Tag Archives: IT jobs

Are You Losing Tech Talent with this Mistake?

April 18, 2018

It’s no secret that it’s a job seeker’s market out there. The national unemployment rate is dropping to levels so low that we haven’t seen them since 1969! Employers are getting so desperate to fill open roles they’re relaxing their standards. Some employers are no longer requiring formal higher education like a Bachelor’s degree, no longer requiring certain drug testing, and considering candidates with a criminal record. In a tight labor market like this, tech employers need to be especially effective at recruiting talent for their notoriously hard-to-fill roles. There’s one mistake that IT staffing agencies find employers often make that loses them talent. Worse, it’s a mistake they unwittingly make, so they don’t even know to correct it! This hiring mistake that’s so easy to make? Moving too slowly in the hiring process.

Why is moving too slowly (and honestly, from most companies’ perspectives, it’s not that slow) such a mistake? The problem is that Tech field moves fast and so do its job candidates. Expectations have changed with the advent of LinkedIn, Indeed, and online job searching. With the technical tools to expedite the hiring process, IT recruiters find that candidates have no patience for companies that move at a slow (or even sometimes an average pace) in their hiring process. Other companies will accommodate this need for a speedy transition—so don’t be the one they leave behind.

Another reason technical recruiters find that a slow hiring process is such a mistake is because most IT professionals are pretty sought-after. They’re likely entertaining several interview processes, IT recruiters, or even offers! Moving slowly, requiring multiple interviews and phone screens, and/or requiring a lot of deliberation time means that candidates will probably just go with one of the other options they have on the table. Particularly in the tech field, where there’s already a dearth of talent, this tight labor market has increased the amount of activity a candidate can pursue in their job search. To compete with everything else your ideal candidate probably has on the table, you’ll have to move fast.

The last reason it’s imperative to move quickly when hiring for IT jobs is because it helps the candidate to feel valued. As discussed above, candidates are used to companies hiring quickly. When a company asks them to come back in for interview after interview, or takes weeks to deliberate, candidates assume the company has a lot of hesitations about them. Since it’s such a job seeker’s market, tech candidates have the option to go with companies that try to snap them up quickly and make them feel like a precious commodity. Don’t move too slowly, or you’ll wind up losing out on your top choices– because they feel like your last choices!

Want to see our open IT jobs? Follow us on LinkedIn. We post new jobs daily!

IT hiring mistakes — Don’t make a 404 in your hiring process! Photo credit: aitoff via Pixabay.

Do You Really Need to Wear a Suit for Tech Interviews?

April 6, 2018

Dress codes have been moving towards a more relaxed feel in all industries, but especially in IT, for a long time. IT recruiters have been working with employers who have a jeans and t-shirt dress codes for years. There’s just one problem with this trend: Technical recruiters find that often, candidates will assume they can come to interviews in jeans. Even for the most casual of workplaces, 99% of IT staffing firms agree: It’s important to go to your job interview in a suit.

Why do you need to wear a suit when everyone around you will be wearing jeans? There are a few reasons. Firstly, wearing a suit indicates that you understand basic professional norms. Interviewing has required a suit for decades and it will likely continue that way. When IT staffing agencies tell you to wear a suit to your interview, they’re helping you send a message about more than just your closet. They want you to show employers that you know how to be a professional—right as you walk in the door. If you show up wearing jeans and t-shirt, employers have a moment to wonder what else you’ll do in a job. Do you come in late? Do you leave early? Do you swear or tell inappropriate jokes? So wear that suit and iron it. Have a strong handshake, and set the stage for employers to assume you’re a seasoned professional who knows how to act in an office.

The second reason IT recruiting firms tell you that you need to wear a suit to a job interview is because it helps you demonstrate a level of respect for the employer. As a candidate, you’re coming into the employer’s office and you’re doing it at their invitation. They’re taking time out of their busy schedules to interview you. Show that you’re grateful and you know you’re on their turf by wearing a suit. If you get the job, you can wear jeans and t-shirts with the other employees. However, as a candidate, the balance of power is different. Wearing a suit shows that you understand this.

