IT Recruiting Techniques Outside of Typical IT Job Boards
Most IT recruiting companies will have a robust database housing thousands of resumes in their database. Additionally, IT recruiting firms will have access to all of the resume boards – Monster, Career Builder, Hot Jobs, Dice, Net Temps, etc. However, true IT recruiting reaches well beyond these tools. We understand this at AVID and this approach helps us separate ourselves from other IT staffing agencies. AVID IT recruiters utilize the following techniques outside of typical search avenues to identify strong technical candidates:
1) Direct Recruiting: With the advent of Monster and other IT job boards, calling directly into targeted companies has truly become a lost art. However, not at AVID. This is one of our most effective means of finding the perfect candidate– and one who’s resume isn’t plastered all over the IT job boards.
2) Identifying IT User Groups: This is an excellent way to build a network of niche skill sets and a great way to identify strong candidates through referrals. Our IT recruiters join networking groups and attend niche user group meetings. They’re on the streets networking with the very people we place on a daily basis.
3) Finding Niche IT job Sites: Many niche IT job sites (especially in the government/military sector) are virtually resume databases. Simple Google searches can unearth these sites and ultimately provide additional search avenues.
4) LinkedIn: AVID IT recruiters promote all of their own IT jobs on their individual LinkedIn pages and are constantly joining new user groups and networking with technical professionals.
5) Social Media: Our IT recruiters also all have their own Facebook and Twitter work pages where they post positions and network with IT professionals.
– Follow AVID on Twitter
– Friend us on Facebook
6) Google & Other Search Engines: These are free sites that AVID IT recruiters utilize on a daily basis. By knowing how to use Boolean search queries, you can find hundreds of resumes, user groups and job posting sites.
7) Trade Associations: AVID utilizes Business Journals, High Tech Magazines, Executive Clubs and other networking groups to further promote our IT jobs and meet IT contractors and other high-tech professionals. Many have websites with career functionality.
8) Local College & University Relationships: AVID IT recruiters go out of their way to build strong relationships/partnerships with a number of local colleges and universities. This yields better access to for IT job postings and career services.
9) Referrals: By asking for a referral on every single call, AVID IT recruiters are constantly identifying candidates that our competition cannot find.
10) Search Engine Optimization: AVID is one of the most dynamic IT recruiting agencies in the industry. We follow trends and embrace changes in technology. As our technical recruiters utilize all of the techniques described above, SEO provides the opportunity for candidates to find us!
The Benefits of Listing IT Certifications on Your Resume
In any IT job search, the key is to differentiate yourself. As IT recruiters, we are constantly helping strong candidates stand out from the competition. Whether we help with interview tips, tweaking of a resume, or sending a thank-you note, IT staffing companies exist to provide a guiding hand through the process. Though it might seem like the most obvious, one essential piece of advice is to really highlight your expertise. Time and time again we see resumes where Certifications are listed at the bottom, plopped between “Affiliations” and “Interests” in size 9 font. Grueling certifications that have cost our candidates many hours, dollars, and credentials.
Did this article catch your eye? This is exactly what your resume should look like. IT recruiting firms make it a priority to include every logo for every certification on every resume. Make this the first thing they see. Drastic times call for drastic measures – the competition in our current job market is incredible. Certifications are revered as elite. Think about it: the ability to list “MCP” or “CCNA” on a resume came at quite the cost. Many of these exams are excruciatingly difficult to obtain. They are rigorous, lengthy; expensive. Some require other certifications, continued education, or countless hours of hands-on experience.
We are one of the leading IT staffing agencies who advise our candidates to show off their hard work! The benefit could land you IT jobs, along with increasing your compensation. You’ve proved your expertise – now prove you’re worth. Certifications will help you do just that. They are tangible and showcase a strong foundation. Moreover, IT recruiters constantly get IT jobs that require them. Your skills have been professionally validated; let’s make sure they aren’t overlooked.
Call an IT recruiter at AVID Technical Resources for advice like this and more: Our IT Recruiters are industry experts and will help you be seen in the best light possible to land that IT job!
How to Optimize Your Success on LinkedIn
Some would argue that LinkedIn is the most essential resource IT recruiting agencies use in their search. Massive job boards like Career Builder, Monster, and Craigslist can sometimes fall short in providing IT Recruiters with the highest quality of candidates. As a result, LinkedIn is constantly used by IT staffing companies to locate the best-hidden talent in the industry. Below are ten tips that will assure your page comes up in their search and engages IT recruiters enough to keep reading.
