3 Strategies for Selecting The Ideal Candidate for Your Job Opening

There’s no doubt that finding the perfect candidate for a job comes with its fair share of challenges, particularly for tech industries due to a growing scarcity of talents. Once you narrow down your list of potential employees after spending exhaustive time, effort, and budget pre-screening other job-seekers, the biggest hurdle businesses often face at the end of every recruitment is choosing the right talent. 

No amount of technical expertise can make up for the skills, work ethics, and other game-breaking attributes needed for the role. Before you seal the deal and welcome a new member to your team, consider the tips below to save yourself from the trouble of making the wrong decision: 

Tip #1: Focus on their Achievements and How They Took on Difficult Challenges 

It’s not necessarily the achievements that make the sell, but more of the experiences, skills, resources, and wit the potential candidate exercised to achieve those accomplishments. When it comes to complex roles like I.T., it’s important to see if the person can truly make an impact on your bottom line.

The greatest wins are often hand-in-hand with obstacles, so ask what their victories are and dig deep into how they found their way around their past roadblocks. By knowing the struggles that come with pursuing goals, you can determine how they will act to fulfill their duties and more. 

Tip #2: Analyze their Work Ethic and See If the Candidate is Culturally Fit 

Sometimes the most embellished candidate doesn’t make the best fit for your company’s culture, so a lack of social skills or unwillingness to adapt can spell trouble for you in the future. Professionals proficient in their field yet equally open to collaboration are the key pillars behind brilliant workers, so be sure your next hire would pose no conflict to your team. 

Tip #3: Be Sure the Candidate can Work Well Under Pressure 

Perhaps the biggest quality every successful talent needs to have is the psychological strength to withstand your company’s daily challenges, pressures, and client demands even with tight deadlines. 

If you suspect the candidate tends to burn out when put under extreme pressure, they may not be the right pick for the position. 

The Bottom Line: Strategies that can Help You Vet Your Candidates and Improve Your Hiring

Hiring the right employee takes plenty of time, research, and money; that’s why it’s crucial to ensure your selection fits your bill since the wrong choice can be disruptive in various ways. Redefining the way you vet your top talents can make the recruiting process significantly easier, especially since the best candidate who lives up to their promises and qualifications can pay back your company’s efforts two-fold. 

How Can We Help Bridge the Gap in Your Recruitment Process?

Applicants come and go, but our IT staffing agency in Chicago, IL, can help offer technical recruiting solutions to help start-ups and fortune companies find the perfect talents that suit your business. Get in touch with us today at (1-833-877-8253) to see how you can expand with Technical Paradigm! 

Popular Tech Skills You Should Consider Acquiring This 2021

Everyone has been waiting for 2021 to roll around after the catastrophic events of 2020. There’s no better way to move forward than by getting focused on your goals. It’s also crucial to be able to match the needs of employers. IT staffing firms in Chicago and elsewhere know that keeping up with the trends in technology is the best thing that can be done for any organization or company.

What are popular tech skills you should consider acquiring for 2021?

Cybersecurity

The global COVID-19 pandemic, also referred to as coronavirus, has led remote work to rise to new heights. With that comes an unforeseen spike in cyberattacks towards companies and organizations. With a vaccine or not, remote work will continue throughout 2021, which is why it’s crucial for companies and organizations to fortify their cybersecurity. It has also lead to cybersecurity experts developing a premium.

Professionals in the cybersecurity field range from Chief Security Officers and Ethical Hackers to Security Engineers. In order to work as a Cybersecurity Specialist, the skills necessary include Vulnerability Assessment, Information Security, and Network Security. IT staffing firms also look for other skills that include but are not limited to risk assessment, systems administration, programming language basics, and network fundamentals.

Software Development

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that by 2029, there will likely be an increase of 22% in software developer jobs. There’s a consistently high demand for developers who can maintain, install, and test design systems appropriate for software applications (“apps”), mobile, and the web.

