Tag Archives: information technology

Why Taking a Counteroffer in IT isn’t Your Best Bet

Information technology’s shorter, project-driven timelines tend to make it more common for IT professionals to find themselves with counteroffers from their IT jobs.  IT recruiters of course often tend to vehemently argue against taking counteroffers.  There are some solid reasons IT contractors should stop and consider this point of view.

The first reason IT staffing companies tend to recommend that IT consultants not take a counteroffer from their employer is that the outcome may not be particularly rosy.  By indicating that you’re ready to leave, you’ve already demonstrated a breach of loyalty and trust.  This won’t be forgotten, no matter how desperately your employer fights to keep you.  Additionally, your counteroffer will certainly make its way around the office, so you may not only lose fans in your managers, but also your co-workers.  Coworkers may resent your heightened compensation and the way you got it.  Research suggests that over 90% of those who took counteroffers wound up leaving their employer anyways after less than a year.  You may also wind up having to leave of your own accord.  Even if your employer fights to keep you and your coworkers are not upset with you, the floor may fall out from under you when they find a new, more loyal replacement for you.

The second reason IT recruiting companies discourage taking counteroffers is that the change you’re seeking won’t likely come with a counteroffer.  If you’ve been hunting for a new job, chances are that money isn’t your only concern.  If your IT managers truly valued you, they’d respond with money or some other arrangement if you voiced concerns.  Or perhaps you’re looking for growth that simply isn’t possible in your role or company.  You may even simply be seeking a change.  No matter the reasons, both the ones that are obvious to you and are more subconscious, you aren’t likely to find them back at your old employer, even with more money or a promotion.  You started your job search because you couldn’t find something(s) at your current position.  It’s time to go pursue those things elsewhere.

Searching For a New IT Job During Holidays

Many people might advise IT consultants looking for new IT jobs to just hold off on their search during the holiday season.  Though it often seems as though the holidays are a slow time for business and hiring, this just isn’t true in information technology.  No matter how close it is to Christmas or New Years, IT recruiters have a full list of jobs they are actively seeking to fill with IT contractors.  Beyond making sure you’re in touch and checking in with IT headhunters, there are a few other things you can be doing to make sure your job search is still productive during the holidays.

  1. Polish your materials, both online and off.  Make sure your LinkedIn profile is fresh and up to date, as are all versions of your resumes.
  2. Send holiday cards.  Send them to your technical recruiters, possible professional contacts who might be able to help you out, and to your references.  Mention that you’re on the hunt to the appropriate recipients.
  3. Go to holiday gatherings, both personal and professional.  Again, mention to the appropriate people that you’re looking for a new IT job.  Get the word out and network.  Holiday gatherings are generally happy and people will be in a good mood and more likely than usual to be helpful.

Career U-Turns in IT

Information technology requires IT professionals to move IT jobs a bit more often than the average professional for a number of reasons.  But even IT contractors haven’t really considered going back to the previous employers a generally acceptable career move until somewhat recently.  Now, it is far more acceptable for IT consultants to consider jobs from IT recruiters that are at a previous employer.

Should you consider going back to a previous employer if IT headhunters approach you with a job there?  Only if you can honestly say yes to a few criteria:

1. You didn’t leave because of things that are likely still true of this employer.  If you left because a contract ended and things were on good terms, this is an opportunity worth considering.  If you left because the workplace culture was a bad fit and you can’t definitively, without a doubt decide if it’s changed, this is not a good place to return to.

2. You aren’t looking to go back because you don’t like your current employer.  Going back to a previous employer, unless you loved them, is not the best way to remedy your unhappiness with a new job.  IT recruiters would rather you find a job you are happy in and want to stay at and work hard at for your entire contract.  If you were only mildly satisfied at this workplace, it’s best to look elsewhere for a better fit.

3. This job will help you continue moving your career forward, or at the very least won’t move it backwards.  Don’t step back just because it’s comfortable.  You’ll regret it later when you are ready to move forwards in your career.  Change and new challenges can be scary, but it’s best to push through them rather than take a step back.

 

Boost Your Career: Offering and Asking for Help in IT

Asking for help can often be perceived as a last resort in information technology, as can offering help.  These actions might either make IT managers and any other IT contractors you work with perceive you as incompetent, or overly confident and having a workload that is unsuitably small.  However, when strategically done,

IT professionals can make a big impression in their IT jobs by offering or asking for some help.

Ask for some help: IT consultants can create a positive impression with their managers and IT recruiters by seeking out feedback and opportunities for growth.  If you ask for help from a manager in making sure you’re meeting expectations or perhaps figuring out how to take on a bigger role in your team, you’ll earn their devotion.  Another way to ask for help and boost your career is to seek out feedback and learning opportunities from very strong coworkers in your field.  Without impinging on their time and expectations, ask a coworker who is great at a skill you’d like to sharpen or acquire to let you watch them or learn from them.  Your ambition to get better at what you do or add to your skill-set will really impress the people you work with.

Offer some help: This one is far easier to implement with a higher impact.  Without impinging upon your own responsibilities, etc, try to identify a few specific things that you can help coworkers or managers with.  Offering to help with specific projects that you’re confident you can contribute effectively to will make a big impression on managers and coworkers.  It’s easy for them to say yes to your offer, and the results will exceed expectations (that you wouldn’t have participated in this project at all).

