* Ideas for shortening the time it takes to fill IT positions
It’s taking CIOs close to two months to fill IT staff-level positions, according to the results of a new survey from staffing firm Robert Half Technology. And the wait to bring a new IT manager on board is even longer, coming in at nearly three months.
Robert Half Technology polled 1,400 CIOs from U.S. firms with 100 or more employees about the average length of time it takes to fill a full-time staff-level position and managerial-level position within their IT departments. The mean response was 56 days for a staffer and 87 days for a manager.
“Hiring managers often are caught in a catch-22: short-staffed, but unable to dedicate the necessary time to recruit and evaluate candidates due to extra duties they’ve had to assume,” says Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology. “Employers must balance the need to expedite the hiring process with the equally pressing need to ensure the new employee is right for the job.” What’s more, failure to act quickly on promising candidates puts you at risk of losing them to other opportunities.
Here are some tips for finding tech talent:
* Word of mouth works well. Put employee referral programs to work to fill your IT spots.
* When hiring from within the company, tap other regional offices as Washington, D.C.-based mortgage financier Freddie Mac does. (See: “IT worker shortage” for details.)
* Scout out newsgroups, blogs and podcasts. (See: “Creativity is key to recruitment”)
