The frantic pace of IT staffing was on full display last month when IBM announced it was holding an open job fair to try to fill 500 jobs right away.
The allure of working for an industry stalwart, and a starting salary of at least $75,000, brought IT pros out in the thousands to the firm’s Markham, Ont. headquarters, north of Toronto.
The company expected 2,000 to 3,000 people to show up, but 5,000 hopefuls made the trip, many of whom brought resumes for friends. Upwards of 7,000 resumes were handed into the HR department for Big Blues perusal, and the complimentary food ran out much earlier than expected.
By the end of the next day, 400 hotshot resumes had already been picked out as high potential candidates to fill the 500 positions.
While IBM may be an attractive place to work for a large number of IT people — witness the 100,000 resumes they will receive this year — they still go hunting for top talent. The computing giant maintains an aggressive recruitment strategy, using all of the basic methods of attracting potential new talent: print, online job boards, campus recruitment drives and so on. But, dramatic growth in demand for IBM’s global services and the need for more help at their software lab, meant filling 500 jobs right away and much of the response received through usual channels did not meet the firm’s needs, said Terry Whittam, manager, HR technology and staffing for IBM Canada.
“There was an immediate need to get to the talent I haven’t seen yet,” said Whittam.
“We were looking for deep experience,” he said. And so the call went out for IT professionals with at least five years’ experience to attend the open house. The job fair makes for a more efficient slightly quicker hiring process, he said.
By making early personal contact with potential hires, the firm can give applicants a better idea of whether or not they meet the company’s needs, and hiring managers who are receiving resumes get a chance to conduct mini-interviews on the spot with many of the applicants with stand-out C.V.s.
IBM has run two other job fairs in the past. The idea is for the potential applicant to see the offices, see where they will work, and talk to some of the people who would be co-workers, as well as senior executives. In short, learn a little more about what IBM does and the roles they need to fill. That way by the end of the night, when it comes time for the applicants to fill in applications, they will have a better understanding of whether or not they would fit in, said Whittam.
More than 350 IBM volunteers were on hand to assist in the considerable task of keeping the 5,000 hopefuls heading in the right direction.
Some were outside to greet people as they arrived and shepherd them inside where every half-hour a senior executive would speak about IBM, where they were, where they are headed and what they needed to get them there.
Booths were set up inside the complex for the various business units, where candidates could stop by to learn a little more about the specifics of each unit and whether or not they would meet the needs of that operation. Hiring managers manned each booth to quickly scan each resume, picking out high-potential candidates and, when possible pulling them aside for a quick interview.
“There’s not a lot of time to get into any detail, but the mini chat helps to figure out who the hot prospects are,” said Whittam.
By the next day, after a few extra hours of resume scanning, Whittam’s team had identified 400 high-potential people who would be called back for further interviews, with hopes of having some of the positions filled within a couple of weeks — although the need to find good talent will, of course, be ongoing.
The allure of working for an industry stalwart, and a starting salary of at least $75,000, brought IT pros out in the thousands to the firm’s Markham, Ont. headquarters, north of Toronto.
The company expected 2,000 to 3,000 people to show up, but 5,000 hopefuls made the trip, many of whom brought resumes for friends. Upwards of 7,000 resumes were handed into the HR department for Big Blues perusal, and the complimentary food ran out much earlier than expected.
By the end of the next day, 400 hotshot resumes had already been picked out as high potential candidates to fill the 500 positions.
While IBM may be an attractive place to work for a large number of IT people — witness the 100,000 resumes they will receive this year — they still go hunting for top talent. The computing giant maintains an aggressive recruitment strategy, using all of the basic methods of attracting potential new talent: print, online job boards, campus recruitment drives and so on. But, dramatic growth in demand for IBM’s global services and the need for more help at their software lab, meant filling 500 jobs right away and much of the response received through usual channels did not meet the firm’s needs, said Terry Whittam, manager, HR technology and staffing for IBM Canada.
“There was an immediate need to get to the talent I haven’t seen yet,” said Whittam.
“We were looking for deep experience,” he said. And so the call went out for IT professionals with at least five years’ experience to attend the open house. The job fair makes for a more efficient slightly quicker hiring process, he said.
By making early personal contact with potential hires, the firm can give applicants a better idea of whether or not they meet the company’s needs, and hiring managers who are receiving resumes get a chance to conduct mini-interviews on the spot with many of the applicants with stand-out C.V.s.
IBM has run two other job fairs in the past. The idea is for the potential applicant to see the offices, see where they will work, and talk to some of the people who would be co-workers, as well as senior executives. In short, learn a little more about what IBM does and the roles they need to fill. That way by the end of the night, when it comes time for the applicants to fill in applications, they will have a better understanding of whether or not they would fit in, said Whittam.
More than 350 IBM volunteers were on hand to assist in the considerable task of keeping the 5,000 hopefuls heading in the right direction.
Some were outside to greet people as they arrived and shepherd them inside where every half-hour a senior executive would speak about IBM, where they were, where they are headed and what they needed to get them there.
Booths were set up inside the complex for the various business units, where candidates could stop by to learn a little more about the specifics of each unit and whether or not they would meet the needs of that operation. Hiring managers manned each booth to quickly scan each resume, picking out high-potential candidates and, when possible pulling them aside for a quick interview.
“There’s not a lot of time to get into any detail, but the mini chat helps to figure out who the hot prospects are,” said Whittam.
By the next day, after a few extra hours of resume scanning, Whittam’s team had identified 400 high-potential people who would be called back for further interviews, with hopes of having some of the positions filled within a couple of weeks — although the need to find good talent will, of course, be ongoing.
