Blog

Here’s one way to guarantee that your IT recruiters hear that you aren’t getting the role: badmouth any of your bosses, coworkers, or end-users/clients.  While most technical recruiters mention this at some point to candidates, there are still a staggering number of IT professionals who forget this advice in interviews.

Why is this a terrible mistake to make?  There are a few reasons why IT staffing firms would recommend you never, ever say negative things about your employers, cowokers, etc. It might seem like you’re making the people you badmouth look bad, but you’re really making yourself look bad.  Your interviewers might wonder if you have hard time getting along with people.  Particularly in a lot of IT jobs, being agreeable and easy to work with is important.  Sometimes you might be supporting a wide range of coworkers, end-users, or bosses.  Perhaps you have to work closely in a team; or even code with a partner.  Whatever the case, you want to look like you’re very easy to work with. Another reason you should never badmouth coworkers, bosses, etc is that you want to look like a positive person overall.  Sometimes jobs will be difficult.  Whether it’s a difficult coworker or a tough program to debug, your hiring manager needs to know that you’ll be emotionally resilient and work hard.

How do you avoid doing this mistake in the future?  Let’s say you genuinely want a new job because your boss is abusive or your coworkers are truly difficult to deal with.  If you’re asked why you’re working with IT recruiting firms to find a new job, you can go with a different (but still valid) reason.  Perhaps you can mention your IT staffing companies are helping you find a job with new challenges, or you want to gain experience working with a specific technology. If you’re not asked at all about this, simply don’t mention it.  Your IT recruiting agencies and IT staffing firms set the stage to make you look great for the job— use your time with an interviewer to continue this work.  Don’t waste it saying negative things about other people.