Tag: talent strategy

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DSI challenges IT Decision-makers

3 Reasons to Call on IT Freelancers in this Crisis Period

3 Reasons to Call on IT Freelancers in this Crisis Period

A few weeks ago, Syntec Numérique and Tech in France made a diagnosis of the impact of the crisis on the digital sector. It made 75 recommendations aimed at reviving IT activity after the health crisis caused by COVID-19. Among these proposals, there was supporting “the development of self-employment” by facilitating collaboration between companies and freelancers. Enter IT freelancers.

“It is necessary to reinvent professional practices thanks to digital technology, to encourage new working methods throughout the economy, support the development of self-employment, support new professional uses,” can be read on the Syntec Numérique website. 

This plebiscite for the use of independent consultants is not new. Even less in the IT sector. But it is currently being reinforced by the crisis. 

And for good reason. In addition to the many advantages of recruiting freelance in normal times, the use of IT consultants is particularly advantageous in the period of instability that we are currently experiencing. 

Focus on these three reasons to use the services of an IT freelancer during this period of health and economic crisis. 

Favour IT freelancers to better juggle uncertainty 

In these troubled times, you and your teams may need more agility than ever. 

The COVID-19 crisis has forced organizations to be flexible and pragmatic in order to maintain their operations. The world has become volatile, complex and extremely uncertain. And this trend should continue. 

In this context, companies that succeed have a strong capacity for adaptation. 

This adaptability is often based on the ability to work in project mode and to mobilise the best skills on key projects. 

With this in mind, if you are looking for IT talent to join your team, it may be better to turn to a freelancer rather than to a permanent employee. This type of contract is less engaging and less risky if the situation of the company were to deteriorate.

Another argument in favour of freelancers: they generally demonstrate greater autonomy and capacity for adaptation. They are used to evolve in changing and fast environments. In addition, most IT freelancers have already carried out telework assignments. Many of them have mastered and often appreciate this way of working. 

Mobilise the skills of an IT expert to manage current emergencies 

The confinement and all the consequences of the pandemic have put IT departments to the test: remote work, boom in security threats, over-demand on servers… The demands on IT support teams have increased tenfold, and most of the adjustments and projects are a matter of urgency. 

Faced with this situation, IT departments must be increasingly responsive. And the level of challenge is high: it is the continuity of business activities that is at stake. 

Here again, calling on one or more specialised, independent consultants in their area of expertise can be beneficial. They can intervene very quickly by bringing in cutting-edge skills and thus allow you to provide an effective solution to a given problem. 

The use of IT freelancers makes it possible to absorb a temporary work overload on tasks for which it is necessary to acquire strong skills very quickly. 

Signing a contract with a freelancer has the advantage of having few administrative constraints. Plus, you are able to do so within very short deadlines. 

IT freelancers to accelerate strategic projects 

The individuals and organisations that are most resilient to crises are those who are best prepared and best suited. 

In terms of IT, it is the same story. The transformation of organisations requires transformative technological projects and the implementation of new IT architectures. Always adapted to the needs of the company in this changing context. 

The teams working on these projects is therefore essential. Hence the need to make sure you are mobilising the right skills. 

Calling on an experienced specialist on a niche topic can help you avoid certain errors and really speed up your work. That is crucial in this period of crisis. The possibility of leveraging these experts over well-defined periods gives you much greater budgetary and project management flexibility than if you had to incorporate these skills into your existing teams. 

Because of the contractual relationship with their clients, IT freelancers often have pressure to perform well. This makes them commit to higher levels of quality compared to a regular employee. 

Of course, your decision to use this or that profile, internally or externally, must be part of a global talent strategy. But more than ever, this strategy for managing your talent must be done with a view to agility and pragmatism — a fundamental in times of crisis. 

