Recruiting IT professionals could involve a whole lot of hassles. It can be very expensive. And stressful.

However, there are smart and creative ways to take the hassles off IT recruitment, or at least, reduce the stress and expenses…from sourcing to selection, and finally to retention. Find some below…

1. Outsourcing to Recruitment Agencies. This is one of the best ways to take the headache out of your hiring process. Simply outsource it to experts who make it their job to recruit people; you can’t do it as well as they can anyways, so why disturb yourself?

However, ensure you’re outsourcing to recruitment agencies specializing in IT recruitment, and not general HR companies.

2. Using Social Media. According to Jobvite’s 2015 “Recruiter Nation Survey”, 92% of recruiters now use social media in the recruiting process. And you can be sure this number is only going higher in 2016.

Other than actively seeking out IT talent on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook, you should also ensure you position yourself strategically on various social media platforms in a way that top IT talents find you attractive and dream to work for you.

3. Scouring Forums. Social media isn’t the only opportunity the internet affords you for reducing your IT recruitment stress; forums are also powerful because they’re popular places where people of same interests gather to discuss and display their expertise – and even vent their frustrations.

There are definitely specific forums for the IT industry, just as there is for almost every industry you can name. An IT forum like Whirlpool is a good place to start sourcing for quality IT talent.

4. Meetups. This becomes the offline (and better) version of forums. Meetups bring together people with similar interests online and allows them to meet physically – in the real world.

There’s surely a meetup for every kind of specialist you’re looking for; IT not excluded. All you have to do is attend in person, introduce yourself, and meet potential candidates – one-on-one. This definitely beats job ads!

5. Seek Referrals. Jobvite opened the earlier referenced recruiting report with the statement: “In a Competitive and Complex Job Market, Relationships Reign Supreme. 78% of recruiters find their best quality candidates through referrals.”

This shows you the power of referrals, and it’s indeed arguably the number 1 way to make your hiring process easy. Simply tap into your professional and social relationships and keep enjoying top IT talents based on referrals.

6. Using Video Interviews. Now that you’re in the selection part (or so I assume), why make things hard for you and your candidates? In this present age, you can simply interview applicants wherever they are...through video. I’m pretty sure unsuccessful candidates will forgive you easily if you didn’t waste their resources in getting them to your location for interview. And you also have the benefit of not appearing rude when you face a wanker. (Extra: The ‘Wanker’ video referenced here is a good example of how you can use videos to attract potential employees…removing some more headaches.)

Skype is one good tool for interviewing IT professionals via video. You should try it for your next interview if you haven’t already.

7. Internal Collaboration. Retention is a huge part of hiring professionals. The less you can retain an employer, the more you’d have to go through the stress of recruitment. One great way to make your organization fun and interesting to work in – and enjoy great employee retention – is to encourage collaboration among staff.

Pheew! Now you have tools, people, and other ways you can use to totally take the headache off your IT recruitment. It’s time to go get the best talents.

What other ways would you recommend to make the hiring process easier and less stressful? Kindly share more tips in the comments section.