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 NEWSThe keys to recruiting success By Jim Battey February 25, 2000 "Wanted: hot-shot engineer for software start-up. Come work for us and get a Beemer."
"We're growing the company and need a lot of technical talent," says Jack Jia, Interwoven's vice president of engineering. Jia says that Interwoven is looking to hire 15 to 20 IT professionals to bolster its existing engineering staff of 60. Jia stresses that this aggressive approach to IT recruiting is intended to augment traditional efforts such as internal referrals, job fairs, and good old-fashioned advertising. In the cutthroat world of IT recruiting, companies are going that extra mile to attract top technical talent. From offering new hires free BMWs to bidding on workers via online auctions, recruiters are resorting to new approaches -- beyond merely offering perks such as stock options, hefty signing bonuses, or all the free sodas you can drink -- in their attempts to lure employees. At the same time, as the Web matures and provides a more robust platform for online-based services and exchanges, IT recruiting is entering a phase of increased technical sophistication. "From a candidate's perspective, the IT jobs market has never been as hot as it is right now," says Tom Schenck, a director at Hall Kinion's Sacramento, Calif., office. "From a recruiter's standpoint, talent is harder to find than ever before." Recruiting and retaining IT professionals has become a top priority for managers. Recruiters are starting to leverage recent innovations such as Internet-based applicant tracking systems and online auctions. What's more, recruiters tempt job seekers with all sorts of incentives. These days, in some of the more competitive job markets, it's not enough for firms to offer now-traditional employee benefits such as equity in the company, retirement plans, flex time, or training programs. Another Silicon Valley Internet company, Excite@Home, in Redwood City, Calif., is offering job perks such as on-site dry cleaning, massages, and corporate concierges who run personal errands for employees. "It's gotten to the point where it's a given that companies offer things like stock options -- these aren't even selling points anymore," says Mike Bakonyi, a recruiter at Pencom Systems, in Austin, Texas. Bakonyi says companies in Austin are looking to get noticed by potential employees by sponsoring happy hours, throwing open-bar parties that feature top local bands, or renting out theaters for movie premieres. The price of admission to these events: Your résumé. Bakonyi has a mixed assessment of this approach. "I don't know if these companies are getting their money's worth," he says. "It's getting them a lot of junk, but it does get their names publicized and well-established." Other ambitious recruiting tactics include advertising on roadside billboards and offering prospective employees stock portfolios that include options in companies with which the employer conducts business. As top IT professionals seeking new opportunities sort through job offers full of never-before-seen enticements, the question becomes: Where will it all end? "There's no limit to what companies will do to bring in talent," says Frank Jones, CEO of Mazescape, a recruitment services vendor, in Stamford, Conn. Interwoven's Jia adds that recruitment is also tied in with retention: "What it comes down to is trying to build the best corporate culture possible to make sure people don't want to leave." If one trend is emerging in the super-charged IT jobs market, it is that recruiters employ marketing and branding campaigns to communicate the message that their companies provide invigorating and challenging work environments. "Companies are targeting a job market and coming up with creative ways of branding themselves as exciting places to work," Jones says. Major sporting events that are attended by people in recruiters' intended audience are becoming a popular target for branding campaigns. For example, Jones cites the heavy presence of corporate recruiters at the Winter X-Games that were recently held in Mount Snow, Vt. Online recruiting services companies have been shifting into high gear in recent months, and the industry is trying to make inroads into the market dominated by established online job boards such as Monster.com. Mazescape is one of dozens of fledgling vendors that are developing Web-based tools and services designed to help recruiters identify and secure potential candidates. "This field is relatively new, and it's changing so quickly," Jones says. "We anticipate high growth in Web-hosted tools as corporate users go online to search for job applicants." Mazescape recently introduced a job applicant tracking system that integrates Web hosting services with knowledge management tools. Another Web-based service aimed at corporate IT recruiters is SkillsVillage.com. The service, which launched last summer, provides a platform where IT contractors can match up with enterprise hiring managers. To date, the site has facilitated more than 100 successful matches, and additional services such as the ability to handle contractors' time sheets and billing have recently been added. Chris Wong, CEO of SkillsVillage.com, predicts that Web-based services will become an integral part of the corporate staffing process: "Companies already have ERP systems in place, and they will integrate online services into their process," he says. "This will drive efficiencies and increase the quality of people hired." Another veteran player is Personic, a company that was founded in 1994 and has served more than 45,000 customers to date. Personic's Workflow product is designed to automate an organization's applicant tracking and recruitment process. Like many other services coming to market, Workflow is an integrated suite of software applications that are accessible via a Web browser. Yet another recruiting trend emerging in recent months is the proliferation of Web-based online personnel and skills auctions. One such service is ITAuctionHouse.com, in Clarkston, Mich. The site facilitates the placement of IT professionals with agencies and corporate IT recruiters. "IT managers are not using the big job boards because they are not targeted," says Shawn Fox, the CEO of ITAuctionHouse .com. "People want to go to sites that address IT specifically." Still, online IT auctions have their skeptics. SkillsVillage.com's Wong says, "They're ridiculous in general. Which is to say they're too early." Whatever tactics IT recruiters use to match up with prospective employees, the demand for skilled workers doesn't appear to be diminishing. Unemployment rates across the country are at the lowest point in more than a generation, and the Information Technology Association of America estimates that 346,000 IT jobs need to be filled nationwide. In today's highly competitive business environment running at Internet speed, companies can't afford to be hindered by a shortage of skilled professionals. "The landscape is changing so fast," Schenck says, "that shortcomings in recruiting efforts could result in a major setback, such as a product or service being late to market. The key is talent. If companies can't get the talent they need, they're totally behind the curve."
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