I cannot think of a case where an IT position is filled with a just find anybody mentality. More often the phrase find the best fit we can afford is either stated or implied. As in any area of life, there is a lot to be learned from those that do the best job in finding and placing talented individuals. I enjoy working with teams filled with the best fits for that team. Therefore, I want to offer some suggestions for improving the odds at finding that best fit. Better still, suggestions for getting them to accept an offer:

• Know what you need and make that clear: People working in IT have many ways to be contacted. Even worse, anyone with a good reputation will be contacted via all those methods on a regular basis. This makes reading or listening to position descriptions an exercise in determining whether it is worth the time. The candidate may review the posting thoroughly, but will often skim it first. A position description that appears to meander around technical buzzwords and role descriptions is an easy one to ignore. The description should never leave the reader wondering what the heck the successful candidate needs to possess regarding skills and experience. A description of a job should also give a feel for a typical day. Detail is important. Thus, avoid generic terms such as developer with five years of experience or more. Likewise, avoid specifics when not needed. A description: Java developer with five years of expertise in an enterprise environment that knows what IT stands for is going to raise questions. Knowing what IT stands for has no bearing on Java skills. Thus, it is either fluff or someone who has no idea what they are looking for. This may seem obvious in the example. However, requests that include irrelevant details are typical.
• Assume the job description reader will only scan the description: Words matter. This axiom applies when someone is actively searching for jobs on a website or flipping through emails and scanning an emailed position. As a potential candidate for a job opening, I always have some key ideas about my skillset in my head. Also, there are some code words I am looking to avoid. This is the same whether a person or a computer is searching the job description. For example, a developer looking for a job that is pure coding might ignore a posting that includes information about testing strategies. Similarly, they will ignore management phrases such as lead, mentor, business strategy, or others that do not focus on the desired coding tasks. Keywords are an important part of a description. However, make sure extraneous keywords that might be considered a negative are avoided.
• Respect the time of the reader: If you are looking for someone to do a particular job or fill a specific role, get to the point. Avoid fluff around the description. I have seen developer position postings that include HR boilerplate about lifting heavy objects, repetitive activity, and other similar phrases. This implies the person writing the position has no clue about IT jobs. Instead, they are just slapping technical terms into a template. Your environment may require all that legal boilerplate. In that case, make it easy for the reader to jump to the important parts of the description. The requirements might be valid and an attempt to avoid lawsuits. However, if it makes it look like no thought went into writing up the position, it may deter good candidates. Why would you expect a candidate to spend more time considering the position than was put into writing it up?
• Understand the position: When you order a meal at a restaurant, you want to know what sort of ingredients and spices go into the food. Questions asked may include "how big are the portions?" or "how is that typically cooked?". These questions are asked to give you a better sense of what to expect before the meal is ordered or delivered. Likewise, job descriptions should provide the reader with a firm idea of what is required for the position. Thus, the recruiter filling the position should be able to have a feel for what an ideal candidate looks like. Unfortunately, this is often where job descriptions fail. When there is a lack of IT knowledge around the hiring and recruiting process, it leads to detailed and relevant information being lost or never properly created. A recruiter is only as good as the description they receive. A poor job post might cause the author of the job posting to be consulted to clarify the role. However, no amount of clarifying discussion with the recruiter will solve the problem if the author does not understand the position to be filled.
• Speak IT to fill IT positions--know your audience: Few things turn off a potential candidate faster than treating them as a commodity. People that choose IT, and stick with it, almost always are looking for more than just better pay or more vacation time. They also tend to know what the going market rate is for their skills. Remember, the best candidates are getting some offers or invitations each week. They also have Google available to find out what a position is likely to pay. Make sure the pay offered is reasonable for the skillset. On the other hand, be ready to play up the career advantages of the position. A position that works with a new, cutting-edge technology is more desirable than one that works with a dying technology. These points are not rocket science, nor are they easy to accomplish without IT knowledge. That being said, how do I recommend that these points get addressed? IT knowledge of the sort needed here can take years to learn. Thus, some of the best recruiters have strong IT backgrounds. They manage to get a head start by bringing that knowledge with them to recruiting.

IT is constantly evolving so even those recruiters with a solid IT background have to keep up with trends and innovations in the world of IT. A driven recruiter can spend hours every week digging into tech journals and blogs, picking the brains of trusted resources, and even take continuing education classes. We want to make it simpler than that.

• Use the resources available: IT is constantly evolving, making it so that even those recruiters with a solid IT background have to keep up with trends and innovations. A driven recruiter can spend hours every week digging into tech journals and blogs, picking the brains of trusted resources, and even take continuing education classes. This can be intimidating. There are also podcasts and meetups that can teach IT skills by a sort of osmosis. As always, you get out what you put in.