Recruiting candidates in the technology industry
How to source, engage, and interview top tech talent.
Discover key data-based insights to source talent.
Attract and identify great candidates.
Start the conversation with confidence.
Interview questions and what to listen for by role.
Recruiting talent
Insights on the tech industry talent pool
Understanding where the most in-demand tech candidates are located will help you make better talent decisions - from where you should open your next office to the size of the candidate pool.
Select a role to discover top locations and companies employing tech talent
Top locations for software engineers
India • United States • China • United Kingdom • Canada
Candidate information powered by LinkedIn Talent Insights data to help you make smarter, data-driven hiring decisions.
Top companies employing software engineers
Accenture
IBM
Microsoft
Top locations for technical engineers
India • China • United States • United Kingdom • Egypt
Candidate information powered by LinkedIn Talent Insights data to help you make smarter, data-driven hiring decisions.
Top companies employing technical engineers
Oracle
Cisco
Dell
IBM
Top locations for network engineers
United States • India • China • United Kingdom • Pakistan
Candidate information powered by LinkedIn Talent Insights data to help you make smarter, data-driven hiring decisions.
Top companies employing network engineers
Cisco
AT&T
Ericsson
Huawei Technologies
Top locations for network administrators
United States • China • India • Brazil • France
Candidate information powered by LinkedIn Talent Insights data to help you make smarter, data-driven hiring decisions.
Top companies employing network administrators
Wipro
Tata Consultancy Services
United States Air Force
IBM
Top locations for systems engineers
United States • Mexico • United Kingdom • Colombia • India
Candidate information powered by LinkedIn Talent Insights data to help you make smarter, data-driven hiring decisions.
Top companies employing systems engineers
Tata Consultancy Services
Infosys
IBM
Lockheed Martin
Searching for talent
How to find qualified tech candidates
In order to expand your reach with in-demand candidates, you’ll need to post your open roles online. Get started by using our five useful job description templates.
Use these templates to help you hire the most in-demand tech talent
Software engineer job description
Software engineers develop new operating systems and applications, often seeing projects through from design to completion — a process that includes research, design, testing, and configuration.
Responsibilities
• Research, design, build, and test new software
• Use a variety of different coding languages and technologies to develop and analyze applications
• Collaborate with teams to define and implement solutions
Skills and qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in software engineering, computer science, or mathematics
• Familiar with JavaScript, HTML, Java, C/C++, Python, and Go
• Ability to think analytically, brainstorm creatively, and collaborate effectively
Get the full software engineer job description that includes additional responsibilities, qualifications, and role objectives.
Technical engineer job description
Technical engineers are all about identifying and solving problems, building equipment, testing products, collecting data, and designing and developing products to drive efficiency and success.
Responsibilities
• Oversee development of new technologies, ensuring they satisfy emerging requirements
• Effectively communicate with stakeholders and standardize and automate business processes
• Implement new operating systems, software, and hardware components
Skills and qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in technology or computer science
• Project management experience and 3+ years in a technical role
• Ability to create, analyze, and repair large-scale distributed systems and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team
Download the full technical engineer job description that includes skills, qualifications, and role objectives.
Network engineer job description
Network engineers play a critical role in the communication and business operations inside their company. They monitor computer networks, traffic congestion, infrastructure upgrades, and perform preventative maintenance.
Responsibilities
• Architect, implement, and maintain network solutions that provide core infrastructure and integrate with services and systems in virtual private and public cloud infrastructure
• Communicate and identify needs, monitor performance, and troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve network and systems issues
• Create reports and documentation outlining findings and solutions
Skills and qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in technology, with a focus on network engineering
• Experience with network infrastructure and infrastructure devices including switches, routers, wireless access points, controllers, and firewalls
• Expertise in designing, monitoring, and repairing local area networks (LAN) and wide area networks (WAN)
Download the full network engineer job description that includes skills, qualifications, and role objectives.
Network administrators job description
Network administrators keep a company’s computer systems running smoothly by organizing, installing, and maintaining network systems, intranets, and local and wide area networks.
Responsibilities
• Install, configure, and maintain network systems and detect and troubleshoot network issues
• Create and maintain documentation for servers and devices
• Ensure network security and support implementation of upgrades and new products
Skills and qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field and at least 3 years of experience in Windows server system administration
• Experience in SQL server administration and in-depth knowledge of Windows operating systems from 2008 and 2012 and VMware
Download the full network administrator job description that includes skills, qualifications, and role objectives.
Systems engineer job description
Systems engineers help to lay the foundation for projects from conception through production. They’re concerned with the big picture of a project along with all the details like costs, schedules, and workability issues.
Responsibilities
• Communicate with stakeholders to identify what they want a system to accomplish
• Create documentation and reports to outline findings, and oversee the overall backup strategy including daily operations for secure backup and restore testing
• Expert-level administration of hosts and servers to ensure availability and appropriate resource management
Skills and qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in technology or computer science
• Experience with, or knowledge of, programming languages and operating systems, equipment and technologies, enterprise backup and recovery procedures, and system performance-monitoring tools
• Expertise in creating, analyzing, and repairing large-scale distributed systems
Download the full systems engineer job description that includes skills, qualifications, and role objectives.
How to navigate employer branding in the new normal
Learn what your company can do to bring its brand to life in our new way of working.
Engaging with talent
3 ways to engage with tech talent
Use email, your employer brand, and LinkedIn Groups to initiate a conversation.
