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Tag Archives: IT recruiters

2 Easy Ways to Improve your Technical Resume

There’s no getting around it: creating a good resume is a pain. IT recruiting firms never find that candidates enjoy the process.  Some will even ask if they can avoid updating theirs.  (If you’re serious about landing new IT jobs, you can’t.)  Technical resumes can be especially arduous to write.  You need to explain your previous jobs in enough detail to impress technical recruiters, but also avoid giving so much that your resume becomes unreadable to hiring managers who aren’t as tech savvy. Here are two easy ways to make sure you share your best resume with IT staffing companies and hiring managers.

1. Make sure your Technical Proficiencies section is complete and honest.  You want this section to be up to date with all the skills you can claim a real competence in.  Make sure not to leave any skills out.  As IT recruiters or hiring managers scan your resume for certain technologies or skills, you wouldn’t want them to move on because they were missing. The same is true for ATS’s (applicant tracking systems) and searches within big recruiting sites.  Including important keywords will make sure your resume is seen by search engines and software used in the hiring process.

On the flip side, it’s also important not to add in skills or technologies that you can’t claim a real competence with.  If you’ve only had slight exposure to a certain technology, don’t include it.  You don’t want to find your way into an interview where you can’t answer questions about a technology, complete a coding test, or fail a whiteboarding session miserably.  You’ll quickly ruin your reputation with employers and IT recruiting firms if you falsely represent yourself as having certain technical experience and skills.

2. Elaborate on how you used the skills and technologies mentioned in your Technical Proficiencies section within the bullets for your jobs.  This part is just as important, if not more so.  Technically adept hiring managers and technical recruiters want to see how you used a technology at previous jobs.  Make sure to dedicate at least one bullet per technology or skill.  Even if they’re scattered throughout your career history, they’ll still help managers see that you’re prepared to apply the skills you list in your Technical Proficiencies section in their open roles.

Tips for IT resumes
Try these tips to make your resume more appealing to IT recruiters and hiring managers. Photo credit: vloveland via Pixabay

A Checklist for Writing Your Best IT Resume

Job hunting in the tech industry can differ from any industry.  As an IT job seeker, your search is affected by things like technical jargon, the tools hiring managers use, and the speed at which technologies change and projects become irrelevant.  If you’re serious about looking for new IT jobs, you want a resume tailored to this industry and the needs of the hiring managers in it.  Here’s a quick checklist that IT recruiters suggest using as you complete your resume.  This list will make sure your resume is especially appealing to hiring managers in the tech space and technical recruiters.

1. Does your resume match up with your LinkedIn profile? Especially within the tech space, IT staffing companies and hiring managers use LinkedIn as part of their hiring process.  If your resume doesn’t basically match up with your LinkedIn profile, it’s time to fix that.  You especially want to avoid making it seem like you’re hiding anything or lying about anything in your career history or skill-set.  Appearing dishonest is the fastest way to be blacklisted with IT recruiting firms and employers.

2. Is your resume full of quantifiable, concrete, professional achievements?  The bullets under each job should be taken up with statements like ‘Improved network downtime by 25%.’  Or ‘Increased web traffic by 50%.’  Hiring managers are more likely to pick people who they can picture working with their team and contributing to their company’s goals.  This is especially true in tech, where the salaries are higher and a bad hire can cost a lot.  Nobody wants to be the manager who hires a programmer who can’t code fast enough or the network architect who designed a faulty network.  Make it easier for hiring managers to picture you succeeding in their open roles.  List the concrete contributions you made at previous employers, using numbers and percentages whenever you can.

4. Is your resume easy to read?  Did you focus on your last 10-15 years of experience?  Did you use a simple font with basic, even spacing?  Did you use a conventional resume format, or a ‘creative one’ that might require some extra time to figure out?  Did you forgo giving every single technical detail of your work at every previous job?  Keep in mind that IT recruiting agencies and hiring managers don’t have much time to pore over every line of your resume.  In fact, if you apply with a resume that’s crammed to the gills with lots of technical details for 7 pages, or provide a resume that’s in a ‘creative format’, you might just be taking yourself out of the running for a job right off the bat. Make your resume easy to read and keep it brief and efficient.  If your experience is a good fit, you can give more detail in a phone or in-person interview.

 

IT resumes
You’ll land more IT jobs if your resume ticks off every box. Photo credit: TeroVesalainen via Pixabay.

 

2 Tips for Hiring Tech Talent

It can be tough to fill open tech positions at your company.  The US still has a shortage of qualified professionals to fill the new IT jobs which open up or are created daily.  IT recruiting firms find that the tech field is still very much a job seeker’s market.  How can you make sure your company stays competitive in attracting and hiring the best talent?  Here are 2 tips from IT staffing companies on best practices for hiring tech talent.

