Tag Archives: IT jobs

Review: “A Beginner’s Guide to Technical Recruiting” by Prabakaran Murugaiah

What does a technical recruiter starting out for the first time in an IT Staffing Firm need to know? According to  Prabakaran Murugaiah, author of “A Beginner’s Guide to Technical Recruiting”, a lot. Murugaiah warns technical recruiters in-training that the big picture in the IT Staffing industry and in technical headhunting is changing at a rapid pace in 2011 (when he wrote A Beginner’s Guide), and beyond. The takeaway for technical recruiters starting a career in IT Staffing is that more experienced technical recruiters mentoring rookies may not have all the answers. It’s up to the protege technical recruiter to educate him or herself on the industry changes that are happening in short order.

Technical qualifications are no longer everything. Technical skills are still, as ever, center stage, but technical employers place a high value on other skills as well. Those skills include communication ability, company environment fit, and personality type. A fast-paced technical environment will look for different personality types in their IT candidates than a smaller, less rushed company atmosphere will. A Beginner’s Guide keeps technical recruiters abreast of culture changes like these in the staffing industry, and offers advice for technical recruiters looking to best take maximize the power of this industry knowledge.  IT candidates qualified on all skill facets important to technical employers are easier for technical recruiters to spot after reading this book. Read it today for practical technical recruiting tips!

Considering a Career in Technical Recruiting?

What are the benefits of a career in technical recruiting & how do you know if it’s a career path you want to pursue? Technical recruiting requires the ability to listen to prospective IT candidates & engage in headhunting. Technical recruiters also need to be able to size up an IT professional’s technical strengths and weaknesses and make determinations involving the type of role that might be a good fit and environment that might suit available IT job-seekers as well.

At AVID  Technical Resources, technical recruiters keep in close contact with IT candidates and introduce them to technical jobs fitting their unique IT skill sets. Unlike staffing firms that deal in a broad range of industries and job descriptions, AVID focuses on an area of expertise, specializing in advanced tech roles. IT Staffing Agencies like AVID Technical Resources allow technical recruiters to develop a level of familiarity with tech positions that makes them better equipped to find IT candidates a good fit in a high-tech position.

Personality Testing for Technical Recruiters & Employers

Technical recruiters at AVID Technical Resources know that personality determines more than just what movies you like or what type of music you prefer. Personality tests, possibly the most famous of which is the MBTI test; the Myers Briggs Personality Test, allow employers to predict a candidate’s potential fit for a specific job using their psychological profile. It might seem counter-intuitive at first — how can something as subjective as a personality shed light on something as fairly objective, like how much a candidate’s level of experience qualifies him or her to perform specific duties? While a personality test won’t tell technical recruiters or employers how well a candidate with Java on his or her resume can actually perform when the timer or the pressure’s on, it can reveal the changes of a good candidate/employer fit.

Fit matters to employers because they’re invested in a specific company, with a unique culture and coworkers who belong to a team. A resume tells technical recruiters and technical employers part of the story, but careful employers want the other piece of the puzzle to be in place also – fit. Anything that’s important to an employer is also important to a staffing firm partnering with that employer. A technical candidate may see a technical job opportunity as a chance to reach career goals, or stay within an industry he or she likes. It may even be a chance to switch industries into an area that interests the candidate. In this way, the candidate may be the victim of a little tunnel vision, failing to take into consideration the big picture for the long term. The right job is more than an opportunity, or the label of the ‘right’ industry for the technical job-seeker. It’s the chance to take a first step up a long ladder of rewarding challenges, and if personality conflicts are going to do in the candidate from the start, no one wins. Employers need to reinstate their search for technical candidate with the right technical skills to fulfill the demands of the role their company needs, and and technical candidates are on the job search again. A better approach is to acknowledge that personality plays a big role in a company – how good of a team player a technical candidate has the potential to be depends to a large degree on the amount of common ground coworkers share.

Technical candidates may be asked to take a personality test for an interview, but they may find taking one on their own just as useful for their job search as it is to employers. A personality test can give a candidate data regarding his or her levels of extroversion versus introversion, and open up job possibilities not previously considered. It could give a candidate clues on which industries are likely to be the best match, or what personality types he or she should look for in potential coworkers when interviewing. You know what? Those Myers and Briggs…they may have been on to something.

Review: Technology Made Simple for the Technical Recruiter

Technical Recruiters will find “Technology Made Simple for the Technical Recruiter: A Technical Skills Primer” by Obi Ogbanufe helpful for developing recruiting strategies and tech skills. AVID Staffing Firm employs IT Recruiting techniques covered by Ogbanufe in her book. Details she delves into include basic programming terms, networking tips, & operating system/network vocab. She even instructs on the art of knowing when a prospective candidate seems to be claiming levels of experience above what’s  present in their work background.