The last reason you should wear a suit to interview for IT jobs is that it gives you an advantage. A suit makes anybody look a little better, a little more polished. It helps interviewers envision you as a capable, accomplished professional. Why eschew this advantage? Your technical skills will speak for themselves, but there’s no harm in adding that extra oomph to your candidacy with your suit. It’s one easy way that IT staffing firms suggest you can help yourself land the job!

Want to see our open IT jobs? Follow us on LinkedIn. We post new jobs daily!

tech interviews — You might not wear a suit to work, but you still need one for the interview. Photo credit; RoyalAnwar via Pixabay.

Mobile Developers: Pick Up This Language in 2018!

March 23, 2018

In 2018, Android mobile development will be experiencing tremendous growth. If you want to hop on that train, and search for new development jobs in that particular area, here’s one language you might want to pick up: Kotlin. Never heard of it? (Or haven’t heard much about it?) Here’s why IT staffing firms think Kotlin can expand your tech career!

What is Kotlin exactly? Kotlin is programming language that is completely compatible with Java. It’s also made to be a strong alternative to Java for a few reasons. Kotlin is less verbose than Java and doesn’t require NPE’s. This makes it cleaner, faster to use, and arguably less vulnerable to errors or memory leaks. It’s also easier to implement, troubleshoot, and faster to code in. Kotlin isn’t just some shiny new tool, though. It’s around 8 years old (though it only went open source in around 2012) and meant for enterprise projects. Like Java, it’s object-oriented and open source, which makes it ideal for budget-conscious companies. Plenty of IT jobs will be asking for Kotlin in 2018 and beyond.

Why do you want to learn Kotlin? For one thing, Kotlin will be easy to learn, especially if you already know Java. It’s built on Java and has a great deal of similarities. It’s also got some big fans. Google, Amazon, Netflix, Pinterest, Uber, and CapitalOne all use Kotlin. Considering these companies often light the way when it comes to tech trends, this speaks volumes about the future use you’ll get out of Kotlin. It’s also worth bringing up again the popularity of Android mobile app development. Considering the fact Android users seem to be about 85% of the market, with Apple taking up a bit less than the remaining 15%, Kotlin is a good bet. IT recruiters suggest that you hop on this language because it’s serving the future: a society that spends most of its time on its Android phones! One last reason learning Kotlin is likely to bring you more opportunity in 2018 and beyond: developers want to learn it. Several polls have placed Kotlin high on developers’ wish lists of hot new technologies to get their hands on. In such a job seeker’s market, IT staffing agencies find that what the developer wants to work with becomes just as important as what the employers want to work with. So follow your fellow developers and add Kotlin to your arsenal. It will pay off for years to come!

Want to see our open IT jobs? Follow us on LinkedIn. We post new jobs daily!

IT job search — Mobile app development is only getting bigger. Make sure you get a piece of the pie. Photo credit: Geralt via Pixabay.

Tips for Tech Professionals on Writing Killer Interview Thank You Notes

March 5, 2018

Late winter and early spring are a great time to search for IT jobs. Budgets have recently been approved to hire more people, and the tech economy is booming. Addtionally, new development life cycles are often scheduled to start about now, and it’s the time of year when companies are often revisiting their products, services, and technologies, working on adding new features to applications and general improvements to keep competitive. If you’re ready to job search, or perhaps you’ve already started, here’s one skill you can sharpen to really enhance your tech job search: writing thank you notes. Here are some tips from IT recruiters on how to write the kind of thank you note that impresses tech hiring managers.