1. Focus on building a great corporate culture.  Tech employers used to compete for great talent with their perks.  In the beginning of the Dotcom boom, stocked kitchens, catered lunches, subsidized commuting costs, etc used to be a huge draw.  Now it seems that many other industries have jumped on this bandwagon.  Exciting perks are much more available at many employers, and thus aren’t really as a big of a draw to IT professionals.

The new commodity that’s harder to come by, and thus a bigger draw, is great culture.  Glassdoor and its anonymous, unfiltered reviews has probably played a big hand in making job searchers more aware of this.  IT recruiters find that candidates often ask about the management and corporate culture at a potential job right after they hear about the work.  Having an open, innovative culture that allows employees some agency in shaping their life at work is a huge draw.  If you want to attract technical talent, IT staffing firms suggest building a management team with great communication skills, an interest in helping their employees grow and build their skill base, and who prioritize their employees’ happiness.

Building great corporate culture might be one of the hardest ways to attract employees, but technical recruiters suggest it because it’s effective and it also helps retain employees down the road.  Instead of investing in gimmicky perks, take time to make your company a workplace where people are generally happy.  It will pay off now, and in the future.

2. Move faster in your hiring process.  IT recruiting agencies caution employers against moving at too slowly for hiring all  tech positions.  As mentioned before, the tech field is a job seeker’s market.  The unemployment rate for IT professionals is notoriously low—often as low as half the national average.  If a candidate comes on the market, they could be gone in as little as 2 weeks.  (Highly sought after IT professionals like DevOps and Big Data Engineers, as well as Full-Stack or CRM Developers might be off the market even faster than that!)  IT staffing agencies find that many candidates aren’t even ever unemployed or looking.  They’re passive candidates who are lured away from their current job with a pay raise, better commute, etc. So if you want to hire the best tech talent, you’ll have to move fast.  Respond to applications and submittals by IT recruiting companies as soon as you can.  Make offers in days, not weeks.  IT recruiters see employers lose out on the candidates they really want all to frequently because they just took too long.

 

Hiring tech talent
Hiring tech talent can be tough in such a job seeker’s market. Photo credit: Pexels via Pixabay.

 

Tips for Your Summer IT Job Hunt

Unlike some fields like Education or Retail, hiring trends in the Tech sector usually stay steady in the Summer.  Because technology is vital to most business operations, and because innovation is necessary to a competitive business, Tech employees are indispensable.  Replacing them or adding new ones often cannot wait until after Labor Day.  Your job search in the summer may be a different beast than the rest of the year, though.  Here are two tips for tailoring your search for IT jobs when the weather gets hot and everyone is on vacation.

Take advantage of the strong market for passive job seekers.  If you’re in the Tech field, you have the option to be more of a passive job seeker than in other fields.  Even if you don’t apply to jobs directly, you probably still get contacted by IT recruiters.  Between LinkedIn, Monster, and other similar web sites, it’s very easy for IT staffing firms to find you.  If you’re looking for a new job in the summer, but want to spend more time outside than on your job search, take advantage of this passive job seeker market.  Reach out to IT recruiting agencies with your updated resume.  Turn on the ‘interested in other opportunities’ switch on your LinkedIn profile.  Post your resume on Indeed and Monster. Add a line to your LinkedIn profile about being open to new opportunities.  One caveat: don’t do any of these things if you think your boss or coworkers will see and respond negatively!  You don’t want to endanger your current employment.

Ask for timelines when you’re interviewing, waiting for feedback, etc.  You’ll need to walk a fine line with this, but having better expectations will make the process easier.  Hiring for permanent jobs in the tech sector can be extra slow in the summer.  Companies may be forced to wait on managers and their vacation schedules to set up interviews, make hiring decisions, get feedback, etc.  If you’re working with IT recruiting companies, this is exactly the kind of advantage they’ll provide.  You can ask them when they think managers will make a decision and what the next steps in the process are with impunity.  There’s no risk that you’ll look desperate or bother a hiring manager.  If you’re not working with IT staffing agencies, you can still ask for timelines on hiring decisions, scheduling interviews, etc.  The key is to do so judiciously. Ask once.  Don’t ask somebody like the CEO of the company, or a very high up manager.  Try asking somebody like HR or the internal recruiter, who won’t mind answering questions like this at all.

 

IT jobs summer
Your summer IT job search could have some sweet results if you work with an IT recruiting firm. Photo credit: Fruitnmore via Pixabay.

