While the demand for niche skills and expertise is rising, companies face significant challenges in attracting and securing talent. And with the advent of remote work and offshoring, the war for talent will only heat up with time.
To counter this, organisations must continually innovate and improve their hiring processes to remain competitive. But before we delve into the intricacies, we look at five key obstacles organisations often encounter when recruiting staff for specialised roles.
Challenges in Specialised Recruitment
Scarcity of Qualified Candidates: Specialised roles often require unique skill sets that are not widely available in the job market. This scarcity makes finding individuals who meet all the necessary qualifications challenging.
High Competition for Talent: Due to the limited pool of qualified candidates, there is intense competition among companies to attract and hire these individuals. This competition can increase salaries and make it harder for smaller or less well-known organisations to attract top talent.
Longer Hiring Process: Recruiting for specialised roles typically involves a more extensive screening and interview process to ensure the candidate’s skills and experience align precisely with the role’s requirements. This can significantly lengthen the time to hire.
Cultural Fit and Retention Issues: Even if a candidate has the right technical skills, it is critical to ensure they align with the company’s culture and values. A mismatch can lead to retention issues, as staff may leave if they feel disconnected from the organisation’s environment or mission.
Where to Find Specialised Talent
Given the competitive nature of today’s working world, it is no longer possible for organisations to rely on traditional recruitment methods such as job ads. Instead, employers must now take a more proactive role and actively engage with talented individuals. Here, we take a look at how businesses can do so.
Industry Forums
Participating in industry forums is one of the most effective ways employers discover and network with potential candidates. These forums are gatherings of experts in specific fields, offering a unique blend of insights, discussions, and networking opportunities.
Here’s why they are invaluable in the talent search:
Access to a Concentrated Pool of Talent: Industry forums bring together deeply engaged professionals in their field. This concentration of talent means employers can directly reach individuals with the specific skills and knowledge relevant to their specialised roles.
For instance, a tech company seeking a cybersecurity expert can participate in forums like
InfoSec or Black Hat conferences. Here, they don’t just find a wide pool of potential candidates, but also individuals who are actively engaged with the latest security challenges and solutions.
This allows employers to identify and connect with professionals with theoretical knowledge and practical experience to excel in specialised cybersecurity roles.
Insight into Latest Industry Trends: Being active in these forums keeps employers updated on the latest industry trends, changes, and news. Such information is invaluable for an organisation looking to recruit staff for specialised roles as it allows them to tailor their approach for maximum success.
For example, it allows for the creation of informed job descriptions and more effective candidate assessments. All of which help them attract better top talent who are engaged with current industry dynamics.
Building Employer Brand Awareness: Regular participation in industry forums showcases commitment on the organisation’s part and ensures that they are perceived as an active, engaged member of the industry community.
All of these increase their visibility among top professionals and enhance the company’s reputation and brand. And by building up a strong brand, the employer can better attract high-quality candidates with much-needed skills.
Recruitment Agencies
Using a recruitment agency is one of the most effective ways to source talented candidates.
These agencies have the network, experience, and resources needed to efficiently identify and attract highly qualified candidates who precisely match the specific requirements of specialised roles.
Extensive Candidate Networks: Recruitment agencies have access to a broad network of candidates. This extended reach allows companies to tap into a pool of passive candidates who are often highly qualified but otherwise inaccessible.
Time and Resource Efficiency: Outsourcing the recruitment process to a recruitment agency saves companies significant time and resources. Agencies handle the time-consuming tasks of candidate searching, initial screening, and preliminary interviews, allowing companies to focus on their core operations.
Market Knowledge and Salary Benchmarking: Recruitment agencies are well-versed in current market trends, including salary rates, available skill sets, and hiring complexities. This knowledge is crucial in formulating competitive offers and understanding the current job market landscape.
Reduced Risk of Bad Hires: With their expertise in thorough vetting and evaluation processes, agencies lower the risk of unsuitable hires. Their rigorous screening ensures that only the most fitting candidates are presented to the employer.
Interviewing Techniques for Specialised Roles
Technical Interviews
Technical interviews are essential in industries like technology, engineering, and scientific research. In these interviews, candidates are typically asked to solve problems, write code, or demonstrate their technical knowledge.
For instance, in software development roles, a technical interview might involve live coding tasks or discussing algorithms and data structures. This helps assess the candidate’s practical skills and ability to apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios.
Portfolio Reviews
Portfolio reviews are crucial in fields such as design, architecture, and content creation. In these reviews, candidates present a collection of their work demonstrating their style, creativity, and experience. For example, a graphic designer’s portfolio would showcase their past projects, which gives the interviewer insight into their prices and aesthetic sense.
On the other hand, a copywriter may present a collection of articles they’ve written or published prior. From here, this allows the potential employer to gauge the quality of their work and whether the candidate’s skills are suitable.
Behavioural Interviews
These interviews assess candidates’ past behaviour and experiences to predict their future performance. For specialised roles, behavioural questions can help evaluate how candidates handle complex projects, work under pressure, or solve challenging problems in their field.
During a behavioural interview, candidates are asked to describe specific instances from their past work experiences. The interviewer typically poses questions starting with phrases like ‘Tell me about a time when…‘ or ‘Give me an example of how you…‘, prompting the candidate to share real-life scenarios demonstrating their skills and abilities.
The interviewer then assesses the candidate’s responses to understand their approach to challenges, decision-making processes, and interpersonal skills, which are critical indicators of how they might perform in the specialised role.
Onboarding Specialised Roles
Role-Specific Training
A role-specific training program allows individuals to thoroughly familiarise themselves with the knowledge and skills specific to a role, ensuring their technical competence and boosting their confidence. This comprehensive training is crucial in highly technical or niche expertise roles, where industry standards can vary between organisations.
Additionally, it helps bridge any existing skill gaps, ensuring the new hire can effectively contribute to the team and meet the organisation’s unique operational standards. This focused approach accelerates the integration process and builds a strong foundation for the individual’s long-term success and satisfaction in their specialised role.
Mentorship Programmes
Mentorship programmes play a vital role in the onboarding and continuous development of individuals in specialised roles.
Pairing new hires with experienced mentors provides new joiners with a supportive learning environment where they can gain insights, ask questions, and receive guidance specific to their role and the broader industry context.
This one-on-one mentorship is particularly beneficial in roles that require niche skills, where nuances and complexities might take time to become apparent. Mentors can offer practical advice, share their experiences, and help the new hire navigate challenges inherent to the role.
BGC — Your Trusted Recruitment Partner
Employing the right staff for specialised roles requires significant investments in time, money, and effort. And with the labour market becoming increasingly competitive, companies must find ways to increase their recruitment efforts.
At BGC, we pride ourselves on placing highly skilled employees with the right organisations, ensuring a perfect alignment of skills, expertise, and company culture.
By working with BGC, companies can easily navigate the evolving landscape of the job market. Our expertise in sourcing highly specialised employees ensures that companies can always access the right people for the right job.
