Tech Recruitment: 8 tactics to find and finesse your niche

Technology recruitment is a dynamic and complex field, which requires recruiters to have a deep understanding of the technologies, skills, and trends in the industry. In order to succeed, you need to establish a niche within the broader tech recruitment field and develop a strategy to find and attract top talent. Below, we break down the steps to build a niche and recruit the best talent in technology. As an example, we'll explore how to build expertise in the recruitment of fintech developers.

How to get into tech recruitment and succeed

 1. Identify a Niche

To succeed in tech recruitment, it's essential to identify a niche. This allows you to focus your efforts and become an expert in a specific area of tech recruitment. For example, you could choose to specialize in recruiting for fintech developers, blockchain engineers, or AI researchers. Choose a niche that you're passionate about and is in demand within the technology industry.

 2. Understand the Niche

Once you've chosen your niche, invest time in understanding the trends, needs, and challenges of this specific tech recruitment market. This will enable you to build meaningful relationships with both companies and candidates in your niche. To understand your niche and its audience, consider the following strategies:

- Read Industry News: Subscribe to industry publications and follow key influencers to stay up-to-date on trends.

- Network with Industry Professionals: Attend conferences and meetups, and engage with professionals on social media platforms like LinkedIn.

- Understand the Skills Required: Learn about the technical skills required in your niche and stay updated on new tools and technologies.

 3. Identify Companies with Growth Potential 

To be successful in IT recruitment, you need to partner with companies that are in growth stages and have a need for tech talent. You can identify such companies through:

- Funding Announcements: Companies that recently received funding often have aggressive hiring plans.

- Job Listings: Monitor job boards for companies posting multiple roles in your niche.

- Company News: Track company announcements about new projects, partnerships, or expansion plans.

 4. Build a Database of Candidates

Having a robust database of candidates is crucial in technology recruitment. To build your database:

- Leverage Tech Recruiting Platforms: Use platforms like GitHub, StackOverflow, and LinkedIn to find tech talent.

- Engage in Tech Communities: Join online tech communities, participate in forums, and attend hackathons to connect with potential candidates.

- Develop Content: Share blog posts, articles, and videos about your niche, showcasing your expertise and attracting candidates to your website.

5. Attract Candidates

To attract candidates in tech recruitment, it's essential to offer value and create trust:

- Build Personal Connections: Send personalized messages and engage in conversations to understand candidates' needs and aspirations.

- Showcase Success Stories: Share stories of successful placements and the impact those individuals made at their new companies.

- Provide Career Guidance: Offer advice on skills development, interview preparation, and career growth.

Here’s a great example of an informative video covering the highest paying fintech jobs. This is a great way to get your brand visible in front of prospective candidates in the fintech space. 

 6. Refine Your Technical Recruiting Process

Implement a multiple hurdles approach to assess candidates' technical and interpersonal skills. This involves multiple assessments, including technical tests, interviews, and reference checks. Ensure that your process is fair, unbiased, and efficient.

 7. Expand Your Offerings

As you grow your technology recruiting business, consider expanding your services to include:

Recruitment Consulting Services: Offer guidance on tech hiring strategy, compensation benchmarking, and employer branding.

Employee Training Programs: Provide training for companies on how to conduct technical interviews or how to foster an inclusive tech culture.

 8. Stay Updated and Adaptable

Recruiting tech is constantly evolving. Stay updated on new tools, technologies, and recruitment practices. Be adaptable and open to experimenting with new strategies.

Picking your tech recruitment niche based on industry demand

In-Demand Jobs in Fintech:

Fintech, the amalgamation of finance and technology, has emerged as one of the most dynamic tech recruitment sectors in the USA, continually evolving and disrupting traditional financial services. Within this burgeoning industry, certain roles stand out as particularly in demand, offering lucrative salaries and opportunities for growth.

