Tag Archives: information technology industry

How Europe Affects IT Recruiting Firms

As illustrated in last week’s exploration of Israel as nursery of a surprising portion of America’s information technology industry, IT recruiting firms, IT managers, and IT consultants are often impacted by global trends.  The Big Data Revolution, a driving force in creating the plethora of IT jobs that IT staffing agencies have been filling most recently, has been affected pretty heavily by global trends.  Europe in particular has affected the way American IT recruiting agencies and IT contractors experience the Big Data Revolution.

Europe’s main effect on Big Data has been in the way they protect consumer data.  Europe’s laws and policies are, depending on your source, more protective of the consumer than the laws and policies America’s.  Even if you disagree with the sentiment, the method Europe uses to protect consumers is different from US methods—different enough to warrant a dialogue between the US and EU on how to achieve the task of protecting consumers as the Big Data Revolution washes over our respective continents. How does all of this affect IT recruiters Boston and the IT consultants and IT managers they serve?  The way data is controlled, culled, and utilized is changing and will continue to change until the US and EU have more compatible, if not similar laws and policies protecting consumer privacy.  This change will be reflected directly in the tasks that IT contractors carry out daily, the descriptions for  an IT job that technical recruiters seek to fill, and possibly the amount of IT jobs IT staffing firms are given. 

Generally speaking, IT headhunters, It contractors, and IT managers should not be ignoring the information technology industry news in Europe or any other part of the globe.  It could, and likely will, affect their own jobs.

A lesser-known neonatal unit of America’s IT Industry

Since the IT job market often insists that it’s not what you know, but who you know, it seems it would be wise for IT consultants to know who has the technical job opportunities they’re seeking.  The source of many of the IT jobs that technical recruiters are working on is actually an area more known for its political conflict than its technical acumen: Israel.  Despite all of its internal (and external) turmoil, Israelis can all seem to agree that innovation is key.  Dubbed “The Startup Nation,” Israel has birthed 12 companies alone that just Cisco has bought in the past decade or so.  With such high contributions to the information technology industry, there is no doubt that most IT staffing firms are filling jobs with Israeli origins.

 What makes Israel a natural origin of some of the jobs IT headhunters have on supply?  The Economist posits that Israel’s innovative nature comes from its land: as desert dwellers, Israelis are highly practiced at creativity.  Living with a constant water deficiency turns out to be a perfect problem-solving boot camp.  IT recruiting agencies and IT contractors might also find themselves working with Israeli-born companies because English is highly prevalent there, as are all of the standard business practices of a largely democratic nation.  IT recruiters MA and IT recruiters CA may hardly notice they are working with a foreign-born company when they encounter of the many Israeli start-ups the American market has acquired.

What can IT staffing agencies and IT consultants do with this information?  Use it for even more preparation in IT job interviews and the process of submitting prospective candidates and their resumes.  Knowing that a sizeable portion of the Information Technology market has originated in Israel, IT recruiters can further inform their research.  A candidate or IT recruiter who knows more about the company they’re working for is always more successful.

Programming a bridge over the Gap (Model)

Could IT Professionals use some practice communicating?  IT staffing firms Boston to IT recruiting companies CA have long been aware of “The Gap” model— A method of looking at the gap between IT consultants and the IT recruiters they serve.  Hiring managers and IT headhunters are certainly looking for IT contractors who can deeply comprehend and create what IT recruiters Boston need.  However, there tend to be a few barriers that obstruct great communication between those who hold IT jobs and the IT recruiters San Diego they serve.  Generally, the Gap Model tends to note that IT consultants tend to have a higher reliance on logic and rationality, lack empathy for less experienced information technology users, have less of a need for social interaction, have a higher propensity for perfectionism when it comes to technological issues, and to operate on ‘IT time,’ or to take longer than expected to complete IT tasks.  Of course, these qualities tend to be the opposite of what technical recruiters possess, creating a conflict in work styles and communication within IT staffing agencies themselves.

When people discuss the Gap Model, they tend to compare these communication barriers between users and IT recruiters MA to the kinds of communication conflicts caused when people are actually speaking different languages.

Whether the comparison is an exaggeration or not, the Gap Model certainly suggests an important problem—one that the information technology industry, including the IT staffing industry, IT contractors, and hiring managers would all do well to consider.  Resumes, Linkedin and Monster profiles, and IT job interviews would be great places for prospective candidates to make sure they stress their willingness to communicate with a variety of IT recruiters LA.  With some of that trademark IT professional obsession and perfectionism, the Gap Model could easily become a thing of the past.

