Technical jobs are those that require technical skills such as engineering, computer technicians, information technology, and web developers. Hiring for technical jobs can be tricky because you need an employee that already has the knowledge to complete a job or skill and does not need extensive training. The technical hiring process takes time and a keen eye to choose the right team members. Technical hiring goes beyond just the interview but should be carefully considered when cultivating your team. You will want to focus on internal alignment, diversity and inclusion, connecting with candidates, and of course the interviews. 

Internal Alignment

As previously mentioned, internal alignment is the first step with internal hiring. This consists of creating a hiring plan, creating job descriptions, setting levels and titles, and defining roles. First, assess where you are lacking in your company and what exactly you want to be achieved by this new position. Have a meeting with stakeholders to clearly define the needs and see where this role will fit in with the current hierarchy. When creating the job description be very clear with the expectations. Include if you need any specific education levels or certifications so that you can have a baseline of your non-negotiables. 

Diversity and Inclusion

Having a diverse team of individuals is vital for making a well-rounded group of technical workers. Your diversity should be with various backgrounds and skill sets. When considering backgrounds, you want a good balance of cultures and gender. The more diverse your team the more like a multitool your team will be. If everyone has a different background and skill from the get-go you will be able to tackle different issues from various angles. To determine exactly what your needs are, do a complete assessment of your current team so you have a clear goal in mind for hiring your new employee. 

Connecting with Candidates

Once you have determined exactly what you need from a candidate, you will have to begin reaching out to them and connecting. There are many ways of doing this including using recruiters, career fairs, social media, or online job postings. Connecting with candidates has become much easier with the use of the internet, but traditional methods of connecting are still very effective. Once you finally come in contact with the candidates be very aware of their communication. If they are professional and well-articulated from the beginning it is a good predictor of future behaviors.

Interviews

Interviews are make it or break it for choosing the best candidate for the job. To conduct an effective interview, you need to ask the right questions to get all of the information you need in a short amount of time. Some of the most important questions are about their experience, strengths and weaknesses, a technical question, and a question to make them think on their feet. Notice their body language and mannerisms as well as their answers. If you have many candidates, it can be helpful to have multiple people in the interviews and fill out a score sheet after each one. This way you can look back on all of the score sheets with both objective and subjective data.

Hiring the right technical candidate is a job that can be tackled in a systematic way. The key is truly making a detailed plan and job description for the new position you are posting. Take the time you need to get to know your candidates because their skills and abilities will have a large impact on the performance of your team as a whole. Be open to the process of technical hiring and also make sure that the candidates get a good sense of who your company is.