What to Look for in IT Staffing Solutions

Hiring full-time IT and tech employees is already difficult enough when you’re competing for a highly skilled talent pool. What will you do when demand spikes, deadlines get moved up or a project requires specialized skills your team lacks? Most likely, you’ll tap IT staffing solutions to get the work done. But to do this well, you need to understand which options make the most sense for your team.

Think of IT staff augmentation as a crucial component of a comprehensive talent strategy. Full-time hires are the core of your workforce, but sometimes you need greater flexibility, scalability or speed. That’s when the right IT staffing solutions partner can alleviate pressure and help you get more done without sacrificing quality. The key is knowing what kind of talent your business needs — and what staffing solutions make the most sense.  

Let’s explore what to look for in technology staffing solutions, including the available services and how to assess your internal needs.

What Are IT Staffing Solutions?

IT staffing solutions provide companies with tech talent beyond their existing in-house, full-time team. They provide scalability and flexibility, allowing you to respond dynamically to project demands or market changes without committing to long-term hiring. Whether you need one person or an entire team, IT staffing solutions providers can help you with hiring the best talent.

IT staffing solutions come in several flavors, including:

• Contract or project-based labor: Add IT professionals temporarily to help you complete project-specific work or short-term or seasonal demand. This option gives you the agility to scale the workforce up or down as needed. 
• Contract-to-hire: Similar to a contract model, except you have the option to hire staff permanently based on their performance and fit with your team. Both you and the staffer can experience working together before committing further.
• Direct hire/permanent hire: Some companies will recruit and place full-time hires for your team, which can be helpful for long-term or permanent needs. This solution helps when you need extra help recruiting and sourcing talent.
• Managed staffing services: This is the most comprehensive service, as the provider places and manages entire teams who work exclusively for you. This reduces the hiring burden while ensuring continuity and long-term employee relationships. This option often involves managing large projects or entire departments.

7 Benefits of Using IT Staffing Solutions

Working with technology staffing solutions providers gives you a better chance of finding the right people to complete crucial tasks and projects. Here are some of the other benefits of using these talent partners. 

Better Access to Top Talent

IT staffing providers like X-Team have detailed processes to locate, vet and hire software engineers and other talented professionals. They go a step further by finding people who are a cultural fit and meet project-specific requirements. This simplifies onboarding and integration, saving valuable time when you’re up against deadlines.

Increased Flexibility and Scalability

IT staffing solutions give you the flexibility to scale your workforce up when there’s a crunch and roll it back when conditions change. Instead of saying no to business opportunities because you’re short-staffed, you can leverage on-demand talent solutions to meet even severe fluctuations in workload and demand. And you can do this without the stress and cost of hiring and laying off full-time staff. 

Reduced Hiring Time and Costs

IT staffing firms can significantly reduce the time and costs associated with recruitment. With their extensive networks of IT professionals, they know how to locate talent quickly and match you with the right skill sets. Their experience gives you high-quality, vetted candidates in less time — and without sacrificing quality. IT staffing companies close the deal, too, as they are skilled at making offers and onboarding quickly to reduce the time to proficiency. 

Greater Focus on the Core Business

Partnering with an IT staffing firm lets you offload countless tasks related to recruiting, hiring and managing temporary staff. You can instead reallocate those resources to other strategic needs. 

Choosing IT staff augmentation, for example, lets you source specialized skills only when you truly need them. This gives you the flexibility and resources to add full-time staff in other areas that support the broader business.

Reduced Risk and Paperwork

Contracting with an IT staffing firm can reduce employment risks associated with compliance and administrative responsibilities, especially when hiring from the global talent pool located outside your core markets. Along with less risk is less paperwork, as these companies handle much of the hiring and onboarding process that would normally live in your HR department.

Increased Project Quality 

Whether you’re contracting for a few engineers, an entire team or managed services, the best IT staffing firms provide talented workers who can elevate the entire team’s performance. 

This is especially true when you add people with specialized skills, strong communication skills and the right culture fit. They’ll get up to speed quickly, solve your most pressing project challenges and deliver results faster and more cost-effectively. And when you keep these workers on for additional projects, your entire team can benefit from their expertise and best practices.