Those specializing in mobile development, in particular, must focus on iOS mobile and Android developer skills. When it comes to web development, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Social Engine Marketing (SEM) skills are key.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning

AI is basically an intelligence that machines demonstrate so they can do things that humans typically handle. There are several examples that can be taken from daily life, such as the online mapping service Google Maps, chatbots (human conversation simulation through text chats or voice commands), and even facial detection and recognition (a good example being the iPhone’s Face ID). 

Machine Learning (ML), on the other hand, is a way that AI is applied, which lets systems develop—on their own—the ability to learn and improve automatically based on experience. The World Economic Forum found that both ML and AI will create over 130 million new jobs by the year 2025. At that point, it would best for your resume to have Java, NLP (natural language processing), Python, R, and TensorFlow. Jobs that can be acquired through this include being an AI Engineer, Big Data Engineer, Business Intelligence Developer, and Machine Learning Engineer.

Conclusion

Tech skills are more crucial than ever going into 2021 and beyond. There is a consistent need to match the growing needs of employers, especially in the tech field. Popular tech skills you should consider acquiring include cybersecurity, software development, and artificial intelligence (AI) as well as machine learning (ML).

Technical Paradigm is one of the top IT staffing firms in Chicago. We offer recruiting-as-a-service to fill IT roles for startups and large corporations alike. Reach out to us today!

3 Simple Tips for An Engaging Onboarding Process

 Talent recruitment and employee retention are crucial for companies and organizations to continue to grow and flourish in the long-term. From the hiring and onboarding process to your IT talent’s first day, week, month on the job, and beyond, you must provide an environment for them to thrive.

Turnover rates in the IT industry are around 20% and 38.6% of all employees that quit do so in their first year of employment. Employee turnover is an underrated drain in a company’s finances, and it’s always in your best interests to retain talent.

The onboarding process is one of the foundations of hiring success. This transition phase goes by quickly, but it’s a crucial phase that serves as your employee’s introduction to your company. An effective onboarding process can put your new employees on the path to long-term success.

Why Is The Onboarding Process Important?

Employee onboarding is the process that welcomes new employees into your organization and immerses them into your company culture. This is a phase of introduction for all parties involved—your new employee gets to know you, and you get to know them.

Onboarding processes take various forms depending on the company. HR departments have detailed onboarding checklists to help make sure that all requirements are being met. Some prefer staid meetings, while others use games as ice-breakers.

The onboarding process is a crucial first step in building relationships between new hires, colleagues, and superiors. The sooner your new hires are comfortable, the more productive and confident they’ll be.

Onboarding programs fail if new employees feel unintegrated and disinterested in your company. A disengaged person may not meet your standards and is much more likely to leave within the year.

Here are three simple tips to make your onboarding process much more engaging:

1. Offer Support

Your entire onboarding process should hinge on support and friendliness. You want to make people feel like they belong almost immediately, so they can feel comfortable in their place and feel able to contribute to your success.

Some support systems you can implement:

Onboarding partner – Assign an employee to work closely with a new hire for the first 3 to 4 weeks. It will be easier for them to ask questions and relay concerns to a colleague instead of a supervisor.

Information access – Every new employee should have their own copy of company rules, procedures, and best practices that they can look over on their own time.

Opportunity to socialize – Something simple like a Slack channel purely for their department will go a long way in socially integrating new employees.

2. Leverage Technology

Your new IT hire thrives in the digital world. One of the best practices in IT staffing is to create an online onboarding portal. This is a good choice if you want them to feel comfortable quickly, especially if your company is on a remote set-up. This portal should contain employee handbooks, training manuals, tutorials, and FAQs for new hires. Make this portal as engaging and intuitive as possible to encourage new hires to look through all the information you’ve provided.

3. Team Effort

The onboarding process isn’t limited to your HR department and your new hire’s direct supervisor. You can build a successful and engaging onboarding program by integrating ideas and opinions from all your departments, especially from your staff members that are also relatively new. Solicit their opinions and troubleshoot your onboarding checklist to accommodate practical suggestions from the top down.

