Smart Approaches Land Bright People
During the spring of his senior year at Harvard, computer science major Nolan Myers felt very popular. Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, e-mailed him regularly. Tellme, a Silicon Valley Internet access company, also courted the young man. Myers, written about in a recent story in the New Yorker, chose Tellme.
Most in-demand computer types, such as Myers, would have little interest in moving to the Inland Northwest to work for one of this region’s high-tech companies. But look down the road several years. Maybe Myers gets married, has a kid or two, tires of the relentless commute, exhausting work hours and sky-high housing costs. Maybe he’ll miss hiking, skiing, fishing. Maybe he’d look then at the Inland Northwest, famous for its quality of life.
It would take some creative recruiting to attract talent like Myers but it’s not impossible. According to a recent story in this newspaper’s business section, Inland Northwest tech companies are on top of the innovative recruiting game. They have to be. The technology companies discussed in the article, including Agilent, World Wide Packets and Schweitzer Engineering Labs, have more than 500 job openings they’re trying to fill.
Many of the jobs pay well. They are the perfect jobs to help lift the entire region’s standard of living.
The companies are working hard to fill those jobs. During candidate interviews, they tout the region’s quality of life - cheaper homes, lighter traffic, better schools. And the best of those companies are doing what is absolutely essential. They are offering competitive salaries and not telling potential employees that the lower cost of living here would more than make up for a cut in pay.
Some other recruiting strategies might include tracking down Inland Northwest natives who moved to bigger cities after college and worked for high-tech companies. Now, as they reach their 30s, they might wish to renew their roots and make it possible for their children to grow up where they did.
Some of the high-tech jobs will be filled by people of color. At the recent Congress on Race Relations held in Spokane, employee relations specialists said first impressions can make a difference. So human resources employers should take a look at the posters and photographs that greet people as they arrive at Spokane International Airport. Are all the faces white? Are the region’s natural attributes -rivers, mountains, lakes - highlighted?
Candidates say yes to jobs for complex reasons. Kudos to those high-tech companies that are figuring out the smartest strategies to attract the best and brightest talent.