Start early to win the war on talent
By Karl Sharman, Vice-President, BeecherMadden
As we near the end of the first quarter in 2020, you should have a strong idea of what you can hire or what you must hire during the year.
The next step is to understand the following:
- Budget
- Skill Location
- Availability
Firstly, budgets need to be secure and at the correct range to attract the best candidates possible. It is linked to skill location and candidate availability in that market, however, with no intention of the budget, it will be hard to attract the right candidate and may cause an awkward conversation when you do find the right candidate. We have our own salary report which is personalized to our clients to support their understanding in this subject, every report includes competitor analysis as well as candidate requirements in the market which helps company’s bypass the challenges around asking salaries.
Secondly, the locations you choose are only as good as the skilled professionals there. I have recently seen more intelligent approaches to working such as remote working, partnering with universities or picking up the workforce when a company departs a location. This is another reason to do the competitive analysis for example, with the majority of companies heading to India for their talent is that a sensible decision to set up your team there. It may seem cheap, but it isn’t long term if your employee leaves every 3 months which will cause an increase in cost and increase the organization’s risk. Recently, BeecherMadden has done 19 company reports analyzing countries such as Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Singapore, North America, UK, Switzerland, and Spain to name a few.
Third, availability is crucial. Many companies will invest a lot of money into a market especially from a standing start position and to get this part wrong could be damaging for you and the company especially as risk can increase dramatically. Availability should be defined as having 10 times the number of candidates with the correct skills and experience you need within that location. Employee turnover is increasing in many markets and seems to be an accepted way of working as candidates have a lot of choices.
In cybersecurity it is a candidate led market, so you have to be ready to compete. Building your pipeline continuously and early will allow you to move faster compared to your competition. The lack of urgency or long hiring processes can damage how attractive the opportunity is for the candidate. For this to be successful, you must do your research and planning, continuously build your talent pool and hire quickly and efficiently. This will increase the candidate experience which is the only way to win the war against talent in cybersecurity.
About the Author
Karl Sharman is a Cyber Security specialist recruiter & talent advisor leading the US operations for BeecherMadden. After graduating from University, he was a lead recruiter of talent for football clubs including Crystal Palace, AFC Wimbledon & Southampton FC. In his time, he produced and supported over £1 million worth of talent for football clubs before moving into Cyber Security in 2017. In the cyber security industry, Karl has become a contributor, writer and a podcast host alongside his full-time recruitment focus. Karl can be reached online at [email protected], on LinkedIn and at our company website http://www.beechermadden.com