Conclusion

Welcoming new employees into your company is a delicate process. You need to put your best foot forward and create an onboarding process that’s informative, professional, and engaging. Thorough planning and implementing ideas from your staff will help you keep employees for the long haul.

Are you looking for IT staffing solutions for your company? At Technical Paradigm, we’re more than just an IT staffing agency. We take a strategic approach to your workforce needs. Our recruiting experts have a systematic and comprehensive search process designed to match candidates with our clients’ exact needs. Contact us today! 

3 Traits of an Expert That Can Migrate Your Cloud Data Safely

Migrating cloud data does not often need to be done immediately for most businesses—but it is one of the most vital operations to get right when it does approach that point. Any mistakes along the line can lead to various issues, like loss of data or compromised data, all of which can put the business in deep trouble legally and financially. 

For that reason, it is always recommended that companies with a lack of IT experience should always hire cloud professionals that are experts at the task. This will give the company the best chances of completing their cloud migration project, storing their data in a fresh and better place to improve their business process.

That being said, picking a cloud expert for the task is not exactly the easiest thing. It is not something that can be done on a whim—plenty of effort must be placed in choosing the right individual. In this article, we will explain what you must look for in a reliable cloud professional:

1. They have the experience to back them up

One of the most critical requirements that many people unfortunately overlook is experience. An individual may claim that they can do this or that—but in the end, all of these are but empty claims as long as they do not have proof of it! 

As such, when looking for talents to assist you in your cloud migration project, have them prove their experience. An excellent way to know that they are experienced is by having them show their certifications. Such certificates are extremely tough to get, and only the best can get them. 

If your talent has a certificate to prove that they know what they are doing, that is a green light to take them on board.

2. They can adapt to your needs

Certifications, licenses, and such are essential to prove that your talent knows what they are doing. However, there is one other thing they need to prove that they can do: the ability to adapt to your needs. 

Remember, your needs are not exactly the same as anyone else. Expectations are different, and the process can change. As such, the individual you want to hire must demonstrate the ability to understand your business and then prepare the right solution that will satisfy your needs. In other words, the cloud expert must be able to give you a bespoke solution to ensure the results are what you expect, if not better!

3. They are experts in security

In the digital world, security and safety must always be number one, and your cloud expert must be well aware of this. In fact, they must prove to you that their methods of conducting the cloud migration project are as secure as they can be. This means that the professional must show that they are experts in a variety of security measures. In this particular aspect, the more solutions they can provide, the better! This is important because the more security layers are placed, the safer the project will be—meaning a lowered risk of getting your data compromised throughout the process.

Conclusion

In summary, you want to work with someone who is experienced, can adapt to your needs, and is a security expert. When the talent you are interested in shows all of these traits, you know that they are an excellent candidate to ensure that your cloud migration project is a success! 

Are you looking for an IT staffing agency in Chicago that can help you find the right talent to work on your data migration efforts? Technical Paradigm offers assistance for IT startups and corporations to fill their open positions with the right talent. Get in touch with us today to find out more about our services! 

Why Every Business Should Hire a CMS Web Design Specialist

Making a website has become mandatory for any business if you want any potential customers to find you. While building a website on your own is actually quite easy nowadays with all the tools available online. In fact, you can have a brand new website ready in a matter of hours.

Building a website is one thing, but managing it is an entirely different matter. There are numerous programs out there to help you build and manage a website. The question is, can you find a tool that has all your needs in it? There a website builders out there with a simple drag and drop functionality. Content Management Systems (CMS), on the other hand, offer more complex features. While there are many free DIY themes and templates out there for website building, there are a couple of reasons why hiring a professional CMS designer it’s still the better option:

Everyone Uses the Same Free Theme

Website builders with free themes offer a fast and easy way to build a decent-looking page with just a few clicks of your mouse. With that kind of convenience at no cost means practically anyone can do it. Do you really want to be part of the 15,000 other businesses using the same rustic-looking template for your website?

