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How To Describe Yourself in IT Job Interviews

One question that IT recruiting firms will want you to be ready for in IT job interviews is something along the lines of ‘How would you describe yourself ?’  (A common variation on this is ‘How would your colleagues describe you?’).  There are a lot of ways to answer this question, of course.  It’s worth knowing, though, that there are a couple things you need to avoid saying so that your IT staffing agencies and IT recruiters don’t get bad feedback.

Firstly, IT staffing companies would advise that you don’t give an answer that is too subjective.  It will be hard to say something completely objective.  However, especially in IT, where things are constantly backed up with numbers, percentages, and hard data, the best answer will be something you can back up with a story, accomplishment, or example.  For instance, don’t say that your coworkers think you’re funny.  This doesn’t really advance your candidacy, nor is it something you can back up well.  Instead you might say that you’ve got good communication or relationship-building skills.  Then back it up by saying that you’ve made great relationships throughout your previous companies (which of course helped you succeed in these IT jobs).

Secondly, technical recruiters would advise you to avoid answering this question with things that will make you sound arrogant or difficult to work with. You do want to highlight skills and achievements that would make you a great candidate.  But there are ways to describe yourself as competent without sounding full of yourself.  For example, there’s certainly a difference between calling yourself brilliant and saying that you are confident in your abilities in particular technologies or programming languages.  IT staffing firms have a much easier time placing people in jobs when they’re both competent and pleasant people to work with.

 

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You might be funny, but IT job interviews aren’t really the time to talk about it. Photo credit: 1095178 via Pixabay.

 

2 Things You Should Ask About in Your IT Job Interviews

There are a lot of factors that IT professionals use to decide what IT jobs they want to interview for and what they tell their IT recruiters they’d like to pass on. Here are 2 factors that you may not have on the wish list you give your technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies, but are worth asking about in IT job interviews. They might not be immediately obvious, but these factors will definitely impact how much you like your job.

1. Ask your interviewers about how much collaboration you’ll be doing with team members, end-users, etc. Most IT professionals have some idea of how much they enjoy working with others—and who they like working with. Your IT recruiting firms aren’t necessarily going to be able to tell you exactly how much collaboration you’ll have in the jobs you’re interviewing for, or who you’ll be collaborating with. This is something to make sure you talk to your interviewers about and really consider if you get a job offer.
2. Especially in the IT field, continued learning can be very important. Not keeping up with the latest technologies, programming languages, etc could be detrimental to your career. The interview is a great time to ask about what opportunities this role will offer for continued learning. While your IT staffing firms may have some ideas about this, your potential employer can likely give you much more information.

 

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Do you like teamwork in your IT jobs, or do you prefer to work alone? Photo credit: Geralt via Pixabay.

 

 

Try Using A Slogan in Your IT Job Interviews

There are plenty of obvious, conventional tips and etiquette that your IT recruiting firms and technical recruiters can give you that you should use as a guide when you’re interviewing IT jobs.  Here’s one unconventional tip that will really impress your interviewers and IT recruiters: Work with a personal slogan.

What does this mean exactly?  Your IT staffing companies and IT recruiting agencies don’t want you to have some sort of cheesy personal slogan that you keep throwing out awkwardly in the interview.  What this means is that you should think about a single statement about why you’re an excellent candidate.  Maybe it’s because you’re great at problem-solving, or your debugging skills are legendary.  Whatever it is, keep this in mind when you are answering questions in your interviews.

The point is not to be repetitive, but to help you focus in on the main point of your interview: strengthening your candidacy.  Your IT recruiting companies set the stage for you, but you need to hammer this point home in every question you answer. Try restating your slogan at the beginning of a many of your answers, fitting it to the questions you’re asked.  For instance, if you’re asked why you want to leave your current job, bring it back to your slogan.  If your slogan is about how you’re a legendary de-bugger, you can answer the question by saying that you want a job where your programming and debugging skills will help your team achieve success on new projects.

If you’re unsure about this tactic, you can use it for less questions or only questions that you don’t feel confident answering.  It might also help to check in with your IT staffing firms and make sure your slogan is something would appeal to your potential employer. Does this company need somebody who is really excellent a de-bugging?  Or are they more interested in other skills?  Your IT staffing agencies are there to help you understand what the ideal candidate is like, so don’t hesitate to talk to them as you prepare!

 

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Take time to think about what your ‘slogan’ is for your candidacy. Now let that guide you in your IT job interviews. Photo credit: nachoto7 via Pixabay.

 

Telling Interviewers Why You Want a New IT Job

One question that IT recruiters and IT staffing companies tell you to always be ready to answer in interviews is ‘Why do you want to leave your current IT job?’  Most of the time, technical recruiters and IT recruiting firms find that candidates have a negative reason they want to leave their current IT jobs. You want to spin things in a positive way, though.  Here is how to talk about a couple of the reasons why you want a new IT job.

