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The right talent is the backbone of every Colorado tech company. So the task of finding it can bring a lot of pressure: the wrong hire could break your company, while the right one could bring your company to a whole new level. Here to help your team find the right talent in the right places are recruiters and talent experts from email intelligence company ReturnPath, IT staffing firm Remy Corporation and storage system company SolidFire. Here's their findings on hiring trends this year.
1. There is a huge initiative to diversify teams
“There are gaps in diversity as a whole but it seems initiatives we've done with other companies in Colorado and National Center for Women & IT has paid off. For example, our percentage of female employees over the course of a year and half has increased from 16 percent to 23 percent.” - Derek Johnson, People Manager at ReturnPath
2. Flexible work hours are key
“As far as what employees are looking for from positions, they want a good combination of both remote and in-house hours. They want flexibility." -Tyler Stapp, Recruiter at Remy Corporation
3.The recruiting process must be simple in a tight market
“We've got a number of initiatives underway to make the applicant experience at SolidFire stand out (new careers site; shorter/more compelling job descriptions, guaranteed candidate communications, speedier decision communication timeframes). In general, we want all applicants to SolidFire to have an easy, fast, responsive, well communicated, professional and respectful experience with us.” - Chuck McCoy, Talent Acquisition at SolidFire
4. The Cloud is hot
“Cloud Storage, Cloud Architecture & Network, Cloud Management Solutions, Application Integration into the Cloud...all these areas require low-level/systems technical talent. While the Cloud is mentioned all the time, the types of folks you need to power the Cloud is not getting as much attention (more focus on Apps/Mobile developers). Yet these people are critical and in short supply. Finding this talent requires diverse and creative local/national/international efforts.” - McCoy
5. Java is also hot
"With over 1,200 current Java Developer roles listed in Denver, this is one of the hottest skill sets by far" -Andrew Albarelle, CEO at Remy Corporation
6. And so is .NET
".NET Web Developers are in demand everywhere.” - Stapp
7. Talent should be hired as early as possible
“College sports teams are signing athletes earlier and earlier. The same is true in the tech sector. We're expanding our university and internship (paid!) programs. We've been very successful building relationships with talented students early on and then hiring those folks before they graduate.” - McCoy
8. Out-of-state candidates are on the rise
“There seems to be a rise on technical talent open to relocating to Colorado for our startup community.” - Johnson
9. Stay local
“We're reaching out and getting more and more involved in the local community by participating in Denver Startup Week, Built In Brews, NewCo Boulder and local Meetups.” - McCoy
10. Tech companies and recruiters are partnering more on hiring
“Hyper-growth companies are now engaging each other to help expand the talent pool. They are utilizing everyone's different company experience (or size) to help grow Denver/Boulder-based company cultures. We are sharing ideas and concepts rather than competing. Joining forces on events to expand Colorado's knowledge of the tech industry.” - Johnson