Technical Consultants in Research & Development

Technical contractors & permanent employees working in technical research & development know that the information technology industry moves at warp speed, and that keeping up-to-date with technical change can pose a challenge. Research & development, especially in technology, is also often key to a firm’s level of success or failure, leading to intense competition. IT specialists who have a strong interest in keeping his or her firm at the forefront of technological innovation will need to have well-formulated strategies in place in order to surpass the competition’s work. New product creation is one way that a company can pull ahead, and the technology behind it is the responsibility of top-performing IT professionals.

Innovative technical consultants are exactly the type of candidate technical employers seek to hire, and that IT staffing firms can place almost instantly. When working with a technical staffing agency, a technical professional should highlight projects in which he or she had a lead contribution to the invention or implementation process for new technologies. Technical employers that sell or market products, systems, & services need energetic technical candidates to develop and design technical applications. Crucial to the process of innovation is the ability of the members of the team responsible for implementing the new technology to collaborate with one another. This requires teamwork skills in addition to the technical skills required to bring new ideas in technology from theory to practice. Technical recruiters are always open to talking to candidates possessing both of these skills, so candidates who are confident in their abilities in those areas should contact an IT staffing firm for opportunities.

Leadership in Tech

Managers working in technology need to have well-developed leadership skills to compliment their technical qualifications. Technical recruiters understand that technical employers that partner with IT staffing firms seek technical candidates that are both tech-savvy and display strong interpersonal skills. Technical managers need to be skilled in technical training, which has it’s own language. Being familar with this language and conveying it articulately to new technical hires is a key focal point of a technical managers responsibilites. IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies speak to technical candidates over the phone to guage leadership ability, and technical employers hiring candidates for a technical management position will definitely ask interview questions aimed at determing a technical candidate’s level of proficiency in that area.

Landing a top-paying technical job involves not just qualifications, but also the ability to recognize the highly subjective nature of the hiring process. A technical candidate who uses these variables to his or her advantage has the highest chance of walking away with a job offer. Complimenting an interviewer on a wardrobe choice at the start of the conversation won’t compensate for an incomplete technical skillset, but if a candidate’s qualifications are solid, and the candidate can convey strong confidence in his or her area of technical expertise, starting the interview conversation on a positive note can only help make a positive impression and break any tension in the air from the start. Keeping these subtelties of the interviewing process in mind will help skilled technical professionals move into management with ease.

How Technical Professionals Can Engineer a Strong Career Path

Entry-level technical professionals starting an IT career in a job market where those skills are in high demand want to set themselves up for long-run success. As IT staffing agencies know, technical consultants in today’s corporate environment need interpersonal skills to compliment technical expertise — being technically proficient along in the current information technology industry is not enough. Communcation skills play a key role in a technical consultant’s success in many roles, but is not a skill emphasized in engineering school. For that reason, technical recruiting agencies need to be able to accurately judge communcation skills in interviews, because technical recruiters will be sure to if they invite a candidate in for an interview.

As IT headhunters knows, success in business cannot be reduced to a simple formula. Excelling as a technical contractor involves a mix of interviewing finesse that IT staffers can help prep a technical candidate for, and the technical skill level required for the role. Technical recruiters can partially assess the skill component by a careful review of a technical candidate’s resume and credentials, but soft skills that can’t be captured fully by a resume (such as creativity), but nonetheless play a significant role in a technical employer’s hiring decision are abilities that the interview is designed to showcase. IT staffing firms can provide interview advice to technical candidates, but ultimately, making the best impression and displaying proficiency during an interview is a responsiblity only the candidate can assume. Being sure of communications, interpersonal skills, and creativity in problem-solving is a technical candidate’s best best at insuring that his or her technical skills are complimented for the full picture. Presenting the full picture is the secret to getting an offer, so technical candidates should focus on these skills throughout their careers, not just on the area of expertise that determined that their career path would be focused on the information technology industry.

Technical Professionals Adjusting to a Project Management Role

Technical Professionals who have become experts in their chosen areas of technical talent may find their career trajectory leading them into a management role, and realizing, once in that role, that their job experience so far hasn’t prepared them for the pressures and challenges of IT management. Project management, a standard step in the promotion ladder in IT, is not only an advancement, it’s a major career shift with a new set of responsibilities and skills required. IT professionals who have become accustomed to a self-directed schedule now need to learn how to manage people, and integrate interactions with others into their daily schedule. Time management, while probably a skill many technical professionals are proficient in, becomes central.

