Tag Archives: IT headhunters

Being a “Yes Man” in IT

Rarely is it desirable to be labeled the “Yes Man” at in IT jobs.  However, IT professionals could gain by leaps and bound in their careers by doing their best to follow the code of the “Yes Man” with their IT recruiting agencies and IT managers.

IT staffing companies are not looking for IT contractors who are obsequious.  IT headhunters do value those who aren’t afraid to say yes– to more work, more risks, more leadership and responsibility.  IT recruiting companies love to come across resumes full of varied, rich experience with increasing responsibility. Being a “Yes Man” in information technology is more about playing the career field than playing it safe—and this is very attractive to IT staffing agencies. IT recruiting firms not only love IT job candidates with varied experiences, they also love those that are easy to work with.  “Yes Men” are great team players who round out their teams well and reflect well on the IT staffing firms that place them. If you aren’t a “Yes Man” yet, what are you waiting for?

 

To Be (a College Student) or Not to Be (in IT)?

Information technology became an early adopter of a debate that is now interesting to far more than IT professionals: Is College necessary at all?

IT recruiters nationwide, from IT recruiters CA to IT recruiters Boston have plenty of successful examples of successful people who didn’t graduate college, including Mark Zuckerberg.  IT headhunters can vouch for the fact that plenty of IT jobs can and are done without BA’s or BS’s. IT managers are sometimes request that IT recruiting agencies find them IT consultants with more relevant experience on their resumes, rather than degrees. However, IT recruiting agencies would have a difficult time suggesting everyone forgo college.  In a tough economy full of picky companies, IT staffing firms would be hard-pressed to suggest a college degree hindered IT contractors from success.

What to Wear to an IT Interview

What should IT professionals wear to an interview with an IT manager or their IT recruiting companies?  There is no “one size fits all” answer for the information technology field.

IT recruiters CA will try to fill IT jobs for companies with very different dress codes than IT recruiters Boston.  The differences don’t just vary from coast to coast, either.  Different departments within the same company will require different dress codes.  IT headhunters may interact with IT managers who dress in business casual, while company account managers or CEO’s may wear business professional.  IT contractors, meanwhile, might wear jeans to work every day.

Though the dress codes vary greatly from company to company, there is one rule of thumb that IT staffing agencies would advise IT consultants to follow when going on IT job interviews.  The best way to project a successful image is to dress at the highest level of dress in the company.  IT staffing companies can enlighten you on this, but you can never go wrong dressing as well as the CEO.

 

What College Grads Should Do As They Enter IT

With recent graduates getting ready to step into the information technology field, IT recruiters can be a great source of advice for how to be the best IT contractors they can be.  IT recruiting agencies would prefer to work with IT professionals who embrace the professional, 9-5 life.  This means IT headhunters look for people who don’t try to live the college life while attempting to perform well at their IT jobs.  IT managers want employees that are well-rested and take care of themselves so they have the energy to put their job performance first Monday through Friday.

IT staffing companies also want to work with IT consultants who are ready to work them—and many other people.  Recent college graduates are used to the luxury of choosing their company all the time.  IT recruiting companies need job candidates who are flexible and willing to spend time and work with people (including IT staffing firms) they don’t always have a lot in common with.

While there are plenty of other pieces of advice that could be given, all of it comes down to this: IT recruiting firms want IT job candidates who are not just nice resumes.  They want people who are ready and willing to commit themselves to their jobs and companies.  This means letting go of the college lifestyle—at least Monday through Friday.

Failing in IT? It’s Ok!

IT recruiters CA to IT recruiters Boston tend to subscribe to the conventional wisdom about failure: avoid it.  But technical recruiters and IT professionals should seriously re-think their concept of failure.

As the founder of Linked In, Reid Hoffman, is now advocating in his new book, failure is merely an opportunity to learn in your career.  Hoffman suggests IT recruiters and IT consultants consider taking more risks in their careers and become more comfortable with the result when things don’t always work out.  The lessons IT staffing agencies or IT contractors can learn from risks and failures far outweigh the other consequences—even if it’s a firing.  The information technology industry is an especially hospitable field to fail in.  With resumes full of contracting stints and innovative projects that sometimes do and don’t work, taking risks looks downright de riguer.  Perhaps one of the most interesting reasons why Hoffman advocates a healthy acceptance of risk and failure is the way he views career paths overall: They are full of uncertainty, which is a good thing.  IT headhunters or IT mangers never know what great surprise is around the bend.

 

Small and Effective Ways To Distinguish Yourself in IT

IT professionals, IT recruiters, and IT managers can all do a lot to positively impact their office and people’s impressions of them in the information technology world.  Sometimes these things are big, like projects you list on resumes.  Sometimes, however, small, simple acts can leave the biggest impression on IT contractors or IT headhunters.

