How to Become a Technical Recruiter: A Complete Guide

Today, in the middle of this digital revolution. Technological penetration has increased like never before. The result is that top tech talent is in great demand everywhere you turn. But one more skill that we cannot neglect is the ability to spot “the right” technical talent. This is where technical recruiters come into the picture. Tech recruitment is a highly competitive market. It’s all about who gets their hands first on the best tech talent out there! In this guide, we take you through the nitty-gritty of how to become a technical recruiter.

What exactly is the job of a technical recruiter?

Before we jump onto how to become a good technical recruiter, let’s first understand what is needed of a tech recruiter.

Businesses need technical talent for their companies. They might know which skills they need. But more often than not, they don’t have a system to find out the best fit in the market effectively.

Technical recruiters bridge this gap and help find the best match between the business needs and the available talent.

It takes special skills to get clarity about the technical candidates to be hired. Moreover, how to communicate the company’s message to the desired candidates through various channels is also very essential. That one great hire can even change the course of an entire company.

There is a huge demand for qualified technical recruiters. With increasing demands for tech skills, companies need someone to find and screen the right talent for them.

What are the responsibilities of a technical recruiter?

The very basic responsibility of a technical recruiter is to translate business needs to tech needs and find the best match from the available talent pool. However, this is a very high-level understanding.

If we were to look into the various responsibilities of a technical recruiter in detail, they would be as below.

1. Creating a roadmap

The job requirement/description is the best roadmap you can have for the recruiting and hiring process. Besides skills and experience, you need to find a candidate who will not just fit into the company’s culture but also the core values of the company as well as the existing team.

Reviewing the job description with the managers and the team with which the candidate will be assigned is a prerequisite. Review, edit, update the Job Description (JD) is required until all the i’s are dotted, and the t’s are crossed.

2. Initial screening

With every manager you interact with, enquire how and where they would like the candidate to be 6 months down the line. Based on the responses, you will determine the kind of skills and talent you will be seeking in the candidate and fill in the missing gaps required.

3. Match-making

You know the vision and core values of the company. This isn’t enough. You need to understand the needs of the hiring manager, what the department does, the kinds of clients and projects that the candidate will work with.

This allows the recruiter to look for those skills, traits, experiences, and that USP (unique selling point) of the candidate that can fit within the company and its growth.

4. Recruitment Marketing

The technical recruiter often has to put on the hat of the marketing and salesperson. In order to engage with candidates, advertising the potential of the job and how candidates can grow their careers with the company is essential.

5. Facilitating onboarding

Every tech recruiter’s job does not stop at the offer letter coordination. During the interim period of the candidate’s acceptance and until the candidate comes on board, it is the responsibility of the recruiter to keep the candidate engaged with new events in the organization and the new technologies being adopted. This builds up enough excitement and eagerness for the candidate to look forward to their joining.

What are the attributes of a good technical recruiter?

Here are the basic qualities needed to become a good tech recruiter.

1. Reliability

This is essential to build strong networks and relationships with both candidates as well as the company and vendors. Once candidates know that you are interested in their career path and that you will guide them just when to enter the fray, even after they leave the company, they might return to you for advice. And you will know you have a candidate for life.

2. Being a good listener

The best tech recruiters make the best listeners. They listen to what’s important to the candidate as well as for the hiring manager. They can then respond and engage positively when it comes to negotiations.

3. Adaptability

A tech recruiter, especially in the field of IT recruitment, needs to be adaptable to the situation. Caught between the requirements of the company and the needs of the candidate, situations and priorities can change at any time.

Dealing with such situations adroitly and with finesse, yet leaving a positive impression on the candidates will reap rich rewards to bring back the candidates when required.

Six Simple Steps to becoming the Best Technical Recruiter

Did you know that based on LinkedIn research, a strong talent brand reduces the cost per hire by up to 50 per cent and lowers turnover rates by 28 per cent?

First things first – Get your technical knowledge right

It is possible for developers to become recruiters. However, not all recruiters have a background as a developer. They may not necessarily understand programming. Though, of course, having a strong technical background is a plus, but it’s okay if you cannot write code. Knowing about the latest programming languages in use, basic coding standards, and new technology trends is sufficient. You should be able to ask the right questions and evaluate the answers to make the right decisions.

Stay relevant by brushing up on your tech skills.

Technical recruiters can come from a range of different backgrounds. People from sociology, HR, business, psychology, and other such fields can also make excellent tech recruiters. All you need is to have a sound grip on the functional and technical knowledge.

Get familiar with the technology you are hiring for. Read up, follow new tech trends, keep yourself updated.

People Matter: Employee Engagement

Creating an employee social media showcase, talking about the kind of work a team does, and even writing blogs about the company culture attracts people who want to work with like-minded people. So, engage with the employees within

Stay on top of the game: Showcase and network.

Candidates are attracted to a company when they see a constant learning curve. This is especially true for the developers. With newer technologies emerging and constant upgrades happening, the candidates want to know that they will have enough room to grow.

Establish yourself as a tech expert by not only being familiar with tech but also by showcasing it through social networks. LinkedIn is a great platform, but it may not be the only platform when it comes to tech. Other niche platforms like Stack Overflow, GitHub, and even Reddit can be useful to network with the developer community.

Knowing the right social media platforms for the right level of candidates will give you better insights into skill sets and experience levels to satisfy the recruitment needs.

A tech recruiter always needs to build their own techno-savvy skills. They can also build resource pools, keep up to date with what’s happening in the technical world, and engage with the candidates.

Take some help: tech tools for better recruitment

Getting help from reliable tech tools can make your life as a technical recruiter much easier. A technical skill screening and interview platform such as WeCP can make shortlisting, interviewing, and screening the tech talent a breeze.

It can improve your recruitment funnel, reduce the cost per hire, and get the best match from the large pool of candidates. A data-backed approach and a streamlined process make a tool such as WeCP very reliable when it comes to tech recruitment.

WeCP enables tech recruiters to evaluate wider talent pools just in a few clicks and significantly shorten the time needed to hire the right talent.

In conclusion, technical recruitment is a skill. You can learn and refine it over time. And just like fine wine, this skill gets better with time. However, armed with the right tools for technical recruitment, you can get great results right from the start.