Engineering Recruiting Tips For Mid-Sized Firms
For independently owned small and mid-sized businesses, recruiting engineering candidates can be a time consuming, costly endeavor. There are, of course, third-party recruiters that can help you with this, but should you decide to recruit engineers on your own, here are a few tips to make the process go smoothly.
GO WHERE THE TALENT HANGS OUT
Tech workers tend to be younger – advertising a position in a physical newspaper or trade magazine likely won’t cut it these days. You need to be using all of the current advertising platforms, online job boards, and social media posting strategies, but even that may not be enough.
Consider taking your engineering recruiting methods to the next level by posting on industry forums and participating in meetup groups.
LEARN INDUSTRY LINGO (AND USE IT)
Every hiring manager or recruiter under the sun can scan a resume, identify a good school and a decent body of engineering work and extend an offer, including the deep-pocketed competition. As a smaller firm, you may not be able to compete on salary alone, but you can win over candidates by demonstrating a knowledge of engineering terminology during the recruiting process.
DON’T FORGET THE BASICS
Salary may not be the only thing that matters…but it does matter. So too does vacation time, health benefits and so on. It can be tempting to focus on whether the engineer is right for your company, but it is important to understand that they are also evaluating your offer. If you are a smaller form that struggles to compete on salary, try to offer an attractive benefits or vacation package. It is also a good move to highlight a positive work environment. Many big companies treat their engineering staff like numbers, rather than people.
THINK LONG-TERM
Don’t be afraid of recruiting engineering candidates with untapped potential. Low budget sports teams can’t throw millions of dollars at a marquee free agent. Instead, they draft and develop talented prospects. Engineering positions obviously require a certain level of basic technical skills, but a lot of the role-specific stuff can be taught. Taking a little bit of extra time to train an inexperienced candidate can pay off big time down the road.
Hopefully, these recruiting tips help you secure the computer engineering help you need. If you are still having trouble hiring the right fit, we would love to help. Feel free to contact Expect any time to discuss your project.