Time is not a luxury that most employers enjoy today. Filing open roles is a time-sensitive task. If you only have twelve months to develop an app, having to hire someone for the project can eat up a good chunk of that time if not handled properly. At the same time, new hires will always work more slowly as they learn the ropes, so having a good candidate and an efficient hiring process is key to not losing valuable time. As your company expands, it’ll become more and more difficult to dedicate the time to the hiring process without losing productivity.
Here’s another challenge, candidates are hired in a matter of days and even hours because of the competitive landscape and because the USA job pool has fewer qualified candidates every year! Countries like Mexico are getting ahead on growing their human capital.
If you’re in this battle for talent, what can you do to win it?
Recruiters have to be more creative, flexible, competitive and quick to take action. In the tech world, there is no time to waste.
So let’s pay attention to these 5 key tech hiring hacks to get on track:
UNDERSTAND THE LANDSCAPE
This competition is a movie in which you don’t want to lose track of who is who. Understanding the tech-hiring landscape is not optional, that’s why we’re constantly surveying the engineering community on a variety of topics ranging from salaries, programming language preferences, and work preferences.
It isn’t easy to make decisions but when you are better informed you become confident in the choices you make.
Earlier we mentioned that Mexico is getting ahead on growing their tech workforce so let’s take a quick glance on what’s going on there.
Mexico has 3 major tech hubs where the majority of its 650,000 developers are located. These cities also graduate more than 130,000 engineers every year and they come from very renowned universities in Latin America like UNAM, IPN, Tec de Monterrey, Universidad de Guadalajara, and others. The average yearly salary nationwide is 46,000 USD.
I know, salaries are what catches your eye. It’s why I wrote it last. So let’s be clear, while in the USA the yearly salary for a senior developer it’s about 54% more (100K a year) than in Mexico, that doesn’t mean Mexican labor is cheap, living is rather affordable compared to high tech cities like San Francisco. So, consider this if you are planning on expanding your staff.
Takeaway: Doing research is easier said than done, but it is necessary in order to make smart decisions. I’m going to save you from doing all the dirty work. Just go here to download the Tech Salaries in Mexico Report to learn more about what I just told you to do in this first step -understanding the landscape-.
BE AWARE OF CURRENT AND RISING TECH HIRING TRENDS
The age where businesses scrutinized applicants before they were considered is long gone. Now, applicants want to know everything about the company, about the job, corporate culture, corporate values, etc. to decide whether or not they want to be part of your team!
It makes sense that hiring agencies are competing with better job offers, better salaries, and perks. They need to establish key parameters to have great hiring, but technological integration, outsourcing models are also becoming crucial.
Technological integration and outsourcing models are trending and will continue like this as the use of virtual recruiting and online staffing models increase. Candidates want more flexibility—like remote work options or benefits—and it’s in a company’s interest to be willing to adhere.
If you know nothing about online staffing models, hiring a specialized recruiting agency (like CodersLink) is a preferable option for companies to acquire top-notch talent. Not only will they take care of your HR shortcomings but will also work more time and cost-effectively to get the best talent for your organization.
Takeaway: With increasing technology capabilities and more industry experts available, hiring developers becomes easier (but not less overwhelming) when it comes to fulfilling a company’s needs. You just need the right tech staffing agency. I recommend this article about it “Finding the Right Hiring Partner for Remote Employees”.
FLEXIBLE WORKFORCE
Workforce for most companies already consists of a combination of full-time workers, freelancers, remoters and all in between.
Technology is a major enabler for remote work and freelancing: people can use their laptops, smartphones, or any device and work anywhere they can get access to the internet (and we know there are a lot of coffee shops out there).
CoSo Cloud remote staff survey shows that 23% of remote employees were willing to work longer hours to get more done, 52% said they were less likely to take time off and thirty percent said they achieved more in less time. Overall, while working remotely, 77% confirmed improved productivity.
In an article from Tech Crunch (the specialized tech news site) we found that this format has helped product engineering firms like HappyFunCorp to recruit remote developers and in their own words “it works out fantastically well”
Takeaway: Remote work is the best way to attract and retain top talent, plus remote teams can deliver far better results and save you thousands.
DIVERSITY HIRING
When it comes to hiring, diversity is a relevant term for any sized company. Diversity in the broadest sense of the word that is: gender, ethnicity, geographical and age.
It takes great people to build a great company, and we meet many diverse, competent, and intelligent candidates up to the challenge. Let us know if you need one.
Takeaway: This one is simple, look for talent in unlikely or overlooked places. Reach out to them where they are, and this leads us to…
HIRE INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYEES
When you remove geography from the equation, you are free to concentrate on the most skilled and fit developers, regardless of where they live.
Don’t just think about physically relocating candidates, although that’s something we do at CodersLink; that’s not the only option you have to hire Mexican developers.
One, you can expand your tech team internationally by opening a remote office.
Mexico’s tech ecosystem has allowed leading tech companies (like Amazon, Facebook, Intel, Oracle, Microsoft) to invest in stationing and growing tech teams and R&D facilities in places like Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey. They take full advantage of the proximity and being able to fly in and out, the same day if necessary in order to meet face to face.
Or Two, hire remote positions.
Remote workers show substantially higher productivity than office workers, which is good for both bottom-line finances and efficiency.
CodersLink takes up the work of vetting prospects, scheduling interviews, legal paperwork, visas (if needed) and also can help you set up your new remote team and office. There is a reason for saying that two heads are better than one. You need to focus on your core activity, whether it is selling online products or developing video games. Get a hiring partner that dedicates their time and efforts to fill up your job positions.
If you haven’t, I strongly encourage you to get your hands on the new Mexico’s Tech Salaries Report. It will give you more insights on the tech-hiring opportunities available to your company.
