IT Job Market is Growing! Is your company ready?

Over the past few months, actually since November of 09 the IT Job Market has been changing drastically from the overall “DOWN Market” that we have seen since late 2007. Across the IT recruiting world we have seen an increase in overall Job’s posted on sites such as Monster, Dice and the like. We have also seen an increase in the number of Perm and Contract positions that are not posted, but are filled through word of mouth or through agency / corporate recruiters. All of these trends seem to continue to tick upward as we move through the mid part of 2010.

These trends are all wonderful changes from what we have all experienced over the last few years. Because of these changes companies today must take a New and In-depth look in how they view their current full-time employees, contractors and prospective employees.

I can’t tell you how many times over the past few years I have heard the phrase “I am just happy to have a job”. Or the from a managers perspective, “My team should be happy to even have a job right now. These phrases may have been true statements a year ago but today these words just don’t ring as true as before. Today with the changes in the IT job market we are seeing more contractors and full-time employees open to leaving their current “secure” roles for better pay, or a more challenging, productive, and fun workplace. In short the companies that think about, care about and put their employee’s satisfaction high on the priority list are the ones that are going to keep their best talent. Keeping the “Best Talent” in a company is one area that must be looked at and bought into from the Top-Down in every company.

Keeping the best talent is a challenge to be sure, but in the market today companies must also take a hard look on how they are positioning themselves to “Seek and Acquire” the Best Talent in the market today. I have been amazed at how many “Great Companies” that are growing very rapidly don’t take a moment to speak with anyone outside of HR on how to “Sell The Company”. For those of you who are Recruiters and or HR Professionals you know what I am talking about. We in the Recruiting business are masters at selling our clients/companies and or managers. The unknown or fear for us comes when we pass on an “OUTSTANDING” candidate that we know is great for the company to a manager that only knows the “Technical Skills” that he or she may be looking for to match a job description. How many great culture fits have we lost to managers that are only concerned with (Checking Boxes ) based on the job description.

It pains me to realize over the years how many candidates that I have spoken to after an interview that have said; “I feel like I answered all of the technical questions but I don’t really know why I would want to work at X company”. To which I reply, “ So did the manager tell you much about the company and his/her group and what interesting projects that you would be working on”?… You see my point.

Along with the other duties that come with our role as Recruiters/HR Managers we must continue to educate our Hiring Managers on the fact that many candidates today have multiple job offers on the table at the same time. We are all competing for the “Best Talent” in the market today, and that includes the Hiring Manager. It is a great time to be in the IT recruiting space and I trust that I will do a better job at educating my managers on how critical it is to be a “Salesman/woman” in order to obtain the Top Talent for each organization.

At the end of the day it cannot be said enough: People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care!

All My Best,