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IT recruiting

How to Polish Your IT Resume: Part 1

If you’re searching for new IT jobs this year, January is a great time to start.  You may already have relationships with IT recruiters and IT staffing firms, but you should consider overhauling your resume.  Whether you’ve been at a new position, or it’s just been a while since IT recruiting companies have submitted your resume to potential employers, a sparkling new resume will get you far and impress your technical recruiters.  Over the next few blog posts, we’ll examine a few key ways you can update your resume and improve upon it so you wow IT staffing agencies and hiring managers alike.  Today, we’ll focus on using powerful words.

When you create your resume, you do yourself a disservice to use words that are too generic. Firstly, this means that you should stay away from buzzwords.  Nobody thinks much of it if your resume states that you’re a ‘team player’ because pretty much everybody says they are.  Ditto saying that you’re detail-oriented or a hard worker.  Focus on articulating the skills and experience you bring to the table instead of these generic qualities.

Secondly, to impress IT recruiting agencies and potential employers alike, make sure your bullets under each job tend to start with verbs.  The best statements give accomplishments.  Employers will be excited to interview you if you can document exactly what you’ve done for your previous employers.  They’ll be able to see the value you could add to their organization.

2 Questions to Ask in IT Job Interviews

IT recruiters and IT staffing firms can help you prepare to answer questions in IT jobs interviews, but a good candidate comes to any interview armed with their own questions to ask.  Technical recruiters and IT recruiting companies love working with candidates who can ask insightful questions because it really wows hiring managers.  Here are two questions that will not only help you ascertain if you want the job, but also impress your interviewer and IT staffing agencies and IT recruiting firms.

How would you evaluate somebody’s performance in this role?  This question shows that you’re thinking about how to succeed in the role.  Managers want somebody like this—somebody who asks the right questions so they can nearly manage themselves.  If you are aware of your own goals and hold yourself accountable for them, you make your manager’s job easy.  Asking this question makes you a very attractive candidate indeed and make you more in demand with IT staffing companies.

What do you really value in your employees? Asking this question provides a similar impression, but on a more macro level.  Instead of looking for information about how to be successful in this particular role, you’re asking about how to contribute well to the company and team in a more general way.  Pay attention to response here, because it’s important that you feel like you can truly identify with their response.  For instance, if they’re looking for long hours and you aren’t, this is a red flag.

 

NEVER say this in an IT Job Interview, Part Two

There are plenty of ways you can prepare for job interviews – both with your IT staffing companies and IT recruiters and on your own.  But even with the best preparations and tips from IT recruiting agencies, there are some ways you could still shoot yourself in the foot.  If you’re at interviews for your dream IT jobs, then make sure you never, ever, under any circumstances say you don’t think you’re completely qualified and prepared for the job.

Why is this a mistake?  Technical recruiters certainly want you to be honest about your abilities and experience, but this isn’t really about that.  Firstly, if you don’t think you are able to do a job, then you shouldn’t let IT recruiting firms submit you for it—it’s wasting your time and theirs.  However, if this is a case of a lack of confidence, or perhaps you need to learn a new technology, then it’s a different situation.  If you and your IT staffing agencies think you could succeed in a job, but you’re just unused to selling yourself, then it’s time to practice that.  Hiring managers don’t want to take a risk in who they hire, so confidence is key.  If you need to learn a new technology, you need to detail the steps you can (or perhaps already are).  The bottom line is to make sure you let the hiring manager know that you can see yourself as a rock star in the position—and nothing less.  You’ll sink yourself if you don’t.

 

NEVER say this in IT Job Interviews

If you prepare for IT jobs with your IT recruiters and IT staffing firms, you’re likely to be ready to answer questions about technologies, your strengths as an employee, and to be able to demonstrate you fit well into the corporate culture.  But your technical recruiters and IT staffing companies may not even think to tell you this: Never ever say that a job is not your first choice.

Why is this important?  IT recruiting companies would advise that while honesty is important, it’s more important to let the hiring managers who interview you know that you’re interested in a job.  If you say anything that indicates that a job is your second choice, or perhaps that you’re equally interested in another position, they have room to doubt your interest.  IT recruiting agencies would never want you to lie, of course and you shouldn’t push hard for a job that you wouldn’t want at all.  It’s important to think about the fact that the few words you say will make a big impact on your interviewer.  If some of those words indicate that you might turn down a job offer, be give anything less than your best in a job, then you’ve hurt your chances.

 

Ace Your Phone Interview for IT Jobs!

All your hard work has paid off!  You’ve met and spoken with IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies.  You’ve polished your resume per your technical recruiters’ requests.  It’s time to do some phone interviews for your dream IT jobs.  Besides studying upon the relevant technologies that your IT recruiting companies have told you about, what else can you do to prepare?

Practice answering basic interview questions and study your resume.  Research the company, and basically do everything you’d do to prepare for an in-person interview.  It’s tempting to wing a phone interview, but IT recruiting agencies would strongly urge against this.  Phone interviews are just as important, if not more important than in-person interviews.  If you don’t bring you’re ‘A Game’, hiring managers will tell your IT staffing firms that they’re not interested.  It’s also important to make sure you’ll have a quiet place with a landline to take the phone call for phone interviews.  Taking even the slightest chance that you’ll have a bad connecting during the interview isn’t worth it.  IT recruiting firms know that it doesn’t take much for a hiring manager to form a bad impression of a candidate.  Don’t let your phone hurt your chances of winning your dream job.

