Hiring IT Staff with Unconventional Backgrounds




Hiring IT Staff with Unconventional Backgrounds











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Hiring IT Staff with
Unconventional Backgrounds

by James G. Barr

Copyright 2022, Faulkner Information Services. All
Rights Reserved.

Docid: 00018040

Publication Date: 2210

Publication Type: TUTORIAL

Preview

Recruiting and retaining information technology (IT) staff – particularly
post-pandemic – has become a major challenge for IT managers and
recruiters as the pool of highly-qualified candidates continues to dry up
and applicants exercise their new-found market power to demand high
salaries and flexible work conditions. In response, many professional
recruiters are urging their enterprise clients to consider non-traditional
candidates or individuals with unconventional backgrounds. This may
include those with liberal arts degrees or persons currently serving in
clerical or administrative positions. The only important criterion is the
capacity to learn as information technology is constantly changing and
expanding.

Report Contents:

Executive Summary

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Recruiting and retaining information technology (IT) staff – particularly
post-pandemic – has become a major challenge for IT managers and
recruiters as the pool of highly-qualified candidates continues to dry up
and applicants exercise their new-found market power to demand high
salaries and flexible work conditions. Often this means they will only
accept positions that offer either remote-only (the preferred choice) or
hybrid work. In response, many professional recruiters are urging their
enterprise clients to consider non-traditional candidates or individuals
with unconventional backgrounds for IT work, such as those with liberal
arts degrees or whose training is in clerical or administrative positions.
The only important criterion is the capacity to learn as information
technology is constantly changing and expanding.

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The State of IT Employment

In September 2022, TechServe Alliance reported that IT job growth
[remains] flat. “IT employment was up a meager 0.19 percent from July
2021, adding a net of only 10,500 jobs. There is plenty of demand
and positions open, but there are just not enough IT professionals
around to meet the needs of businesses,” said Mark Roberts,
TechServe CEO. “Our members are constantly educating their client
companies about the necessity to make quick hiring decisions and to offer
competitive benefits and compensation packages. Despite the talks
of recession and pockets of layoffs, it is still an employee’s market;
we are seeing some candidates with multiple competing job offers.”1

The traditional solutions for filling IT job vacancies – higher salaries,
more aggressive recruiting, promises of skills training (even skills
certification) – are not delivering the number of IT-capable bodies
required to manage today’s multi-variate hybrid computing environment, one
which features:

  • Mobile computing
  • Cloud computing
  • Edge computing
  • The Internet of Things (IoT)
  • Artificial intelligence
  • 5G communications
  • Remote/hybrid work

To keep pace with their competitors, enterprise executives must be
willing to cast a wider net by welcoming individuals with unconventional
backgrounds.

Tech DNA

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There’s a common misconception that IT – indeed, all tech – workers are
born to their professions, in other words that their career path is and
always was tech-exclusive. Speaking from personal perspective, this
writer, who was trained as a theoretical physicist, eschewed a pure
science path to enjoy a successful career as a VM systems programmer,
business continuity analyst, and later as an IT journalist. Rather than an
isolated experience, my ability to transition from an unconventional
beginning to an IT ending is not unusual.

In the most comprehensive analysis available, McKinsey & Company
examined the work histories of roughly 280,000 tech professionals in
Germany, India, the UK, and the US. The firm found that among those who
ended their work history as tech professionals:

  • 44 percent started in non-tech occupations
  • 36 percent started in other tech occupations
  • 20 percent started in the same occupation

Of the 44 percent who started in non-tech occupations, the average “skill
distance,” or the “share of non-overlapping skill requirements” was 53
percent. This means, as might appear obvious, that non-tech beginners
require considerable education to adapt to their new roles. By comparison,
for the 36 percent who started in other tech positions, the average skill
distance was only 29 percent.2

For enterprise executives concerned with hiring individuals with
unconventional, i.e., non-tech, backgrounds, the evidence indicates that
with time and training, a non-tech employee can be transformed into a
capable, if not exceptional, tech worker. 

Tech Staffing Challenges

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Hiring managers are skittish about choosing
people with learning curves to fill mission-critical roles. It’s human
nature to hold out for someone who feels like a safe choice because they
already perform exactly the tasks you need.

– McKinsey & Company3

Despite the reservations of hiring managers whose jobs depend on the
skill and experience of their subordinates, engaging individuals with
unconventional backgrounds is becoming more attractive given the current
state of technical recruiting, in which experienced candidates – even when
available, affordable, and approachable – can leverage their overall
scarcity to gain workplace concessions like remote-only work.

The following are among the many challenges faced by today’s hiring
managers when trying to fill such key IT roster spots as:

  • Application software developers
  • Cybersecurity analysts
  • Customer support specialists
  • Web and network administrators
  • Document and content managers

The Remote/Hybrid Work Imperative 

As reported by Susan Dominus of The New York Times, Ryan
Sutton, a district president in charge of technology recruiting for the
staffing firm Robert Half notes, “If you are not going to offer remote
work, if you’re not going to offer at least hybrid, we can’t help you.”4

Sometimes a Deal Is Not a Deal

Dominus recounts the experience the Tiffany Dyba, a 39-year-old recruiter
in New York who “after working for months to land a signed offer for a
qualified candidate for one company … lost that hire when the
candidate’s current employer swooped in with a generous, last-minute
retention bonus. She had a signed offer! That had never happened to her
before. Now she counts on nothing: ‘I don’t stop interviewing until I have
a butt in the seat – like I am aggressively still looking for candidates
even after we have a signed offer.'”5

