How to attract top tech talent, fast

Major businesses are missing out on hiring top talent because their recruitment processes are too cumbersome, according to recruitment consultancy Oakstone International.

Poole-based global software and fintech recruitment firm, Oakstone, tell TBM that in today’s competitive and candidate-driven market it is those companies with the best recruitment policies and processes which are winning the race for top talent.

Oakstone, which earlier this year reported a record 61 per cent growth in revenue year-on-year, is an executive search firm delivering recruitment solutions to the SaaS and FinTech sectors globally.

Divisional Director Andy Strong said demand for talent outstripping supply in a buoyant software sales recruitment sector means that speed is of the essence. “In the race for top talent you have got to be fast, approach things in the right way, deliver an optimal candidate experience and partner with clients to speed up their hiring processes – or you will risk losing top talent.

“All the top candidates are getting approached three or four times a day by recruiters and so the longer you spend on a hiring process, the more roles they are going to have presented to them, thus there is a greater opportunity of losing that candidate.”

“If you do lose a candidate – a precious resource today – because your hiring process is not fit for purpose you could be waiting months to find another person as good or better. For every month there is an open vacancy it is costing the company tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of pounds/dollars/euros.”

Andy added: “The recruitment process has to be smooth. We are seeing a 10 to 20 per cent uplift in salaries purely down to today’s supply and demand climate – which we encourage our partners not to get caught up in, provided they get everything else right.

“Late twentysomethings getting paid six figure salaries were pretty rare before covid and is now the norm in a highly competitive market. We see highly successful, strategic sales people commanding base salaries of £140,000 to £150,000 – which may continue as long as companies continue to hire and see a solid ROI in those ‘investments’.”

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“The recruitment process has become less complicated due to the removal of the need to travel for an interview, meaning things have really had to sharpen up. We prefer a three-step process – discovery meeting with the hiring manager, a meeting with their line manager, then a panel, possibly with a presentation – but this crucially needs completing within a two-week timeframe. 

“Most companies will claim they can do this, but the reality is it doesn’t happen, due to diary constraints and other matters taking a greater priority than recruiting.  However, we have a proven solution to this challenge that works, and our partners are sharing the success in creating a win, win, win situation – thus enhancing the careers and fortunes of everyone we work with.

“There are companies we are working with which are doing this very well with our help, but there are others which won’t do it the way we recommend and who are struggling due to cumbersome and unnecessarily elongated hiring processes, meaning they’re missing out on the best people.”

Oakstone Divisional Director Steve Farr, said: “More often than not, a company will be judged on the quality of the approach by a recruiter. If the approach is executed well, you increase your chances of a high performer investing time in a discussion with you.

“The very best people move strategically, they plan in advance, they know when their pipeline is going to be exhausted, when their stock options are vesting, when it’s time to change. We recognise when that might happen.

“Oakstone’s knowledge of the market helps us understand what the trigger points are for these people to start to consider a move. Us standing out and differentiating ourselves in turn helps the clients that we work with then differentiate themselves.

“Candidates have to be enthused, informed and ready to consider an opportunity – not just having the call to qualify the opportunity. We save our clients valuable time by only introducing people who are truly engaged, which means they can then invest that time in hiring the right people.

“Companies expect everyone introduced by us to be able to do the job well – they can then choose the best performer who is the strongest match with their culture and values. Hiring managers need to buy into the process and commit to it. That’s a key part of any successful hiring process"

Andy and Steve were speaking as it was reported that there were more job vacancies than unemployed people in the UK, an unemployment rate of 3.8% and job openings of 1.3 million – although the fluctuations of general employment were not mirrored by the tech recruitment world.

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