Take notes in your interview. This tactic isn’t just about looking and being more engaged in the interview (though that certainly wins you points). It’s also about writing a better thank you note later. Mark down important points you discuss in the interview. What are imperative job functions do they bring up? Are there any problems they’re facing as a company that you could help with? Do they pose any questions that you might be more able to answer after a bit more thought? These are the kinds of things to add into your thank you note later. Time and again, IT staffing companies find that a generic thank you note (one that feels like it’s all from a template) will never impress hiring managers like a thank you note that makes reference to specifics from the interview. In fact, some IT recruiters believe that a generic thank you note will hurt your candidacy more than help it!
Be prompt. A thorough, detailed thank you note that’s beautifully-written will never make much of a splash if it’s too late. Especially in the fast-paced tech industry, IT recruiting firms find that time is of the essence. When you finish your interview, head home as soon as you can to write your thank you note. Sending it the day of the interview (if possible) or within 24 hours is ideal. Sending the note 48 hours later can be acceptable if you get really tied up. If you send the note late, you might even find that the hiring manager has already assumed you’re not sending it and thus dinged your candidacy—or even rejected you for it.
Send individual thank you notes. If you interview with multiple people, try to get their individual contact info from your technical recruiters. Writing each of them a note will show a level of care that goes above and beyond what most candidates demonstrate. If you can add a detail into each note that really personalizes it, that’s even better. Especially today, where best practices for innovation involve so much teamwork, and Scrum and Agile have replaced the need for heads-down Waterfall-type tech professionals, showing off extra effort in your interpersonal skills can be key. Individual, personalized thank you notes could make you seem like the kind of team player that hiring managers will love working with.
Use your thank you note to address your weaknesses or concerns with your candidacy. This may not always be necessary, but if you felt there were concerns or weaknesses brought up in your interview, a thank you note can be a great place to address that. The key is to keep things positive and, if possible, focus on how you’re already working to remedy these potential issues. IT staffing agencies find that if you can handle this right, your thank you note can certainly strengthen your candidacy, as it’s your last impression on a hiring manager before they make their decision!

Interview thank you notes — Great thank you notes don’t feel like templates. Photo credit: 6689062 via Pixabay.

Want to see our open IT jobs? Follow us on LinkedIn. We post new jobs daily!

Graduating in May? Jump Start Your Tech Job Search Now!

February 23, 2018

It’s only late February, but if you’re a college senior or finishing up your grad school program, you can get going on your search for your first (or next) IT jobs right now. If you take the right steps, you can land yourself a job to start after graduation. Here’s what IT recruiters would suggest you do now.

1. Create (or polish, if you’ve already started) your resume. This is the first and most important step. You can’t do anything else until you have a resume to give to hiring managers and technical recruiters. IT staffing firms suggest you do 2 things in particular to create a strong resume for a recent grad. Firstly, you typically want to put your education section at the top. You can keep your GPA in there if it’s high enough for up to 3 years past graduation. (How do you know your GPA is high enough? Put it on there if it’s anywhere between 2.8 and 4.0. However, it’s worth noting that anything lower than 3.0 may put off companies that are particularly picky).

The second thing to make sure you do on a recent grad resume is to create a strong, thorough ‘Technical Proficiencies’ section. Then detail out in the bullets under your experience how you used the technologies you gave in that Technical Proficiencies section. If you don’t have much professional experience yet, detail out how you’ve used the technologies in your Technical Proficiencies section in bullets under projects or internships you’ve done for school. Employers need to be able to see how you’ve used a technology, not just that you claim you’ve learned it.

2. Build your LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have one yet, you need one now. Most recent grads don’t think they need a LinkedIn profile until after they land their first job, but this is a rookie mistake. Take the time to build yourself a profile, because especially in the tech field, there are plenty of hiring managers that won’t hire a candidate who doesn’t have one. IT recruiting agencies suggest that you build a profile that isn’t too long or detailed. Your resume should be elaborate and give deep technical detail on your experience. Your LinkedIn profile should give a rough outline of your experience and skills. That’s it!

3. Reach out to your local IT recruiting firms. The time to build relationships with recruiters is now. Plenty of companies are already working with IT staffing agencies to start the process of hiring May graduates. In fact, some of the best jobs are going to be less available as the Spring goes on. You’ll actually give yourself an advantage to land some of the best-paying IT jobs at the coolest employers if you start searching now (rather than after graduation).

4. Start networking. Go to networking events in the cities you’d like to live in. Start reaching out to people you have connections to in the tech field. Let your family and friends know that you’re ready to start your job hunt. You never know who might have great connections and the ability to open the right doors. Now is the time to let everyone know you’d accept help in your job search!

What’s the Difference between Your Resume, LinkedIn Profile, and Job Application?

