Why? Why? Why?
In the digital and technology space, we currently seem to be talking about who is NOT looking to hire more than who actually is. Seriously, you cannot move for jobs being advertised by businesses of all shapes and sizes across LinkedIn and various job boards at the moment.
Want some examples?
- Looking for a Developer? Great! Join the 37,292 other advertised Developer roles on LinkedIn currently, oh and that is just the UK.
Come on Simon, Developer is so generic, it’s not that bad surely?
- Looking for a JavaScript Developer with Reactjs experience? Great! Join the other 4,456 currently advertised on LinkedIn right now, oh and that is just the UK.
Yes, but that is just I.T, technology, these areas have always been busy, right?
- Looking for a Product Manager? Great! Join the other 10,829 advertised on Reed.co.uk, oh and that is just the UK.
Honestly the same can be said for so many roles, across so many industries: Health-Tech, Start-ups, E-commerce, Creative Agencies, the list goes on and on.
Digital and technology hiring is on fire right now.
This is good news, right? This is what we wanted post pandemic, right?
Yes! It’s absolutely fantastic to see so many businesses looking to grow and hire in the digital space. Even the Prime Minister wants in on the action as he stated in the latest Tech Nation report:
‘Unicorns now roam the streets of cities across England, Scotland and Wales. As the sector grows and grows it contributes more and more to our economy, a silicon supercharge that benefits us all.’
So what’s the problem? What’s the purpose of this blog Simon?
My point is this. If you are looking to hire right now, you must do more than just put a purple banner on your LinkedIn profile picture. You must do more than just say you are hiring in a LinkedIn post. You must do more than post a job description saying you are hiring. You must do more than put your job on your website.
Don’t get me wrong, you have to do all of this, you have to do all of this and it has to be bang on the money, look fantastic, match, and sing from the same song sheet.
That is not even step one though in this current hiring craze.
The best advice I can give you? The advice I want to give every single person, business and post that I see which is advertising hiring right now is? Shout at them ‘WHY?!’
- Why should I apply to your role?
- Why should I pick your business out of the sea of companies that are looking to hire?
- Why does your company exist?
- Why are you growing?
- Why do you love working for the business you are hiring for?
- Why do your teams like working there?
- Why is this opportunity so good that I should give up the role I am in, in a business which has supported and looked after me during the last 12 months?
- Why are you sure this growth is sustainable?
- Why is this the only job I should look at today?
Understanding the ‘why’ around hiring has always been important. You could flip all the above on-to those who are looking to join your business, I absolutely encourage you to do so. If you don’t know someone’s ‘why’ in relation to what drives them or why they want to join you, then you risk running into problems. The reality however is that right now demand hugely outstrips supply. If you are not stating your why, I would bet you are not getting the traction and interest you would like on your new vacancies.
It’s great news you are hiring, just make sure you tell me why that’s great for me.
So, be honest, does your latest vacancy shout the why to me? If not, try and see if you can explain the why, you never know, it might just make you stand out from the crowd. Remember it’s a very big crowd, that is only likely to get bigger.
Simon
Simon Brown is the Founder of Digital 51 and is passionate about supporting digital, technology and creative business achieve their growth ambitions. You can reach Simon on to see if he can put his money where his mouth is on the beliefs outlined in this post.
