Antonio González: "Finding technological profiles is becoming more and more complicated".

Antonio González Hernández, HR expert, talks about the recruitment of technological profiles.

The business world is already changing, and if we also focus on the development of new technologies, the transformations happen even faster.

However, the need to "keep up to date" is not exclusive to organizations in the STEM-based sector; any company that wants to be competitive must at least be aware of the latest technological advances in order to be competitive, incorporating some of these advances into the way it works in various ways: data protection, information management, market research, etc.

For this reason, Recruitment processes must therefore adapt to this need and lead the company to attract the most up-to-date professional profiles and, in some cases, niche profiles. We talked about it with Antonio González Hernández, expert in Human Resources.

Interview with Antonio González Hernández: the recruitment of technological profiles.

Antonio González Hernández is Doctor in Psychology and Director of the Online Specialization Diploma in Talent Attraction, Recruitment, Evaluation and Loyalty of the University of Malaga (UMA). (UMA). In this interview he talks to us about the selection and recruitment process of profiles with a technology-oriented profile.

Is it common for companies to have problems finding professionals dedicated to the world of programming, software development and other technological profiles?

That's right, it is becoming more complicated every day. The reasons may be several; on the one hand the increase in the need for this type of workers due to the obvious digital transformation in which we find ourselves, and on the other hand, the number of qualified people for these positions is not increasing. This makes finding these professionals with technological profiles increasingly complicated.

What are the most important skills that recruitment experts should have in order to find the right technology profiles?

First of all, they must have a deep knowledge of what the market is demanding, i.e., the skills and profiles that technology companies require.

From there, a deep knowledge of the professionals, that is to say, where I can find them and how I can approach them and contact them to manage the offer in an adequate way.

Is it usual to look for technological profiles through headhunting methods?

Yes, any methodology can be used for this purpose. We must take into account that in searches for this type of profiles, the traditional way of recruiting is usually not very productive.

Sometimes interesting offers are generated in terms of conditions, and candidates are not obtained. Headhunting can be a useful strategy in this case, but others such as inbound recruiting are also used successfully.

Do companies tend to overlook the soft skills of these professionals, focusing only on their technical knowledge to decide whether to hire them?

Companies tend to look for immediate results. The accreditation of technical knowledge can be done almost immediately. On the other hand, the evaluation of other competencies that have proven to be more adaptable in the medium or long term implies more time to be dedicated to the selection process, and this means that in many processes this is underestimated.

Fortunately, this is happening less and less, and recruitment and selection professionals have more adequate training to make selection processes more successful, without neglecting the speed demanded by companies, of course. It is, once again, about finding balances.

What are the most commonly used digital tools and platforms when carrying out this type of selection?

There are countless tools, even giant platforms such as Apple or Facebook have created their own, some very interesting ones that improve the evaluation of competency profiles, such as HRider, or Bizneo, are gaining positions.

HR Analitycs is still always well positioned as a bit data management and data mining tool. But above all, LinkedIn is still the king, especially in very specialized profiles such as the technology sector.

What are the characteristics of a company that most often attract technology professionals?

It is increasingly clear that for a company to be attractive, it is necessary to offer positions with an essential base line (salary and working conditions). If a company is economically powerful, these standards can be achieved with relative simplicity.

But this is not enough, and it is necessary to complement these advantageous conditions with others that not everyone can easily access; these are more related to measures of reconciliation, teleworking, social benefits, employer branding, and emotional salary, that topic so hackneyed and misunderstood on many occasions. Money can really be offered by anyone, but the rest is not so simple.