking to expand your understanding of IT, you should look at attending technology group meetings and joining different groups who cover a wide range of technologies.
Instructional Videos
- In 2015 the search “how to……” was one of the most popular on google. These searches led the user to YouTube where there were multiple instructional videos. This can be a valuable asset to recruiters, as a five minute video can make all the difference in comprehending technologies and filling that empty chair at your client.
Broaden your horizon.
- Once you have gained experience in recruiting IT candidates every recruiter finds their “niche” technology or position. It’s the technology that they understand the best and want to stick with it. Don’t stop there! Continue to gain knowledge on new technologies that you don’t have the best grasp on, it will give you access to new opportunities for your candidates.
Recruiter’s dread telling a candidate “I don’t know.” When it comes to knowing the difference between Java and C++, most recruiters will not know the answer. Recruiters and candidates must both understand that it is not the recruiter’s job to be a technology expert. It is a recruiter’s job to utilize all the connections and tools they have access to, work as hard as they can to get that candidate in front of a hiring manager, and then have the candidate show off their technical knowledge and skills directly to the customer!