Tag Archives: IT recruiting firms

Why Did You Get Rejected from that IT Job?

July 26, 2017

We’ve all been there. You apply for IT jobs that look perfect for you. You work with a technical recruiter or on your own and you go through interviews. You start picturing yourself making those commutes, finding your place on the team, and setting up a new 401k. But then your IT recruiters call you back and say that the hiring manager went with another candidate. You’re in shock. How could they go with anybody but you? You’ve got all the technical skills and experience required. Maybe you’ve done a similar job in the past. Here’s why this might be happening—and how to make the most of it.

You might not be a culture fit. This seems way less important in IT jobs, where certain skills and experience are imperative for success. The truth is, culture fit is becoming more and more imperative in tech roles in the last decade or so. IT recruiting firms often find that communication skills, ability to work well with a team, or having the right temperament for customer service are crucial to the jobs they hire for. You don’t want to land a job where you’re missing something like this. Even if you’re perfectly suited for the technical workload, you’ll always have a hard time succeeding in a job that you wouldn’t have the right personality for.

You may not have all the technical skills or experience required. Yes, even if you have everything listed on the job description, you may still be missing a certain programming language, or even not have less exposure to a technology than needed, etc. Since projects change at the speed of technology, sometimes a job description will, too. IT staffing companies find that it’s not uncommon for a job description to change between the time it’s posted and time the candidate is hired. Sometimes there’s not time to change the job description as it’s posted online, too. So even if your resume matches a job posting to T, it doesn’t mean that you’re what the hiring team needs.

You might be great, but perhaps another candidate was better. This kind of scenario isn’t specific to the tech world at all. Sometimes IT recruiting firms will find that the candidates who apply to a job blow the hiring managers away, exceeding all expectations. You never know if one of these kinds of candidates did the interview before or after you. This is something only the hiring manager can see. So if you don’t land the job, even if you told your recruiters you felt like it was in the bag, consider this possibility. You might have been great; you were just competing against somebody even more suited to the role.

So what do you do now? If you didn’t land the job, even if you fully expected to, you can still gain something. Ask your IT recruiting agencies for feedback. Really listen and see if you can use it to improve your chances in the next job you apply for. If you can’t get any feedback, it’s still important to be gracious. You never want a hiring manager or IT staffing companies to consider you rude, difficult to work with, or arrogant. Sometimes, the tech industry can be a small world. Don’t mar your reputation in it!

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

rejected from IT jobs — Why didn’t you land the job? Maybe you just weren’t a culture fit. Photo credit: OpenClipart-Vectors via Pixabay.

2 Tips for Hiring Tech Talent

July 21, 2017

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

Questions and Answers About Vacation and IT Jobs

July 12, 2017

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

June 27, 2017

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.

Tips for Second Job Interviews

June 14, 2017

When you’re working with IT staffing firms to find a new role, sometimes you’ll have to do a second in-person interview. Since second job interviews aren’t as common, candidates often feel unsure about how to approach them. Here are some tips from IT recruiting companies on handling second in-person job interviews.

How to dress: Dress in a suit or other business professional attire. Even though dress codes in many companies are becoming more relaxed, the suit is still king for interviews. Sometimes, candidates will go to a first in-person interview and find that everyone is wearing jeans. Don’t let this throw you off. Technical recruiters find that candidates make a better impression when they dress professionally at all stages of the interview. You want to show respect to the company and their hiring process. Following the dress code is part of that. If you get the job, you can dress down when you start the job.

How to prepare: Do two things in particular this time. Firstly, research the company a bit more deeply. Secondly, prepare new questions. Your second interview will likely differ from the first. First interviews are often more about establishing your technical skills and experience. You might do white-boarding or coding tests. The second in-person interview is much more about how well you fit into the team and/or company. Start your preparation by doing a deeper dive into researching the company, product, and corporate culture. Your IT recruiting firms might have some thoughts on web sites to visit, as you do this. They may also be able to tell you who your interviewers will be. If so, it’s a good idea to do a little research on your interviewers, too. The more you know about the company, its products or services, and your interviewers, the more you can show an interest in them. In the tech field, a deep passion for the work, the company, and the products or services will go far!