  1. If you’re working with IT recruiting agencies to find a new job because your boss or team are difficult to work with or just plain jerks, you obviously can’t say this. How can you get around this? Try keeping a positive spin by talking about what you want in a future team or manager.  It will be tempting to go into detail about what your boss or team does wrong, but don’t do it.  You’ll scare away potential employers.  Your IT recruiting companies are likely to get good feedback if you can say something about what you want in your next IT role, especially if these are qualities this employer prides themselves on. You’re effectively recasting yourself as a good culture fit for the company.
  2. If you’re working with IT staffing firms because you want more money, you can tell them this. They’ll be upfront with you about what the compensation might be for the jobs you interview for.  However, money isn’t something you should really mention in the interview.  While you don’t want to lie, try to focus on other things you’re looking for in your next job.  Maybe you’re looking for a new challenge, more responsibility, or a better commute.  Don’t forget to make sure these are actually things the jobs you’re interviewing for can offer, or else this answer will make things awkward and potentially ruin the interview.

 

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Want a new job with a higher salary? You can tell your IT recruiters, but leave that out of your interviews.

 

 

Ask These Questions in IT Job Interviews

IT recruiters and IT staffing companies often encourage job candidates to ask in interviews about what a typical day looks like.  Sometimes this doesn’t yield enough information about what the responsibilities will really be for IT jobs.  Perhaps the interviewer says there is no typical day, or is simply too vague.  While your technical recruiters and IT recruiting firms can provide you with some info, here are two ways you can try to dig for more detail.

Firstly, try asking if the IT job you’re interviewing for has changing responsibilities throughout the year.  Perhaps there are seasonal projects, databases need to be updated, installations are necessary, etc.  Not only will this help you, but your IT recruiting companies are bound to hear that you impress your interviewer with this question.  It shows a real interest in the role and the ability to plan and see a bigger picture.  A good IT professional isn’t just great at their day-to-day work.  They’re also able to prepare for, and excel in, future work.

Another way to get more insight into an IT role is to try asking if there are any projects the team anticipates taking over or helping with outside of the ones already mentioned.  Again, you will not only get a more comprehensive idea of the role, but you’ll also likely impress your interviewer.  IT staffing firms have an easy time finding roles for candidates who are thorough and capable of critical thinking.  You can demonstrate both qualities by asking this kind of question.  You’re doing more than taking the basic job description at face value (which counts critical thinking).  You’re also gathering all the info about the role that you can (which demonstrates an ability to be thorough).

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These questions won’t just get you info about IT jobs, they might guarantee some good feedback to your IT recruiters! Photo credit: Ryan via Flickr.

 

 

More Bad IT Resume Advice to Avoid

To continue the recent theme of bad resume advice, here’s one more mistake that IT recruiters and IT staffing firms don’t want to see on your resume.  Do not list your children on your IT resume.  You will absolutely turn off technical recruiters and IT staffing companies if you list info about your children or if you list raising your children as achievements or experience.

Does this really happen?  Unfortunately, yes.   IT recruiting agencies do sometimes receive resumes with these listings.  Sometimes this is only because of cultural differences.  Some countries outside the US do require listing family members, marital status, etc on resumes.  Especially if you’d like to convince IT staffing agencies that you’re ready to perform well and fit into a US workplace, you’ll want to remove this information from your resume.

If you are not from another country, you’re likely just following some bad advice if you include this info on your IT resume.  Some IT recruiting firms have come across people who are trying to explain a resume gap by listing time to raise children.  A brief mention of this is fine.  However, listing child-rearing and domestic duties as experience will turn off hiring managers and IT recruiting companies.  These activities are certainly honorable in their own right, but they aren’t relevant to a resume.  This is because these skills aren’t entirely applicable to the professional world, but more importantly, they can’t be measured or evaluated by a manager.  There is nobody to vouch for your quality of work in these areas.  The end result is that listing domestic and child-rearing duties makes you look out of touch with professional norms.  Don’t risk it—leave details about your family off your resume!

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Raising a family certainly takes skills, but you don’t want to add it to your IT resume! Photo credit: Philippe Put via Flickr.

 

How to Talk About Weaknesses in IT Job Interviews

Lots of IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies come across IT professionals who aren’t sure how to answer this tough interview question: What is/are your weakness(es)?  Worse, some technical recruiters and IT recruiting agencies work with candidates who think they know how to answer this question, but do it poorly.  Here’s how to talk about weaknesses so you impress your interviewer and get some positive feedback for your IT staffing firms and IT recruiting companies.

  1. Don’t give a fake weakness. Give one that is real.  If you say something like ‘perfectionism’ it will make it harder for the interviewer to feel like you’re being honest and genuine with them.
  2. Give a weakness that isn’t prohibitive to doing the IT jobs you’re interviewing for. If you’re interviewing for a Software Developer job, you wouldn’t want to say you’re not very attentive to detail.
  3. Lastly, make sure your weakness is something you can actually improve upon. It’s best if you can give a brief summary of how you are currently working on this weakness, too.  This will ensure that your IT staffing companies and IT recruiting firms get some great feedback after your interview!
IT job interviews weakness
Don’t give fake weaknesses, like ‘perfectionism.’ They guarantee that your IT recruiters will get bad feedback after your interview.