IT Staffing Agencies like AVID Technical Resources will do well to take note of Ogbanufe’s insight and advice. Her experience and familiarity with the topic can be of value to any technical recruiter looking to brush up on a rookie skillset, or polish a seasoned technical career. In an industry that changes at lightning speed, keeping on top of acronyms is key for technical recruiters, and they’ll find the latest and most thorough information in this book. Pick up a copy of ” Technology Made Simple for the Technical Recruiter: A Technical Skills Primer” today, and get smarter!

Skilled Tech Positions In Demand

Company demand for highly skilled tech workers has been increasing since the start of 2012. IT job candidates seeking higher salaries than they were able to land during the worst of the recession are likely to have more options now. Although the recession may not officially be over, demand for high-tech skills have significantly increased. Tech-savvy candidates considering a IT job change should take note of the professional climate, and feel confident about testing the technical job-search waters.

Technical professionals already on a job search should expect shorter search periods, faster placement, and potentially, multiple offers. AVID’s technical recruiters have connections to Boston’s top tech firms, the IT recruiters are plugged in to the most current tech opportunities available. Any skilled tech professional can connect with an AVID IT recruiter by picking up the phone to start a relationship with a recruiter that could be the entry into a new job, or tech career path.  Contact one of the fastest growing IT recruiting companies today!

Skill Testing Online

Any job-seeker who has interviewed with a staffing firm before has probably taken online skill-testing. Staffing firms can purchase online skill tests from test providers like Proveit, Eskill, or Brainbench, which offers testing for candidates in a range of skill sets. Technical test topics include Java, Dreamweaver, and ColdFusion MX. These resources can be useful for technical recruiters seeking to place candidates in roles that require proficiency in these areas. Offered in multiple languages, and in options including in-office testing or remote, skill assessments can be useful purchases for staffing firms.

For candidates, online skill testing can be just as helpful. Rather than purchasing access to skill assessments as a company would, job-seekers can log into free assessment providers like Smarterer to test their abilities in skills commonly sought by employers, such as Excel aptitude, Powerpoint skills, and more.  Candidates who have invested time building relevant industry skills have an opportunity to showcase their skills through an assigned score, comparing them to other test-takers. High-scoring testers may want to display their scores on their Linkedin profiles, or send them to recruiters as a resume supplement. Got Skills? Show them off!

How Not to Find a Job

So you think working for a living is lame? So yesterday? Or if your phone provider is AT&T, just too 5 seconds ago? AT&T TV Commercial — Tailgate LTE (HTC Vivid) . Great. I’m here to help. Here’s a solid instructional on how not to get a job.

  • Come 10 minutes late. Or an hour early. These days, arriving any earlier than 15 minutes in advance of a scheduled interview is a faux-pas. Not as bad as getting there late, but not good. If, hypothetically, you were to want a job that you arrive half an hour early (reasonable if you need to allow for travel delays) burn 15 minutes in the nearest coffee shop. Don’t forget the mints!
  • Come dressed as Barney, or choose any other inappropriate attire. Unless a job specifies a casual atmosphere, or you’re applying for a mall Santa position, you can’t go wrong with more formal dress over casual options. If you’re offered the job, you can always take it down a notch for your day-to-day.
  • Keep your cell phone ringer on during an interview. Arrange so that a friend calls/texts, or both. This will a) make you look popular b) guarantee that you don’t get the job. Perfect! Employers have indicated that one of the most common rising problems they encounter when conducting interviews is behavior that fits this description. Holding up a finger to your interviewer as your phone rings so that you can take a personal call while your interviewer waits will not win you points. You can let your incoming calls go to voicemail for 1 hour out of your day. Really.
  • At AVID, our job placements are exclusively technical, so interviews will contain questions about performing an IT role. If you’re applying for a Java Developer role, and you don’t have a clue as to how to guide your interviewer through your thought process and steps taken to respond to various technical scenarious — congratulations! You won’t be on anyone’s call-back list — your technical recruiter will know enough about the requirements of the role not to recommend you to the hiring manager in the first place, so you won’t have a chance to make multiple analogies to the fashion industry in a formal interview setting (or whatever it is that really interests you instead of technology).

So that’s it, folks! The above rules are your foolproof guide to guaranteed unemployment and a phone that never rings (unless it’s your friend, again). If you should be so foolish as to want a job, try to avoid engaging in any of these behaviors. They won’t do you any favors in your job hunt.

Company Culture

One of the challenges in a job search is finding a company that has not only the right benefits, but also the right atmosphere as well. How can interviewers assess the culture of a company they haven’t yet participated in? A few cues can better help interviewers understand the company they’re interested in.

Managers have long paid close attention to the impression an interviewer conveys through their use of language, dress, and credentials. Interviewers pursuing a job that will be the right fit for them for the long term should use that information to advance their best career interests as well. The interviewer who conducts a mental interview of their own will have higher chances of selecting a position that’s a great match, equating to higher job satisfaction rates and better longevity per company.