Every Business Has Different Needs

Whatever kind of business you have will dictate the type of website you need to effectively convert potential customers. Some may need an image carousel or parallax scrolling functionality on their website. Each business has its own needs that no amount of ready-to-use themes can ever anticipate.

Neverending Changes in the Backend

Once you have a website up and running, your work doesn’t end there. You always need to update information on your website, publish blog posts, and optimize your site’s SEO. Web design and development is a continuous process of tweaking and making adjustments. Only with a skilled designer and CMS specialist can you sustain that kind of work in the future.

Free Themes Come with a Lot of Limitations

Incorporating your company’s branding seamlessly into your website should be at the top of your list. If you’re going for a free template, that seamless integration is almost impossible to achieve. There’s only so much you can do without the types of modules, colors, and fonts available on a free theme. Most of the time, the more decent-looking themes are hidden behind a paywall. If you’re gonna spend money on your site, you might as well spend it on web design companies or IT staffing firms that specialize in CMS.

DIY Templates Have Little to No Support

When using a free theme, the term “DIY” also means you’ll be doing everything yourself, including fixing bugs or errors on the website. There’s little to no support when using ready-made templates. A custom website built by a professional developer can quickly identify any problems and fix them on the fly.

Conclusion

In this day and age, a business needs to have a fully functioning website if they want to succeed in the industry. Free themes and ready-made templates are always available at no cost. While they come as a more economical option, they’re not designed to provide businesses with what they need to market their websites. CMS specialists can create well-designed custom websites that will help your brand find its audience.

If you need innovative web design and IT staffing solutions, turn to Technical Paradigm. We are a premier provider of  IT staffing services, digital marketing solutions, and CMS design and support. By taking a more strategic approach to your workforce needs, we help achieve your business and technical goals. Get in touch with us today to get started!

Here Are 3 Ways Staffing Agencies Can Benefit Employers

Finding and hiring new employees is incredibly challenging. With a limited pool of talent and a tight labor market, hiring costs rise higher and higher each year, not to mention the time and effort it takes to find the perfect person for the job. When it’s time to hire new staff, you have the option to contract the job out to a staffing agency.

What Does an IT Staffing Agency Do?

Professional recruiting services work with organizations and businesses looking for top talent to grow their teams. IT staffing agencies connect with HR departments to help develop recruitment processes and improve talent acquisition strategies.

Staffing agencies have multi-level screening stages to help vet potential IT candidates. Processes include evaluation of work experience and technical skills, assessments, interviews, skills-based screening, and background checks.  

True IT staffing experts understand your business’s technical requirements and help you find the right personality and culture fit.

3 Ways Staffing Agencies Can Benefit Employers

Outsourcing IT staffing services can be the most strategic and cost-effective move for your business. Here are three ways a staffing agency can help your business:

1. Staffing Agencies Save Time

A staffing agency will save your business a lot of time. You don’t have to spend too much time interviewing unqualified candidates. Instead, a staffing agency can use its own resources to find the best employees for you. They will accomplish all the complicated paperwork involved with finding workers for your projects. All you have to do is to evaluate a small, final pool of highly qualified people to pick your employee.

Recruiters also stay up to date with all new developments and trends in the IT industry. They will use that knowledge to help you find the person who has the skills that you need.

2. Staffing Agencies Have Robust Talent Networks

High-end, specialized talent takes a significant amount of effort to find and hire. The best IT staffing agencies have vast networks of highly qualified IT professionals that are one call away. An internal HR department likely doesn’t have these resources on hand and may only pool candidates from general job boards.

Freelancers and contractors opt to work with staffing agencies for the flexibility and variety of jobs that they offer. If you are looking for IT professionals with specific skills and experience, a recruiter will be able to find the most qualified person for you.

3. Staffing Agencies Reduce Turnover Rates

Along with recruitment costs, recent hire turnover can be costly. Repeating the hiring process multiple times wastes money and places a burden on the employees covering the vacant position. Employee retention is vital for a business’s success and overall morale.

The best way to reduce turnover rates is to hire the right person from the beginning. Staffing agencies have successful track records when it comes to placing the best candidate in the correct roles.