February 16, 2018

Hunting for new IT jobs means you’ll find yourself submitting some of the same information over and over again. Between interactions with hiring managers, IT recruiters, and interviewers, you may be answering the same question repeatedly. Some of this repetition is necessary, though. This is particularly true within your job search materials. Below are the similarities and differences between these three items. Knowing them can help you create better job search materials—and will probably help you land the tech jobs you want. Here are some tips from IT staffing agencies for your resume, your LinkedIn profile and your job application.

Your LinkedIn Profile – This is the most recent addition to the job search process, but it doesn’t mean it’s optional. Especially in the tech field, not having a LinkedIn profile will be deeply detrimental to your job search. Technical recruiters find that some hiring managers will even automatically reject a candidate for having no LinkedIn profile. As you write your LinkedIn profile, keep a few things in mind. Firstly, condense your profile. Your LinkedIn profile is meant to be an abbreviated version of your resume. Since most tech resumes can be a few pages (or more) it’s all the more important for IT professionals to abide by this rule. Secondly, your LinkedIn profile should include 2 or 3 bullets (more if you have fewer jobs to list) that discuss what you did at each job. Some recruiters find that candidates will simply give a job title or a description of what the company does. This is not enough. Leave the description of the company off your profile (hiring managers can look up what the company does). Give enough information for a hiring manager or recruiter to understand your technical experience on a basic level.

Your Resume – Your resume is arguably the most important part of your IT job search, so don’t be haphazard about it. The best case scenario is that you constantly update your resume, even when you’re not job searching. If you pick up a new technology or language, add it. If you achieve something important at your current job, add it to your resume. Then, when you’re ready to search for a new job, all you’ll need to do is polish it up.

When you are ready to polish up your resume, there are 2 important things to pay attention to. First, the length. Resumes are different from LinkedIn profiles because they’re usually much longer. Tech professionals are not held to the 1 page (or 2 pages for more experienced professionals) resume rule that most fields are. Brevity takes a back seat to making sure you give adequate descriptions of how you used the technologies you specialize in. It’s not enough to list the technologies in your ‘Technical Proficiencies’ section at the top of your resume. You need to include demonstrations of the work you used these technologies for within the bullet points. While you only give 2 or 3 bullets in your LinkedIn profile under each job, you want to give at least double that on your resume. (And don’t waste these bullets with descriptions of what the company does because again, hiring managers can look this up themselves).

The second thing to pay attention to when building your resume is to make sure it is similar to your LinkedIn profile when it comes to dates and employers. There should be no discrepancies on the basic history of your career. If there are, hiring managers will likely reject you immediately. Being trustworthy is imperative, no matter how many advanced programming languages you’re an expert at.

Your Job Application – This is the part of the job search process that candidates find the most repetitive. You can often skip it when you’re applying with IT staffing companies for contracting positions. When you’re applying for direct hire and permanent jobs, though, you’ll often have to complete a job application in addition to submitting a resume. This is usually necessary for HR departments and their own hiring processes. The good news is, more and more frequently, you’re allowed to parse your resume into job applications. The most important thing to note with job applications is that your dates and employment history must line up with your LinkedIn profile and resume. As noted above, a discrepancy will make you look untrustworthy to employers and potentially result in rejection. Be patient, fill out the job application accurately, and check it over before you submit it. Landing a job you love in the end will be worth it.

Job applications may seem repetitive and unnecessary but don’t rush through them! Photo credit: Free-Photos via Pixabay.

What’s Big in Tech Hiring Right Now?

February 9, 2018

The goal of the hiring process is timeless, but there are definitely trends that come and go for interviewing and evaluating applicants. One of the more recent trends was the creative, Google-style question which seemed to cross between whimsy and the hardest brain teaser you’ve ever heard. Another trend (that should certainly die, but hasn’t yet) is the ‘Stress Interview’, in which an interviewer deliberately upsets a candidate to see their true colors. Right now, IT staffing firms see a big trend in the tech field: a huge boom in contract – to permanent job openings. Why is contract-to-perm so popular in tech, especially now? Here are 3 reasons.

