Your IT hiring process might be the reason you’re missing out on top talent.
If your organization is struggling to fill tech roles, you’re not alone. In today’s market, speed and precision matter more than ever. Unfortunately, internal roadblocks often make even the best companies lose their edge.
Here’s what might be going wrong—and what you can do about it now.
1. Your Job Descriptions Are Confusing or Unrealistic
Many companies don’t take the time to write clear job descriptions. They recycle old ones or load them with jargon. Today, ChatGPT and other GenAI products likely have written over half of all job descriptions. This approach might be easier to start, but if it misses key aspects of what your candidate needs for success, then the time saved is questionable. What results is confusion, wasted effort, and potentially filtering out qualified candidates who don’t see themselves in the role.
Another mistake? Asking for everything. The mythical unicorn developer with 10 years of experience in five different languages doesn’t exist. Adding the phrase “we encourage all to apply, even if you don’t meet all the qualifications” isn’t going to help.
How to fix it:
- Get specific about the core skills and tools needed.
- Involve the actual hiring manager in the writing process.
- Keep the description short, honest, and clear.
- Carefully review the first draft of what ChatGPT or a Copilot generated.
2. Your Interview Process Is Too Slow
In tech hiring, speed wins. Talented candidates get multiple offers. If your process drags, you’ll lose them. This isn’t just a procedural factor. It goes to show that you are taking the candidate seriously, offering a preview of what it will be like to work for your organization.
Long delays between interviews, indecisive managers, or repetitive assessments all signal disorganization. Top talent will walk.
How to fix it:
- Schedule interviews back-to-back.
- Empower your team to make quick decisions.
- Streamline assessments to what’s truly necessary.
3. Too Many Stakeholders Are Involved
While collaboration is good, too many opinions stall progress. When six people need to weigh in, consensus takes forever. Further, scheduling timeframes will get extended, amplifying the points shared in point #2.
The more stakeholders you involve, the more likely priorities will conflict.
How to fix it:
- Designate a clear hiring lead.
- Limit decision-makers to a tight, aligned group.
- Use scorecards to keep feedback objective.
4. You’re Not Selling the Role
The IT hiring process isn’t just about screening candidates. It’s also about convincing them to choose you. The best fit for a new IT staffing candidate is one that both parties feel they are getting the best opportunity and candidate.
If you’re not sharing why your company is worth their time, you’re missing a key step. Candidates want to know:
- What will I work on?
- Who will I work with?
- What’s the team culture?
- What career growth is available?
- What is your remote working policy?
How to fix it:
- Arm interviewers with clear talking points.
- Showcase projects, team wins, and growth paths.
- Treat every interaction as a two-way street.
5. You’re Not Tapping the Right Networks
The best candidates aren’t always on job boards. Many are passive, meaning they won’t apply unless approached directly. Here is where the power of working with a specialist that already has relationships with IT staff can be a real benefit.
Learn more about Axis Technical Group’s IT staffing services.
Your internal recruiters might lack access to these candidates or the bandwidth to chase them.
How to fix it:
- Use LinkedIn and niche forums.
- Leverage employee referrals.
- Work with a specialized IT staffing partner.
6. Your Compensation Isn’t Competitive
The IT job market moves fast. If your pay isn’t keeping up, candidates will pass. Compensation is also highly specialized. Reading about market hiring and salary trends doesn’t always translate into accurate insights into a specialized IT staff role. As an extreme example, the recent WSJ article, Zuckerberg Leads AI Recruitment Blitz Armed With $100 Million Pay Packages, might suggest a complete recalibration in market wages. Upon further reading, the skill set Mr. Zuckerberg seeks is highly specialized!
Compensation packages include base salary, remote flexibility, benefits, bonus or commission packages, and signing bonuses. If you’re under-market, it doesn’t matter how great the job is.
How to fix it:
- Benchmark your offers against industry data, paying close attention to matching comparable positions and responsibilities.
- Be transparent about your compensation structure.
- Highlight non-monetary perks where applicable.
7. You’re Missing Out on Contract or Project-Based Talent
Not every tech role needs a full-time hire. For specialized skills or short-term needs, contract professionals make more sense. The benefits can be substantial, including have an opportunity to see a candidate’s work mastery and communications skills prior to hiring on a full-time basis.
But many companies don’t consider this. They waste time trying to hire permanent staff when a project-based expert could solve the issue faster.
How to fix it:
- Reevaluate if the role really needs to be permanent.
- Explore contract-to-hire as a low-risk option.
- Use staffing partners who understand this space, such as Axis Technical Group.
8. You’re Not Tracking Hiring Metrics
How long does it take you to fill a role? What’s your offer acceptance rate? Where are your best candidates coming from? How have these metrics changed over the past 18 months? The IT staffing market is quite dynamic. Things change quickly, but these changes are not always visible unless you are actively investing the time, effort, and resources to monitor.
If you can’t answer these, you’re flying blind.
How to fix it:
- Track time-to-fill, source of hire, and interview-to-offer ratio.
- Use dashboards to make data visible.
- Adjust strategies based on what works.
9. You’re Not Building a Pipeline
Hiring shouldn’t start when someone quits. That puts you in panic mode. Just like building a sales pipeline, you should have a strategy in place for building a staff hiring pipeline, too.
Companies that win in IT hiring are always recruiting. They nurture relationships with candidates over time.
How to fix it:
- Keep in touch with silver medalists.
- Engage in tech communities and meetups.
- Create a quarterly talent pipeline plan.
10. You’re Trying to Do It All Yourself
Hiring tech talent is not like hiring for other roles. It requires a deep understanding of tools, stacks, and trends. Today, it includes a gauge on AI literacy and understanding.
Internal HR teams often get stretched thin or lack the technical know-how to vet candidates effectively.
How to fix it:
- Partner with a firm that lives and breathes tech hiring.
- Offload the sourcing and screening to experts.
- Stay focused on running your business.
Axis Technical Group Can Help You Fix Your IT Hiring Process
When your hiring process fails, the cost is high. Projects can stall. Teams burn out. Opportunities are lost.
Axis Technical Group (ATG) helps companies like yours find and hire the right tech talent fast. We understand how the IT hiring process should work because we’ve helped companies fix it for over two decades.
By streamlining your hiring process, from writing better job descriptions to presenting pre-vetted candidates, we can help you move faster without sacrificing quality. And we do it with insight, urgency, and precision.
Don’t let internal issues cost you the perfect hire. Partner with a trusted advisor who knows how to fix the IT hiring process.
Contact ATG Today and Take the Guesswork Out of Your Next IT Hire
Learn more about Axis Technical Group’s IT staffing services.