Conclusion

Your business can benefit from a staffing agency in many ways. Staffing agencies have excellent resources and a vast talent pool to help you find the best person for your job vacancy. They will be able to do it at a fraction of the time and a minimal cost.

Looking to fill in IT positions in your company? Technical Paradigm has you covered. We are one of the best IT staffing agencies in Chicago, IL, and we take a strategic approach to your workforce needs. Together, we will discuss your challenges and goals. For flexible and personalized services, contact us today!

3 Characteristics IT Staffing Experts Share—What You Need to Know

In this increasingly digital world, the IT staffing industry has been receiving a steady influx of potential talents looking to fill roles in the industry. Unfortunately, not every single talent in the field can satisfy every role—meaning that not everyone will be good at staffing or recruiting! Fortunately, the most successful talents all share similar characteristics, allowing you to sift through the crowd to discover the right person for the job.

To give you that edge in looking for these experts, here are the characteristics that IT staffing experts share that you need to keep an eye out for:

1. They Listen 

Everyone wants to get their point across—meaning that they tend to blurt lines of exposition that no one really wants to hear. However, with no one listening, nothing gets across! For that reason, listening is a key skill that seems to be highly underrated. However, it is the one skill that all IT staffing professionals will share.

They know that listening is essential—and although such experts are generally extroverted, they will take the time to stay quiet and listen. That said, even after listening, they will delve deeper past the basic questions to hear more about what the people they are conversing with have to say. This ensures that they thoroughly know what the people need to come up with an effective solution.

2. They Can Negotiate

Newbies may assume that they can only take what is served to them on the plate. However, experts know that this is not the case. The world is not quite black and white, and there are a lot of in-betweens that they can try to negotiate for!

Negotiation is really a rare skill, especially in the IT staffing field. However, experts really understand that negotiation is generally always a possible solution, and while there are limits, some negotiations can be made for the benefit of the two parties. This can mean anything from changing the years of experience required to the salary ranges offered to sweeten the deal.

3. They Are Persistent

Many people assume that persistence simply means calling up a prospect once or twice before going somewhere else. However, anyone can do this, and only the pros realize that it takes more than just two calls to make an impact.

When you ask an IT staffing professional what persistence is, they will show you that it is the act of following up on someone repeatedly. In other words, they do not easily give up. They do not do this in an attempt to annoy the prospect—rather, they do it to build a relationship, and one that ends up being long-term. Even if they ultimately get rejected, these pros will keep their heads up and move on, always keeping an eye out for more opportunities to succeed.

Conclusion

There are a few other skills that IT staffing pros share that you can keep an eye out for, from the love for learning to their ability to stay organized. Regardless, the above characteristics are ones that are possessed only by IT staffing pros that ensure your IT company enjoys plenty of success in the industry. 

For that reason, do take your time to look for these characteristics in the experts you want to work with. In fact, apply them all to every talent that comes to work for you! These are general skills that will benefit you no matter who has them and will help ensure success for your business.

Are you looking for the best IT staffing company near you to help you find the best talent for your business? Technical Paradigm is a recruiting service provider in Chicago, helping IT startups and large corporations discover the right talents to satisfy their IT needs. Get in touch and work with us today!

How Outsourcing Helps Address IT Department Bloating

In today’s modern business landscape, having an IT department or team is imperative, as they oversee the installation and maintenance of a company’s computer network systems. However, one problem confronted by various companies is IT department bloating, which happens when there is an oversupply of workforce and resources that don’t add value to the company. This is where outsourcing IT services come into the picture.

In this article, we will share more about how outsourcing helps address IT department bloating:

What IT department bloating is

IT department bloating is simply an influx of IT resources, whether it is your team of specialists or software and hardware resources. Keep in mind that your IT department is a mini-empire in your company. This is why it’s best to have a unilateral decision on all your resources to avoid any excess that can add to your company’s expenses and compromise your network. 

