As an IT staffing firm, Agile works closely with both employers and professionals seeking new career opportunities. Our tech recruiters regularly analyze data related to the positions we manage and the companies and candidates we support.
To help your business hire more effectively, we are sharing the most significant findings from our research over the past year. The data was compiled by Agile’s branch director, Matthew Marini, and his team and derived from our applicant tracking systems, internal and external job boards, and employer and candidate self-reporting. Explore the results, and get in touch to learn more about our work.
When working on their own, businesses are routinely delayed in hiring because of challenges in marketing their positions, highly specific job criteria, or inefficiencies in interviewing and refining candidates. Every week that a job goes unfilled means lost productivity and additional pressure on the rest of the company, increasing the risk that current employees will leave.
Agile’s tech recruiters understand how important it is to hire the right person quickly, and we’re committed to speeding time to talent. With an average of 23 days to fill positions for our clients, we’re 36% faster than the national average. Our IT recruiters can advise businesses on ways to shorten the timeframe even further.
Over time, jobs in infrastructure and operations have moved to the cloud, and companies have shifted their focus to hiring developers. These trends have demonstrated themselves nationally, and they appear likely to continue for years to come.
An increasing focus on developers means growing competition among employers for these workers. Companies should explore ways to augment their hiring process and to retain their existing talent.
As the market for technology talent becomes more competitive, companies need to identify candidates from new sources — instead of sticking with the same pond in which everyone else is fishing.
One of the reasons that employers choose Agile from among the field of IT staffing agencies is our professional network. The relationships that our tech recruiters develop and maintain allow us to provide candidates to employers that they may not get from any other source. These include highly qualified professionals who are fully employed elsewhere but who may switch jobs for the right opportunity.
Over the past few years, we have seen companies require less of candidates during the recruitment process. This is partly out of necessity; there are around four open positions for every one qualified professional, and employers who wait too long to make an offer are seeing their candidates go elsewhere.
At present, the most common approach that companies use is to have a phone interview followed by a single in-person interview. Some businesses will also include a skills test. Our tech recruiters recommend that employers conduct these interviews within one week if possible or two if necessary (instead of four or five interviews over a two-month span).
IT salaries in Atlanta and nationwide are increasing. At the high end, director-level candidates with whom our tech recruiters worked received offers up to $200,000. On the low end, compensation hovered closer to $120,000.
Comparing compensation based on a title presents challenges. A role at one company may entail different responsibilities than at another company, and business sizes and resources vary. Still, employers should be aware of the growing salaries that leaders are expecting for their work and take these ranges into account in order to attract top talent.
Support-level positions likely drew so many applicants because they are typically the entry-level role for developers. This tends to be true whether candidates have a four-year degree or have completed a certificate program. Development positions garnered interest from candidates in part because more professionals are focusing on this area of the field and more companies are posting these opportunities.
In addition to tracking statistics, Agile asked employers about their decision-making process and attitudes related to using an IT staffing firm like Agile. Below are the most common reasons that they offered.
Employers often approach Agile with unique requirements. For example, they may have recently merged their technology with that of a competitor they acquired, and they may need someone who knows both systems and can integrate them. Standard methods of promoting a job opening are unlikely to succeed in a case like this, and so companies turn to our tech recruiters to find the right candidates.
Because the nature of IT work is dynamic, complex, and often project-based, many companies prefer the flexibility of contract employees. With this model, employers can scale up as needed and determine if someone is a good fit for a permanent position while they are on the job.
Agile offers clients a contract-to-hire model in which we manage the on-boarding, benefits, and payroll processes for their contractors. We make it easier for businesses to adapt to new opportunities and to bring on the talent they need.
With an IT executive search, companies have the challenge of recruiting someone with technical prowess and proven leadership ability. Clients choose to work with Agile because of our experience in sourcing these candidates through relationships we have maintained as professionals have advanced in their careers. We work to identify and retain effective leaders for our clients.