 

 

Questions and Answers About Vacation and IT Jobs

Summer is the season when most people think about vacation.  Even if you’re searching for new IT jobs, your focus might still be at least a little diverted by thoughts of a beach getaway, visiting family, or a trip to Europe.  Here are some common questions you might have about vacation time if you’re working with IT recruiting firms to find your next role. 

  1. If I get a new role, can I still take a vacation this summer? The short answer is yes and no. If you’ve already planned a trip, booked flights, hotels, etc, then you probably can.  If you’ve planned a few vacation days that revolve around an important event like a family reunion or wedding, you probably can.  All you have to do is mention these trips when you receive a job offer (not before). Your hiring manager may suggest pushing your start date out til after your trip, or plan to have you out for those days.  If you want to spontaneously take a few days off within the first 90 days of your employment, this is less likely to be ok. IT staffing firms find that between the onboarding process, training, and the need for creating a good impression with the new boss and team, this is almost never a good call.  Spend your first 3 months being focused, impressing your boss and team, and being present in the office.  You can take a spontaneous vacation after that, when you’ve earned trust and respect from your new employer!
  1. I have a vacation planned. Do I talk about it with my interviewer?    Wait until you get a job offer.  In the tech field, it’s really important to establish for your interviewer that you’re passionate about some combination of the work, the role, the team and the company.  When you bring up things like vacation, this can take away from that impression.  Hiring managers get that you have a life outside of work, but the interview is such a short process that you should focus on talking about yourself as a professional, not your vacation plans.
  1. Can I ask about the vacation part of a benefits package in an interview? The same principle applies here.  Steer clear of talking to your interviewer about vacation time until you have an offer on the table.  Focus on figuring out if the job is a good fit for you and for the company.  If you really want to know, you can talk to your IT recruiters, check out the company’s info on Glassdoor, or do some Googling.  You’ll probably find it somewhere online and you won’t have to risk making yourself seem like anything less than a very dedicated employee.  
  1. What about this ‘Unlimited PTO’ trend? Technical recruiters are finding this trend is becoming more and more popular in the tech field.  It’s important to note that this benefit is meant to be used in some moderation, though.  Companies usually offer unlimited PTO to employees with the caveat that they need to get through their work.  Getting that software released on time, debugging that code, or finishing that big project should all happen before you go on an extended vacation.  Your team needs to be able to count on you— not count on you to be out of the office again.  IT recruiting firms also find that this benefit usually comes with a role that has a high workload.  Unlimited PTO is a reward for the hard work that’s expected.  So take a minute to really consider the role.  Don’t just take a job for this benefit alone!

 

Vacations and IT jobs
Planned a beach getaway? You can still take it, even if you’re staring a new role soon! Photo credit: skitterphoto via Pixabay

 

How to Deal With Negative Interview Feedback

One of the advantages of working with IT recruiters is that they can sometimes pass along feedback from interviewers who don’t hire you.  Even though it can sting a little to hear you didn’t land some IT jobs, the feedback can be golden.  Here’s what to do with it.

1. Stop and really listen.  If your IT staffing companies can provide feedback on why you didn’t land the job, take every word in.  Ask questions if you don’t understand.  The point is to get as much information as possible, because this is a window into a hiring manager’s view of you.

2. Don’t take it personally.  While this feedback is helpful and should be taken seriously, it doesn’t mean you’re an inadequate candidate.  IT recruiting firms work on thousands of jobs every day.  These jobs require different skills, different kinds of personality, a different work style, etc.  If you aren’t what the hiring manager wants, that’s ok.  You want to be hired for a job where you have what the hiring manager wants because you want to be hired for a job you will succeed in. Think about children’s puzzles where you fit shapes into the corresponding holes.  You would never shove a square peg into a round hole.  It would break the peg or puzzle over time.  You want to work with your IT staffing agencies until you find the kind of job that you’re a great fit for.  Find the square hole for your square peg.

3. Don’t argue if you disagree with the feedback.  Even if you think the hiring manager is patently wrong, you shouldn’t argue with your technical recruiters.  There are a three reasons for this.

a. Firstly, you won’t be able to change a hiring manager’s mind.  Most hiring managers rely on their gut, and you simply can’t argue with this.  Even if the hiring manager is wrong, they will always think of you as having this deficiency.

b. The second reason you shouldn’t argue with the feedback is that it can provide a chance to better yourself.  Do you need to brush up on that technology?  Are your communication skills with higher level executives rusty?  Even if you didn’t initially think so, take this opportunity to do so now.  This is a chance to make yourself even more marketable to the next interviewer!

c. The third reason not to argue with feedback from a job interview is that you’ll want to continue to get this feedback!  You want IT recruiting companies to feel the feedback they give is appreciated and taken seriously.  When you argue with it, most IT recruiters will decide they never want to give you feedback again.  Why deny yourself this valuable tool in improving your candidacy?!

