New to IT Recruitment: How Can I Effectively Source Candidates Beyond Job Portals?

Dear All,

I have just joined an IT firm and am heading the operations. This is my first stint with IT. I would like to invite suggestions from the members to help me understand how to source IT candidates. Previously in this organization, recruitments were only done through job portals. Please suggest.

Regards,
Sunaina

Dear Raj,

I agree with you. All I wanted to know was what would be the right kind of mix while recruiting. A portal can help you so much and no more. I mean the same profiles can be repeated, etc. Being in Chandigarh, I have a market constraint as the pool of IT candidates is not so strong and generally, they all prefer moving to Delhi and other metros. Please suggest.

Regards,
Sunaina

Hi Nainz,

For sourcing profiles, you should try out a mix of ways, like using references, job portals you can use for accessing their database, as well as posting an ad. Even though you are right that most of them would be interested in moving to Delhi, many would like to stay back, especially if they belong to CHD or nearby places. Therefore, target them. While searching in the database of job portals, you can very clearly filter your search limited to people who are local to CHD/Punjab and are looking for opportunities there.

Best Regards,
Anu

Dear Sunaina,

First, search for all the consultants in Chandigarh. Usually, consultants will have CVs which you may not find on the job portals. Do a bit of market survey with the help of the consultants and find the available strength of relevant candidates in your area.

Regards,
Raj

Hi,

As you mentioned in your email, job portals may not be as useful in small cities. Placement agencies can be of help as they typically have location-specific information about candidates. Have you considered headhunting? Does your company approve of this method?

Many organizations employ headhunting strategies in smaller locations, although it requires a high level of skill and intelligence. I hope this approach works well for you.

Cheers,
Archna

Dear All,

I appreciate the suggestions given. I have also started implementing them. For freshers, I have also partnered locally with some computer institutes. In case anyone can provide further guidance, it would be greatly appreciated.

I must add that I felt very nice reading all your responses and the assistance provided from your end.

Regards,
Sunaina

Dear Archna,

The thing is that I have to set the process and get the ball rolling... so I guess headhunting would be a great idea too.

Regards,
Sunaina

Hi Sunaina,

One must have a mix of job portals, employee referrals (which are a very rich source), and also the network one has built over time. Since you are new to the IT industry, you may ideally start sourcing from job portals or community networks. If your company has an Employee Referral Program, you may cash in on the same.

Happy Hunting!!! :D

Athikh

Dear Atikh,

Currently, we have just two kinds running:

1. Naukri.com
2. Employee Referral Program.

Headhunting is also a good way and has already been initiated. I will also be conducting some campus selections in the coming months.

Regards,
Sunaina

Hi,

I think there is also a way out through employee referrals. Additionally, with the details of those candidates whom you have now but cannot be placed due to any reasons, I believe you can maintain a database. This practice will help you in the future, as I have seen it being done in one of the companies.

Regards,
Anjana

Another successful way of IT recruitment is referencing. Get references from existing candidates for different skill sets. With the permission of your company, you can launch a referencing program, which gives additional benefits to your existing employees.

Dhawal Dave

Hi Sunaina,

True that there are various ways of sourcing manpower, but to choose the best, you have to consider various factors, primary being the strength of your HR team and the number of people you are looking to recruit. Depending on these factors, you could actually go ahead with either sourcing talent yourself or outsourcing it to a third party.

Chaitanya

Hello ma'am,

I am currently pursuing my MBA in HR from Pune. My hometown is Chandigarh. As a student, I am confident that I can learn from you about the job responsibilities of an HR professional in an IT company, as I am aiming for a career in this sector. Would you be able to help me? Could you provide me with your email ID? My email ID is gauripuri09@gmail.com. I hope to receive a response from you.

Regards,
Gauri

Hello ma'am,

I would appreciate it if you could help me learn about the job responsibilities of an HR in an IT company. I am actually looking forward to an opening in Chandigarh itself. Hope you will reply this time. My email ID is gauripuri09@gmail.com. I am waiting for your reply.

