Bright ideas for attracting the brightest talent.

As an employer, you understand the challenges associated with recruiting, interviewing and hiring the right person for each position. The demand for top talent is high, and you have to find ways to make your offer stand out among those from similar firms in your region. You must be creative and innovative in order to get a leg up on your competition and get the employees you want.

What strategies should your hiring managers employ to bolster their efforts in recruiting better potential employees? What does your company offer that allows you to stand out and be more attractive to the technical candidates you desire? How do you communicate the advantages of working for your business? Do you have an attractive and competitive compensation and benefits package to beat others vying for the same talent? Here is a look at some strategies you should consider in order to accomplish your recruitment goals.

Think Through Your Recruiting Strategy

Simply put, filling open positions within your firm doesn’t happen without a hiring strategy. Your recruitment process should clearly outline who it is you’re looking for, the type of work they will be performing for you, and the environment where that work will take place. The more clearly and efficiently you can communicate what your ideal candidate looks like, the easier it will be to identify how to find them.

A crucial component of that process is creating complete job descriptions that you can provide to candidates in order to make sure that you are attracting the right recruits with the qualifications to do the work. Those descriptions can then be used to create job postings, and you can begin to track down your most likely candidates.

Create a Work Environment Beneficial for Potential Employees

Take a critical look at the environment that you provide for your employees – and not just the physical space! Today’s workforce is increasingly comprised of millennials, who, according to The Brookings Institution, will make up 75 percent of the workforce by the year 2025. This generation of workers tends to be more mobile, requiring the ability to not only work in a traditional brick and mortar structure but away from the office as well. As such, make sure you’ve considered telecommuting and remote work solutions.

A consortium led by INSEAD’s Emerging Markets Institute, Universum, and the HEAD Foundation conducted a worldwide study from May to August 2014 to determine what millennials want from work. Among North American respondents, finding opportunities to influence their company outpaced higher earning potential and the power to make decisions. This data suggests that in order to have a chance at attracting what will be your future pool of tech professionals, you need to make sure that the workplace meets the needs of those you seek to attract.

Align Yourself with Recruiting and Staffing Agencies

Consider working with technology recruiting companies and staffing agencies for their added expertise in finding the right candidates for your company. These firms work exclusively with tech candidates, and can help you and your hiring managers with much of the work that needs to be done before an interview takes place and an offer is made. Employing the services of these firms frees you up from the work of attracting, recruiting, and interviewing top IT talent –allowing you to focus on your business.

Of course, the efforts of technology recruiters should be seen as complementary to your internal hiring practices and processes. You still want to invest time, energy and effort in coming up with a recruitment strategy that is reflective of your firm’s core values and is geared toward those professionals you want to hire and work with.

At OpenArc, we believe that people are what drive your business forward. Our team of dedicated experts knows what it takes to succeed in the technology industry, pinpointing key qualifiers and skills that help our partners find the right fit for their company. Let us partner with you to create a recruiting strategy that helps you find your front line tech employees.

Leann Moore is OpenArc’s manager of talent services.