Ignite Digital Talent

How to hire a Cloud professional today

Cloud solutions saved the day throughout the pandemic. Remote working and social distancing changed the game in terms of what we needed from technology. Cloud solutions offered organisations uninterrupted services, reduced expense, superior security, and scalability when managing critical business processes.

Its rise to the top shows no sign of slowing. Research suggests that end-user spending on public cloud services will reach $482 billion in 2022, up 54% from 2020.

With more and more enterprises turning to Cloud infrastructure services, there is a problem looming on the horizon.

Talent. Or rather, the lack thereof.  Leaders are urgently seeking these tech professionals, and they’re proving elusive.

How do I find Cloud talent?

Here are some tips if you are wanting to hire Cloud roles.

Expand your talent pool.

One of the greatest advantages of cloud infrastructure is its ability to support a remote workforce. If you’re building cloud infrastructure or have this high on your agenda, it’s more than likely you already have the collaborative and communication channels in place to support a distributed workforce.

Tech professionals tend to be highly motivated and driven individuals who have everything in place to hit the ground running.  You shouldn’t let geography put you off. Considering remote cloud professionals will enable you to grow your talent pool and improve the chances of finding your dream new hire.

It’s important to remember that remote candidates need as much – if not more – love than your onsite teams. Find out more about how to onboard remote employees and how to keep your remote workforce happy here on our blog!

Hire for the future.

You might like to consider looking to hire for the potential a candidate exhibits, not just what they know right now.  Use the candidate’s CV to discover if they are driven, passionate individuals, and motivated to learn.  If they show an aptitude for learning, and a strong digital skillset it’s clear they have the smarts you need. Perhaps they need some coaching and mentorship to get them where you need them to be.

When they get there, they’ll be keepers. They’ll remember the opportunities you offered and reward you with their loyalty.

Make upskilling and development a priority.

Off the back of the last point, you may like to look internally before you cast your net.   New hires are one solution, but your existing team may also hold the key to your cloud hiring needs. By carrying out analysis and evaluations of your existing tech teams, you may identify some eager employees ready for a new challenge.

By investing in well-structured and considered training programs, employees will use the skills they acquire during training to generate value for you over many years to come.

For more tips on how to support the learning and development of your tech workforce, read our thoughts here.

Benchmark your salaries and benefits.

If your salary and reward structure doesn’t match that of your competitors, then you’ll struggle to attract the top cloud professionals you need.  Do some research into what level of salary your role commands and try to match it. Consider regional variations and the level of candidate you are trying to attract.

If you are a start-up or an SME without the deep pockets of tech giants, you may need to be more imaginative. You may like to put together perks packages to attract top candidates. Although salary is important, it isn’t everything.

Flexible working, paid time off, extra holiday, away days, or subsidised training opportunities are all highly desirable to the right candidate. You could even offer tailored packages to suit the individual.

In the current climate, hiring cloud professionals is a challenge. Candidate scarcity is at a record high, and with digital transformation being a priority, cloud professionals are some of the rarest of them all.

It’s tricky, but not impossible. By widening your considerations, looking to upskill your workforce, and being aware of the market, you can still make leaps and bounds in 2022.

If you are still asking yourself why hiring top tech talent is so difficult, you may like to read our recent blog.

Of course, Ignite can help. To find out why you should work with Ignite to build your tech team, reach out today. We’d love to chat!