How to fill the most in-demand IT jobs in the UK

There’s a serious tech talent shortfall in the UK at the moment. This means many engineering and IT jobs are out there, waiting to be filled.

Some of the most in-demand jobs at the moment are in the fields of data science, data, and big data. There is also a big demand for IT support professionals, web developers, and software developers. Not to mention network engineers and network managers.

All of which begs the question, where are all of these skilled candidates going to come from?

Here are some IT and engineering recruitment strategies you can put in place to tackle the problem:

How to fill in-demand IT jobs

1) Go beyond your local area

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us have gotten used to the idea of remote working.

Most engineering and IT companies now offer working from home at least some of the time. Those that don’t offer flexible working conditions are increasingly losing out to those that do.

If you have IT jobs that are harder to fill, it’s worth considering if you’re demanding someone’s presence in your physical office for reasons that might not be essential.

Loosening up on this demand gives you access to a much broader field of potential talent.

2) Consider the salary you’re offering

The cost of living seems to be on everyone’s lips at the moment, and with good reason. The cost of what limited housing is available has also shot up, especially in those in-demand parts of the UK.

This can mean that what seemed like a reasonable or even generous salary a few years ago now has additional pressures placed on it. Average salaries have gone up in the tech industry. Have yours?

If not, you might be facing more competition on the remuneration side of filling a position.

This doesn’t mean you need to boost your salaries with a shotgun approach. But it is worth researching what the average salary is or asking a specialist IT recruitment agency for an overview and seeing where you are.

3) Prioritise soft skills and coach-ability

Extensive technical tests in your recruitment process can give you a certain amount of information. But the most important quality new talent can possess is almost always going to be how well they fit your company culture.

The upside of focusing your IT talent search on soft skills and finding someone who wants to learn is that you are placing less of a premium on the kind of must-have technical skills that make some IT jobs difficult to fill.

Consider looking for more junior or trainee talent who have a strong desire to be taught to fill those long-empty positions.

4) Recruit internally

You might also think about offering career progression to members of your own team – especially those people who are keen to take on more responsibility and are really dialled into your company culture.

Remember though that you will then need to recruit for their previous role, meaning it’s not necessarily a way to deal with your problem if you then need to fill an equally challenging role.

5) Perfect your recruitment process

Bear in mind that the tech skills shortage means it’s not just you trying to attract the best IT talent at the moment. Candidates you are talking with may be interviewing at two or three of your competitors too!

This means that a recruitment process that demands long tech tests before a candidate can even interview or has a series of hoops to jump through can be off-putting. Remember also that there’s a need to really make clear why your company is such a good one to work for.

You need to move fast too. Long waits in between receiving a CV and responding to it can see good candidates already heading in the direction of other opportunities.

If you need expertise to create a hiring process that gets you the kind of talent you actually need, talking with your go-to specialist IT or engineering recruitment company is the way to do it.

Struggling to find a candidate for an engineering or IT job you need to fill?

Let’s talk. Ernest Gordon uses market-leading AI recruitment tools to match the best professionals with opportunities just like yours.

Set up a commitment-free chat with one of our recruitment specialists today. Let’s discuss the kind of candidates you want to find.