Banks Using Happy Tech Employees as Bait for New Hires

Monster Survey Reveals Higher Demand for IT Pros

The financial services industry may not be viewed as the hottest place to work by highly skilled technologists, but it is very interested in changing that perception. And it is definitely in hiring mode and willing to spend money to attract and recruit the best candidates.

Big changes in recruiting tactics among large banks and financial institutions are aimed at both communicating with tech-savvy folks in their own language and showcasing company culture in a more open way.

American Banker says JPMorgan Chase aims to more effectively fill tech jobs by letting current employees describe what it’s like to work for the company. Videos on Chase’s new careers site show workers talking about successfully achieving their dreams. BBVA Compass is also making videos that it hopes will be more attractive to tech talent than “typical and traditional” job descriptions. Each video takes months to complete, but the investment in time and money has been deemed crucial.

Goldman Sachs, increasing its IT departments while cutting elsewhere, is also trying new approaches and cutting ties with parts of its conservative image. “One of the things we strive to do is provide an awareness on campus of the activities that technologists do at the firm,” Goldman Head of Recruitment Michael Desmarais is quoted as saying at MidsizeInsider. “It’s not intuitive to think of a bank in that way.”

Wells Fargo, Bank of America and others, according to American Banker, are also optimizing their career sites for mobile device use, which they hope will be more attractive to their target tech hires, and holding “innovation jams” and contests to get to know possible applicants in person.