Hiring Analysts: 3 tips to engage candidates

Mar 16, 2018 11:25:17 AM

How can you maximise candidate engagement when hiring analysts?

Working in recruitment, I’m always asked what it takes to entice analysts and keep them interested once they’re hired by clients. I speak daily with analysts across all levels who are looking for their next opportunity and have observed a trend of three main factors which answer this question. This article isn’t only about what to consider before posting a new vacancy for an analyst, but also how to make sure the analysts feel valued once they join, and thus continue working in the company.

Tools

Analysts always look to join companies who invest in the latest technologies. Companies need to keep informed about what the next best tools are for their industry and make sure these will be available to the analysts when they’re hired. It’s up to the team managers to investigate what budgets are in place for developing new tool capabilities, so the analysts can continue to improve upon their skill and learn more in the organisation.

Projects

Analysts will also be eager to understand what new projects they can work on. They may have previous experience which can help a company instantly with what they want to achieve in the short term, but analysts also don’t want to feel as though they’re repeating the same tasks in a mundane routine. What excites them is a variety of projects to work on—projects they feel confident to exceed in now, but also those which will pose a challenge to their current ability in the long term.

Managers

Analysts want to feel as though they can learn from their peers. They love to share their knowledge with others, but also gain insight from others who have strengths in different areas. Having a fully developed team, or a highly inspirational manager with an understanding and appreciation for data and insights will make them feel part of a company’s community. The company will also benefit from the magic those surprising collaborations can bring.

Stay ahead of the competition when you’re hiring analysts

With so much competition in a candidate driven market, analysts really do have the upper hand when it comes to recruitment. More recently, I’ve heard of analysts not progressing with the application process and even turning down phenomenal offers on paper purely for one of the three reasons above. I won’t even speak to my network without knowing more detail about these factors from the company!

They stand alone from the typical reasons for leaving their current company (increased pay, more responsibility, work/life balance etc…) and are more concerned with how they can progress their career with what they’ve done and who they’ve worked with.

With more opportunities to speak at events and seminars worldwide than ever before (Measurecamp, Big Data LDN, Web Analytics Wednesday etc…) what should be hoped for from a company is an analyst employed by them who, whilst working there, feels proud to share the work they’ve done whilst there with their community. Posting real live business problems on the Kaggle platform will also attract the industries’ most elite analysts to complete the competitions and the company in question will rise to the top of their most wanted list.

This also means increased exposure in the industry for how forward-thinking the company are and will attract even more engaged analysts when the time comes to expand teams further, so the possibilities are endless!

What do you think?

Share your thoughts on this post - whether you agree, disagree or have your own insight to share, we want to hear from you!

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