Tech Recruiters Are Demanding Big Dollars

Dominus reveals that “Recruiters are in such demand that they, too, are
scarce, which means their fees have never been higher. In-house tech
recruiter salaries are up about 30 percent, estimates Daniel Wert, who
works at a boutique executive-search firm in the design community.
Organizations looking for help in cloud and cybersecurity positions have
increased fees they are offering to recruiting services to as high as 45
percent of the first year’s salary, says Ryan Sutton.”6

Staff Development Is Often Low Priority

Today’s technical job seekers are searching for education as much as
employment. Even experienced IT analysts realize that their technical
expertise can have a short shelf life. Consequently, they value
organizations that provide continuing education opportunities including
certification and periodic re-certification in areas such as:

  • Cybersecurity
  • Network design and deployment
  • Application architecture and design
  • Cloud and edge operations and management

Unfortunately, many organizations have failed to emphasize education.
They fail by not establishing an in-house training unit or by not
articulating a commitment to individually-oriented training programs.
McKinsey warns that “Given the mobility of tech workers, employers need to
assess the totality of what they offer employees – and one of the most
important components is the opportunity to learn. It may feel
counterintuitive to invest in training someone who might leave, but the
greater risk is failing to train and develop people who stay.
Deepening and expanding the digital skills of the entire workforce pays
off in the form of productivity, innovation, and retention.”7

Recommendations

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In terms of broadening the base of available IT workers, including
individuals with unconventional backgrounds, an organization should
consider the following steps.

Develop an On-the-Job Training Curriculum

The well-rounded curriculum will combine:

  • Self-study manuals and online training aids
  • In-house classroom instruction
  • College or technical school courses
  • Observation of – and mentoring by – senior personnel
  • Administration of oral and written exams to test individuals’
    knowledge and ability to apply lessons learned

Administer Job Aptitude Tests

Assessing the potential of individuals with unconventional backgrounds
can be difficult, with little or no work experience to inform a manager’s
hiring decisions. One way to compensate is to develop (more likely,
acquire) a portfolio of job aptitude tests. For example, “Programming
aptitude tests are designed to assess effectiveness in programming by
determining how well [an individual] can solve problems requiring
mathematical knowledge and logical reasoning.”8 Importantly,
they do not rely on the individual’s knowledge of a particular programming
language or of programming itself.

Advertise Opportunities via Unconventional Channels

When attempting to attract individuals with unconventional backgrounds,
pursue unconventional channels. Where previously an organization may have
advertised an IT opening on DICE.com or another site that caters to
technology professionals, a compelling ad placed on a general recruitment
vehicle like Indeed.com can help surface non-technology professionals.
Similarly, ads appearing in general interest newspapers, magazines, and
social media sites can yield a diverse array of talented applicants, as
can overtures placed on physical message boards (as in Figure 1).

Figure 1. Don’t Be Shy About Advertising Your IT Openings

Figure 1. Don't Be Shy About Advertising Your IT Openings

Source: Flickr
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/)

Don’t Overlook People Within the Organization

As McKinsey cautions, “The tendency to pigeonhole people based on the
work they do in their current roles is particularly ingrained when it
comes to current employees. Individuals who want to reinvent themselves
often have to go to a new environment to do so.”9 Leveraging an
enterprise’s existing talent pool is smart, inexpensive when compared to
outside recruiting, and good for organizational morale.

Pair New Non-Tech Hires with Seasoned Mentors

To increase the likelihood that new non-tech hires will achieve success
as programmers, analysts, administrators, etc., be sure to assign a
knowledgeable, communicative – and, above all, patient – mentor to each
employee. In a mentor-mentee relationship, a novice is paired with a more
experienced worker who acts as a role model, sponsor, challenger, and
guide. The mentoring arrangement should feature:

  • Clear goals and measures for both the mentor and the mentee
  • Training and support for both parties
  • A definite duration – usually 6-12 months – followed by informal
    contact, as needed

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References

    1 “Plenty of Demand but Lack of Talent Means Tech Employment
    Remains Flat.” TechServe Alliance. September 7, 2022.

    2 Davis Carlin, Anu Madgavkar, Dana Maor, and Angelika
    Reich. “Overcoming the Fear Factor in Hiring Tech Talent.” McKinsey
    & Company. August 31, 2022.

    3 Ibid.

    4 Susan Dominus. “Tech Companies Face a Fresh Crisis:
    Hiring.” The New York Times. February 16, 2022.

    5 Ibid.

    6 Ibid.

    7 Davis Carlin, Anu Madgavkar, Dana Maor, and Angelika
    Reich. “Overcoming the Fear Factor in Hiring Tech Talent.” McKinsey
    & Company. August 31, 2022.

    8 “Programming Aptitude Tests: 20 Important Facts You Need
    to Know.” Job Description and Resume Examples. 2022.

    9 Davis Carlin, Anu Madgavkar, Dana Maor, and Angelika
    Reich. “Overcoming the Fear Factor in Hiring Tech Talent.” McKinsey
    & Company. August 31, 2022.

About the Author

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James G. Barr is a leading business continuity analyst
and business writer with more than 40 years’ IT experience. A member of
“Who’s Who in Finance and Industry,” Mr. Barr has designed, developed, and
deployed business continuity plans for a number of Fortune 500 firms. He
is the author of several books, including How to Succeed in Business
BY Really Trying, a member of Faulkner’s Advisory Panel, and a
senior editor for Faulkner’s Security Management Practices.
Mr. Barr can be reached via e-mail at jgbarr@faulkner.com.

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