In 2018, when I was five years into my role as Information and Technology Operations Manager for one of the well-known banks internationally, I decided to change my occupation as a tech recruiter otherwise agency recruiter in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Here are some reasons why I love tech recruiting. If you are thinking of transitioning your career to join an agency recruiter, who focuses on tech recruiting, we might have the same thoughts. 

 

You get to know how new technologies are built from scratch

Not everyone is born a software engineer. For some, no matter how hard they try to be one because they study to follow market demand, they don't enjoy the process of coding and development, making them an average developer. 

But it's not the end of the world because I know people who are passionate about technology and end up getting into the tech recruitment industry, where they can still be part of the process from a different angle. 

Being a tech recruiter allows you to understand why certain companies are hiring software engineers to build their products/services and dive deep into how tech candidates can explain in detail the products they have developed. 

Sometimes listening to hiring managers and candidates allows a tech recruiter to visualize how a product will be built. Some good examples of such technologies are Azure, Google on Cloud (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Alibaba Cloud. 

These technologies are built by software engineers who were initially hired to develop other products initially. Just imagine if one of the candidates you helped  is the brain behind new technology like Azure? 

Though we tech recruiters do not have the technical capability to develop products, we still can leverage our position in the tech industry to have our audience open up to us more. This is because they will feel less intimidated and view us as friends, which significantly helps to manage the candidate-customer relationship.

 

You can control your income

I have always believed in this sentence, never rely on anyone but yourself for your life and livelihood. Technology is here to stay, and so requirements for tech-savvy talents will always be there in the coming years regardless of the type of industry you are in (e.g., proptech, insurtech, cartech, robotic, etc.). 

Suppose you take time to understand the technological pillars you specialize in and the connection and relationship you built for the long term. In that case, you will definitely succeed in your career, which leads to better financial health. 

Malaysia is still a growing technology market, and there is a lot more to explore, so start building your connection now to be the Go-To-Tech Recruiter in your space. 

 

Build network 

Although I have only been in this sector for almost three years, the amount of knowledge I have gained, learned, and built relationships is extraordinary and has helped me throughout my career. 

At the end of the day, agency recruiter is still a sales job, but when it comes to being an effective tech recruiter, connection and networking are essential, and you are basically building a bridge that connects the missing dots for your clients (both tech candidates and your clients are also your clients). 

 

Conclusion

Whether you like it or not, technology will be part of our lifestyle, which is the same for a career in tech recruitment as it will always be in demand. 

The most important note is never given up as long as you still have the fire inside you to succeed. 

The reason why some recruiters gave up halfway is because of some bad experiences they had encountered before. While you may have a bad first experience with your first agency, not all of them are like that. 

There are probably thousands of recruitment agencies in Malaysia, with a handful focusing on tech, so the only competition is you. 

 

This article was contributed by our expert Jonathan Sia

 

Frequently Asked Questions Answered by Jonathan Sia

Q1. What does a tech recruiter do?

A Tech recruiter is responsible for end-to-end recruitment of candidates who are suited for technical roles.

 

Q2. What is the difference between IT recruiter and HR recruiter?

Recruiters assess a candidate's qualifications, while HR assigns them to a position. The recruiter receives job opening information from the Human Resource department and creates the recruitment and interview process for potential candidates.

In other words, HR is associated with a particular company and IT recruiters/consultancies recruit in bulk for a particular niche, which makes it much more reliable, quality-based, and cost-effective.

 

Q3. What skills does a technical recruiter need?

First of all the technical recruiter needs to have technical knowledge for the given role, good negotiation skills, networking, communication and interpersonal skill.