What Can You Do To Take Advantage of the IT Talent Shortage

The IT talent shortage means that tech professionals can weigh many options and career paths before deciding on a new position. In fact, many tech professionals are choosing to leave behind very desirable jobs for something that better fits their lifestyle or new career goals.

Businesses are also thinking differently about the candidate selection process. They want to find a good long-term hire, just as much as IT professionals want the best match for their abilities. Companies are now telling job seekers that they are offering more than just a well-paying position. They want to be a place where employees can look forward to coming in each day, can expand their skills, have opportunities for advancement and balance their personal and professional lives.

If it’s been a while since you last looked for a new job, expect to see some different tactics from employers. Also, don’t hesitate to hold hiring personnel and recruiters to a higher standard given the leverage IT professionals currently have.

Here are a couple specific labor developments you may notice if you start looking for a new IT job today, and how to take advantage of those developments.

A focus on ‘time to fill’

Because of business demands and the lack of available IT talent on the market, employers are working hard on reducing the time it takes to fill an open position. The thinking is that an accelerated hiring process can snap up available IT talent before the competition, while minimizing productivity losses related to having an unfilled position.

For job seekers, reduced ‘time to fill’ could mean a job description posted a few weeks back reappears as a dramatically different job due to hiring personnel tweaking their approach to attracting talent. Also, because companies are in a rush to fill their positions, job seekers can increase their leverage by slightly drawing out the process.

Knowing that employers are focusing on a fast hiring process, you should also be suspicious of a process that feels drawn out. A drawn-out process in this labor environment could be a sign the company has difficulty building consensus, a flawed hiring process or serious doubts about you as a candidate. All of which should raise concerns.

Attention-grabbing job postings

Businesses attempting to draw in talent from small talent pools often make use of distinctive job postings. Once again, savvy job seekers can take advantage of this development.

If a description is far too in-depth and suggests you’ll have to be a superhero, which you may or may not want to be. On the other hand, if a description is extremely vague, to the point you can’t understand the role, there’s probably something being kept from job seekers, which should be a red flag.

Needless to say, sharp-eyed IT professionals should be able to scan job postings faster and more efficiently in this labor market.

Are you looking for your next IT opportunity?

At SMCI, we help IT job seekers find best-fit opportunities for their career and personal life. Please contact us today to find out how we can help you. You can also explore these jobs and apply today!