Tag Archives: information technology

Are You Lying on Your IT resume?

Recent studies seem to show that IT professionals lie far more often on their resumes than their counterparts in industries outside information technology.  While this may seem like an extreme conclusion to come to, it’s actually not hard to find instances in which IT recruiters spot inconsistencies in their IT consultants’ resumes.  Sometimes it’s a big lie, but often these lies are really just IT contractors seeking to impress IT headhunters or land IT jobs they are almost (but not quite!) qualified for.

What are some of these lies that IT staffing firms have found on resumes?  They include things that seem harmless like embellished skills and job responsibilities.  These lies are definitely not helping anybody, though—least of all, the job seeker.  Landing a job you’re not actually able to do as well as you say you can is no picnic.  Not only can it be stressful and unpleasant, you may wind up being fired from it and hurting your career overall.  So think twice about lying on your resume—for your own good!

The Ice Bucket Challenge Reaches the IT Field

IT professionals all over the information technology field have been talking about the infamous ice bucket challenge.  While the ice bucket challenge has certainly made it into the social media feeds of professionals everywhere, IT consultants and IT recruiters are particularly likely to have seen it because social media is so prevalent in the field and often actually used as part of IT jobs.

While we know the ice bucket challenge has become popular with IT contractors and IT headhunters everywhere, it’s especially surprising that some big CEO’s of IT companies are doing the ice bucket challenge now, too! Most recently, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Tim Cook, and Mark Zuckerberg have all gotten drenched for the cause.  The high level of participation in this creative campaign highlights the can-do, up-for anything attitude that IT tends to have.

3 Ways to Be a Hit in Your New IT Job!

In a field like information technology, where people tend to move jobs a bit more often, IT consultants are often starting new IT jobs.  While just landing a new job is a success, IT contractors shouldn’t view this as their opportunity to slack off.  The first few months of a new job are crucial for IT professionals.  Performing well in this window of time could yield a few benefits: creating a great relationship with coworkers, and bosses, as well as adding onto a good reputation that will impress IT recruiters and IT staffing firms.  Be vigilant about these things in your first few months of a job.

-Follow the rules to a T.  Don’t break the dress code, even if everyone else might.  Don’t come in late or leave early.  Take your allotted lunch time only. Leave your cell phone in your desk drawer during work hours.  While you can (probably) ease up on the rules in the future, it’s better to give the best impression you can initially.  Be a model employee while all eyes are on you, the newbie.

-Build a strong understanding of your job and how you fit into the company.  Get training on your job if it’s offered and learn everything you can about what you can do to succeed in your role.  But don’t stop there.  Figure out what’s going on in the company at large so you have a better understanding of what you’re doing and how it impacts the company.

–Figure out the corporate culture.  Fitting into the corporate culture can have a far higher impact on your job performance than you might think.  Pay attention to how things are done and not done at your new company.  You don’t have to conform completely, but changing your ways to fit the culture will go a long way with your coworkers and superiors.

 

 

Are You Asking These Important Questions at Your New IT Job?

Most IT contractors find themselves starting new IT jobs more often than professionals in fields outside of information technology.  There are plenty of ways IT staffing firms and IT headhunters can help prep you for your first day at a new job, but there are certainly some questions that IT consultants should be sure they ask their new coworkers and bosses.  Here are some questions below that will help IT professionals succeed in a new job.

1. What are some of the biggest challenges people in our department face?  How can I prepare for them?

2. How will I know when I’ve been successful at this job?  How will I know when I’m not meeting expectations?

3. What can I do to match my work style to our manager’s?

4. What can I do to match my work style to my team’s?

5. Is there any advice you’d give to somebody starting my job?

3 Quick Ways to Improve Your IT Job Search

The information technology industry is constantly changing and to some extent, so are the ways IT contractors find IT jobs.  While IT consultants can always count on IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies to provide them with great connections to companies that are hiring, there are some things that IT professionals can do to make sure they’re the most marketable candidate on their technical recruiters’ rosters.

1. Modernize and optimize resumes.  Take out objectives and any jobs that are older than the last decade or so.  Both date you too much in an industry that tends to favor youth over experience.  Do put a ‘Technical Proficiencies’ section at the top of your resume, listing all technologies and skills you are current on.   This will garner attention from IT headhunters and hiring managers alike.

2. Polish your interview skills.  Be prepared for phone interviews, face-to-face interviews, or even skype or other forms of interviews.  Be ready to answer questions about the technologies you specialize in.  Recruiters can prepare you to some extent, but having the basic skills already down can make a big difference.

3.  Know what you want.  Have a clear idea about what you want in your next position.  Nobody can help you get the best new job for you if you don’t have good ideas about what kind of work, compensation, environment, coworkers, and bosses you do best with.

 

Don’t Make These Mistakes at Your IT Job!

You don’t have to be in one of your first jobs in information technology to be making some mistakes that really hurt your career.  IT contractors could easily wind up missing some social cues for workplaces that really hurt their reputation with other IT consultants they work with or the IT recruiters they want to work with in the future.  Even if IT headhunters find IT professionals with sparkling resumes who ace interviews, they’ll likely not want to work with them if they make these huge mistakes at their IT jobs.