Keep in mind that overstaffing and unnecessary physical and digital resources can negatively impact your business. This is why you must do what it takes to evaluate your existing IT department and make a critical decision on what resources to keep and what to dispose of.

What causes IT department bloating

When it comes to your IT team, your company may have hired some full-time specialists to compose your team. The problem typically starts when some have idle time and aren’t necessarily needed to perform certain tasks for your business. 

On the other hand, IT resources include the infrastructure, equipment, computer devices, and software or applications used to keep your business up and running. In this case, the problem is when some of these resources are no longer updated and optimized for your entire system, rendering them unusable.

How outsourcing IT services can help

The good news is that outsourcing IT services has recently become popular among businesses across the globe. Companies now tap the expertise and resources of an outsourced firm, whether on a regular or contract basis. Here are several IT services that you can use to your business’s advantage:

  • Network infrastructure: They will deploy all the resources of a network that make Internet connectivity, management, communication, and business operation possible for your company.
  • Hardware and software: They will install all devices and systems that enable computing and communication between users, services, applications, and processes.
  • Mobile device management: They will provide apps and manage mobile devices that your company needs.
  • Cloud-computing solutions: They will offer reliable digital solutions, such as web hosting, managed services, email security, and data backup, among many others.
  • Cybersecurity: They will provide robust security measures to protect your network or business from phishing attacks, malware, DDoS attacks, and brand abuses.
  • Remote IT staffing: They have a team of IT specialists who can help you, whether for troubleshooting or technical support.

What’s great about relying on outsourcing IT services is that you will be dealing with experts who have worked for years in the industry. These are people who have the knowledge, skills, and experiences in various aspects of Information Technology. They will also help you decide on a customized IT solution to avoid any excess resources and help you save up in the long run. Ultimately, outsourcing will help your company rise above the IT department bloating and help you succeed in the long run!

Conclusion

At this point, we’ve learned what IT department bloating is and how hiring an outsourced IT service can help. To that end, be sure to consider all the valuable information discussed above and only work with a highly reliable company that will bring out the best in your department and benefit your business!

Is your company currently facing an IT department bloating? If so, then be sure to rely on our IT staffing solutions and outsourcing services! We’re one of the best IT staffing firms in Chicago that helps clients get the right personnel for their business’ IT staffing requirements. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our reliable IT staffing solutions!

What Hiring Managers Should Know About Filling IT Roles

Hiring people for a company requires more than an ability to evaluate credentials and interview applicants. Even if you hire an IT staffing firm, you will have to know what you want in an applicant. When narrowing down a list of potential coworkers, you need to have other skills, especially if you’re hiring for a role you had not held. If you are a hiring manager filling a tech position, here are things you should know.

Look At Their Online Footprint

Check the applicant’s social media profile. Look at their portfolio, website, contributions to online magazines or places like GitHub, Stack Overflow, Quora, and more. Do they give back to the industry or showcase their work? Do they write about topics relevant to the position? A person who has plenty of clips in their portfolio or is active in the community could have more to bring to the table.

Consult Your Network When Hiring

If you’re interviewing for a technical position you don’t have experience holding, make sure you consult someone who knows more about the workload and expectations. If possible, ask them to sit in during the interview and ask industry-relevant questions.

Check For Communication Skills

No matter what position you’re interviewing for, you need someone who can communicate well. For people in tech, you should look for an understanding of technology and business. Does this person keep learning new programming languages? Do they keep working on their craft? Check as well if they understand business and if they know how to balance the demands of running a company and solving a tech issue.

Assess If Their Personality Is A Match

Arguably, this is the most difficult to learn. Even if you get an excellent IT staffing firm to sift through applicants for you, in the end, you are the one who must decide which person might fit in with your company. Culture fit is different for each business. However, you can predict if a person fits in with your work culture if you strike a casual conversation with them.

The way they talk about non-work related things will tell you a lot more about the kind of worker they are. Are they curious, genuinely interested in the profession and the company, and a good learner? You won’t know for sure unless you work with them. Generally, though, people who like the industry will have more to say about it than a couple of one-liners.