- Make your profile public: The point is to be seen right? Though it seems pretty obvious, this is the number one rule. To make sure your information is seen by the right people, you must make it accessible to them. IT recruiting companies won’t find you if they can’t.
- Join Groups: Engage in these small communities. You never know who might have gone to the same school, have experience in the same technology/held a similar IT job, worked at the same company, etc. Moreover, participate via discussion forums. The more you connect in a way that is personal, the more likely it is you’ll network with the right people. IT Recruiters are members of countless groups and often look towards other members for IT specialization in a certain area.
- Link Personal Blogs, Twitter, etc: The more you can show of yourself, the better. Linking personal sites allow IT recruiters to see a little more into who YOU are as a person. Many times client companies have particular environments or personalities conducive to a specific type of person. Any clues you can give IT staffing firms about your character could set you apart from the rest.
- Full out as much information as possible: LinkedIn is set up in the way that you can make as much of it as you want. As an IT recruiting agency who uses this valuable resource to find candidates daily, our advice is to make your profile the best and most full depiction of you. Add a picture. Get recommendations. Post former IT jobs, education, affiliations.
- Log in/Update your page frequently: Staying on top of things is crucial during any IT job search, especially given our current economic climate. Even something as simple as logging in regularly could increase your chances at landing the perfect IT job. IT recruiters always post open positions on LinkedIn, specifically to groups (Refer to Tip #2). Given the swift nature of filling positions, it’s integral to remain connected.
- Avoid simply uploading your resume: While LinkedIn is a great resource to use, it should not be just another place to upload your resume. Your profile is a brief, eye-catching summary of your experience. Don’t add numerous bullets for every past IT job that you’ve held. Your profile should be detailed enough to understand your background, but concise and interesting enough to keep readers and IT recruiters engaged.
- Remain professional: It’s extremely important to remember this is a professional, not a social networking site. While advancements now allow for facets of LinkedIn to be similar to Facebook (events, updating status, etc.), they are not meant to be used in the same way. Information should be pertinent to the workplace and remain tasteful. If you do choose to link personal sites, make sure you are aware of what is being made accessible. IT recruiters screen for this and continually disqualify candidates who provide inappropriate content on their personal social media pages.
- Include personal notes in invitations to link. Sometimes reach is only successful when made personal. Including a message might jog someone’s memory or catch the eye of technical recruiters. This will increase your chances make of someone accepting your invitation to connect. In general, adding a personal touch to networking makes you come across as more professional and invested.
- Take suggestions from “People you might know” or “People who have viewed this profile also viewed” : Networking is most successful when there is some common thread. These two features allow you very easy access to a pool of people you are connected to in some way. IT staffing companies are often successful because of referrals by clients or candidates. Get to know these IT recruiting agencies and recruiters through tools right in front of you.
- Create a personalized URL for your page that includes your full name. LinkedIn gives you the option to keep the URL they give you, or personalize it. Find anything familiar about most of these tips? Personalize, personalize, personalize. Don’t be www.linkedin.in/4238942, be www.linkedin.in./YOURNAME. Take ownership of your talents, credentials and experience. Even more than that, it’s going to increase the likelihood of you appearing in search results. If you want to be seen, you must increase visibility – it’s that simple.
Damaging Information Could Cost You the Job
Social media has revolutionized the way IT recruiting companies operate. From sourcing candidates, to background checks, to the type of jobs that come across our desks, IT Recruiters use these resources daily. Just the other day a position came in for a client looking for an applications developer. Like every other opportunity we receive, our technical recruiters began pounding the pavement in search of the perfect candidate. After an extensive search we were sure we found him: young, bright, articulate, vast experience in social media and more specifically – applicable applications development exposure.
Unfortunately for the candidate, the access IT staffing firms have can be both a blessing and a curse. While it led us to this talented individual, it also led us to information he wouldn’t have wanted us to find. Information that portrayed him as a person we would not want to represent our IT Recruiting Agency. This was information that ultimately cost him the IT job.
This unpleasant outcome happens all too often. People are constantly cautioned to filter what they put on the internet, and as IT Recruiters we can only reinforce that message. It has become too easy to uncover damaging info and regardless of privacy settings or controls, there are ways to find anything. As a successful IT recruiting company with years of experience under our belt, I can guarantee you we will do the research before submitting any candidate. Before we can agree to put AVID Technical Resources on your credentials, we must be sure it’s a safe investment.
Our advice? Google yourself. Get rid of anything questionable. Don’t rely on privacy controls. If it’s there, IT staffing agencies will find it. You want to be portrayed in the best light to land that perfect IT job. Your fate is in your hands.