The demand for data scientists within the tech industry has skyrocketed in the last couple of years, to the point that Silicon Valley is beginning to manifest shortages. Chicago has the advantage due to the diversity and maturity of the City and region’s thriving economy.
Chicago Is A Big Data Kind Of Town!
One of the keys to success in business, whether a startup, small business or established enterprise, is that you need the people with the right skill sets to tackle complex challenges. Currently, as companies and business models become more intensively data-driven, you need to find and recruit knowledge workers with strong skills in data analysis and interpretation.
This city is an excellent choice for running your data-driven startup. Your company can offer some of the most rewarding careers available for data analysts. However, what do you do when your recruiting and HR teams are competing to hire for positions that are evolving rapidly and the practitioners are in fierce demand? The answer is that you get creative and innovative; that means thinking outside the box to locate useful sources of highly skilled employees.
If Anyone Has Suitable Candidates - Chicago Does!
Chicago-based tech companies have a broad set of resources and sources to find data analysis talent. Here are some of the sources that your tech company can turn to for highly skilled data analysts in Chicagoland.
Online job platforms – Job sites such as indeed.com and glassdoor.com provide platforms that facilitate hiring by filtering and introducing potential candidates. The ability to search for talent by region or city helps you narrow down the choices to target those who are local or willing to travel to you to connect.
Meetup events – Chances are there’s the right meetup event in your area to connect with workers in the tech scene. Startup and innovator related meetups attract a broad range of curious attendees, some of whom are bound to have the right qualifications for your needs.
Attend industry trade shows - Conferences and trade shows are an excellent way to network with tech employees who might be right for your company. Chicago has world-class conference facilities, and you need to be attending the relevant events regardless of you recruiting situation. Hunting for data analytycs talent is just one more solid justification for being there.
Non-tech companies – Networking with the non-technology businesses in your community might yield connections that lead to hiring from within their ranks of marketing analysts. You can get very creative in the different ways that you approach these knowledge workers, and you might pick up a collaboration with a conventional corporation along the way.
Connect with academic institutions – Chicago has many institutions that host some of the greatest academic minds in the world, such as The Chicago School of Economics, Northwestern, and DePaul, to name a few. Why not look to them for staff members and the students they teach to provide the career opportunities that they’re seeking and fill the critical functions you need completing?
Co-working places like WeWork - they're just a sweet spot of IT talent. Many startups and SMEs choose to become residents of co-working spaces for cost saving reasons as well as to stay closer to peers and potential business partners and clients. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to find a good data specialist over a cup of coffee in the lounge area?
Creative Data Analysis Staffing Offshore And Nearshore Solutions
Agencies and marketing service providers such as Intersog, Inc., provide offshore and nearshore contractors who have world-class training and abilities. While Chicago companies look to fill vacant positions in high-demand specialties, there are workers around the globe who can provide the right solutions promptly and cost-effectively. Contract workers based in Canada have the right skill sets and many data experts from Eastern Europe do too. Such outstaffing providers can connect you with local, nearshore, and offshore data scientists to help reduce time to find / hire specialists and ensure your top line growth in the mid and long term.
Chicago has many recruiting sources from which you can find high-quality job applicants in every field of knowledge. Even so, when applicants are in short supply, and the recruiting task is urgent, as is the case with the need to hire data scientists, you still have other options that can put the right person in place almost immediately. Agencies can bring talent from across the globe or just over the border.
Featured image courtesy of WeWork.