See if they have extracurricular activities as well. It does not matter what kind it is; whether it’s building miniature houses or trail running, it’s great if an applicant does something outside their profession. This is especially true if the hobby or activity is something they’ve been doing for a while; it is generally a sign of commitment and a drive for mastery.

Provide A ‘Work Buddy’ Or A Mentor

Keep in mind that the hiring process does not end when someone signs onto your team. You need to ensure that your new teammate hits the ground running, but that could be tricky if you don’t know what they need to do to succeed. If you are hiring for a position you have no experience in, make sure you assign a work buddy or a mentor for your new hire. Ideally, this person would have held the new team member’s position in the past, so they can give advice on what works or not.

Conclusion

Finding someone with a specific background can be challenging, especially in today’s competitive market. Make sure you’re covering all bases when hiring for a technical position you have no experience holding. Clear expectations, assistance from more knowledgeable colleagues, and post-onboarding support will help you recruit the best people for the job.

Make Technical Paradigm your partners in powering your business. We provide IT staffing services in Chicago, IL, helping companies find top-tier talent for various tech needs. Find your next hire today or contact us for more information!

Completing Your Tech Team: How to Find the Right Applicant

Running a business requires you to build a team of individuals with unique skill sets to handle different departments. Although it can be comforting to stick with a smaller group, it’s inevitable for your growing company to need collaborators that will allow you to handle things in-house. It’s not healthy to rely solely on outsourcing your company’s operations, which is why you need to understand how to pick the right candidates to complete your team.

Finding the first member of your IT staff

Building a competent IT staff is vital for any business, especially since the market is leaning towards a more digital direction. However, not all hiring managers and business owners know who exactly they’re looking for. This is usually because an “IT specialist” is a vague term, ranging from web designers to app developers, similar to how “creatives” can mean videographers, graphic designers, and more.

If you want to start our tech team with the right applicant, here are three hiring tips to help you find the IT specialist for you:

1. Know who you’re looking for

Every business will have particular IT needs, so opening a call for an “IT specialist” is still too broad. It’s best to consult with the expert to figure out what prerequisites and qualities you should be looking for. It helps to indicate what aspect of your business you have trouble with. Is it software development, or do you need a systems analyst? Describing your needs to an IT expert will guide you on the specialization you’re looking for, from the technical language to the preferred platform your applicant should be familiar with.

2. Make a compelling offer

After figuring out the specifics you need from your IT specialists, your next task is to make a lucrative job offer. This involves clarifying your potential applicant’s tasks, responsibilities, ground rules, benefits, and salary. It’s important to consult with industry experts before you settle on the particulars of their work arrangement. 

Giving a lowball offer can be a deal-breaker for most veterans in the industry. If you cheap out on your IT specialist’s salary, you may be stuck with the amount you’re paying for. Ensure that you provide fair compensation, albeit with a little wiggle room, so that you won’t have issues finding a long-term business partner.

3. Reach out to your business circles

Referrals are usually the way to go for startups, but emerging small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can also benefit from getting applications from mutuals. Asking your friends, family, and previous co-workers is an excellent way to start your search. If you don’t have an extensive business network yet, you can publish your job postings online.

Social media isn’t just for marketing purposes and expanding your brand presence; it’s also an accessible way to publish job postings in relevant markets. Utilizing your business’s LinkedIn account can give you access to numerous potential applicants who are conveniently categorized in the network’s database. Additionally, you can go beyond LinkedIn by connecting with recruitment platforms with niche talent pools.

Conclusion

Collaboration is an essential part of growing a business, whether you’re strengthening your internal departments or making deals with investors and sponsors. Like building business connections, the best way to go about your hiring needs is to connect with a staffing agency to find the right talent for your job openings.

Utilizing job recruitment platforms is an excellent way to narrow down your search when finding applicants to your IT specialist job openings. Technical Paradigm is a Chicago-based IT staffing company that connects IT experts with the right company for them. Meet the ideal IT employee through us today!