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Summer: The Time To Work on Your IT Recruitment Strategy

When was the last time you had a chance to properly work on your IT recruitment strategy? Summer brings with it a slowdown in activity for most businesses. Employees, clients and external partners out on vacation; ongoing projects are momentarily put on hold. But good news: you will finally have some time to reflect on how things are going and update your route map.

One of the key steps in this process is conducting a thorough review of your department’s talent strategy. Here are some tips on how to best anticipate your personnel needs and build a solid IT talent pipeline for the months ahead.

Take inventory of your team and outline IT recruitment needs

Firstly, where are your projects in relation to the objectives set? What skills are missing from your team? What specialists can you foresee you will need for the coming months? Take the time to chat with your staff and other department managers, then define your ideal team and the profiles to target based on your available budget.

Talking with individual team members will also provide you with more insight into their personal and professional needs and goals. Another friendly reminder: ensuring that your existing employees are comfortable and have enough room for development is as important as incorporating new talent.

Evaluate potential IT recruitment strategy partners

Summer can also be a good time to prospect recruitment partners and review existing ones for your IT recruitment strategy. It is also important that you take the time to do a deep analysis and avoid making choices in a rush. Choosing the right IT recruiting partner is crucial in today’s ultra-competitive talent market.

When meeting with potential recruiters, make sure you touch on all the technical specifications of your projects and provide as much information on your business as possible. Although a good recruiter will have a good base understanding of your industry and needs, the better you communicate, the more productive your relationship will be.

Think also of the kind of professional that you need. If you are looking for mainly freelance technical profiles, for example, you are better off orienting yourself towards a specialized player who knows well the talent market you are targeting.

You can also read : How to Assess the Technical Skills of IT Candidates

Take advantage of a less competitive talent market

Okay: many candidates are on vacation. But recruiters too! This means fewer companies competing for top talent.

Moreover, it is a good idea to start your search in the months of July-August, especially if you are looking for rare or “short-term” profiles. These positions tend to be fewer in number and will require more time.

In the case of freelancers, many independent consultants are looking for assignments to start with the school year (or even before) and are likely to be in active search during the Summer months.


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Plan your onboardings before for the start of the school year

In addition, keep in mind that things quickly pick up the pace at the end of the Summer. The September rush will probably not give you much time to prepare the reception of future members of your team. Therefore, take advantage of this in-between period to review your onboarding process as a whole and outline a cohesive standard procedure.

Whether they are permanent or temporary employees, new recruits must be properly introduced to the company and integrated into the team. Do not neglect the transmission of information and the provision of all the necessary equipment, tools and resources.


Discover ours articles :

Remote Hiring is Here to Stay: a Fresh Take on IT Recruitment and Interview Tips: 5 key questions to ask to an IT freelancer during an interview

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AI for recruitment: How AI will allow recruiters to focus on people

AI for recruitment. AI penetrates all areas and promises tremendous gains in efficiency, speed and performance. There has been a lot of media buzz lately around its recruitment applications. What long-term impact will AI have on the staffing industry? Used well, these new technological tools will allow recruiters to focus on their added value and; paradoxically; make the recruitment of the future more human.

AI promises in automation

For the past twenty years, we have witnessed an ever more extensive and efficient automation of the recruitment processes. These developments are built upon extremely complex analytical models. Defining and anticipating the skills that the company needs, identifying the most suitable talent and ranking candidates based on precise job criteria are processes that require taking into account many variables.

Moreover, through its ability to consider contextual elements as rich as they are varied, artificial intelligence promises to make this level of automation a reality. In a field like IT recruitment, where time is of the essence, being able to quickly match candidate profile with company requirements is a decisive advantage.

Artificial intelligence in IT recruitment

In the recruitment of IT freelancers, for example, AI makes it possible to process very quickly huge volumes of data linked to the profiles of candidates. Previous gigs, areas of expertise and preferred sectors, years of experience… But also exogenous data such as the candidate’s place of residence and travel times. AI also makes it possible to analyze the quality and interest of the positions offered. Helping identify the types of projects that are most promising in terms of career development.

Furthermore, considering elements linked to quality of life or to the characteristics of the offer maximises the chances of success of an investment; by making it possible to identify profiles with high potential and that are likely to be interested in the mission.

AI for IT recruitment: Towards an uberisation of recruitment?

AI’s capabilities are making great strides in matching supply and demand. Hence the emergence of fully automated solutions, of players who “platformise” recruitment. Which bring about a vision of recruitment as an almost exact science.

This vision would like technology to replace human appreciation entirely; thus putting an end to the recruitment profession and replacing it with ever more sophisticated and intelligent algorithms.

But this vision is implausible. Recruiting is not just a science, it is also an art.

IT recruitment: the human touch

In recruitment more than in any other field, the human being occupies by definition a central role. Soft skills, matching the values ​​and culture of the company, and compatibility with other team members… They are all key factors for a successful placement. As much as the level of education, years of experience, references or results obtained in a technical test. And yet, these are all parameters that an artificial intelligence can never assess as well as a human.

Even more so when we talk about recruiting for high-level positions. It is hard to imagine choosing a CIO or an Innovation Director via a fully automated process. Neither the candidate nor the company would subscribe to it.


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From artificial intelligence to augmented intelligence

It is really a question of going beyond the dialectic “all digital vs. all human”. Recruitment professions must integrate AI and make the most of it as a tool for human decision-making. And thus allow the business to refocus on its true added value.

AI involves a real qualitative leap, reducing the risk of error and saving unprecedented amounts of time. AI will certainly replace humans on certain tasks, but mainly in repetitive and boring tasks. It increases the performance of the recruiter by allowing faster and more targeted searches. And thus optimizes time and communication with the candidate. Far from dehumanizing the relationship, AI, on the contrary, allows us to focus even more on humans.

Artificial intelligence for recruiter: the next level

This is good news for recruiters. These new tools will allow the profession to gain new levels of recognition, with richer and more interesting daily tasks. Also, it will give us the ability to understand the needs of the company in terms of skills. To create a stronger connection with the candidates. As well as to understand the aspirations and constraints of each party involved.

It is also and above all good news for candidates. Because recruiters will be able to devote more time to them and offer them a better experience. Firms will be able to enrich their service offer with more support. Especially in the key stages of onboarding and taking of office of the selected candidate.

It is, therefore, the human-machine association, the combination of artificial intelligence and emotional intelligence. That will revolutionise recruitment and put people back at the heart of the processes. We may no longer be talking about Artificial Intelligence, but augmented Intelligence.

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