IT recruiters placing seasoned technical consultants in a first project management role are in a position to prep technical talent for the IT job ahead. Technical professionals located on a wide range of the spectrum can qualify for a project management role after a certain number of years working as a successful technical contractor. IT staffing agencies will then see a technical candidate as a desirable placement for a project management role coming from a variety of technical jobs: information technology professionals, engineers, and even medical professionals. Working with IT staffing agencies to make the transition into the new job is a challenge IT headhunters can make easier for technical consultants through solid, targeted advice.

How to Source for Recruitment with Talent Management Systems

Technical recruiters who have been involved in the information technology and staffing industry for a while will be able to attest to the transformations that have taken place in the technical job landscape, and the huge increases in employer demand for IT roles. IT recruiting companies that understand the evolution of best practices in the IT recruiting world, and employ best practice strategies, have emerged as cutting-edge forces in the current workforce environment. Technical hiring managers who recognize IT talent management as the core business function that it is in today’s high-activity technical job market will serve as a valuable resource to other IT staffers for that reason.

Technical recruiters who stay on the edge of recruitment technology trends are in the best position to take advantage of them before they become common knowledge, and perform on a more competitive level than other technical staffers. Ultimately, the technical recruiters who work for IT staffing agencies are one of the best tools employers have at their disposal when developing talent and a solid workforce. IT staffing firms who develop a global perspective on the IT staffing industry, and hiring managers in the information technology industry will stay current and relevant.

Review: “Recruiting and Retaining Employees for Dummies”

IT staffers starting out or looking to polish an already-established technical recruiting career will want to pick up a copy of Recruiting and Retaining Employees for Dummies. Even seasoned IT headhunters working at IT staffing firms with plentiful resources will love Manning’s book – not because it’s actually for dummies, as the playful title references – but because it’s written as the author intended, to be straightforward, free from unnecessary detail, and an easy read for professionals without a lot of free time. Part one of the book includes the term ‘recruiting wars’ in the title – referring to the high levels of competition that exist between IT staffing firms. Becoming competititive in the information technology industy involves mastering steps: first, a solid grasp on the basics, followed by strong lead-generation skills. Finally, the active IT staffer will want to develop his or her recruiting plan based on the goals of short placement periods and low cost.

The book opens with an in-depth look at benefits. Presenting company benefits verbally to technical candidates, negotiating with companies to get technical consultants the kinds of benefits they expect for every level of experience an IT staffer manages, and maximizing the benefits you are able to land for candidates are key skills that will advance a technical recruiter’s placement rates and career trajectory. As an IT staffing firm offering excellent benefits, AVID Technical Resources understands the importance of providing benefits packages that make for happy employees, as well as insuring that candidates our IT headhunters place offer good benefits through either the placement company, our firm as staffers, or a combination of both. Grab a copy of this book today to quickly increase your IT recruiting success quotient.

Review: “The Inside Scoop: Recruiters Share Their Tips on Job Search Success with College Students”

College students or recent grads considering a career in technical recruiting will want to pick up a copy of The Inside Scoop: Recruiters Share Their Tips on Job Search Success with College Students. A lucrative career in the IT staffing industry can be a great career option for motivated young professionals. As Cunningham points out, an internship at an IT recruiting firm can be a great way to learn more about the industry. Since a big part of IT recruiting is understanding the qualifications for the job, and giving IT contractors advice that may give them a better chance for an open IT job than other IT consultants competing for the job, this book can be very helpful for the novice IT recruiter looking to learn the basics of the job.

As any IT recruiter working in the information technology industry knows, a lot of the work IT staffing firms engage in happens behind the scenes. Chapters covering the best techniques for writing resumes and cover letters can serve IT hiring managers well, so that they are both familiar with these skills themselves but also able to coach IT contractors on those fronts. Interview questions common to various technical positions and dressing to make a good impression are key topics for any IT recruiter to make sure his or her candidate is well-versed in before an interview.  As any successful interviewer knows, the key to turning the interview opportunity into an offer is the ability to close well. A strong thank you note, negotiating skills, and conveying positive qualities through non-verbal cues all play  a key role in the successful interviewer’s arsenal. Technical consultants and IT recruiters will find this book to be a practical guide to success in the information technology industry.