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When it comes to the most attractive industries to work in, technology often tops the list of most job candidates.
Whether driven by the idea of working in innovative environments, compensation, or the prospect of contributing to products with the potential to change the way the world works, the technology industry has done an excellent job making itself a top destination for top talent in the last three or four decades.
The COVID-19 pandemic, and how it has affected the workplace and hiring dynamics across the globe, is interesting to think about from a tech job market perspective.
As consumers and businesses shift to an increasingly remote environment, DTC and SaaS companies already positioned with remote workforces have seen less disruption and have used the shifting dynamics as a chance to catalyze and push incredible levels of growth.
As organizations shift to incorporating a more disparate workforce, the need for progressive on-the-job training that is conducive to the virtual environment is growing.
Also, as leaders in the corporate movement towards incorporating more diversity and inclusion initiatives into the hiring process, the tech industry has had to adapt virtual procedures to maintain positive movement in this regard, too.
So, what does that mean from a job seeker’s perspective? Especially the job seeker looking to transition into a role in the tech industry?
On-The-Job Training in a Remote Environment
The COVID-19 pandemic, and the shift to work-from-home, have served as a catalyst for the continuation of a trend that tech companies have been at the forefront of. With this acceleration, however, is the increased demand for sound on-the-job training, and the best practices around training processes for new employees in a virtual setting.
As a result, tech companies are leaning more and more on digital tools that maintain the quality of onboarding to a level that is similar to that of an in-person experience.
There are benefits, too, that have come about as a result of the transition to virtual on-the-job training. These include pacing and the level of detail that new hires can dive into because they can check on information without the pressure of somebody looking over them.
“We’re seeing our new hires showcase their problem-solving skills earlier as a result of virtual on-the-job training,” says Kristen Fowler, Practice Lead at Clarke Caniff Strategic Search – a boutique executive search firm specializing in the hospitality, services, real estate, and luxury sectors. “When we compare the experience of training virtually to in-person training, we can see that new hires are encouraged to be a little bit more curious and click around the different systems they’re learning to use.
We are seeing more trial and error, and a willingness to figure out what works for them instead of being spoon-fed
More Opportunity for Increased Exposure to Diverse Staff Members During the Interview Process
Usually, at the forefront of progressive conversations around the future of workforce dynamics, tech companies are also contributing to a trend that recruiting firms and hiring professionals are seeing when it comes to interviewing and candidate vetting in a virtual environment – a greater emphasis on the candidate experience and increased exposure to more stakeholders in an organization earlier in the interviewing process.
An interesting trend we’re seeing in hiring because of work-from-home is an increased number of interviews happening with more diverse team members throughout an organization
Joseph Puglise
Joseph Puglise is Senior Director of Executive Search and Recruiting at global executive search firm JMJ Phillip Group. “Because you’re not getting the office tour and culture, we’re seeing companies make a bigger effort around getting more people as part of the interview process.”
Tech companies are transitioning to processes that allow for enhanced showcasing of the firm’s diverse ideas and perspectives, earlier in the hiring process, which in turn can help decision-making on both the candidate and hiring team’s sides.
Candidates get a truer sense of the individuals who lead an organization, and whether they will mesh with the culture of the organization, and the hiring organization can get a sense of how the candidate will fit with the current infrastructure of the organization, just by virtue of how they interact with the various stakeholders through the interviewing process.
This ends up being a win-win for both sides and is a trend that will most likely continue even as the world settles back into a post-pandemic environment.
There’s a lot of value in having more perspectives on a hiring decision, and there is also a lot of value in shortening the amount of time that a candidate takes to get a feel for an organization’s culture – something that traditionally required being on the job for a certain amount of time because only then we’re candidates able to meet enough people within an organization to make a decision.
Kane Carpenter is the Director of Marketing for Clarke Caniff Strategic Search. In this role, Kane is responsible for driving market awareness across the entire JMJ Phillip Holdings portfolio of companies.
Kane also manages Employment BOOST’s Career Services function for and leads hiring and recruitment efforts. Kane is currently pursuing an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University, and is Google Advertising Certified.
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