  1. Data Scientist/Data Analyst: With the vast amounts of data generated in fintech, there's a pressing need for professionals who can analyze and derive insights from it. Data scientists and analysts play a crucial role in developing algorithms, predicting market trends, and enhancing decision-making processes. Average salaries for these roles range from $90,000 to $150,000 per year, depending on experience and expertise.
  2. Software Engineer/Developer: Fintech companies heavily rely on robust, secure, and scalable software solutions to deliver their services. Software engineers and developers skilled in languages like Python, Java, and C++ are in high demand. They design, develop, and maintain fintech platforms, trading systems, and mobile applications. Salaries for software engineers typically range from $100,000 to $160,000 annually.
  3. Cybersecurity Specialist: As fintech deals with sensitive financial data, cybersecurity is paramount. Cybersecurity specialists are responsible for protecting systems, networks, and information from cyber threats and attacks. With the increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber threats, these professionals command high salaries, averaging between $100,000 and $180,000 per year.
  4. Product Manager: Fintech product managers oversee the development and launch of innovative financial products and services. They collaborate with cross-functional teams, conduct market research, and define product strategies to meet customer needs. Product managers in fintech can earn salaries ranging from $110,000 to $170,000 annually, with potential bonuses based on performance.
  5. Compliance Officer/Regulatory Analyst: Given the complex regulatory landscape in finance, fintech companies require compliance officers and regulatory analysts to ensure adherence to laws and regulations. They monitor regulatory changes, implement compliance frameworks, and conduct risk assessments. Salaries for compliance roles vary but typically range from $80,000 to $150,000 per year.

Tech Recruitment Commissions and earning the big bucks

Recruitment agencies specializing in fintech talent acquisition stand to earn substantial commissions by placing candidates in these high-demand roles. Commissions vary based on factors such as the seniority of the position, negotiated rates, and the agency's success fee structure. On average, commissions can range from 15% to 30% of the candidate's first-year salary, potentially amounting to tens of thousands of dollars per successful placement.

Companies Actively Recruiting in Fintech:

Several prominent companies in the USA are actively recruiting talent to fuel their growth in the fintech sector. Among these companies, some stand out for their aggressive hiring strategies and innovative initiatives.

  1. Square: With its diverse range of financial services for businesses and individuals, Square is constantly expanding its workforce to support its innovative fintech products like Square Cash and Square Capital.
  2. Stripe: As a leading online payment processing platform, Stripe continues to grow rapidly, offering opportunities for software engineers, data scientists, and product managers to join its dynamic team.
  3. Robinhood: Known for its commission-free trading platform, Robinhood is disrupting the investment industry and is actively hiring talent across various domains, including software development, data analysis, and compliance.
  4. Coinbase: As one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the USA, Coinbase is at the forefront of the digital asset revolution, seeking skilled professionals in cybersecurity, software engineering, and regulatory compliance.
  5. PayPal: With its extensive suite of online payment solutions, PayPal remains a major player in fintech, attracting talent in areas such as data science, cybersecurity, and product management.

These companies offer competitive salaries, attractive benefits, and opportunities for career advancement, making them highly desirable destinations for job seekers in the fintech sector.

Stay tuned for more tips on tech recruitment in the coming weeks!

How to make a solid business case for a new hire in 2024

Making a business case for a new hire in any company can often be an enduring and difficult process. The larger the company, the more likely it is you will be contending with the process, bureaucracy, annual earning reports, and general political battles. If it's a small to medium company you are working for, you may have to contend with cash flow volatility or previous instances of poor hires, that may provide resistance against your desire.

One thing can be sure of whether you're working at a startup or an established blue-chip: timing and approach will be key components of whether your business case for additional headcount is met with a tepid or warm reception.

Timing:

It's probably not the best idea to be sliding any ‘additional headcount requests’ under people’s doors or into email inboxes after 'a record low earning report’. Use your intuition to get a palpable feeling of whether your reasons for hiring more staff will resonate better based on the current mood at the Leadership table.