The first kind of act is verbal.  If IT recruiting agencies or IT consultants find a moment to pay an unexpected compliment, praise somebody’s potential, or recognize when somebody takes a risk, they will create a lasting impression in IT jobs, IT job interviews, or anywhere else.  Verbalizing recognition for the things people deserve, but don’t always get recognition for really makes you stand out to IT staffing agencies. The second kind of act that makes a large impact on IT recruiting companies is more kinetic.  Doing something extra, just because you can, is always a shocking and powerful gesture to IT headhunters.  Consider going the extra mile without being asked.  Your efforts won’t be wasted—somebody will always meet you there later and praise you for it.

Varying Workplace Culture in IT

IT recruiters CA to IT recruiters Boston have seen some vastly different workplace cultures.  Even in one industry like information technology, there are few standardized features of workplace culture that IT contractors can expect.  Such vast differences in workplace culture certainly stem from IT managers and their companies.

Some technical recruiters find that companies believe the IT professionals who fill their IT jobs should feel like family.  IT headhunters hear that their IT consultants would regret to ever leave such nurturing environments.  Other IT staffing agencies hear about companies that take the opposite view.  IT staffing companies only submit employees who are performance-oriented and emotionally tough to these candidates and their mantras are more along the lines of “get over it.”

Whichever one’s taste, there is a workplace culture for them and IT recruiting agencies to help them find it.

 

Cyclical Happiness in IT

Information technology is certainly stands apart from most fields in most ways.  However, there is one commonality that it tends to share with other professional fields: its happiest employees are generally its most valuable.  Happy IT consultants are not just pleasant to work with, they also get a lot more work done for IT managers and reflect well on their IT staffing companies.  While studies are somewhat inconclusive, they tend to suggest what we already know: happy IT contractors want to not only meet the expectations of their IT jobs, but exceed them.

IT recruiting companies know they can make a decent match when they find among stacks of resumes the IT professionals who can do the requirements of a job.  When IT recruiting agencies place a candidate in a job they truly love, though, they have made a truly spectacular match.  Technical recruiters can generally count of a candidate who loves their job to want to really prove their worth to a company.  People who love their jobs tend to be easier to manage and attempt to expand and grow in their roles.  And of course, the more somebody does to please their manger and IT staffing firms, the more a company will do to keep that employee happy.  This is the best kind of cycle IT headhunters can hope to implement in an office: a cycle of happiness and productivity.

 

Managers: How to Respond to Requests for a Raise

IT managers have a myriad of dreaded conversations with their IT contractors.  Perhaps the most dreaded conversation, though, is when employees ask for a raise.  While IT recruiting firms certainly try to negotiate the best salary possible for IT consultants upon entry of a new job, over time this amount will almost certainly become less than desirable.  Inflation, life changes, and more can cause IT professionals to realize they suddenly would like to be compensated more than their IT headhunters initially got for them.  So how should managers evaluate these requests?

IT staffing agencies may have negotiated salary based on resumes, but raises are based on current performance.  If an employee consistently meets and/or exceeds expectations in IT jobs for a long period of time, the request if certainly worth considering.  Another criterion is if the employee brings a unique asset to the company.  Perhaps IT recruiting companies didn’t suggest him for it, but if an employee has shown a special talent that has benefited the company, a raise might also be in order.  Lastly, an employee’s raise request has should be considered with this lens: have they brought more value to the company than technical recruiters thought they could– either in money and/or in creating a positive work environment?  IT staffing firms certainly try to find the best fit for a company in terms of skills, but if the employee has demonstrated not only a proficiency at their job, but also at making the workplace pleasant and more efficient, their salary is certainly worth raising.

IT’s new Silicon Valley: Berlin

IT recruiters Boston and IT recruiters CA are used to hearing about start-ups from Israel, Silicon Valley, and most recently, Russia.  However, IT recruiting firms and IT contractors will soon be hearing a lot about start-ups from Berlin.

The information technology field has already seen a slow rise in German start-ups for a few reasons.   IT headhunters will be seeing more successful companies and IT jobs coming out of Berlin because like Russia, the city offers a cheap cost of living.  Office space and amenities for company employees keep overhead very low for IT managers at start-ups in Berlin. Like Russia, Berlin is still recovering from an unsuccessful attempt at Communism and like Russia, Berlin is now a hotbed of potential for IT professionals looking to take entrepreneurial risks.  IT recruiting companies should seriously consider brushing up on their German—it might be a necessary skill on the resumes they look at in the future.