In order to be an effective recruiter, you must have strong people and communication skills. Without them, you will be unable to separate the good candidates from the great ones! With that said, IT Recruiters also have to have strong technical skills in order to identify whether an applicant is qualified for the role they are interviewing for.
The good news is that there are several ways to grow your technical knowledge without having to attend a university or take traditional classes! To get a solid understanding of all the opportunities out there, we interviewed nine IT Recruiters and asked them how they constantly improve their technical skills.
Attend Zoom Meetups
Attending technical meetups (like a local Python group) has always been a great way to gain knowledge, make connections, and learn more about technical culture. But, let’s face it, as a recruiter, you are sometimes the odd one out in a group like this. With these meetups going virtual on Zoom, recruiters can now avoid the awkwardness and actually attend more meetups (to make more connections and gain more knowledge). Find and attend these meetups by monitoring Eventbrite, Meetup.com, and LinkedIn.
Brett Farmiloe, Markitors
Stay Up-To-Date With the Latest Methodologies
As an IT recruiter, it is imperative that you stay up-to-date with the latest methodologies so that you can effectively determine who has the best talent. Without having to head back to the classroom, a good way to grow your knowledge of the industry is to attend seminars. Tech companies often put on seminars to discuss emerging software and other cutting edge ideas that they want to share with fellow professionals in the industry. Attending virtual seminars like this are sure to round out your existing knowledge and help you meet potential talent.
Candi Luciano, Y Scouts
Attend Local Networking Events
To obtain technical knowledge, I suggest attending local meetups and networking events as an IT recruiter. Attending these events every couple of months to focus on a technical niche is a great way to build relationships with others and get advice on recruiting in the tech industry.
Denise Gredler, BestCompaniesAZ
Lean on Your Tech Team
Set up a transparent communication channel with your tech team and learn from them. Visit your company’s internal meetups, join their chat and ask questions. Every team has different requirements for job applicants and only your tech team can help you to focus on technical things that your company values most.
Yulia Garanok, Datarockets
Dive Deep Into the IT Work
There’s no better way to understand the topic than trying it out yourself. Ask questions, try to understand the concepts behind various moving parts. This will help you much more than asking plain interview questions that even you don’t really understand.
Jakub Kliszczak, Channels
Get Involved With the Local Tech Community
One way to grow technical knowledge as an IT recruiter is to get involved with the local tech community. To this by getting involved with tech programs at local colleges and universities.
There are plenty of events and meetups that happen (virtually, too) that cover information on tech trends and projects.
Jacy Smith, Perimeter83
Get Specific
Get specific. Work with the company to develop 4-5 technical high-level questions to ask candidates to help determine if they are a fit for the job. For example, many job descriptions will say “experience with AWS.” There are many applications within AWS and a candidate needs more specifics to assure it makes sense for them to move forward.
Colleen Schwab, Greater Phoenix Economic Council
Make Friends
Community events such as meetups are excellent ways to learn about what developers are excited about right now and the technologies they are using. Once you are at an event, be outgoing and make friends! Having a stellar technical friend is like an ace up your sleeve as you start to formulate your broader strategy.
Lukas Ruebbelke, Briebug
Join Communities for the Technologies That You Recruit For
At the company I work for, we build a lot of web apps with Drupal and Gatsby. When we’re looking for talent for these specialties, the best place has been the Drupal and Gatsby slack channels respectively. Members of community Slack or Discord channels are active and enjoy networking with others using the same technology or within the space.
Husam Machlovi, With Pulp