With the growth of the IT sector, careers in this field have long been tagged as “dream jobs.” It’s believed that jobs in this field offer plenty of benefits – they pay well, offer more flexibility compared to other jobs, and are in high demand these days. All of this is true. But, one more thing you need to know about working in this sector is that it doesn’t necessarily mean being a developer or designer.
Despite a common belief, this industry is very expansive and goes far beyond just developing software. In fact, there is a need for a large number of specialists, and not all of them have to be tech-minded.
If you have been dreaming about a career in this field, one opportunity that is often being overlooked is a job of an IT recruiter. In this article, we are going to tell you who they are, what they do, and, most importantly, give some effective tips on how to become one yourself!
Who Are IT Recruiters and What Do They Do?
It’s not hard to imagine that in the world where IT is one of the largest business sectors there is a huge need for tech specialists. But, at the same time, there is also a huge need for people who will be hiring those specialists. And this is what the job of an IT recruiter is all about.
In a nutshell, people in this role are regular HR (human resources) professionals just like the ones that can be found in every other company across any business vertical. The core goal of these professionals is to identify the talent gaps and find a good match to fill in job openings.
However, the job goes beyond that. It is also HR’s duty to perform background checks of candidates, interview potential employees, and also ensure that newly hired specialists don’t have any trouble fitting into the company.
The career opportunities are pretty flexible. Of course, there is an opportunity to land a job as an in-house specialist in a chosen IT company directly. Apart from this, there is also an opportunity to work for specialized companies like Develux that offer outsourced IT recruitment services. Both options are great. So, it all gets down to your personal preferences.
The only thing that differs an IT recruiter from any other HR specialist is that hiring professionals in this sector actually requires you to have a good understanding of different roles and may even require possessing certain tech skills. Thus, you might need to do some work before you land a job. But, nevertheless, the hard work will pay off with the benefits in the form of a fulfilling job and stable pay.
Sounds like the right opportunity for you? If so, let’s move on and figure out how to become a recruiter.
How to Start a Career as an IT Recruiter
So, you decided to become recruitment specialist in the IT sector? If so, you might be wondering what steps you have to take now in order to ensure success.
To help you get on the right track, we’ve prepared a step-by-step guide that will help you overcome any challenges that will come along your way and win a job:
Study the Requirements and Qualifications
Before you undertake any further steps, it’s vital to ensure that you fully understand the role of a human resources specialist and know what potential employers are looking for. Thus, to get started you should study the requirements and qualifications for this job.
Although typically any career starts with a relevant degree, HR is a bit different. Although it is preferable to have a degree, it’s not always mandatory. And neither is it mandatory to have a degree specifically in human resources. You may as well land a job with a degree in business, psychology, sociology, or marketing.
As for other requirements, they vary depending on the position. But, most often you will need to have the following qualifications:
- High school diploma
- College degree
- Understanding of employment and management principles
- Background and experience in human resources.
Apart from this, you should have at least some basic knowledge in the area of informational technologies.
Get a Degree
It may not be required in the job opening, but having at least some college degree does help in the job search. So, if you are currently hesitating whether to apply to college or not or if you are already in the process of acquiring a degree, don’t go astray. A diploma will give you a competitive edge.
Take a Course
If you don’t have a degree and don’t want to waste several years of your life acquiring one or if you are a career changer looking to introduce yourself to the HR field, there is an alternative to college.
There are plenty of specialized courses in human resources. Some courses available out there even focus on human resources for particular spheres, in particular, IT.
Taking a course has many benefits. First of all, it takes less time than going to college. And the best part about it is that there are both online and offline options, so everyone can choose something that suits their needs!
Expand Your Skillset and Knowledge
In some cases, it is possible to land a job without both an education and relevant experience. However, even in this case, you will need to do some serious work to identify your knowledge and skill gaps and fill them.
Apart from the understanding of the informational technologies and the roles involved in this field, IT recruiters should also possess the following skills:
Excellent verbal and written communication
- Sales skills
- Active listening
- Attention to details
- Multi-tasking
- Problem-solving
- Patience
These are a few of the many skills. But, they are the most vital. So, before applying to any vacancies, be sure you analyze your skills and enhance them at the early stage.
Get Familiar With Popular Recruitment Tools
Apart from having a solid set of soft and hard skills, every good HR specialist should also be familiar with and know how to use different recruitment tools. The majority of these tools are aimed at automation, which is why they play a huge role in the work of human resources professionals. Thus, before you go further, be sure to check out what tools are out there and master a couple of them.
Land Your First Job
Finally, when you’ve gone through all preparatory steps and ensured that your skills, knowledge, and qualifications meet the requirements, it’s time to find the right opportunity and capture it.
There are many ways to find available openings. First of all, you will need to prepare a solid resume. It has to be engaging, make you stand out of the crowd of other candidates, and emphasize your strongest points. When you have a resume, you can use the following tools to search for a job:
- Job boards;
- LinkedIn;
- Networking.
Each of these tools is time-tested and proven to be effective for the job search. So, try them all to see which one works best for you.
The Bottom Line
As you now know, becoming an IT recruiter isn’t as hard as many would think. It doesn’t always require a college degree or relevant work experience. But, it does require having solid skills.
Since the ultimate task of every HR is to evaluate other people, it makes sense why you should start with you first. All in all, to start a career in this field, you need to analyze and assess all your strong and weak points and keep improving yourself until you become a real pro.
Good luck!