Interviewers who prefer highly structured, corporate atmospheres will tend to have the best working relationships with managers who suit up for interviews. Interviewers who want more casual environments should look for managers who sport a business casual look to interviews. When posing interview questions, do managers use more formal language, or do they feel comfortable with a more casual verbal approach? Language can be another cue to candidates as to whether or not they want to continue the relationship past the interview.

At AVID, many of our IT jobs are filled on a project-by-project basis via contract work. A prospective candidate for these types of IT roles might never meet his or her technical recruiter face to face – or even the project manager, for that matter. For IT jobs that are fulfilled via telecommuting, the above-mentioned cues may not apply – the contracter potentially has only an impression of the recruiter and manager formed via phone interviews. In these cases, the verbal & communication style cues become more key, but at the same time, the culture fit may be less important or irrelevant if the job is primarily telecommuting-based. In scenarios where interaction with management doesn’t play into the job, the job description and duties become the central focus, and as long as the skillset is a good fit for the candidates’ background and interests, the candidate is free to count culture out of the equation.

Lastly, it’s common knowledge that interviewers should look their interviewers up on Linkedin or other professional networks to get a little background on them before the interview. Rather than assessing the interviews purely from an informational perspective, however, candidates should pay close attention to their interviewers level of education and past experience from a personal angle, to determine how high the likelihood of common ground would be if the interview goes well. The takeaway? Interviewers – start thinking a little more like you’re on the other side of the hiring table.

Referral Job Leads

AVID technical recruiters employ a variety of techniques to generate leads for qualified IT candidates to contact for open positions. As a specialized IT Staffing agency, AVID looks for a range of skills in prospective candidates that is more focused & less broad than a standard staffing firm that places positions across every industry. AVID Companies tend to prefer internal referrals for candidates when trying to place open positions because there’s a higher chance that they’ll be a good fit if hired. While the referral process often comes to play for companies placing permanent positions, candidates seeking contracting work and recruiters working with them might be well served by taking note of this trend. With contract projects generally at shorter durations than the amount of time employees spend in permanent positions before changing companies, contract employees have a greater potential for a referral list of candidates with more flexibility to start projects on short notice than permanent employees can afford.

Contract candidates who keep a mental list of candidates for referral purposes to provide to recruiters they work with, and check in with recruiters regularly to update them on fellow industry professionals seeking work can use the referral system to their advantage just as perm employees do. By keeping in mind other industry professionals seeking work, candidates can refer contacts to recruiters, and potentially enjoy the benefit of having a friend for a coworker. Perks on the side for the referring candidate can include a small monetary compensation for referrals that winds up placed, depending on the policies of the staffing firm. Contract candidates will likely have more business contacts with other contractors than employees who have spent the majority or all of their careers in perm positions, so for each new contractor a contracted employee refers a potential new network of referrals has been added to the recruiting rep’s base of resources.

The bonus for recruiters is a happy candidate placed in a company that’s a good fit for the duration of the contract. Contractors and recruiters can keep the concept of referrals in mind, and leverage their networking bases for better matches for both sides of the staffing equation.

Company Branding at AVID Technical Recruiting Firm

In the marketing and social media world today, plenty of buzz surrounds the concept of branding. Big brands like Apple, Chanel, or Disney instantly bring an identifiable image to mind, but the strategy behind the image is less obvious. For a brand to pop in the minds of consumers, there needs to be a clear projection of what the brand represents. A brand has to be associated with a narrow range of ideas in order to maintain conceptual consistency when translated to a broad range of observers.

AVID Technical Resources offers a straightforward branding approach by expressing the company mission via an acronym.  The company slogan is Applications. Voice. Internet . Data. These four terms summarize main areas of tech that AVID recruiters specialize in placing candidates in, on a contract or permanent basis. Professionals with experience in Application Development in all stages of the Software Development Life Cycle can depend on AVID as a viable resource in a job search. The message is clear: calling Applications expertise.

The same principle applies to the remaining 3 parts of the AVID slogan. Voice refers to AVID’s IT Recruiting ability to place Telecommunications professionals with backgrounds in Wireline, Cable Broadband & Wireless. The Internet side can range from PC Technician opportunities, Support, Network Security, and more. Lastly, the data piece allows candidates with skills in integration and network infrastructure to work with AVID to do what they do best!

Put the terms in the AVID acronym together to get a picture of what types of IT jobs our technical recruiters are best positioned to assist with, and don’t forget the word formed by the acronym for a key part of the AVID culture. The AVID team is avid about their profession, and about matching qualified professionals up with great opportunities, which translates to a great experience for everyone. Know what the AVID brand stands for, and let our mission work to your advantage.