Tag Archives: IT professionals

How Will the IT Sector Keep Up With Job Demand

How will America keep up with its information technology sector job growth?  Though the market of IT professionals waxes and wanes, its American portion is still problematically low for the amount of IT jobs technical recruiters are trying to fill. (A large portion of American IT consultants seem to disagree with this reading of the market.)  There seem to be two major methods of dealing with this dearth of IT contractors for IT staffing agencies and IT managers: increasing H-1B visa allowances and increasing education for future IT professionals.

The attempts to increase education certainly have drawbacks for IT staffing firms in particular.  IT staffing companies today dealing with a lack of candidates now will have to continue to wait as programs that are mostly targeted at younger students slowly build the IT professionals of tomorrow.  There are also no guarantees that these efforts to motivate young children, especially girls, will even actually yield a greater pool of candidates for IT recruiting companies.

The second effort at creating more candidates for IT recruiting agencies is obviously problematic from a national standpoint.  Are we hurting our own citizens when we allow more H-1B visas, or are we simply enriching our economy and population?  With two major efforts occurring, there are still plenty of drawbacks to be dealt with.  The search for an effective way to get more candidates for IT recruiters continues.

What Happens in IT (Should) Stay in IT

The information technology industry certainly holds a fascination for more than just the IT managers, IT recruiting firms and IT consultants in its borders.  It’s undeniable that IT professionals and their companies, like Google, Yahoo, and Facebook, regularly make the news.  However, the hard lesson that JC Penney had to learn last week is that what works for IT jobs, doesn’t always work in other industries.

It recruiting companies and IT contractors are well aware of the test first, tweak later ethos of the IT world.  This strategy crashed and burned, however, as former Apple executive Ron Johnson attempted it in J.C. Penney’s attempt to restore itself to glory in the retail world.  Though IT staffing companies might have easily recognized Johnson’s intentions to beta test various marketing strategies, the pace of retail simply did not support them.  Technical recruiters might also have found Johnson’s radical changes to Penney’s inventory very familiar.  But, what works in a business that changes at the pace of the internet doesn’t always work in stores full of huge shipments of retail that move at a much, much slower pace.  Radical changes are fine when they can be retracted or will become relevant in a shorter period of time.  They are not fine when applied to an industry like retail that must operate at a much slower pace. While Johnson attempts to re-orient himself as he recovers from a JC Penney ousting, IT staffing agencies are taking note: what happens in the IT world should stay in the IT world.

Why the IT World Is Obsessed with Yahoo

Why are IT recruiters and IT consultants obsessed with Yahoo’s moves?  IT staffing firms and IT consultants, along with most other IT professionals, seem fixated on most, if not every move that Yahoo and its new CEO Marisssa Mayer make.

Mayer’s Telecommuting policy sparked a nation-wide debate by IT recruiters CA to IT recruiters Boston.  IT recruiting companies couldn’t stop talking about Mayer’s initial appointment.  And now as Yahoo acquires Summly and other start-ups, IT staffing firms are just continuing the conversation.  Of course IT recruiting agencies are generally concerned with the goings-on in Google or Facebook, However, Yahoo has ignited the information technology field’s interest in a special way.

While there could be many reasons IT headhunters can’t look away from Yahoo and Mayer, the answer could largely be that Yahoo is not so different from the America right now.  After a devastating fall from grace, Yahoo and America are attempting to pick up the pieces.  And with a very strong symbolic and real correlation between the two, IT staffing agencies are waiting with baited breath to see if they can successfully put themselves back together.

IT Recruiting by the Numbers

IT headhunters would certainly pinpoint generations X and Y as controversial generations to hire for IT jobs.  There are plenty of prominent complaints IT recruiters get about generation X and Y IT professionals.  However, the generation IT staffing firms have a hard time getting a consensus on is actually the baby boomer generation.

Plenty of IT recruiting companies hear highly conflicting opinions on baby boomer IT consultants.  Some IT managers praise baby boomer IT contractors for their work ethic, their ability to set and achieve goals, and their easy acceptance of authority and rules.  On the other side of the coin, IT staffing agencies can encounter plenty of negative arguments for baby boomers for IT jobs.  Some IT recruiting firms hear that because of baby boomers illustrious resumes, they are too costly for IT companies.  IT headhunters also hear arguments that completely nullify experience anyways, in a world that is full of break-neck paced change.  In addition to these conflicting points, there are also varying views on how late a company would like to invest in an IT professional’s career.  No matter the source, the opinion on baby boomer IT consultants is bound to be a complicated one.

IT Perks are Growing Despite a Bad Economy

IT staffing companies and IT consultants are seeing a trend that feels incongruous in today’s job market: more perks at tech companies.  In an economy with unemployment rates at an uncomfortably high amount, pay cuts everywhere, and people being forced to double-up on job responsibilities, the information technology industry is booming and working hard to keep the supply of IT contractors as high as the supply of IT jobs.   IT recruiting agencies are likely to be familiar with Google and Yahoo as examples of the elaborate perks offered to entice IT professionals.  A deluge of free services make IT staffing firms working with Google and Yahoo more like sirens than IT recruiters.

Of course, IT staffing companies only submit resumes to companies like Google and Yahoo for candidates that are ready to commit a larger portion than 40 hours of their week.  IT managers at tech companies may be offering amazing benefits and perks, but they are also offering incredibly demanding jobs for IT headhunters to fill.

