Hiring talent in a tight market

It's getting tougher and tougher for CIOs to find good talent in today's tight job market. Forrester recently released a new report, "Recruiting IT Talent: Adjusting to a Hot Market," which spells out how to find sought after IT pros. The report offers some practice advice for CIOs: First off, stop searching for a silver bullet solution. There is none. "Competition for talent is scrappy and the most creative, tightly messaged, culturally aligned, people-focused IT organization will win in terms both of attracting talent and of retaining it over the long term," CIO Update reports. Secondly, CIOs must take charge of their recruiting future and not entrust their talent needs solely to HR and staffing firms. They must get involved with all levels of recruiting, from reaching out to college students to networking with peers. Also important is the idea that CIOs must look at things from a global perspective. "CIOs of multinational enterprise IT organizations need to think globally and act locally during workforce planning," the article points out. In a separate survey, Robert Half Technology reports that of 1,400 CIOs interviewed, 16 percent planned to hire IT professionals during the first quarter of 2007, while 2 percent planned to reduce the total headcount.

For more tips on hiring:
- see this CIO Update article