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IT Job Interviews

Focus On The IT Job You’re Interviewing For

Sometimes your IT staffing firms and IT recruiting agencies might submit you for IT jobs that are a stepping stone towards what you actually want to do.  Maybe you need more experience with a certain kind of technology, or perhaps you need to get your foot in the door to great company.  Whatever the reason, there are times it certainly makes sense  to let your IT recruiting companies and IT staffing agencies set you up to interview for jobs a step below what you’d like.  It’s important to remember that while your IT recruiting firms might know that this job is a stepping stone for you, you don’t want to underscore this to your interviewer.

Sometimes interviewers are aware a job will be a stepping stone, and sometimes they’re not.  Even if you’re in the former situation, your IT recruiters and IT staffing companies will still want you to focus on the job you’re actually interviewing for.  A job may be a stepping stone for you, but you’re still being hired for a position the company needs you to excel in.  If you spend the interview focusing on the next role you’d rather occupy, you’ll definitely ruin your chances of getting hired.  Make sure your interviewer knows you are interested in this job and would want to succeed in it.  This will win you the job– whether you’re overqualified for it or not!

 

 

Don’t Ask This Question in IT Job Interviews

Most IT recruiters and IT staffing firms remind their candidates to ask questions in interviews for IT jobs.  As technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies will explain, you’ll quickly lose out on a job if you have no questions to ask.  There are quite a few questions that will leave a great impression on your interviewer and IT recruiting companies.  There are also plenty of questions that will be almost as damaging as not asking any questions at all.  One question your IT staffing companies and IT recruiting firms would never want you to ask in an interview is “What’s your turnover rate?”

Why is this question so problematic? While it’s perfectly legitimate to want to know if a company has a high turnover rate, it’s the kind of question you should be asking your IT recruiting agencies.  They will be able to get this answer for you without putting your potential new employer on the defensive.  Questions like this can come off as hostile and accusatory when you ask your interviewer directly.  Come up with a different question to ask your interviewer, one that won’t make them feel uncomfortable!

 

A Surprising IT Job Interview Mistake

Most IT professionals dread being asked about their weaknesses in interviews for IT jobs.  It’s often far more difficult to answer these questions, even if your IT recruiters and IT staffing companies have helped you prep for it.  Many technical recruiters and IT recruiting agencies have seen people give a lot of bad answers to this question because there’s some bad advice about it.  Specifically, if you want to really make your IT recruiting firms, IT staffing agencies and interviewers cringe, list a thinly veiled strength as a weakness (ie say your biggest weakness is that you’re a perfectionist, a workaholic, etc).

Why shouldn’t you answer weakness questions this way in interviews?  Firstly, giving an answer like this makes you seem unprofessional and ill prepared.  Many IT professionals have heard this bad advice before.  However, the well-prepared, experienced ones know enough not to answer weakness questions with a strength.  Secondly, giving a strength and trying to disguise it as a weakness doesn’t help your interviewer.  They genuinely want to know about you as an employee.  If you obstruct that process, you’re probably going to turn them off, if not completely ruin your chances of getting the job.  Lastly, you’ll miss a chance to add effectively to your candidacy.  Answer the weakness question with a real weakness that you can demonstrate you’re working on, one that wouldn’t impair your ability to do the job well.  Through your perseverance and problem-solving strategies, you could really impress your interviewers, IT recruiting companies and IT staffing firms!

 

How to Answer This IT Job Interview Question

Your IT recruiters and IT staffing companies probably let you know what technologies to study up on before you interview for IT jobs. If they’re good technical recruiters and IT recruiting agencies, they probably even let you know what soft skills would be important to emphasize.  However, there’s one question they’ll leave to you to answer: Why should we hire you?

How can you answer this question so the hiring manager wants to immediately contact your IT recruiting firms and IT staffing agencies to talk about hiring you?  The key is not only to answer the question comprehensively, but also uniquely.  Most candidates will be able to explain why they have the experience and skills to excel at the job.  You and your IT recruiting companies will benefit if you can explain why you are not only qualified to do the job, but that you have some unique experiences, accomplishments, or skills that will be an asset in the role.   While you don’t want to give any unprofessional answers, something a bit offbeat will be effective here.  Maybe you have work experience in a unique organization, like Outward Bound.  Perhaps you have achieved something interesting in your IT career.  Whatever the case, if you can talk about it as an illustration of your candidacy for the job, it will make you stand out all the more in your interviewer’s mind!

Don’t Make This Major Mistake in IT Job Interviews

There are plenty of things that your IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies will remind you to do on IT job interviews (maybe study up on a particular technology, for instance).  There’s also plenty of things technical recruiters and IT staffing firms expect that you know to do (like wearing a suit).  However, even if you do all these things, you could still hurt your chances of winning IT jobs by doing something so subtle you don’t even recognize you’re doing it: by being a ‘What’s in it For Me’ candidate.

What does this mean?  Your IT staffing companies and IT recruiting firms might not explicitly be warning you against this, but it’s important not to make your interest in benefits and compensation more obvious than your interest in the job itself.  Of course everyone does IT jobs to make money.  However, if you seem interested in a job mainly for the money and benefits, a hiring manager will never hire you.  They want people who are interested in the work, the company, and the corporate culture as well.  An employee who is deeply engaged in their work and team will go the extra mile and contribute a lot.  An employee who is merely interested in a paycheck will do the bare minimum.  So let your IT recruiting agencies handle the conversations about compensation for you—you can focus on building your candidacy that way!