Team-Building in the IT World

The information technology field has always been open to new business practices.  One of the newest growing trends is group exercise classes as team-building tools.  IT recruiters and IT contractors have become aware of more and more companies that offer classes likeCrossfit in-house and out of the office.

IT staffing firms hear a mélange of good and bad feedback on these classes as team-building exercises.  Since the trend is growing, there are of course plenty of IT consultants who tell IT recruiting agencies how much they love the classes and the effect they have on their teams at work.  IT staffing companies are certainly also hearing some negative responses from IT professionals on exercise classes as team-building tools.  Some people have suggested to IT recruiting companies that intense exercise classes like Crossfit are not appealing to them.  Thus they are left out of the activity, effectively making a team-building activity one that actually divides.  Others object to team-building exercise classes because they have their own workout routines and classes they are already dedicated to.  These people tell IT staffing firms a similar message: these team-building activities divide them from the team.

Because IT recruiting firms are getting mixed reviews, the jury might still be out on the effectiveness of exercise classes in IT jobs. One thing is for sure, though: they certainly get a reaction from employees.

The Best Qualities in IT References

Great references are a must for IT contractors looking to attract IT recruiters. IT staffing firms certainly appreciate sparkling resumes, but to get further in the process nothing beats the marketability of IT professionals with references that are impressive, relevant, well-spoken, and easy to contact.   IT consultants should consider a few major things when assembling references for IT recruiting agencies to use on their behalf.

Firstly, IT staffing firms would prefer references who are as impressive and relevant as possible.  Using past managers for jobs in the same or similar fields is preferable.  The better the title (while still being somebody who can speak thoroughly about your abilities), the more impressive it will be to IT recruiting companies and the IT managers they work for.

Secondly, IT recruiting firms are looking for references who are up to date and easy to contact.  A great verbal reference is worthless if the IT professional has lost their contact information or worse, lost track of them entirely and has old and useless contact information. One way to avoid this pitfall is a necessary prior step: getting permission.  It’s polite to make sure you have permission to use somebody as a reference.  In getting that permission, the second part of the conversation should be getting the best method of contact for IT staffing companies to use for this reference.

Lastly, IT headhunters most prefer an organized, thorough listing of references laid out for them in one document.  IT recruiters CA to IT recruiters Boston will appreciate a list that is easy to use themselves or to hand to IT managers they work with.

Stepping into an IT Manger’s Shoes — the Key to Success

IT professionals and IT recruiters are both subject to the whims of IT managers.  As in any field, an IT manager is complex and has his/her own even more complex set of priorities.  The best way to work well with a manager is for technical recruiters and IT consultants to try to consider things from their point of view.  Here are 2 major ways a manager’s perspective can become clearer to IT staffing agencies and IT professionals.

1. Consider the Manager’s priorities, not your own- IT staffing firms and IT consultants have a very different list of priorities than an IT manager.  A pressing request for interview feedback might be imperative to IT recruiting firms, but they need to respect that it may be at the bottom of the list for a manager.  A bug in code or a difficult co-worker might be a major issue for  IT contractors, but he or she should consider that these problems may be nearly insignificant to their manager.

2. Make the manager’s job easy- If IT staffing companies or IT professionals can find ways to meet an manager’s needs with little feedback or supervision, or even to anticipate these needs, they will become invaluable.  Being a self-starter, self-motivated, and an independent worker make you easy to manage.  If you’re easy to manage, IT managers—and the IT recruiting agencies who work for them—will want to work with you over and over again.

Preparing for an IT job interview- Step by Step

IT staffing firms have a laundry list of qualities they look for in an IT consultant, but one of the most important is ability and willingness to prepare for IT job interviews.  Technical recruiters encounter a myriad of IT contractors who do not seem to follow the major steps in prepare for interviews.  This is shocking because these steps are simple, take very little time, and pretty intuitive.

The first thing recruiting firms would prefer that IT professionals do to prepare for a job interview is to research the company.  This can be done quickly by checking out their website and/or general presence on the web.  Secondly, IT staffing agencies suggest that IT job candidates read, memorize, and seriously think about the job description. IT recruiting agencies want to send in candidates who have deeply considered what IT jobs require and how the candidates can meet those requirements.  Lastly, IT staffing companies want their IT consultants to practice answering and asking standard interview questions.  Encountering these questions for the first time, or the first time in a long time, does not look good for the candidate or the IT recruiting agencies they represent.   Following each of these steps will definitely guarantee at success—if not in getting the job, at least in convincing IT recruiting companies that you are a great person to work with.

IT Certifications: Honey for Hummingbirds

If IT recruiters were hummingbirds, what would be IT professionals’ honey, so to speak?  IT certifications are certainly a possible solution for the metaphor. IT staffing firms appreciate IT certifications for many reasons.  Perhaps the most obvious reason IT recruiting companies appreciate IT certifications is that it makes candidates eligible and more likely to get IT jobs.  IT staffing companies feel confident in passing resumes for IT contractors for positions who have relevant certifications.  Even if the certified candidates don’t get the positions,  simply suggesting them to IT managers still reflects well on IT staffing agencies.

While IT certifications are generally a great investment that attracts IT recruiting firms, it is imperative to note that experience will always trump a certification.  If IT consultants don’t put a certification to good use, IT headhunters will be generally uninterested and move on to the next possible job candidate.