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Tag Archives: information technology

IT Professionals: Don’t Make These 2 Resume Mistakes

Information technology work is often project-based and IT contractors usually have to have their resumes polished and ready to present to IT recruiters and IT staffing companies.  Most IT consultants are well-versed in what makes a great resume—or if they aren’t, technical recruiters usually set them straight pretty quickly.  However, there are some mistakes that people always seem to make in creating their resumes—and they’re not inconsequential.  Avoid these mistakes at all costs, because they’ll sink your chances of getting IT jobs!

Don’t use gimmicky formats.  It may seem like a great way to make your resume stand out, but the truth is that IT managers want to see pretty conventionally-formatted, clean, concise resumes.  If you are the right person for the job, you’ll stand out.  Don’t let a weird format throw off your potential employer and distract them from all your great qualities and experience. 

Don’t give away confidential information, including your references.  If your resume is the first impression a manager or IT headhunter has of you, don’t let it suggest you’re disloyal or untrustworthy.  Putting confidential information on your resume, including the contact info for your references, demonstrates that you’re not willing to or capable of keeping sensitive information to yourself.  Nobody wants to hire that person, so make sure that’s not who your resume suggests you are!

 

Say This at Your IT Job The Next Time You’re Stumped

In a field like information technology, there are plenty of reasons why IT contractors might have a reason to say “I don’t know” to their IT managers or coworkers at their IT jobs.  Technologies are constantly being updated or new ones are being created and IT consultants can only do their best to stay current with them.  There is a better way to deal with a question you don’t have the answer to, though, a way that will keep your reputation stellar with your employer, IT recruiters, and IT staffing firms.

Next time you’re tempted to say “I don’t know” stop and take a breath.  Think about what you do know that could be useful and proved that info.  Then finish by saying that you’ll look into this matter and get back to the person who asked you the question.  You may even mention that you think you know, but you’d like to confirm the answer first.  The reason this kind of response works better is that it demonstrates a few good qualities about you—qualities that make IT managers, technical recruiters, and IT recruiting companies want to work with you.  Firstly, answers like this demonstrate that you’re willing to be helpful—possibly even if it’s above and beyond your job description.  Secondly, giving a partial response, or showing that you’re able to get one, shows that you’re both competent and resourceful.  Remember this trick the next time you get a tough question—it can turn an ordinary moment into one that reflects well on you.

 

IT’s Future: Is it in China?

The information technology industry in the US is booming, with plenty of opportunity for IT recruiters, IT staffing companies, and IT consultants.  However, future US IT jobs may involve another country: China. As one of the largest IT companies in the US, LinkedIn, has recently shown, it’s possible to work with China and all its differences in laws and regulations.

Some companies, like Facebook and Twitter, have had some serious problems doing business in China.  Their refusal to follow Chinese protocol has resulted in either roadblocks that make it hard for their IT consultants to do their work, or out and out blockages.  Companies like LinkedIn have had to make some hard choices about how to deal with China in business—while there are certainly plenty of issues that would make it easy to dismiss as new ground for growth, China’s financial power and potential is too hard to ignore.  It may be that IT recruiters and IT staffing firms find a need for Chinese speakers sooner than they ever anticipated they would.

 

Schools: New Partners in Fixing the IT Consultant Shortage

The information technology industry in the US has had a dearth of talent for a long time.  The story of too many IT jobs and not enough IT consultants to fill them is a familiar one to most companies, IT recruiters, and IT staffing firms in the US.  Some companies are working on new solutions to deal with this problem and to ensure more IT contractors in the future.

Though it’s a long-term investment, some companies are working with educational institutions to sponsor programs that will help graduate young professionals with resumes ready for the IT world.  There are still plenty of sticky issues, like making sure these programs are not only good for the companies, but good for the students.  However, these programs are a good start to dealing with a big problem.  As time goes on, technical recruiters and IT recruiting companies will only have more jobs to fill.  If schools become one more ally in the work of expanding our IT workforce, all the better!

 

IT Security Jobs- More Important Than Ever

In early October the importance of security in the information technology field became strikingly clear when JP Morgan announced that they’d been hacked.  While IT recruiters, IT staffing companies, and IT contractors have long been aware of the possibility of the major damage hacking could incur, this particular attack was epic in the damage it will and has already wrought.  It’s also troubling to know that JP Morgan Chase wasn’t the only company that was infiltrated—apparently 9 other companies were also hacked by the same group.

If there is any silver lining to be found in this terrible circumstance, perhaps it will bring urgency to corporate America, IT consultants, IT recruiting firms, and prospective IT professionals in building a stronger IT security presence to protect our country’s data.  Clearly more IT jobs focused on security are needed- and fast.  Hopefully this event will inspire people to create, fill, and prepare to fill those jobs in the future so we never have to experience such a terrible attack again.