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Wanting it Too Badly Can Kill Your IT Job Interviews

Interviews for IT jobs tend to be about two things: whether you have the technical skills and experience to do the job well and whether you have the personality to succeed well in the employer’s corporate culture.  Your IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies can give you insight into both of these categories.  In fact, your technical recruiters and IT staffing firms want you to know exactly what kind of candidate the employer is looking for.  However, even if you do your best to prep for both these categories, you can still hurt your chances by coming across as too needy.

Most IT recruiting firms and IT staffing companies would agree that it’s hard not to sound needy if you really want a job. There are some things that you can do, though to help yourself avoid giving this impression.  Firstly, keep in mind that your IT recruiting companies are likely keeping you in mind for other positions as well.  Secondly, to keep things in perspective, remember that if you don’t get hired for a position, it’s because a manager thinks you aren’t equipped to succeed in it.  Being in a job you’re failing at is much worse than being (temporarily) unemployed.  Lastly, take deep breaths, lay off the caffeine before the interview, and take good care of yourself the night before.  Be as relaxed as you can, because it’s only to your benefit.

IT job interviews
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This Mistake Can Ruin Your IT Job Interviews

There are plenty of things you can do to prepare for interviews for IT jobs.  You can be ready to answer any questions that you or your IT recruiters and IT staffing firms can anticipate.  However, your IT staffing agencies and technical recruiters can’t help you fix basic behavioral issues for interviews.  Here’s one mistake you must make sure you’re not making: interrupting your interviewer.

Most IT recruiting companies and IT staffing companies would agree that it’s understandable if you mistakenly interrupted your interviewer once.  However, if you interrupt people a lot as a nervous habit, or just out of sheer impatience, this will make a very bad impression.  The best candidates, the kind that IT recruiting firms have no problem placing in jobs, are great listeners and communicators.  If you interrupt your interviewer, you’ll not only irritate them, but probably show that you aren’t likely able to communicate well with colleagues, managers, clients, etc.  Do yourself a favor and break this habit immediately—it probably has cost you IT jobs already!

 

Facial Piercings and IT Job Interviews

More and more IT professionals are facing an odd dilemma as they interview for IT jobs: what should they do about unconventional facial piercings.  As the millennial population rises in the IT field, IT recruiters and IT staffing firms are encountering more and more candidates with nose rings, eyebrow piercings, or ear piercings beyond the usual 2 at the bottom of the lobes.  What should technical recruiters and IT staffing companies tell candidates to do about these piercings when they go to interviews?  Is it better to hide them or take them out?

Candidates should make sure they check with their IT recruiting companies and IT staffing agencies before they go on interviews if they do have unconventional piercings.  Usually IT recruiting agencies will have a good idea about whether these companies are ok with piercings on a daily basis.  For most interviews, it’s best to hide the piercings.  Even if they’re accepted on a daily basis, it’s better not to stand out for something like a piercing.  If the company doesn’t accept piercings on a daily basis, it’s important for the candidate to really think hard about this before being submitted to the job.  While it may seem like a small thing, this may be indicative of a larger culture fit issue.  The candidate and their IT recruiting firms may want to re-visit how well they might fit into the corporate culture overall.

 

 

A New Way To Prep for IT Job Interviews

If you’re preparing for interviews for IT jobs, you’ve probably practiced answering questions with a friend or family member.  This is a good start, but there’s another way to practice for your interviews so that you impress your interviewer (and your IT recruiters and IT staffing companies!).  Try switching roles for a bit and play the interviewer. 

How do you do this?  Your technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies can give you a basic idea of what questions your interviewer will ask.  It’s also worth it to think about you’d want to know if you were hiring for this position.  As you practice from the interviewer role, you’ll force yourself to think about what kind of experience, skills, and personality traits your interviewer (and your IT recruiting agencies and IT staffing firms) want you to highlight.  You can think about what the ideal candidate would sound like.  Take that perspective with you to the interview—even if you don’t get the job, you’re bound to leave a lasting impression on your interviewers (and make your IT recruiting companies eager to continue to work with you!).

 

 

 

Write Powerful IT Job Interview Thank You Notes

Most IT professionals have some practice writing thank you notes for interviews after IT jobs.  Whether you sent them along yourself or your IT recruiters and IT staffing companies send them to your interviewers, you’re likely to have written a few thank you notes.  Not everyone knows how to write a really strong, effective thank you note though.  IT recruiting firms and technical recruiters can all attest to the vast number of generic thank you notes they’ve handed back to hiring managers.  Here’s a tip on how to really make your thank you notes impressive and leave a lasting impression on your interviewers (as well as the IT staffing agencies and IT recruiting firms you’re working with).

As you write your thank you note, make reference to a couple of specific duties of the job and explain why you’re prepared to excel at them.  Your interviewer will really appreciate seeing that you not only grasp the job generally, but you also have thought about the specific responsibilities of it.  This will make them take you more seriously as they consider candidates.  Even if you don’t get the job, you’re likely to get great feedback from the interviewer that will make your IT staffing firms and IT recruiting agencies eager to submit you for more IT jobs.