Regards,
Gauri

Dear Gauri,

I am sorry I could not reply earlier as I was tied up with some work. My email id is kaul.sunaina@gmail.com and my number is 09876504766. You are most welcome to get in touch with me anytime. We could also meet up when you come to Chandigarh.

Regards,
Sunaina

Hi all,

I just wanted to know the exact meaning of headhunting and how it can be done. Also, what would be the best and most economical way of recruiting potential candidates?

Waiting for a reply.

Thanks and Regards,
Suchitra

Hello Suchitra,

Headhunting means you have to hunt for resources in the market.

To be a good headhunter, you must know which companies are using which technologies. From which place you can generate what candidates?

Then you call their board numbers and try to get information about who is working on any particular technology and find out if they would be interested in your project.

Suppose you are looking for Marketing Managers or Senior Marketing Executives for a reputable firm with excellent selling skills, a great personality, and good communication skills. Now, if you do not have access to job portals, can't post ads in newspapers, and do not have any consultants, what will you do?

Now, we all know that marketing professionals from the advertising and hotel industry are excellent. So, you call the board numbers for Oberoi Towers, Marriott, Regent, Leela, or any reputed 3-star hotel and ask the operator to connect you to their marketing department. Then, you will speak with the person and ask if they are looking for a change and discuss the opportunity.

If they are not interested at that time, you can ask for references from their colleagues or friends and close the deal.

This is known as headhunting.

The same goes for IT recruitments. You must know which companies in Mumbai are dealing with which technologies, and you can apply the above-mentioned procedure here.

Hope this will be of some help.

Hi Sunaina,

I think you already have some good firms in Chd (like HCL, HP, TVS, and so on). You can also do some headhunting there to find good resources for your firm.

Regards,

Sourabh

Hi Sunaina,

Some more lines to add.

I had tried to explain the headhunting in the previous post but forgot to mention that it takes a lot of patience to do that. Unless you have the right recruiter/HR exec, with the right information, specifically assigned for this task, I think you should be better off outsourcing this part to the consultants/consulting firms.

Make sure you have the right contract signed with them, which should clearly and distinctly announce that if the consultant is fired or resigns after a few days of joining, let's say for a 1-2 month period, for reasons such as the information provided being false by the candidate or because of his/her own reasons, your firm shall not be liable to pay for the services provided by the consulting firm.

This way, you will be making the firms a bit more responsible, and they will not be bombarding you with resumes blindly.

Although most consulting firms are very professional and careful about this, since this is your first experience in dealing with them, you should be careful.

I had heard that lots of top IT firms had occupied offices in the IT Park, which might be helpful for you.

Regards,

Sourabh

Hi Sourabh,

I am very clear about the concept now. Thank you for such a detailed explanation. I hope it will be useful when I work.

Thanks,
Suchitra

Hi, this is Vani. I am working as an HR trainee in a small IT company in Hyderabad. I want to recruit candidates for the vacancies in my office. Can you tell me a good source for that apart from employee referrals and consultancies?

Dear Ma'am, Kindly advise on how to source the right candidates using different types of notations like quote or double quote in Boolean search.

Regards,
Geethu K Muraleedharan

I could not go through all the postings and replies to your query, but I can suggest a few tips:

1. Employee references always work better.

2. Try to network with other HR professionals from similar companies. Befriend HRs from other IT companies, and later you can seek their help and vice versa.

3. Utilize social networking websites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, Google+, and many others where you can find people with key skills through search instead of by names.

4. Keep posting on job portals such as Naukri, TimesJobs, ClickJobs, Fresherworld.

5. Go through the existing database; even if you have rejected resumes, try to network and ask for references.

6. Don't dismiss whether a candidate matches your requirement or not. Strive to generate at least 2 references from every candidate, even if they were rejected for the position.

7. Stay in touch with your ex-colleagues and HR contacts to seek references if they have any candidates matching your requirements.

Hope this helps you, and if you explore, you can engage in some creative work.

If the above suggestions have already been given or followed, please disregard.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide suggestions.

Best regards,
Vishwanath