Antonio González: «Finding technological profiles is getting complicated»

The world of companies is already changing in itself, and if we also focus on the development of new technologies, transformations occur even more quickly.

However, the need to "stay up to date" is not unique to organizations in the STEM-based industry; Any company that wants to be competitive must at least know the latest technological advances to be competitive, incorporating some of these advances in their way of working in various ways: data protection, information management, investigation of market, etc.

Thus, Personnel selection processes must adapt to this need and lead the company to capture the most up-to-date professional profiles and, in some cases, niche. We talked about this with Antonio González Hernández, an expert in Human Resources.

• Related article: "Personnel selection: 10 keys to choosing the best employee"

Interview with Antonio González Hernández: the recruitment of technological profiles

Antonio González Hernández is a Doctor in Psychology and Director of the Online Specialization Diploma in Talent Attraction, Recruitment, Evaluation and Loyalty at the University of Malaga

(UMA). In this interview he tells us about the process of selecting and recruiting profiles with a technology-oriented profile.

Is it frequent that companies have problems finding professionals dedicated to the world of programming, software development and other technological profiles?

That's right, every day is more complicated. The reasons can be several; on the one hand, the increased need for this type of worker due to the evident digital transformation in the one we are in, and on the other hand, the number of people qualified for these positions is not increasing. This makes finding these professionals with technological profiles increasingly difficult.

What are the most important knowledge that recruiting experts must have to find the right technology profiles?

In the first place, they must know in a deep way what the market is demanding, that is, the skills and profiles that technology companies demand.

From there, a deep knowledge of the professionals, that is, where I can find them and how I can approach them and contact them to manage the offer appropriately.

Is it common to search for technology profiles through headhunting methods?

Yes, any methodology can be used for this purpose. We must bear in mind that in searches in this type of profiles, the traditional way of recruiting is usually not very productive.

Sometimes interesting offers are generated in terms of conditions, and no candidates are found. Headhunting can be a useful strategy in this case, but others such as inbound recruiting are also used with success.

Do companies tend to overlook the soft skills of these professionals, focusing only on their technical knowledge to decide whether to hire them?

Companies tend to search for immediate results. Accreditation of technical knowledge can be done almost immediately. On the other hand, the evaluation of other competencies that have shown better adaptation of workers in the medium or long term term imply more time that must be devoted to selection, and that makes this in many processes despised.

Fortunately, this is happening less and less and recruitment and selection professionals have more training. adequate for the selection processes to be more successful, while still attending to the speed that companies require, for course. It is, once again, about finding a balance.

What are the tools and digital platforms most used when carrying out this type of selection?

There are countless tools, even giant platforms such as Apple or Facebook have created their own, some very interesting that improve the evaluation of competence profiles, such as HRider, or Bizneo, are gaining positions.

HR Analitycs continues to be always well positioned as well, as a bit data management and data mining tool. But above all, LinkedIn is still the King, especially in highly specialized profiles such as the technology sector.

What are the characteristics of a company that most often attract professionals in the technological field?

Every day it is clearer that for a company to be attractive, it is necessary to offer positions with an essential base line (salary and working conditions). If a company is financially powerful, these standards are achieved relatively easily.

But this is not enough, and it is necessary to complement these advantageous conditions with others that not all easily access; These are more related to conciliation measures, telework, social advantages, power of the employer brand, and the emotional salary, that topic so hackneyed and misinterpreted in many occasions. Really money can offer anyone, but the rest is not so simple.