Keeping Stress in IT at the Office

Sometimes information technology can be a stressful field to work in.  IT recruiters can be required to solve problems in tight time frames or for IT managers or end users who are particularly frazzled.  While technical recruiters often warn the IT contractors they work with about possible stressors in a job, sometimes you just can’t be prepared for something stressful at work.  If IT contractors encounter a lot of stress at work, it’s important from them to find a way not to take it out on family, friends, etc.

While IT jobs can be stressful sometimes, IT professionals should try to avoid bringing that stress home with them if they can.  One way to do this is to seek out support before you can bottle up your frustration or anxiety.  Getting on the phone or out to coffee with a trusted mentor, or even just a friend who is willing to listen, will help.  It’s also better to have a few methods for stress relief on hand for when you need them.  Figuring out that a jog after work will make you feel better will also help you ensure that you don’t take work stress out on your family.  The best part of achieving success in this goal is that it will help make you happier.  Being happier around your family or friends after work will make them happier, and their mood will in turn boost your own happiness.

 

Questions to Ask in an IT Job Interview

In a field like information technology, IT professionals often operate on shorter timelines and do short contracts with various companies.  Because IT consultants leave and enter new companies more often than most other professionals, it’s important they are great at impressing IT managers in interviews.  IT contractors can really wow their IT recruiters, IT managers, and score IT jobs when they consider one key fact in their interviews: Making sure they highlight how they can benefit the interviewing manager and company at large.

The best place to do this is in the questions section of an interview.  If you take the time to ask a few well-phrased questions, you can portray yourself as an invaluable asset to managers and teams.  Ask questions that get to the root of what a manager needs.  For instance, consider asking what you’d do in the role that would make the manager’s job easier.  Another way to impress an interviewer is to ask questions about what their best previous and current employees offer them.  If you show that you’re interested in what a company needs, you will exceed their expectations and show how valuable you can be to the company.

 

IT’s Newest Playground: Egypt

Information technology is finding some new ground around Cairo, Egypt.  A new area meant to become the next Silicon Valley is being developed now in Egypt.  IT consultants and IT managers are creating startups in a nation ripe for it.  About half of Egypt’s population is under 30 and used twitter and facebook during their recent revolution, which means most of them are the young, technologically-literate people who often are or become IT contractors.  With the startup culture growing in Egypt and its reputation slowly growing as well, it’s only a matter of time before IT recruiting agencies and technical recruiters begin to consider Egypt in their expansion plans.  Business Insider and Huffington Post are already talking about drool-worthy resumes and companies in the surprising new IT-centric territory.

 

How to Keep Up Appearances When Telecommuting in IT

IT professionals are more like to get the opportunity to telecommute because of the progressive nature of the information technology industry.  Taking this option, whether it’s full time or only for a few days a month or once a week, brings a specific responsibility, though.  Because IT managers cannot actually see IT contractors working from home, it’s important they find a way to make sure their value and achievements in their IT jobs are highly visible anyways.  There are a few things IT consultants can do to make sure that their time telecommuting still looks highly productive to their IT managers, and in turn, the IT recruiters they work with.

1.    Be very accessible.  Make sure your coworkers and managers know how to reach you (perhaps with several methods) and be very responsive to all these methods.  If you aren’t physically in the office, it’s imperative to still be easy to contact.

2.    Set expectations with your manager, including setting up things like weekly meetings, phone calls, or email updates.  If you prove to your manager that you’re very interested in understanding their expectations and meeting them, you are actually demonstrating something larger.  The more independently you work, the more of an asset you become as an employee.  Getting work done with little management or supervision is golden.

3.    Make sure people know about your accomplishments and contributions.  Whether it’s coworkers or managers, they need a reminder that you still exist as a functioning part of your workplace.  Avoid being obnoxious about it, but do make sure your work speaks for you even if you don’t occupy a cubicle.

 

Deal-breakers in IT

All IT contractors have their deal-breakers for IT jobs.  Whether it’s poor management or abusive behavior from IT managers, options for telecommuting or flexible scheduling, or particular kinds of commutes or distances for commutes, there are just some reasons IT consultants will turn down a job IT staffing agencies recommend.

Deal-breakers are certainly acceptable, especially in a field like information technology, where the jobs are pretty plentiful.  In fact, they can also be very helpful if stated within reason to IT headhunters. IT recruiters want to know what IT professionals’ deal-breakers are so they avoid placing them in jobs that are not good fits for them long term.  If an IT professional keeps a deal-breaker under wraps, and then winds up in a job that has it, they won’t stay long.  This will potentially burn bridges for them, their IT recruiting agencies they work with, the hiring managers, and others.  Having a copious list of deal-breakers that make most jobs impossible is not going to do you any good.  However, being aware of your (reasonable) deal-breakers and making sure your technical recruiters are also aware of them will make your placements much more likely to be successful—for everyone involved.

 

Taking Risks in Your IT Career

Information technology demands certain certifications and education as entry tickets, but experience counts just as much for IT professionals when it comes to promotions and expanding their careers.  IT headhunters would advise IT contractors to be wary of taking IT jobs they aren’t prepared for, but the IT consultant who takes a job or project that sounds slightly unappealing or a little more challenging will be deeply rewarded.

Challenging experiences at work can really pay off later in the form of better offers of IT jobs from IT staffing agencies, better pay, and better confidence.  Technical recruiters can certainly vouch for the fact that taking some risks or making some sacrifices at work will pay off in the long run.  In such a hot market, no new IT skill will go unrewarded and getting great references or earning the respect of IT managers and IT headhunters will quickly pay off. So the next time you’re offered or come across a job or project outside your usual skill-set, seriously consider diving in anyways.  It might just propel your career to the next level.