The second thing you should do in your preparations for your interview is to come up with new questions. You can use some of your research about the company to come up with these questions. You can also just come up with other questions about the role, management styles, etc. It will be important for you to have different questions than you asked in your first interview. For more ideas about interview questions to ask, check out this blog post.

How to answer questions: Focus on bringing something new to the table and really let your personality shine in this interview. Even if you’re asked the same questions again, there are many ways you can tweak your answers to be different. Be patient if you’re asked a question twice or asked something similar. You may be meeting with a mix of new and old people who will unwittingly repeat each other. You want to answer questions so people who have already interviewed you hear something new that strengthens your candidacy. You also want to try to be understanding of this if they repeat questions or discussions. If you are impatient about it, you won’t land the job. Nobody wants to work with somebody who is rude or difficult. IT staffing agencies advise you to remember that your personality and your ability to fit into the culture of the team and company are what hiring managers are focusing on in this second interview. Make sure you present your best self here.

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

IT job interviews — Your second job interview is all about culture fit. Photo credit: miranijenish via Pixabay.

Are You Ready for Your Technical Job Interview?

June 2, 2017

If you have some interviews for IT jobs coming up, try using this checklist to make sure that you’re ready.

1. Did you lay out, wash, and iron, a professional outfit? Even in the tech sphere, where many companies allow jeans and a t-shirt, IT recruiters still recommend wearing a suit to your interviews. Make things easy for yourself and make sure it’s ready to go right when you need it.

2. Did you talk to your technical recruiters about the commute? Did you look at your best routes on Google? Are you leaving yourself enough time for traffic, train trouble, bad weather, etc? Are you leaving early enough to meet your recruiter first (if they request it) or to do a security check if necessary? It’s also worth noting that if you’re unsure about doing this commute regularly, consider trying it out during a day and time with comparable traffic patterns. IT staffing firms see people quit jobs all the time because their commute is miserable.

3. Did you study up on relevant technologies? Sometimes IT recruiting firms find that candidates will just assume their ‘rusty’ skills are enough to get them through an interview. Be honest with yourself and study up on a technology if you need to before you go to your job interview.

4. Did you practice some basic interview questions? You’re going for a technical interview, but you’ll still be asked things like, ‘What’s your greatest weakness?’ Or ‘What’s your greatest strength?’ IT staffing companies suggest that you role play with a family member or friend just to be ready for these questions. If you put time into sharpening your technical skills, you should put time into sharpening your general interviewing skills, too! Don’t assume answering these questions is something you can do off the cuff.

5. Did you print out copies of your resume, or will your recruiters bring them for you? Figure this out so you can be prepared in case a hiring manager needs them. If you don’t have access to a printer before your interview, most IT recruiting agencies will bring you a few copies with no issue.

6. Did you prepare a few questions to ask the interviewer? IT staffing agencies find that the candidates who really impress interviewers are the ones who have a few great questions in their back pockets. If you don’t have any to ask, you’ll look disinterested or unprepared. Questions like ‘What would success look like in this role?’ aren’t just for you—they help the interviewer see what kind of employee you’re ready to be!

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

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

May 26, 2017

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.

Tips for Asking ‘Creative’ Questions in a Job Interview

May 23, 2017

‘Wacky’ questions have been a trend for a while in job interviews—especially in the tech field. IT recruiting firms find that many candidates have had at least an interview or two where they’ve been asked what color crayon they would be, or how many light bulbs there are in Disney World. While these questions can certainly be helpful to hiring managers, IT staffing companies find that there are more times when they hurt an interview than help it. Here’s how to make sure you’re using these kinds of questions effectively when you interview candidates.