Firstly, contract-to perm allows employers to staff quickly for projects so nothing gets slowed down. Permanent hiring is a much more complicated process for employers because of legal requirements as well as the cost and labor for onboarding new employees. It’s much easier for employers to get funding approved to hiring a contractor for the duration of a project than funding for a perm employee that will be with the company for the forseeable future. When employers have an urgent tech project that they need to staff for and get moving, contract-to-perm hiring is a good option.
Another reason technical recruiters are seeing a lot more contract-to-perm roles is that these roles let a company see how well a candidate can perform. Because technical skills are so specialized and rare in the US, this is an especially important concern for employers. Even with coding tests and references, it’s hard for a company to know with 100% certainty if a candidate has the technical skills and experience to handle the work they’re being hired for. A contract-to-perm stint allows an employee to really demonstrate this, and then be taken on permanently once the employer sees they can be successful in the role.
The last reason employers might be hiring on a contract-to-permanent basis more frequently these days is because of the profusion of Scrum, Agile, and their hybrids. Since companies are now using development methodologies, which require much more teamwork than the old Waterfall and similar models, how the candidate fits into the team is paramount. Hiring a candidate contract-to-perm allows employers to see firsthand how well they mesh with the team. If it’s not a fit, it’s easier for candidate and employer to part ways when it’s a contractor relationship. (This is a benefit for the contractor, too. Nobody wants to work on a team they’re ostracized from or have tension with!) If it is a fit, it’s easier for a company to take the candidate on permanently now, since they’re already working there as a contractor.

So it’s easy to see why employers like hiring contract-to-perm, but why would you, as the job seeker, want to be hired this way? Here are a few reasons IT recruiters see that candidates benefit from this kind of hiring.

You get more opportunities when you’re open to this style of hiring. Plenty of companies don’t post all of their jobs online. The jobs they don’t post are the contract-to-perm jobs. This is for a variety of reasons, but mostly it’s because companies don’t have the time or manpower to post jobs that aren’t guaranteed to be long term. Work with IT recruiting companies you trust and let them know you’re open to contract-to-perm jobs. You’ll find that suddenly there are plenty more IT jobs you can be submitted to—jobs you didn’t even know existed before.
You’ll get hired faster. As mentioned earlier, the permanent hiring process is much more complicated. There are many legal concerns, financial concerns, and the time and money needed to onboard a permanent employee. Perhaps you want to jump ship from a bad employer now (or yesterday), perhaps you need a new job that makes money faster, or perhaps you’ve been unemployed for a while and need a job period. Letting your IT staffing agencies submit you for contract-to-perm jobs increases your chances of getting hired somewhere new quickly.
You get in the door places where you couldn’t before. As discussed earlier, companies are taking less risk in hiring somebody contract-to-perm. This emboldens them to try hiring candidates who may not fit every bullet of a job description perfectly. As a permanent candidate, you might be an automatic no for a company. Maybe you don’t have the Ivy League degree they want or are short a few years of experience in a certain programming language. However, as a contract-to-permanent candidate, you might be a yes. Having most of the requirements for the job can be enough for an employer to take a chance on you (because they know that if the arrangement doesn’t work out for one or both of you, it’s easy to end it). If you’ve wanted to work somewhere prestigious like a Google or Facebook, or simply want to try to take the next step up in your career, contract-to-perm hiring is a great way to do that.

Tech hiring — Contract-to-perm is a great way to get your foot in the door of a prestigious company. Photo credit: geralt via pixabay.

Want to see our open IT jobs? Follow us on LinkedIn. We post new jobs daily!

What Technologies Will Get You a Job in 2018?

February 5, 2018

What will be the hot skill sets for tech job seekers in 2018? IT staffing firms are finding that technologies that pertain to mobile development and UX are highly in demand right now and will likely continue to increase in popularity. If you’re thinking about ways to expand your options for IT jobs in 2018, here are 2 reasons why you should pick up mobile development and UX skills.