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

 

job interview tips
Don’t argue with interview feedback. Listen to it! Photo credit: Hans via Pixabay.

 

Don’t Say This in Your Next Tech Job Interview

IT recruiters find there’s a lot of bad interview advice out there.  Here’s one piece that seems particularly popular—and particularly unhelpful: tell the interviewer you are the most qualified candidate for the job.

Why is this terrible advice?  It’s good to be confident and express interest in the job, isn’t it?  The truth is, this statement doesn’t really accomplish either task well.  Great candidates, especially in the tech space, are looking for a job that is a good fit on both ends.  This means they’ve got all the technical and personality/work style requirements.  It also means the work, the team, and the company fit their own requirements.  An interview is all about sussing out whether both these things are true.  Good candidates don’t know if they’re the ‘best candidate for the job’ for many reasons, including the fact that they don’t know if the job meets their own needs!

Another reason IT staffing companies suggest that you never say something like this in a job interview is that it can come across as arrogant and make you seem difficult to work with.  As a tech professional, these are the last things you want to convey to an interviewer.  These days, communicating and working well with teams is an imperative skill.  As companies are pressured to constantly innovate and improve their products or services, brainstorming and teamwork are becoming necessities.  (Plus, Scrum and Agile are really the trendiest development methods.  The day of the heads-down coder who excels in a Waterfall method have passed.)  Remember, nobody wants to work with somebody who is arrogant.  Arrogant coworkers aren’t open to collaboration, are hard to train, and are just plain unpleasant to deal with on a regular basis.  People wouldn’t hire them for open IT jobs if they can help it!

So what can you say instead of this phrase?  IT recruiting agencies suggest focusing on concrete ways to illustrate your value to the interviewer.  Did you reduce your previous employer’s server downtime significantly?  Did you increase web traffic to your company’s website by 25%?  Being able to share things like this will help potential employers see that you are the most qualified candidate for their open job.

When employers decide you’re the most qualified candidate for the job, it’s much more powerful than you, as the candidate, trying to lead them to this conclusion.  People often value the conclusions they come to themselves.  This is especially true in the hiring process. Technical recruiters find that employers need to feel like they have control of the hiring process, since it’s such a big risk to possibly hire somebody that can’t do the job.

So respect your interviewer and their hiring process.  You can’t decide for them that you’re the most qualified candidate.  You can only illustrate to them all the reasons why you’re a good catch as an employee.  Your patience and subtle confidence may just win you the job!

 

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

IT Job Interview Tips
Don’t tell your interviewer you’re the best candidate for the job. It won’t help your candidacy! Photo credit: 3dman_eu

 

Don’t Make This Rookie Mistake in Your Job Interviews

If you’re a recent grad, you’re probably diving into the job market now and going on some of your first real job interviews.  Even if you’re not a recent grad and you’ve interviewed before, it’s still possible you’re making some of the same mistakes.  One of the worst mistakes that IT recruiters see too frequently is when candidates have no questions for their interviewer or ask bad ones.  Tech employers want candidates who are passionate about the technologies and the work they’re doing.  Asking good questions can help demonstrate that.  When you have no questions, it can seem like you’ll just take any IT jobs.  Asking good questions also helps demonstrate good social skills.  More and more, tech employers want candidates to have good communication skills, no matter where they are in the company.  The days of heads-down coders are fleeting, if not completely gone.  Here are some tips from IT staffing companies on how to have some good, solid questions ready for your next interview.

1. Practice some strong questions about the work or the role. Are you familiar with all the technologies they use?  Are you curious if they’ve ever used others?  Do they use a Scrum or Agile development methodologies?

2. Ask some good questions about the company, the team, or the corporate culture. How do people get feedback in this role?  How much does the team work together?  Did you notice any interesting news about the company as you did research for the interview?  Ask about it.  Show that you’re not just interested in this role, but this role for this company.

3. Don’t ask questions about things like the perks, pay, or the commute. Questions about these topics don’t let an employer know you’ve really thought hard about the role.  You could be asking these questions in any job interview.  They’re also very egocentric.  Yes, you want a job that’s good for you.  But you also want to be selling yourself, as well.  When a candidate comes across as ‘me, me, me’ then the company often tells their IT staffing firms they’ll pass.  They need candidates who will contribute, not just take a paycheck.  If you do have questions about the more basic items like compensation, commute, hours, etc. you can ask your technical recruiters.  This is what they’re there for!

