Diversifying your tech teams is key to introducing new skills, ideas, experiences, and perspectives, and thus by extension strengthening your workforce. To do that, it’s important to find untapped pools of candidates you otherwise wouldn’t have reached. How can you do that? Below, we have four methods you can use to find talent that will help you grow your business.
Forego degree requirements
According to an SHRM report, over 90% of employer stakeholders believe that alt-credential holders perform the same or better than traditional degree holders.1 An increasing number of companies (including us here at Climb) have been making the decision to remove degree requirements from job listings. After all, if someone can be just as capable without a traditional degree, why require one? Removing this deterrent can enable you to meet talented prospective employees who might otherwise not have even been able to apply, despite having the skills and knowledge to strengthen your team.
Offer remote positions
As we’ve seen over the last couple of years, quality remote work is definitely possible — especially for tech. Not only that, but as more people have realized their job can be done outside of the office, being able to work remotely has become a key feature many people look for when applying to jobs. By opening up roles beyond your office location, you can reach talent you otherwise would have missed by constraining your search to one or two office locations.
Hire for long-term trainability
Tech is a constantly-changing industry. What was once necessary to the role may soon become obsolete, while new tools and coding languages come to the forefront. So, why would you focus solely on who has the current relevant hard skills as opposed to who will be the most capable of adapting and learning in the future? Rather than thinking only about who’s the best candidate now, also consider who seems like they’ll be the best employee in the future.
Find alternative sources of potential candidates
Sticking to the same funnel of talent acquisition will undoubtedly continue to bring you the same candidates. Instead of using generic job boards where your roles may get lost in a sea of others, explore alternative niche spaces to find new groups of people. For tech, coding bootcamps are one such space, offering skills-based training for those entering the tech field. Sources like these include audiences such as career switchers — who often have strong professional backgrounds and can offer diversity of thought. In fact, 59% of surveyed Americans who intended to pursue additional education after the COVID-19 pandemic preferred non-degree programs.2
At Climb, we’re working to connect talented individuals from alternative training pathways to companies looking to hire. If you’re interested in reaching new talent pools, click the link below to find out more!