User experience is becoming imperative for a business’s success. Having a stellar website has become key to attracting and keeping Whatever the business, customers want to be able to do more online—from deciding whether to purchase the product or service, to using or maintaining it. Consumers are demanding online tools where they once accepted in-person and phone options. But it’s not just about providing those tools online. It’s also about making sure those tools are attractive, easy to use, and even enjoyable. Having a website with tools like that gives a company the edge over competitors in world where consumers do all their buying (and arguably, much of their living) online. As one high level executive says, “In a global, internet-saturated market, anyone from anywhere in the world can compete in any time zone. Competition is fierce and many “contemporary” UI elements come out of pre-canned toolkits. The piece that cannot be canned, the key market differentiator, is the delightful experience that can only be captured via a deep contextual understanding of the user and what they are trying to do.” In light of all of this, IT recruiting firms are finding that more and more companies are investing in their UX teams. This means more open UX roles for people with the right skills.

Mobile development is key because mobile devices are rapidly overtaking desktop ones. When it comes to consumer behavior, mobile is becoming key. On Black Friday of 2017, stores estimate that 40% of sales came from mobile devices, not in-store sales. Companies that want to engage with customers online (which really should be every business, as mentioned above), must make sure their website translates well to mobile devices like cell phones, tablets and laptops. There’s also the element of SEO. Companies that want to be ranked higher in Google searches must have a decent mobile presence. In fact, websites that don’t translate well to mobile get dinged by Google and presented further down in search results. Considering how frequently most consumers look to Google to find their next vendor, companies can’t afford to ignore this information. Between consumer behavior and SEO rules, businesses are changing their priorities to be competitive. Technical recruiters are finding that employers are putting significant resources into expanding their mobile development team. If you have mobile development skills, you’ll likely enjoy a short, easy job search!

So if you’re ready to consider diving into mobile development and UX jobs, what technologies do you need to focus on learning or sharpening? For mobile development, IT recruiters suggest that candidates learn Swift, Object-C, Cocoa Touch, Kotlin, C, C++, Python, Java, Phone Gap, Xamarin and Xcode. If you want to get a UX job, you’ll want to buff up on javascript frameworks (especially Angular) and HTML5. (Of course, UX also includes plenty of other skills that are less technical and more artistic/design-oriented.) Whichever direction you go in, you can be sure you’ll become a much more attractive candidate to employers and recruiters.

IT job search tips — Are you ready to look for a new job? Swift, Object-C, and Cocoa Touch might help! Photo credit: StockSnap via Pixabay.

Want to see our open IT jobs? Follow us on LinkedIn. We post new jobs daily!

4 Questions for Tech Interviewers

January 26, 2018

Hiring for open IT jobs can be difficult. It can be difficult to write job descriptions which accurately ask for the candidate you need– especially when most tech projects are a moving target. Add to that the fact that there’s already a lack of qualified IT professionals in the US. This creates a strong job seeker’s market, where the candidate can set the terms and be picky about the jobs they take. Add to that the usual stresses of hiring: how do you find somebody who can do everything they say they can do and mesh well with your team? But while hiring for open tech positions can be difficult, figuring out what questions to ask shouldn’t. Here are 4 questions IT recruiters suggest using that will help you find the best candidate for your team.

1. What was the environment like in the last job you held? The one before that? IT staffing firms suggest this question, especially first, because it gives you strong sense of a candidates’ technical experience. The candidate should respond to this question by giving you an idea of what technologies they used in their past jobs, what development method was used, and the size and scope of responsibilities. With this info, you’ll quickly hear if the candidate is prepared to handle your company environment. If, for example, your candidate is a Sys Admin coming from a small company, you’ll know they may not be ready to take on a huge company with numerous servers instead of one or two.

2. What do you like to do? What don’t you like to do? IT recruiting firms find this question helps create an open, honest dialogue about the job description. Since, as discussed earlier, IT professionals are in demand, most feel comfortable being blunt about what they want in their next position. Listen carefully to see if the candidate quickly lists off work that will be a big part of the job description. You’ll also be likely to hear how happy (or unhappy) a candidate is to interact with a team, end users, etc. If you don’t hear any of this, then you can certainly go back and ask it explicitly.

3. Describe the biggest accomplishment you’ve had at a previous job. This won’t necessarily get you a technical answer, but it probably will, especially for more advanced technical jobs. Technical recruiters find this question will reveal more than technical skills and strengths, though. The way a candidate answers this question will also tell you about how teamwork-oriented they are. Listen for the pronouns. Does the candidate use a lot of ‘we’ or ‘I’? How does this mesh with your company culture?

