It’s looking like 1999 again. Are you ready for the party?

Have you seen the signs? The startups are mobilizing. VCs are circling. Tech IPOs are in the news. Everyone is recruiting, yet so many jobs stay open. It sure feels like the late 90s. Is the tech sector heading for a bull market? Maybe. Are the rules of tech success changing? Absolutely.

From the recruitment front lines we see that this year is trending to be unlike any in the last decade. The good news is that there are many new tech companies, and the majority of the existing shops are projecting banner years. The bad news is there’s simply not enough talent to go around. If the bulls run and drive tech stocks up, the big companies will drain the shallow talent pool even further. It’s already happening. Even the banks are luring and locking up software engineers with lucrative contracts and tax advantages that most software companies can’t match.

What can a software company do?

Build a good offense and take preventative measures.

As demand for talent escalates, you need to evaluate your current team and determine who the keepers are. It’s imperative that your key players are happy about their compensation, hours, title, job, co-workers. etc. Whether you know it or not, your best players are at risk. Besides, they’re always the first to go. So, lock them up early. If you’re lucky, the rising job market will help your weaker players find a new place to work.

What can we learn from the past?

In the late 90s, tech recruiting was a full-contact sport. It was competitive, often predatory, and sometimes frenzied. To succeed today, before you’re caught in a defensive position, you need to bolster your recruiting strategy so that it’s better than everyone else in your talent pool. It should look like a sales and marketing effort, and not a desperate plea for help.

Whatever you do, don’t rely on the job boards. The effectiveness of these sites is questionable when talent is abundant. But, when the supply is short, they just take your money and time. You might want to try LinkedIn. The social media darling is still not overly crowded – for now – and you’ll be seen by employed people. But, don’t stop there.

Get on the social media bandwagon

Blog, promote, pitch and evangelize your story as much as you can. Expand your reach and leverage the voices of your best PR reps – your own happy employees. Understand who is in your talent pool, and tell that market how you’re going to change the world and why it’s fun to hang with your team. Tell them on LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook and any other social media tool at your disposal. Have a look at what companies like Rypple and Freshbooks have done. They do a great job of getting the good people to seek them out. You may also want to check out our slides on Recruiting in a Networked World for more ideas on how to blend recruiting and social media.

Ask your headhunter

Headhunters are like canaries in the coal mine – we see the market trends as they happen. Right now we’re seeing that jobs are staying open longer, demand for top talent is fierce, and even mediocre talent is getting more money and more job offers. It looks like a bubble in the making. Is there a dotcom sequel on its way? No one really knows. But, it’s good to think ahead of the curve and be ready to hit one out of the park – just like so many tech companies did in 1999.

What are you thinking? Is it just 2011 or 1999 all over again?