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Hiring an IT consultant IT Decision-makers

Choosing the Right Recruiting Partner for Your IT Needs

right recruitment partner

In the rapidly evolving landscape of IT, hiring and retaining top talent continue to pose challenges for modern enterprises. Also, the ongoing skills deficit, exacerbated by the fast-changing technological terrain, necessitates a strategic edge for IT leaders and HR managers. Therefore, choosing the right recruiting partner remains crucial. Explore our updated tips for selecting the ideal partner to address your current IT talent needs.

Need advice on how to start or develop your consulting business in tech or IT? Join Mindquest and get support from our team of experts.


Choosing the Right Recruiting Partner: The impact of technology

Digital transformation permeates every aspect of modern business, including recruiting and human resources. When assessing a staffing firm, pay attention to how it leverages technology to enhance operations and deliver superior service. In today’s context, it’s essential for an IT staffing firm to embrace technology fully.

Consider advancements in AI tools, which now play a pivotal role in expediting the recruitment process. AI enables swift processing of extensive candidate data, including previous roles, areas of expertise, and preferences. In a field where time is critical, the ability to rapidly match candidate profiles with company requirements is a decisive advantage.

Dedicated Support and Expertise: A Dual Perspective

Most staffing firms traditionally combine client management and candidate identification into a single role. However, the best firms take a dual-perspective approach. One team manages client interactions, gathering position details and requirements, while another team focuses on identifying the right candidate. This separation enhances efficiency, speed, and the overall quality of work. It allows both client management and candidate sourcing to offer more personalized, dedicated support to hiring companies.

In the current landscape, with the increasing complexity of roles and the ongoing talent shortage, the need for dedicated expertise has never been more apparent. Specialized skills required for a position can vary significantly based on the field and seniority. To address this, leading staffing firms structure their teams by specialization, ensuring staff members are proficient in the specific areas of expertise required for a given vacancy.

Innovation through Data and Insights: Adapting to the Current Market

The third piece of the puzzle is data. As it happens in any other industry, quality insights are at the heart of a successful IT hiring strategy. Look for recruiters who know how to make the most of the data they come by with and mine.

Moreover, being in permanent contact with organisations and IT professionals allows the best staffing firms to develop a deep and well-rounded understanding of current industry trends. These firms have a good sense of the challenges and needs driving mid- and long-term goals for clients and candidates. In addition to this, data-savvy recruiters can provide you with a more qualitative level of market intelligence – like the skill requirements and salary for a typical position – from which to derive actionable insights. 

Navigating the Dynamic IT Landscape

In conclusion, the challenges of hiring in IT persist, but the strategies for overcoming them have evolved. Choosing a recruiting partner is more critical than ever, with technology, dedicated support, and data-driven insights at the forefront. As the IT landscape continues to shift, selecting a partner who adapts and innovates ensures your organization secures the top-tier talent needed to thrive in the dynamic IT market.

Explore how Mindquest can be your strategic IT recruiting partner.


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IT Decision-makers Talent strategy

5 Keys to Adapt Your IT Talent Strategy to the Current Reality

5 Keys to Adapt Your IT Talent Strategy to the Current Reality
Discover our 5 keys to adapt your IT Talent Strategy to the current reality. Here are 5 things you should keep in mind.

Discover our 5 keys to adapt your IT Talent Strategy to the current reality. Here are 5 things you should keep in mind.

It seems it was ages ago that we were wrapping up 2019 and getting ready for a new year. It was the perfect time to look at emerging trends and future business needs, to make resolutions and establish goals for the year ahead. However, the global pandemic is forcing us to scrap many of those plans. We must adjust to the current economic and social reality, and so does our talent strategy.

As an IT decision-maker, your success depends very much on the performance of your teams. Now more than ever, you need to mobilize the right skills, at the right time, and at the right cost.

To do this, you must re-evaluate your existing talent strategy. You must anticipate your skills needs and set up concrete measures to attract, recruit, retain and develop that talent — both to weather the crisis and for when the storm is over. 

Identify your main challenges

Alright, so it’s your team that determines your success. But how do you find and recruit top performers when the tech & IT talent market is suffering from a heavy talent shortage and everyone is competing for the same candidates? Who should you prioritise hiring given the uncertainty of the situation?