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

IT job interview mistakes
Don’t come to a job interview without preparing some questions! Photo credit: OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay.

 

 

3 Tips for Better Interviewing

There’s a lot of bad advice about how to interview candidates.  This has gotten even worse in the tech sector since Google’s unorthodox interview questions were leaked.   People have been rampantly speculating on (and misinterpreting) how the coveted employers in the IT field conduct interviews.  If you’re hiring for your open IT jobs, check out these 3 tips from IT recruiting companies on how to interview without scaring away your candidates.

Don’t use gimmicky formats or tests. Don’t make your candidates do trendy personality tests.  Don’t force them to answer every question in a very short time frame.  Don’t put them through any cut-throat group interviews/competitions.  The point of your interview is to get a sense of what kind of employee the candidate is.  When you make them uncomfortable with unexpected activities, you’re not going to get this information.  All you’re going to do is make the candidate uncomfortable….and maybe inspire them to tell their IT recruiters and everyone who visits Glassdoor all about the bizarre ordeal you put them through.

Don’t be a jerk. There are a lot of trendy techniques out there that center around purposely being rude to a candidate to see how they operate under stress.  Some say you should order a candidate’s lunch incorrectly to see how they handle potential conflict.  Some say to make an effort to be mean to the candidate to see how they handle working with difficult people.  There are likely many other variations of this.  The problem is that all of these scenarios will send good IT professionals running in the opposite direction.  Especially since the tech field is a job seeker’s market, IT staffing agencies strongly caution against disrespecting the candidate.  The US is still experiencing a real shortage of good, qualified IT professionals.  Keep in mind that candidates are using an interview to decide what working at your company will be like.  If you’re awful to them in an interview, they’ll decide to seek out other IT jobs where they will be treated well.  It’s important to note that you can always ask a candidate and their references how they handle difficult people or stressful situations.  Most people are very forthcoming about this because if they don’t handle it well, they won’t want a job where it’s prevalent!

Don’t ask trendy questions just to ask them. If you don’t know why you’re asking a candidate what animal they’d be at the zoo, don’t ask them.  Some employers do have answers or thought processes they’re looking for when they ask these questions.  Others just ask these questions because they think it will be be fun to ask or doing so might convey that the company culture is creative and fun.  If you want to convey that you have a fun, creative culture, IT staffing agencies suggest that you just say so.  Or point to your Glassdoor reviews.  Or introduce the candidate to happy members of your team.  There are many ways to do this.  Keep in mind that interviews are already stressful for candidates.  Don’t make them even more uncomfortable by forcing them to answer questions that confuse them or surprise them.

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

 

Interview tips for hiring managers
Don’t make your candidates feel uncomfortable in job interviews– even if it’s trendy. Photo credit: Jarmoluk via Pixabay

 

Are You Missing this Key Quality as an IT Job Seeker?

When you’re applying for new IT jobs, your first consideration is making sure you have the right technical skills.  In addition to their technical skills, there’s something else that IT recruiters find is key to landing new roles: the ability to work in a team.  This soft skill might seem irrelevant, but it’s actually imperative because of 3 major trends in the tech field.

Constant innovation.  Since companies must now keep up with the ever-faster speed of technology, constant innovation is important. In an effort to consistently improve their products and processes, companies are now turning to large brainstorming sessions, hackathons, and other group activities.  IT recruiters find that this type of activity requires an increased emphasis on teamwork and the ability to work well with others.  If you’re not willing to jump into a team brainstorming session, your IT staffing firms may be less willing to submit you to jobs.

Scrum and Agile. Scrum and Agile are some of the more coveted project management methodologies out there. This means that technical recruiters are on the hunt for candidates that want to be a part of stand-up meetings.  If you prefer Waterfall because you like to work independently, your options will ultimately be limited. If you’re serious about your job search, tap into your extroverted side and let your IT recruiting agencies submit you to Scrum and Agile teams.

Open plan offices. Fun, collaborative team culture has been a staple in the tech field since the dot com boom.  But this trend has been amplified by the open plan offices that more and more companies are turning to.  This isn’t just about where your desk is.  Open plan offices are discouraging employees from simply putting their heads down and working straight through from 9-5.  Social interaction is considered part of the job.  Building relationships with coworkers has become an imperative skill.  So if your IT recruiting firms ask you to bring energy and a positive, upbeat, outgoing personality to your interview, you should do it.  It could be the difference between landing the job and losing it!

 

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

 

IT job search
The ability to work with a team is a crucial piece of the puzzle. Photo credit: wilhei via Pixabay.