 

New Benefits for IT Professionals

Since IT consultants change IT jobs a bit more frequently than most other professionals, they definitely spend more time comparing benefits.  Recently, a company in the information technology field has started offering a bold, innovative benefit: pre-cation.  What makes pre-cation different from anything IT recruiters, IT staffing firms, and IT contractors have seen before?  It puts more faith into new hires.  42Floors, the company offering this benefit, basically grants a paid vacation before new hires start, so they can be fully recharge and refreshed on their first day of work.

While IT recruiting companies, technical recruiters, and IT professionals may be quick to dismiss this benefit as too good to be true, it’s actually exactly what a benefit should be.  Benefits are meant to make employees happy.  Happy employees are the ones who work hard and contribute the most to their companies. So will pre-cation become more popular?  Only time will tell, but it’s a good lesson to other IT companies: awesome benefits attract and keep awesome employees.

 

Information Technology Hiring Projected To Increase This Quarter

While the information technology field has still certainly kept afloat in the past recessions, it looks like things are about to get even better for IT consultants, IT recruiters, and IT managers.  Recent projections show a probably uptick in hiring IT contractors for this quarter.  What should IT professionals do with this information?  Act on it!

If you’re looking for new IT jobs, or have even vaguely considered the possibility, now is the time to make yourself available to technical recruiters and IT staffing firms.  Polish up your resumes and contact your favorite IT headhunters today.  Even if hiring takes a week or month to actually pick up, you’ll be ready when it does.

 

Ideal IT Resume Length: Google Weighs In

The question of how long resumes should be has been debated by IT recruiters, IT contractors, and IT staffing firms for a long time.  While it’s unlikely there will ever be one answer for every in the information technology field, Google has recently given an interesting answer to the debate.  IT consultants and technical recruiters should obviously take many factors into consideration when polishing resumes, but here’s the excellent advice Google has given on resume length.

Resumes don’t necessarily have to be confined to one page, but they shouldn’t be novels, either.  The more concise a resume, the better a consultant looks.  A resume that is well-edited reflects well on an employee.  It doesn’t hurt to leave out details on a resume, as these can be filled in during interviews.  So take the time to edit and remove all the details you could fill in later in the hiring process—it may be key to getting you your dream IT jobs.

 

New IT job? Keep This In Mind To Succeed!

For IT contractors who’ve worked hard with their IT recruiters and IT staffing firms to land a new job, it may feel like you have confirmation that you know what you’re talking about.  Your technical recruiters and new bosses clearly approve of your technical knowledge and your ability to work as a member of your new team.  But before IT consultants start new IT jobs, the best thing they can do is check their ego and closed mind at the door.  Information technology may seem like a field where jobs are pretty uniform-  what you know about one technology and way of doing things carries over from job to job.  However, your best bet is to ask a lot of questions and listen well. 

Even if you know how to use a technology perfectly, your new company will probably have its own corporate culture and way of doing things.  Try to adapt to this as well and quickly as possible.  Your prior knowledge is important.  But one thing holds true even if you’re the most competent programmer, Business Analyst, or anything else.  The more seamlessly you blend into your team, the better an impression you’ll leave on your bosses, coworkers, and IT recruiting firms.  Companies don’t just want somebody who’s good at something in a vacuum.  They need somebody who’s good at doing something within their company.  Keep this in mind at your new job, and you’ll definitely succeed.

 

 

A Tip to Make Your IT Job Interviews Even Better

The art of acing interviews for IT jobs is complex—IT contractors have to be well-versed on their information technology knowledge, their knowledge of the company of they’re interviewing at, and in interview etiquette.  This is all pretty standard stuff that IT consultants know to practice and IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies know to help prepare them for. There are some things that will help IT professionals go above and beyond, though and really impress their interviewers and technical recruiters.  Here is an important tip to set you apart at your next interview.

Stretch your interviewing muscle and get warmed up. In some ways, interviewing for a job can be like playing a sport.  Try practicing a few interview questions within the hours before you got to the job interview.  Do it with a friend, family member, your IT headhunters you’re working with, or just in front of a mirror. Start cutting any inappropriate interview language out of your speech so you’re already used to it when you show up at your potential employer’s office.  Get your head in the zone as you travel there.  Interviewing requires a different mind-set and you’ll do yourself a favor if you’re already in it the moment you arrive at the interview.  Think about the way professional sports players have been running drills for at least 30 minutes before a big game and apply that to your next interview.  It will help you really hit a home run.