  1. Your managers and superiors aren’t your friends.  While they’re trained to be friendly and make you feel comfortable, it’s important not to overstep your employee-manager boundaries.  This includes at work, on social media, and at work functions.
  2. Be careful about venting.  Don’t vent about the difficulties of your job to anybody at work, and try to hold off from doing it in public.  This also includes social media.  If you wouldn’t want your boss or clients to hear it, don’t make it possible it could get back to them.
  3. Don’t overshare.  Be stringent with personal information you share.  This is for your sake and your coworkers and managers.  It’s usually best to keep personal information to yourself, especially in a new workplace.  You never know who might spread information or who you might be making uncomfortable with your own personal stories.

 

Are Your Emails Hurting Your IT Career?

In information technology, email is often the most commonly used way to communicate between IT consultants and their coworkers, clients, bosses, etc.  If your emails aren’t done well, you could be communicating poorly with any of these people.  Worse, you might be ruining your reputation with various IT recruiters and IT staffing firms (and thus hurting your chances at getting new IT jobs in the future!).  Even with stellar resumes, no IT headhunters can work with IT professionals with poor communication skills.  How do you make sure your emails are making stellar impressions on your fellow IT contractors, etc and helping your reputation with technical recruiters (rather than hurting it)?  Consider these factors:

1. Clarity and brevity.  Are your emails short, to the point, and easy to understand?  You might be speaking the same language as your recipient.  However, if your thoughts aren’t organized, clear, and uncluttered, it might be the same as writing in a foreign language!  Especially if you are providing information to somebody who needs it quickly or asking for something, it’s very important that your emails are short and easy to digest for the important points.  Most people in IT just don’t have time to wade through long, unclear emails.

2. Speediness of your responses.  While it’s not advisable to try responding for speed alone, it is important to answer emails quickly.  If you’re waiting on something to be able to respond adequately, you can simply respond with an estimate of when you’ll be ready to give a final, complete response.  Your recipient will appreciate knowing that their request or question is on your radar, even if you can’t take care of it right away.

3. Politeness and respect.  Email takes away two of the best tools we usually have for communication: tone of voice and facial expression.  Since you’re only using your words to communicate, tread lightly.  Leave out sarcasm, most jokes, and anything that might look aggressive or rude.  It’s too hard to explain later what your true intention was—make it hard to assume you were being anything but polite and pleasant from the get-to.

Things You Should Never Say In IT Job Interviews

IT recruiting firms will always put plenty of time into prepping IT consultants and their resumes for interviews for IT jobs.  However, there are some things IT contractors need to do to prepare themselves on their own.  Below are some of the things that technical recruiters may not warn you about, but you should never say in a job interview—whether in the information technology field or any other field.

1. Coarse language.  It’s obvious but it’s worth noting.  Even if your interviewer lets a curse word drop, try to abstain yourself.  It’s better to avoid anything but perfectly neutral, professional language in an interview.

2. Don’t portray yourself as a victim.  Employers want to see potential employees who can solve problems themselves.  Victims succumb to their problems and are overwhelmed by them.  They tend to require a manager’s valuable time and energy to be ‘saved’ from issues. Don’t be a victim.  Be empowered and an ideal employee.

3. Avoid placeholder words and imprecise words.  Anything like ‘uh, um, whatnot, you know, etc.’ don’t do much to help you.  The best thing to do if you’re having trouble completing a sentence or thinking of what to say is to pause.  Your silence will connote a real attention to presentation and detail.  Haphazardly throwing out a word so you can move on in the sentence says something a little less flattering about you.

Don't say 'um' in IT job interviews!
Stop saying ‘um’ and other placeholder words in interviews. They’re hurting you more than you know.

Is Your IT Team Overworked? How to Fix it.

Sometimes in information technology, a team’s workload is unrelenting.  Perhaps there are just too many top-priority projects and too few IT consultants on staff to finish them.  How can IT managers delegate to the IT contractors reporting to them even if their plates are already full?  Here are a few options to consider:

  1. Show your appreciation for the work your IT professionals do and show an understanding of their current workload.  Even if you can’t ease it, sometimes it’s effective to just acknowledge that somebody is working very hard and, more importantly, you know it and appreciate it.
  2. Reconsider priorities and assignments.  Sometimes shifting projects around, possibly even from employee to employee, will make IT jobs a lot more do-able.
  3. Lastly, consider calling your local IT staffing firms.  You may need to think about hiring more staff—either permanently or for the short-term.  Your employees should always have room for things like sick days and vacations and they should ideally be far from burnout level.  Adding more staff is sometimes the solution for this.

 

 

 

Do you Overshare at Your IT Job?

As open-plan offices increase in popularity, IT contractors and IT managers are all finding themselves experiencing—or perhaps becoming—a office oversharer.  According to studies, more than 3 in 5 workers says they are dealing with people oversharing at work.  Information technology tends to be team-oriented, with IT consultants working closely together on projects.  This kind of work does require some sharing.  Building bonds with coworkers can boost productivity, accountability, and overall effort from IT professionals.  However, it’s best to draw a line, too.  Oversharing can hurt your reputation, and not just at your current company.  IT recruiters have a hard time placing people who have a reputation of overstepping personal boundaries at work, no matter how stellar their resumes are.

How do you identify somebody who’s oversharing, or whether you are the one oversharing?  There’s no hard and fast rules for this, but there are some ways oversharing tends to hurt a team or individual employees at work.  Firstly, if somebody is oversharing personal info so often it gets in the way of actual work, it’s time to ask for a little silence.  Less obviously, oversharing will make people feel uncomfortable.  People don’t generally want to know the intimate details of their coworkers’ lives.  If it’s venting or advice you’re seeking, hold off at work.  Personal conversations that go deeper than general pleasantries or weekend plans are better left for your friends.

Are you telling your coworkers too much about yourself?