Innovation and Technological Advancement

Accessing skilled IT professionals through staffing solutions helps you leverage the latest technologies and methodologies. These professionals are constantly improving themselves professionally, so they have the latest skills. They’re curious thinkers who bring fresh perspectives, improving your team’s problem-solving and creativity. You’re not just gaining extra help; you’re gaining a competitive edge.

What to Look for in IT Staffing Providers

Now that you’ve identified the need for outside staffing help, it’s time to choose a provider. Here are some recommendations when hiring an IT staffing solutions provider.

Expertise and Specialization

Tech is a big field, and every company’s IT and tech needs will look a little different. If you work at a gaming company, you’ll probably need a provider experienced in that industry’s timelines, programming languages and other attributes. Meanwhile, financial companies might want evidence of robust experience in highly regulated environments. 

An experienced provider will understand the nuances of different IT roles such as software developers, cybersecurity experts or IT project managers. The more specialization you need, the more you need a company that’s focused on hiring top-tier talent dedicated to professional growth and development. 

The ideal IT staffing provider offers flexible and scalable solutions that adapt to your project's changing requirements. They should match you with ideal-fit talent quickly, whether you need a few specialists for a short-term project, a large team for a long-term development, or anything in between.

Recruitment Process and Vetting

Most staffing firms know how to find people with the right credentials and technical skills. But are they screening on soft skills, including cultural fit, communication and the ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of remote teams? How thorough are they in verifying employment eligibility, double-checking records and contacting references?

A comprehensive screening approach frees you from worry while giving you the most qualified, most aligned candidates. Ask about the provider’s vetting process and how they account for technical assessments, behavioral interviews, reference checks and other procedures.

Cultural Fit

At X-Team, we prioritize culture fit as the secret sauce to on-demand talent that’s ready to contribute immediately. It's one of the main reasons why X-Teamers stay with our clients for years on end if so required.

Start by looking for a provider that shares your values and business philosophy, as they’re more likely to understand and anticipate your staffing needs. Ask how they assess candidates for culture fit and what that means to them. For us, the right fit means your augmented staff quickly acclimates to your tech infrastructure, team dynamics and company culture — becoming true members of the team who hit the ground running from day one..

Reviews, Testimonials and Case Studies

Examine what people are saying about providers, whether it’s through word-of-mouth, review sites, testimonials, case studies and other materials. While imperfect, these are all signals of the company’s customer service and ability to deliver results. 

When talking with potential providers, ask about how they handle common customer issues. And seek out current customers to find out about their experience, particularly if they are in a related industry or have similar staffing needs.

Communication and Support

The best IT staffing companies do more than just hand over workers. They communicate well at every phase of the engagement, are easy to get in touch with and provide customer support after placing talent. 

The level of support these companies offer can signal their commitment to your success, as well as whether they can truly handle your staffing needs. Look for providers that communicate proactively and act like a partner rather than a vendor. There’s a good chance the talent they place will also have these traits.

Compliance and Risk Management

Hiring from a global talent pool brings tremendous opportunities, but it can also complicate compliance. Find out what experience IT staffing providers have in managing regulations related to hiring discrimination, employee eligibility, equal pay laws and other crucial employment laws. 

Their approach to risk management can help you decide whether this is the right partner for your staffing needs — or whether you’re opening yourself up to unnecessary risk.

Keep Moving Forward With X-Team’s IT Staffing Solutions

The speed of business is only increasing, while hiring is getting slower. You need the help of an experienced IT staffing solutions provider like X-Team that’s ready to help you fill the gaps and capitalize on business opportunities.

When you partner with X-Team, you get a technology staffing company that will match you with highly skilled staff who easily integrate into your workflows and culture — delivering results from day one. You can focus on building your product — not sitting in interviews or scrambling to replace people. We’ll help you hire the talent you need to deliver your most ambitious projects on time and under budget.

Whether you need elite engineers or fully managed teams, find out how X-Team can meet your on-demand engineering needs.