Likewise, use timing to your advantage. If there are certain times of the year when new hires are considered, build your business case for additional staff well in advance. This will ensure the request for additional staff has the best chance of success.

Also, while your intuition and opinion are important, seeking feedback and possible support from other stakeholders is useful, which is a key part of the approach.

Approach:

Meeting with other stakeholders is also important because, regardless of whether they offer some support or anecdotal testimony that can help sway the tide in your favour, it's also a great way to ‘dry-run’ your headcount justification pitch.

Other stakeholders will likely ask the ‘needling’ questions that the Department Head may ask as they dissect your recruitment business plan. This will ensure you refine your new hire proposal template to include all the key criteria likely to impact whether you get the green light on your plans for adding incremental headcount.

The three necessities to answer the What, Why and How of making a business case for a new hire.

But aside from the obvious things like being prepared and meeting with the decision maker(s) one-on-one to present your business case for new hires, it comes down to three classic questions.

What: problem are we trying to solve with this request to hire more people
Why: It's of utter importance (positives/benefits vs negatives/consequences).
How: This impacts the business and aligns with its overall goals & how we will find this perfect candidate.

To grasp the three items above, you need empathy, imagination (future possibilities, both good or bad), and some data.

The Method Actor (Empathy):

Whether you think Christian Bale or Shia LaBeouf's method acting exploits are extreme, the takeaway is the old adage of ‘walking a mile in a man's shoes’.

Before you go in all guns blazing, it's good to work back from ‘If I were the CEO/Decision maker, what are the types of things that I would need to see to justify a new hire?’.

For example, there could have been previous hires that hadn’t worked out, and you’d need to demonstrate ‘why this time it's different’. If the CEO prefers outsourcing, get some credible evidence that this position needs to be an internal hire.

Other factors, such as economic headwinds or factors outside your control within the business, could also be working against you. Your business case needs to focus on revenue, whether in future earnings or losses if the new position isn’t added.

(Imagination) Future benefits or potential consequences

Something like ‘stress’ might be considered a somewhat subjective metric, especially to a CEO who breathes and survives on H2O and stress. Still, data showing employee attrition, lower employee morale scores, and perhaps even decreasing customer satisfaction (in correlation to lower morale) may give you a business case for additional hires if it's clear the department is overworked.

Not all CEOs are as concerned with stress as Renholm Denholm, so you may be better off arguing a more ‘financial basis’ case.

So, how do you build your case on ‘money’? Look at all the ways this employee could have an impact and in turn, how they inhibit or allow the company to flourish and thus gain more market share.

What positive impact could this employee have on:

Let's use the case of a CTO at an IT company that needs a new customer support agent/network engineer and play some game theory.

And what would be some examples of potential negative outcomes associated with not hiring for this position?

Drilling into the {Data} and selecting the tools to cover the 'what, why and how'.

So now you've conceptualised the impact you think this new hire could have on the business, you need data to substantiate your projections and highlight the impending risks resulting from not hiring. Ideally, you'd use data as a catalyst to initiate this type of action. Still, sometimes, this can be subjective and tangible beyond the rigid walls of data, such as palpably low morale in the office.

Selecting which tools to tell the story of why this request for headcount is critical is also important.

A CSAT tool might highlight a decreasing trend in customer satisfaction, but if there has been no churn, that data alone may not be enough to build a strong case for a new hire. However, if a business application highlights delays in project completion or client dissatisfaction in written or verbal notes, this may strengthen the argument for adding to the team's headcount.

Different types of business applications will have qualitative and quantitative data that will help you build a business case for hiring additional team members.

These tools are there to highlight the what and why and illustrate how they will impact the business (positively or negatively)

How to hire for the newly approved headcount?

So you used all these tips and tools to get your request for a new hire granted, but now you need to find this 'silver bullet' candidate who will solve ALL the problems your fantastic pitch just highlighted. Well, maybe some of them. Read this article on finding the best recruitment platforms for your industry here and get a headstart on your recruitment strategy.