All key departments in a company should have a talent strategy in place, but it is all the more necessary for IT since the talent war is raging much more than in other areas. For instance, an expert in an area of expertise such as cybersecurity often receives several offers for permanent jobs or freelance assignments every week — or even every day.

Be aware of these issues to anticipate your needs and define the best possible plan of action (difficulty levels to recruit a particular profile, salary levels, etc.).

Another of the Keys to Adapt Your IT Talent Strategy: Be flexible with your recruiting approach

You know how fast everything goes in the world of IT, especially given the massive shift to remote work. In this perspective, you must ensure that you are able to quickly adapt by working both with stable resources, who know the long-term challenges of your business, and with resources that can be mobilised quickly and on more specific issues.

The solution is often to use both internal and external talent, including freelance IT consultants. They make it possible to bring in skills that are often specific on certain technical subjects, without too restrictive a commitment over time. They also have the benefit of bringing a “new” and external look which can be beneficial to the team already in place and stimulate rapid change.

Leverage soft skills to accelerate your projects

More and more, soft skills are making a difference among IT professionals. The IT department is at the heart of digital transformation and must be an engine of change in the company. Especially in today’s climate, IT teams must be composed of people capable of adapting, communicating, and sometimes even evangelizing to encourage the adoption of new tools or uses.

Hard skills are obviously fundamental, but the lifespan of acquired skills is getting shorter and shorter, and times of crisis call for something more than technique. As an IT decision-maker, you must make sure that your recruitment and talent development strategy focuses on people as the primary performance lever.

A good CIO or a good IT leader shows leadership, creativity and a daring vision — even an entrepreneurial spirit. You must look for these qualities in your IT team leaders and members to ensure the success of your projects.

Are you recruiting developers? Choose candidates who demonstrate emotional intelligence and who will be able to put themselves in the shoes of the user. Beyond the technical mastery of the targeted computer languages, make sure that the curiosity, the method, the initiative and the critical thinking of your candidates are evaluated in the recruitment process.

For more information on the topic, check out this article outlining the 5 most sought-after soft skills in IT.

Beyond recruitment: talent retention and development

It is no longer enough to know how to identify and attract the best profiles to have an effective talent strategy: you have to make sure you know how to keep and develop the right IT professionals who constitute your teams. Especially in a crisis like the one that is unfolding.

You might be tempted to cut staff loose and settle for short-than-best experts to reduce costs. That can be a big mistake. Your employees are your greatest asset and you should protect them and nurture them as much as possible. Focus on retaining your best talent, on future-proofing your existing team. You will be thankful for it once the crisis ends and you have all the competitive advantages of a robust IT team.

Some specific steps that you can take:

  • Create a sense of belonging — especially important with everyone working from home
  • Make your current and future projects attractive and take advantage of online development opportunities
  • Reassure your employees. Make sure they know they are appreciated and that you have their back.
  • Facilitate the management of work-life balance now more than ever
  • Put special attention on internal communication. Transparency here is also crucial

Remember that these initiatives must concern internal talent, but also external employees. The increasingly frequent hybridization of teams, made up of both freelancers and “classic” employees, means measures must be implemented across the board.  

Another key area of focus you should put particular emphasis on the onboarding of new recruits. The successful integration of an employee is always the foundation for successful collaboration, but, with less and less human interaction, it is necessary to make an extra effort in this area.

You must ensure that appropriate onboarding processes and tools are in place. Again, treat outsiders like you treat employees and make sure that freelancers are well integrated into the team.

The last of the Keys to Adapt Your IT Talent Strategy: Seek the support of the right partners

Defining talent strategy is key to your department’s success. But it is not an easy feat in these strange times, especially if you are not a recruitment specialist. Here, a trusted recruitment partner can be decisive. It may be wise to seek the guidance of a third-party actor who knows the market well and understands your specific problems and needs — someone capable of supporting you today and in the long term.

It is also necessary to work in collaboration with other departments within your company: HR for the entire employer brand part, Purchasing for relations with external service providers, etc.