How to Find Good Engineers & IT Staff – Best Tips and Advice
If you are on the hunt to find good engineers, we got you covered!
IT and engineering staffing can get tricky for some job functions. Take software engineering for example; where most major cities have an unmet demand of 300 or more quality engineers at any given time. In this week’s blog post I’ll cover some tips for finding well-qualified technical talent for mission-critical positions.
As an engineer myself, I’ve worked with some of the most talented managers and directors in my chosen industries. I’ve often listened to their complaints of finding qualified people to fill open positions over lunch or at the water cooler. But it always seemed that the best managers attracted good talent by trying unconventional tactics.
One thing that I do on a daily basis is scan through all of the regional tech and business newsletters to see which companies are laying people off. Oftentimes this information is also available at the Department Of Labor or published in local newspapers. This can be a good starting point to see if another company’s layoffs include engineering or IT professionals.
Lately, I’ve been making a habit of going to local MeetUps (see Meetup.com) where I always run into young engineers, software developers, and IT folks that are networking on the topic of interest but are oftentimes interested in hearing about new opportunities. Usually, most MeetUps have networking sessions before and after the topic presentation, so have some business cards ready to hand out and a good elevator pitch to get some interest.
LinkedIn groups can also be a good place to find people seeking. I’m part of many of the larger engineering and IT groups on LinkedIn and I’ll see posts from people saying “Seeking new opportunities” or “Available for new opportunities”. Using LinkedIn is a great way to engage people seeking something new by using their scripted approaches and suggestions to make the best introduction.
Lastly, if your main office is located far away from a major city center, consider renting office space closer to where the tech folks like to live and hang out. This will make your location attractive to young folks seeking to have an urban lifestyle, but also wanting good tech jobs to sustain their lifestyle. I know this one is a bit extreme, but there’s a reason why most of the best engineers and IT professionals are located in Silicon Valley.