What I’ve learned through the years is that recruitment is about people — not degrees, titles, or experience

Technology has become the core of nearly all businesses as they strive to go digital. From your neighbourhood florist to multinational banks, no organisation or individual can avoid the technology tidal wave sweeping across the globe.

The state of tech recruitment

Unsurprisingly, the rapid penetration and adoption of digital technology has driven up the demand for tech professionals – so much so that demand for talent has outpaced supply.

Competition among companies to attract and retain the best tech talents has only gotten fiercer. Companies, big and small and across every sector, are luring tech talent with attractive compensation packages, promising career opportunities and progressive employee benefits.

On the recruitment side of things, this means hiring has become increasingly challenging for the tech recruiter. When I entered the tech recruitment scene a decade ago, tech hiring was relatively straightforward. Find the candidate with the right technical skills and you were done.

Now, the tech talent profile that companies are looking for has changed. The job scope is now broader, requiring not just technical skills but also adaptability, flexibility and a variety of other ‘soft skills’.

What you should be looking for in your tech talent today

Research by the World Economic Forum estimates that 65% of children entering school today will end up in jobs that have yet to exist. For tech recruiters, this means having to relook at how we weight a candidate’s technical knowledge against her overall level of competency. That’s not to say that technical skills aren’t necessary, but more a pre-requisite for greater expectations –skills can be taught, but is the candidate passionate, willing to learn and able to roll with the changes as the tech and business landscapes change rapidly?

Technologists need to know that what they have learned in school may soon not be relevant. Thus, a deep, running passion for tech needs to underpin their approach and attitude towards their work.

As the Head of Talent Acquisition, my role is no longer about matching CVs to job descriptions. Often times at ThoughtWorks, an individual may not even have the fundamental degree that we previously viewed as critical to getting an interview for a job. It may sound strange to hire a person without a Computer Science degree as a developer and some of you may wonder why. So why?

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I’ll give you the example of Amanda, a recent hire who was previously a banker. She quit her job to learn programming despite not having any prior knowledge. She enrolled in a three-month boot camp to accelerate her learning and came to us for an interview.

When I met Amanda, what struck me was her passion and determination. Her decision to make a complete career switch showed me that she wanted to learn, grow, and was willing to put in the time and effort to build her skills, and make a long-term commitment. She has now been a ThoughtWorker for over a year as a graduate developer and has contributed significantly to projects. She has also leveraged her business and banking experience that has allowed her to understand client needs and challenges better. The combination of her past experience coupled with her growing technical skillsets brings new viewpoints to problem solving which is what good developers need to have to solve increasing complex problems.

What I’ve learned through the years is that recruitment is about people – not degrees, titles, or experience. While these are important, they play less of a role in how we make a decision on who to hire. So…what is important? I’ve narrowed down the key things that I look for:

1. Technical Agility

“Technical Agility” should be at the top of every employers’ mind. Agility here equates to the candidate’s flexibility and adaptability as organisations are constantly growing, changing and evolving to address new challenges in the market. This attitude helps companies remain relevant and resilient as inevitable changes sweep through the business.

2. An insatiable Appetite for Learning

Employers want to know that potential hires have a genuine passion for technology and a ceaseless drive to learn. This is important as the tech industry moves incredibly fast with new domains, services, languages and infrastructure emerging constantly. A recent edition of the Technology Radar, a bi-yearly tech insights report from ThoughtWorks, identified conversational UI and natural language processing (NLP) as key skills to master. Keeping updated with the latest technology trends is essential in displaying a continued willingness to learn and improve.

3. Leadership

Innate leadership skills play an important part when companies are looking to hire top talent. Candidates who have exhibit leadership traits through their experience or through engagements with local tech communities in tangible ways will stand out. Companies are growing at a rapid pace today and the candidates’ potential to grow and fill in not only today’s role but also tomorrow’s role is crucial.

4. Soft skills

Beyond tech, the ideal candidate needs to also demonstrate strong business and interpersonal skills. These traits are key as technology professionals and teams today cannot afford to think of their capabilities in silos. Top candidates display strong soft skills such as a strong analytical mind, good communication dynamics, independence (or initiative) and a strong sense of ownership of their work and responsibilities. On the business level, these candidates also show that they are constantly thinking about how their skills contribute to the company’s and clients’ larger business and provide solid recommendations on how to evolve the company digitally in the right direction.

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5. Culture Fit

Finally, tech recruiters today need to ensure that they maintain an internal talent assessment process that is highly relevant and tailored to the needs and nuances of the company. Every company has its own identity and work ethics. Having a system that can uncover whether a candidate is a good cultural fit to the organisation will make a difference between a candidate who stays versus one who is just in it for the short haul.

At ThoughtWorks, we strongly believe in building an open environment and believe in practising diversity and inclusion in our hiring practice and at our workplace. We believe that every talent we hire has something to offer to the business – both personally and professionally.

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Nikhita Elizabeth Cyriac is Head of Talent Acquisition at ThoughtWorks, a software company and community of passionate purpose-led individuals. We think disruptively to deliver technology to address our clients’ toughest challenges all while seeking to revolutionise the IT industry and create positive social change.

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