How To Attract the Best Engineering Talent
How to attract the best Engineering Talent in today’s highly competitive market
Every organisation is feeling it, finding talented engineers in Ireland, such as Quality Engineers Mechanical Engineers, R&D Engineers and Electrical Engineers has never been more difficult. During the pandemic it was expected we would be entering into a recession, luckily this hasn’t been the case. Instead hiring requirements have gone through the roof across most manufacturing and engineering businesses in Ireland.
Our clients across Manufacturing, Engineering, Construction and Life Sciences such as Medical Device companies are reporting major difficulties attracting engineering job seekers. We believe this is the most competitive market for engineering professionals Ireland has ever experienced.
In 2021 79% of engineering companies in Ireland were planning to scale across 2021/2022 according to Engineers Ireland. At STEM Recruitment Partners we can validate these figures as all our client base have kept us busy finding key talent, there has been no slow down, quite the opposite!
Below we have some tips on how to attract the best engineers in this competitive marketplace.
1. Show your potential new engineers the big problem they are going to solve.
Many people like a challenge and this is especially the case for engineers. Show your potential new hires the story of your organisation and the challenges the company plans to take on. Show how they can make a difference and demonstrate how this will impact the community.
2. Start or reignite an employee ‘Referral Programme’.
Companies with a referral programme find candidates who’ve been referred are more likely to accept a job offer. This can be from 2.6% to 6.6% according to Glassdoor. Also, employee referrals account for 10% of reported job interviews. Engineers hired from referral programmes tend to stay longer as they know what to expect from the organisation in terms of culture.
3. Bulk Up Your Benefits
If your company are on a pay rise ban, it can be difficult to attract top talent. This is where you will have to think outside the box. Post pandemic we know that demand for remote or hybrid working models are six times higher according to the Irish Examiner.
Remote or hybrid working options is now a ‘’must’’ to include your benefits package. Pension schemes, performance bonuses are standard. Utilizing a ‘’promise to stay bonus’’ Travel or leisure benefits or guaranteed career progression scheme could be a way to attract top performing talent.
4. Asking your job seeking Engineers what they really want?
Increased salary and bonuses might not always be a huge influencing factor in getting the new employee / engineer you deserve. Simply asking potential hires what it would take to move you from your current company, could be enough to getting that new hire.
5. Your Company Is a Wise Move?
You need to sell your company as a wise career move for potential hires. Your company is a place where employees / engineers can grow and develop their career, skillset, and experience. If potential hires see this, it can build your company’s brand as a place to grow, develop and in time make the recruitment process more effective
Attracting new talent comes down to having a specific plan in place, being genuine, honest, authentic, and respecting the role of job seeking engineers.
For more information on how STEM RP can help you find top talent click here