4. What is one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced at work? This question reveals a few things, both technical and not technical. You should get a more technical answer from candidates who are applying to higher level roles, like an ERP Systems Analyst, Solutions Architect, Lead Developer, etc. This will illuminate some of their strengths for you. Beyond technical skills and experience, the answer to this question will also tell you a lot about the candidate’s attitude as an employee. Listen for the tone of the answer and the solution. Does the candidate focus on the challenge and how much it hindered them, or do they focus on what they did to overcome it? IT staffing agencies find that great candidates will use this question to show off their technical acumen. They should use the opportunity to tell a story of how their skills helped them fix a major issue, not badmouth former employers, bosses, coworkers, etc.

tech interview questions — Start by asking about the technical environment at the candidate’s last job. Photo credit: rawpixel via Pixabay.

Why Were You Rejected from that Tech Job?

January 9, 2018

So you polished up your resume, you built a stellar list of references, and you got yourself submitted to some IT jobs that look perfect for you. But lo and behold, your IT staffing firms called you to let you know you didn’t land the job (or maybe even the interview). What happened? What should you do? Here’s a little insider info from IT recruiting firms.

Why didn’t you get the job? There are a lot of factors why people are rejected from the hiring process. You may never know which reasons apply to you, but it can be a comfort to know them, because many of them are completely out of your control and have nothing to do with your marketability as an IT professional. Here are the main reasons IT recruiters see people rejected from a job.

The project or the role changed. This happens all the time, especially with more technical roles. The kinds of projects that IT professionals work on are subject to change for all the usual reasons a company’s project changes, but also because technologies themselves change so quickly. Perhaps a company plans to use Angular for a project, but decides they’d like to move on to a hotter new technology and use Angular 2. That means the roles they’re hiring for drastically change, just like that! Roles will also change if they’ve been open for a long time. If a company is having a hard time finding the perfect software developer, the life cycle development of a project still won’t stop. A team could need a software developer with different skills as the project progresses.
You weren’t a culture fit. This may seem like a small thing compared to technical acumen, but IT staffing agencies find that it’s not. In fact, one of our own technical recruiters estimates that culture fit issues account for 50-60% of the candidate rejections he sees! The days of heads-down coders are over and Scrum and Agile are all the rage. Companies usually want a team that gels well, because they’ll be working together closely. For roles that are client-facing or customer service oriented, this becomes all the more imperative. If, for instance, you’re applying for a Helpdesk role or Sales Engineer role, having a warm, engaging personality is one of the explicitly stated job requirements.
Maybe other candidates really were just better. It’s natural to feel like you’re the best candidate for the job. The truth is, though, you’ll almost always be competing against other candidates. You never know if your completion has more experience, a better arsenal of technologies at their disposal, or is just more pleasant to work with. You may always feel like you’re the best fit for the job, but statistically speaking, you can’t always be the best fit for the job. Sometimes another candidate is a better match.

What can you do if you don’t get the role?

You can start by politely asking your IT recruiters for feedback. If they have it, they’ll often be happy to share. It could be that you can get actionable feedback, like a suggestion to get more experience with a particular technology, or that you came across as rude in your interview. On the other hand, sometimes there is no feedback.
It’s important not to try to argue your candidacy with the recruiter, and especially not the hiring manager. This strategy never lands somebody the job. In fact, often it burns a bridge and blacklists you at that company in the future. Hiring managers don’t appreciate being told that they don’t know how to make good decisions for their teams. They also don’t want to hire people who look arrogant. You will likely accomplish one or both of those if you push back when a hiring manager rejects you.
Try to remember that if you don’t land a job, it’s like dodging a bullet. Whether you’re rejected by IT staffing companies at the application stage or later after an interview, what you’re essentially hearing is that the employer doesn’t have confidence you’d be successful in the role. Even if you could do the role just fine, who wants to work in a job where their boss isn’t sure they can hack it? A rejection is just saving your from pain down the road and opening you up for a job that you can succeed and be happy in.