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Spotting Talent

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Submitted By paris91pink
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Attracting and selecting the right talent is critical to a company’s success. For tech companies, the process is even more critical since it’s the knowledge, skills, and abilities of their employees that determines these companies’ efficiency, innovation, and ultimately, financial achievements.

Modis, a global provider of IT staffing and recruiting, has an interesting philosophy about searching for talented tech types. As pressure has mounted on businesses to find qualified employees, the search for the “perfect” candidate has become increasingly competitive. This company calls this “search for perfection the quest for the ‘purple squirrel’”. Sometimes you have to realize that, like the purple squirrel, the “perfect” candidate isn’t available or doesn’t exist. But that doesn’t mean you don’t try to find the best available talent. How do some of the big tech names spot talent?

For “mature” tech companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard (H-P), the challenge can be especially difficult since they don’t have the allure of start-ups or the younger, “sexier” tech companies. So these businesses have to “pour on the charm.” Take IBM, for instance. After its Watson computer beat two former Jeopardy champions in a televised match, the company hauled the machine to Carnegie Mellon, a top school, where students got a chance to challenge the computer. IMB’s goal: lure some of those students to consider a career at IBM. H-P is using the pizza party/tech talk approach at various schools trying to lure younger students before they get “snatched away by other tech companies and start- ups.” Microsoft, which was once one of those start-ups, has sent alumni back to schools to promote why Microsoft is a great place to take their talents. And it also hosts game nights, final-exam study parties, and app building sessions and other events to try to lure students.

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