Another Automation Engineer Took a Job Elsewhere? Here’s What You’re Doing Wrong

Hard-To-Fill Roles Don’t Have to Be Hard to Fill

The demand for automation engineers is high and growing in Ireland. According to research carried out by TechPro with Expleo, 85% of organisations in Ireland are incorporating automation into their business strategies. With such high demand in this discipline, it’s not surprising many companies are missing out on their preferred candidates.

The question is, what can you do differently to ensure that you hire the best candidates into your automation engineer roles?

Offer the Right Salary

First things first. Are you at the races with your salary and benefits? An automation engineer with five or more years of experience expects a salary of between €55k and €70k per year. The variance here allows for location, expertise, and subject matter. Benefits usually include 10% bonus, full healthcare including family and pension at around 5% contributory

If your job description or your salary negotiations don’t include a salary in this range, you’re not going to hire engineers who are serious about staying with you. And don’t forget, you’ll need to offer at least industry-standard benefits as well.

Talking About Benefits, Provide Work/Life Balance

Candidates have different outlooks on their work and life today. Attitudes to work have been evolving for many years, but the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this shift. The most talented candidates are placing greater emphasis on doing meaningful work and working in roles that deliver their desired work/life balance.

Companies who are more able to be flexible in their approach – perhaps allowing an employee time off on a Monday afternoon to pick the kids up from school, for example – are more likely to attract the top talent.

Give An Enjoyable Candidate Experience

Your hiring process tells a candidate more about you than you might imagine. It gives them clues about your culture, how you treat your employees, and the professionalism with which you conduct business. Keeping in touch with candidates, treating them respectfully during interviews, and making certain they know what happens next are small but important details that shape a candidate’s desire to join your company.

Move Fast

When you have interviewed the ideal Automation Engineer, move fast. The most talented automation engineers receive many approaches each month. They won’t be on the market for long. Procrastination will cost you.

Stay in Touch with Candidates

Stay in touch with candidates who have interviewed with you. This will help you build a relationship with people who either might not be quite right for you yet or who turned you down because of a better offer at the time. By staying in touch, you create your own talent pool for the future. When they are ready to move next, they are more likely to approach you. If you need a new employee and approach them, they are more likely to be attracted to your proposition.

Be Flexible in Contract Type

It’s not always easy to find automation engineers to take a permanent role. Today, many of the best people want greater flexibility in the work they do, and where and when they do it. A decade ago, the phrase ‘gig economy’ hadn’t been invented. Now it is how many people prefer to work.

Stay open to hiring contractors to fill your Automation Engineer role with high-level expertise. You’ll find the going rate is between around €40 to €65 per hour, depending on factors such as expertise and location.

“What we’re finding here at HERO,” says Contracting Divisional Manager Caroline Kingston, “is that companies are turning to hiring contractors as solutions for a multitude of automation projects. This gives the hiring company the flexibility it needs. They hire the expertise when they need it, and the expense of hiring permanent staff falls out of the equation. Hard-to-fill roles become easier to hire for, because this flexibility massively expands the talent pool from which the company can draw its next automation engineer.”

This dynamic has led to clients partnering more closely with HERO. “We’re seeing the development of more trusting relationships,” Caroline says. “Our expertise in talent acquisition strategies is returning dividends to our clients’ talent acquisition teams, by finding great people with a reduced time to fill roles.” To partner with us for executive search, permanent recruitment, and temporary and contractor recruitment, contact HERO Recruitment today.