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Monthly Archives: June 2015

Don’t Underestimate Soft Skills in IT

Andrew Bosworth, a VP and one of the original employees at Facebook recently wrote an article about how working on his interpersonal skills at work was crucial to his career.  IT professionals should take note that this isn’t an isolated anecdote, either.  IT recruiters and IT staffing firms are certainly already encountering a dearth of good, qualified candidates for IT jobs.  But in addition to this, technical recruiters and IT staffing companies are seeking something even rarer- IT professionals who put a lot of effort into their people skills.  The best candidates, the ones IT recruiting firms have no trouble getting placed in IT roles, are the ones who are easy to work with.

There are obviously many, many different kinds of roles in IT, and thus many reasons why good social skills are important for them.  Here are just a few examples.  Service-oriented roles and client facing roles are probably some of the most important for IT staffing agencies and IT recruiting companies to fill with sociable IT professionals with excellent people skills.  Without good people skills, you could only do half—or less! – of these jobs.  Even jobs that aren’t client-facing or service-oriented still require good people skills because of the demands of the corporate culture.  Particularly in a startup environment, IT recruiting agencies need candidates who can work well with others.  Since a team must grow and stretch together, it’s crucial that they are able to respect, and even like each other.  It’s becoming more and more clear that soft skills aren’t just a plus in IT—they’re absolutely crucial for real success!

 

 

Downplay Money in IT Job Interviews

In interviews for IT jobs, it’s not uncommon to be asked what motivates you.  You may want to tell your IT staffing firms and IT recruiters that you’re looking for a job that makes more.  Making more money isn’t a bad reason to want to switch jobs.  However, you never want to tell hiring managers and interviewers that you’re motivated by money.  Why is this?

Technical recruiters and IT staffing companies understand that making more money can be an important factor in your job hunt.  However, both your IT recruiting companies and your potential employer want to know that you’re interested in the job and the work that you’d do in the role.  If you’re purely motivated by money, it means you’ll always be on the lookout for a new role.  If you’re interested not only in the compensation for the role, but also the role itself, hiring managers will feel more comfortable investing in training and on-boarding you.  Keep this in mind the next time you head to an interview.  Downplaying your interest in compensation and playing up your interest in the role, the work, the company’s culture, etc, will leave a stronger impression on your interviewer—and make it easier for your IT staffing agencies and IT recruiting firms to find you new jobs.