In order to pique the interest of qualified candidates, you’ll need to develop a meaningful connection with them. Accomplish this by clearly communicating company opportunities and goals through email, a strong employer brand, and conversations in LinkedIn Groups.
Connect with tech candidates through email
Great tech candidates get a lot of messages from recruiters, so it’s important to make yours stand out. Always customize every email to match the candidate’s interests and desires, as well as your own personality and style.
Best practices to help make your email stand out:
Keep your subject lines short and impactful
Use keywords like “thanks,” “exclusive invitation,” “connect,” “job opportunity,” and “join us.”
Start a dialogue
Candidates don’t respond well to “look at the job and tell me if you’re interested” messages. Instead, have a conversation about their career path and goals.
Use a conversational, enthusiastic tone
Choose words that reflect your personal voice and express a genuine interest in helping candidates with their professional goals.
Build an online presence tech candidates will want to follow
A strong online brand is essential for attracting high-quality tech talent. With an online presence, you’ll diversify your reach, build rapport with candidates, and stay top of mind when they’re looking for their next role. Candidates tend to look at a company’s LinkedIn Page, careers site, and social media profiles.
Simple steps to boost your online brand:
Incorporate pictures and videos
• Showcase real employees and the vibrant work environment
• Promote perks like work-life balance or volunteer days
Share testimonials
• Show a personal experience that candidates can relate to
• Demonstrate that you’re an employer that values its staff
Start a dialogue with tech talent in groups designed for recruitment
LinkedIn Groups give like-minded professionals a chance to network, share their interests, and discover new opportunities. Here are the details to help you find, join, and post on LinkedIn Groups, so you can start building credibility with your audience.
Reach out to a candidate in a LinkedIn Group.
Women in Technology International (WITI)
WITI is a global organization helping women advance through access to other professional women working in all sectors of tech.
Join now
Software as a Service - SaaS Group
This group connects tech professionals and discusses how SaaS can alleviate the customer's burden of software maintenance, ongoing operation, and support.
Cloud Computing
This is a group for people involved in cloud computing, edge computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data.
Join now
6 steps to redesigning your LinkedIn profile
You don’t pick talent — talent picks you. Revamp your LinkedIn profile in this six-step guide.
Interviewing talent
Top interview questions for tech roles
Discover what to ask and what to listen for.
What are the top interview questions you can ask to assess a candidate’s fit for a role? Learn effective interview questions to identify and hire top talent by selecting for the role you’re hiring below.
QUESTION
How do you keep your coding workflow organized?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
A workflow should make it easy for others to find code. Look for answers that mention folders, naming conventions, and consistency.
QUESTION
Tell me about the most challenging piece of code you’ve ever written.
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
This question helps you to understand if the candidate can identify their shortcomings and take steps to overcome them.
QUESTION
Describe the traits your ideal product team would have.
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
This question will help you see if your candidate will work well with the existing team and feel at home in your company culture.
Get more sample interview questions, plus what to listen for and why these questions matter, by visiting the top interview questions for software engineers.
QUESTION
What’s your troubleshooting process?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
The best engineers have a step-by-step approach to solving issues. Answers should demonstrate a method for resolving issues.
QUESTION
Share a time when you used scientific rules to solve a problem.
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Engineers must use established principles to solve technical problems, so look for answers where theories or methods are called out.
QUESTION
What resources would you recommend to other engineers?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
This question allows you to indirectly ask if the applicant is pursuing professional development through courses or industry news.
Get more sample interview questions, plus what to listen for and why these questions matter, by visiting the top interview questions for technical engineers.
QUESTION
What’s your experience with heterogeneous networks?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
This ensures that engineers are comfortable combining multiple systems and managing hybrid environments.
QUESTION
Tell me about a time you troubleshooted a network error.
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Push candidates for specific and varied examples. Ask what tools they used to test, how they isolated the issue, and how it was ultimately resolved.
QUESTION
How would you deal with an upset client who is experiencing technical troubles?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Make sure your new hire will acknowledge and respond appropriately to a client’s concerns with patience and empathy.
Get more sample interview questions, plus what to listen for and why these questions matter, by visiting the top interview questions for network engineers.
QUESTION
What’s the biggest network you’ve worked on?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Assess a candidate’s ability to handle complexity and see if they’re comfortable adapting to the change that comes with growth.
QUESTION
Tell me about a time you troubleshooted a network error.
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Every system has its own challenges, so press candidates for specific examples, the tools they used, and how they solved the problem.
QUESTION
How do you keep up with changes in the industry?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Ensure that your candidate remains current with infrastructures, the latest tech, and security protocols.
Get more sample interview questions, plus what to listen for and why these questions matter, by visiting the top interview questions for network administrators.
QUESTION
What’s your experience with case-use generation?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Experience in this area is important. Listen for examples of potential frustrations encountered — and how they were solved.
QUESTION
What are some ways you’ve improved system performance in the past?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Your candidate should talk about how they took the idea from conception to completion and how they optimized the design.
QUESTION
How do you think your previous job experience will help you succeed?
WHAT THIS EVALUATES
Engineers who can apply previous experience are invaluable. Good answers should be thoughtful and transparent.
Get more sample interview questions, plus what to listen for and why these questions matter, by visiting the top interview questions for systems engineers.
How to Hire Hub
Everything you need to find and hire the right person for your organization can be found in our How to Hire Hub.
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Read our additional hiring guides
LinkedIn in action
We offer a full range of hiring and recruiting solutions for every step in the process. We’ll help you find and engage the right candidates, build your brand, and make even smarter talent decisions with LinkedIn data and insights.