 

Finding the Best IT Recruiters for You

If you’re looking for new IT jobs, you’re probably shopping around for good IT staffing firms and technical recruiters to work with.  There are a ton of options out there, so it can be overwhelming to figure out what IT recruiting companies and IT recruiters you should work with.  What makes a recruiter and IT staffing agencies right for you?

Firstly, you need to be feel comfortable with the recruiters at the IT staffing companies and be able to trust them.  Unfortunately, there are some IT recruiting agencies that do things that may not always be in your best interest.  You can research IT staffing agencies will often have reviews online from candidates they’ve worked with.  Secondly, you should feel like the recruiters you work with are listening to your needs.  They should submit you for jobs that you can succeed in and would enjoy.  If they’re trying to submit you to a lot of roles that may not fit what you’ve asked for, it’s time to reconsider working with them.  Lastly, it’s ideal if your IT recruiting firms that you work with pair you with a single recruiter who works with you consistently.  The best IT recruiting firms will make sure you can create a strong relationship with IT recruiters who know you and your career goals.

 

Thank You Notes When You’re Interviewed by a Panel for IT Jobs

When you’re prepping with your IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies for IT job interviews, they’re likely to tell you to write a thank you note.  But what should you do if you’re interviewed by more than one person?  What if it’s a whole panel of people?  Here’s how to write thank you notes for more than one interviewer that will land you the IT jobs you want.

Firstly, take notes during the interview.  Write down any interesting conversation threads that occur and with whom you had them.  Next, make sure your get business cards from everybody who interviews you.  If you don’t manage to do this, ask your technical recruiters and IT recruiting companies to give you their names.  When you get home from the interview, sit down and start writing notes as soon as you can. Ask your IT staffing firms if they prefer to pass the notes on for you, or if you should do it yourself.  Then write a separate note for everybody who interviewed you.  This is where your notes will come in handy.  Make each note personalized as much as possible to each interviewer.  Make sure to close each note by reiterating your interest in the job.  Your IT recruiting firms can only represent you so much—you are the best person to show your enthusiasm and interest in the job.  Lastly, send out the thank you notes within 24 hours.  This will ensure a quick and effective impact on the interviewers.

 

Don’t Make These IT Job Interview Mistakes

So you’ve worked with IT staffing agencies and IT recruiters, found IT jobs that would be a great fit, and you’re ready to interview.  Are you ready to put your best foot forward and really impress the hiring managers (and of course the technical recruiters who are representing you)?  Take a minute to run through this list of mistakes to avoid.  It could be the difference between getting the job and making a bad impression on your IT staffing companies and interviewers.

Don’t dress poorly.  Your IT recruiting firms will be happy to give you guidelines for how to dress for your interviews.  If they absolutely aren’t sure (which is pretty unlikely), then it won’t hurt to just go with a suit and tie.  It’s always much better to be overdressed than underdressed.

Don’t lose focus on the most important topic of conversation: the job.  Putting too much emphasis on the perks of the job, small talk with the interviewer, or anything else, will detract from your overall candidacy.  You’re at the job interview for a reason, so focus on that.

Don’t try to wing it.  Study up on any relevant technologies that your IT recruiting agencies tell you about.  Research the company.  Get a job description and stud

 

Graduating Soon? How to Prep for Your Upcoming IT job search

Will you be finishing school and ready to search for your first IT jobs this Spring (or maybe even this Winter)?  Whether you’re searching for your first job, or it’s just your first time working with IT staffing agencies and technical recruiters, here are some tips below.

1. Create a first draft of your resume and pull all your references onto one document.  This is the first thing you’ll need to show to any IT recruiters and IT staffing companies you decide to work with.

2. Contact IT recruiting companies and make appointments to meet with IT recruiters if possible.  You may want to develop a long term relationship with a few select IT recruiting companies, so meeting recruiters in person will help you decide what IT staffing firms will be the best fit for you.

3. Buy a suit or two that fit well and will last for a few years.  You’ll need them for interviewing, and you may need them for other work occasions.  Make sure you have plenty of time to buy a suit that’s flattering, conservative, and will last.  Buying it at the last minute isn’t usually conducive to this.

 

Don’t Forget to Add Awards to your IT Resumes!

If you’ve ever worked with IT recruiters and IT staffing companies in your search for IT jobs, you have some idea of how to format your resume or the basics of what to include.  Your technical recruiters don’t know everything about your career, though.  This means if you’ve won any awards or honors, particularly ones in your industry, your IT recruiting firms may not have told you to include them on your resume.

It may seem obvious, but there are a lot of reasons to include awards on your resume, even if they’re not entirely relevant to your industry.  Even in IT (an industry that has far more jobs than candidates) you still want to make sure you make your candidacy as appealing as possible to hiring managers and IT staffing agencies.  Awards that show off a skill that could be relevant to your job, or be translated into a skill relevant to your job, can provide a competitive edge.  For instance, an academic award is appealing to IT staffing firms, even if it’s not directly in IT.  It shows your ability to work hard as a student—and perhaps you can apply this skill in learning new technologies.  The same could be true of an athletic award, or maybe one in a different field.  If you could articulate how the award or honor showcases a talent that’s relevant to an IT job, it’s worth adding to your resume!