The tech recruitment market has become more challenging for individuals over the last couple of years as economic and wider conditions have changed. Employers have had to deal with an array of issues including rising costs through higher inflation, geopolitical uncertainties, trade tariffs in the US, and increasing employment costs in the UK. As a result, some businesses have reined in on their hiring and in some cases have looked to move more roles offshore. This has led to more tech professionals hunkering down in their present roles – staying put for longer than might normally be the case. With less movement in the market, there are fewer new roles coming through.

However, it is also true that there are definite hotspots and areas of high demand such as software development, big data, and cybersecurity. Across all of these, professionals with proven experience utilising AI are especially sought after.

In short, although conditions have tightened and competition for the best roles is fierce, there are still opportunities out there. So, how can candidates maximise their chances of landing that next tech role? Based on my experience filling a wide range of tech roles at businesses across sectors, here are six key tips.

Specialise – In a tighter market, specialists are in a better place than generalists. Employers are looking for candidates who precisely meet their needs. The more you can build up a set of specialisms – in Azure, for example, or Java coding, or machine learning – the more attractive you will be for certain roles. Specialisation also applies on a sectoral basis. Companies look for individuals with proven experience in their sector. To a bank, for example, someone who is working at another financial institution will instantly be of more interest than someone working in a leisure business or a manufacturer. Build up your practice area and sectoral specialisms.

Build longevity – A career history with a smaller number of longer held roles is more attractive to an employer than someone who has moved around quickly multiple times. Even on the contractor side, employers will look to see whether you’ve had your contract extended and have stayed beyond the minimum term. Lack of longevity in previous roles is in fact one of the most common reasons I’m given by employers when rejecting a candidate. Try not to jump around – think longer term.

Keep your profile updated – It’s really essential to keep your LinkedIn profile (and profiles on other channels) up-to-date. Employers and recruiters will almost always look at your profile after receiving an application, and they often use keyword searches on platforms like LinkedIn too. Make sure your profile includes your key skills, experience and qualifications and think about what keywords someone searching for someone like you would use. It’s a constant source of surprise to me how many candidates don’t keep their information current and updated.

Don’t spam apply – It’s tempting when you really want to find a new role to fire off as many applications as you can. But a ‘spray and pray’ approach really doesn’t work. Most of your applications are almost certainly not going to be proper fits. Find roles that you really are qualified and suited for, and concentrate on those. I sometimes have candidates who apply for every single role I’m trying to fill, tweaking their CV or application each time. This is a major red flag. You can’t be a software developer one day, then a data architect the next. It’s a problem that’s being exacerbated by AI – which I’ll discuss in my next tip.

Make proper use of AI – Without doubt, AI is changing the game. It can be a fantastic support tool to job seekers – helping you find roles, polish your CV to highlight key strengths and areas of fit, and even prepare for interviews by finding key information or anticipating questions you may be asked. However, AI should really be that – a support tool – rather than a substitute for you putting in the effort and thinking yourself. For example, increasing numbers of people seem to be entirely re-writing their CVs with AI – but the result is usually a formulaic document with stilted language and standard layouts that doesn’t impress. It usually stands out a mile and puts most employers/recruiters off. More people are also using AI to help them spam apply for scores of roles, flooding employers and recruiters and simply being counter-productive. Use AI as a targeted productivity tool that helps you improve and sharpen your applications. Also make sure to highlight your experience using AI in your work – this is something increasingly being looked for, especially in roles like coding and software engineering.   

Build relationships – Although there is an increasing degree of automation in areas like candidate screening, recruitment remains a people business. Reach out to recruiters, and potentially to internal hiring teams at companies you’re interested in, to establish a relationship where possible. Offer to meet or chat via video/phone. Try to build a rapport. Recruiters are much more likely to put forward or recommend people they have met (and were impressed by) than others where the relationship is only remote. Again, don’t overdo this by spam contacting recruiters asking to meet. Identify the best fits based on advertised roles and try to create a handful of good contacts that might pay off in the future.

Other important points are fairly self-evident: prepare well for interviews and make sure you understand both the role and the company; don’t make unreasonable salary/day rate/benefit demands; if unsuccessful, try to obtain feedback that you can learn from and adjust next time.

Another area I’m often asked about is courses and certifications. Is it worth investing in these? The answer is that it can be essential for some roles such as those specialising in vendor platform technologies like Salesforce or Workday – certifications here are a pre-requisite. Beyond that, however, I would say that they are a nice-to-have which may strengthen your application in some cases – but certifications and courses will always be trumped by real-world experience of a technology or application.