1. Don’t ask the question if you don’t know what you’re looking for or if there is no direct relevance to the role. Technical recruiters find that candidates can tell pretty quickly when a manager is asking a question just because they think they should. Don’t ask questions just because they showed up on a Googled list of interview questions. It makes the candidate feel like you’re just making them uncomfortable with an unexpected question for no reason. Think about what your ideal answers would be. What should the candidate demonstrate when they answer this question? Take time to consider this before you ask.

2. Don’t ask these questions to purposefully make the candidate squirm or to throw them off. IT staffing agencies find that some employers will give questions like this just to see how a candidate does under pressure or handles discomfort. These kinds of questions certainly do, but they will also probably make the candidate want to turn down the job offer. Good managers don’t intentionally make their employees uncomfortable. In fact, their job is to support them as they handle difficulty. If a candidate can tell you’re trying to purposefully throw them off, they’ll see it as a big red flag about your management style. Since it’s much more of a job seeker’s market in the tech field, keep in mind that you’re courting the candidate as much as (if not more than) they’re courting you. Asking them a lot of questions that feel silly or weird can leave a bad taste in their mouth. If a candidate has the technical experience you need, you don’t want to lose them because you asked them what kind of animal they’d be at the zoo.

3. Don’t assume asking these questions makes you seem like a ‘cooler’ employer. Many employers ask these kinds of questions because they think it will give candidates the impression that they’re cool, like Google, Uber, and other cool tech employers who are known for asking some ‘wacky’ interview questions. If you want to let candidates know you have a cool company culture, there are better ways to do it. IT recruiting agencies suggest you take time to talk about why your company culture is great. Share your Glassdoor reviews or have current employees meet with the candidate to share what it’s like working at your company. These things are all much more enticing to a candidate than answering weird, unexpected interview questions.

4. Look for process, not a right or wrong answer. The point of many of these questions isn’t to focus on whether the candidate answered exactly what you were expecting. The point is to get a window into their thought process. If they can think about solving problems in a way that’s advantageous, or can provide an interesting justification for their answer, take note. Remember that these kinds of questions can be hard on candidates because they’re so unexpected. Their answer may not be polished or perfect, but it could still tell you much about how they think.

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

weird questions in IT job interviews — What color crayon would your candidate be? It may not matter! Photo credit: Stux via Pixabay.

What Does it Mean if My Interviewer Was Disengaged?

May 19, 2017

When you go to interviews for IT jobs, you’re likely to be engaged in the process. You may even be anxious and hyper-focused. Sometimes IT recruiters find that hiring managers can actually be disengaged or appear completely disinterested in the process. Does this mean you didn’t land the job? Not necessarily.

IT staffing firms find that there are a lot of reasons that hiring managers might be disengaged during an interview—and many of them don’t have anything to with your candidacy. One of the main reasons that IT recruiting firms hear managers are disengaged is because they’re busy handling a major issue (possibly even a crisis) that just popped up. This can especially be the case if you’re interviewing with a high-level manager. If a crisis pops up at the very last-minute, or even if the hiring manager is really interested in the candidate, they’ll move forward with the job interview regardless. If you’re feeling less confident in an interview because the hiring manager seems uninterested or keeps checking email, consider this: maybe a hiring manager wants to meet with you so badly he or she will do it even if they’re in the middle of a dealing with a big production issue, a looming release date, or a massive security breach of a their company’s data.

Besides major crises or work demands, a hiring manager could be less engaged in the interview process for another reason: perhaps they’re not a key decision-maker. Sometimes IT recruiting companies find that an employer will require certain managers to be on the hiring committee, even if they don’t have much influence (or interest) with the decision. They might seem checked-out during the interview because they actually are. And that means nothing about your candidacy. A disengaged manager could be simply sitting in on the interview, allowing the rest of the hiring team to drive the process.

So what should you do if your interviewer spends your whole conversation looking at email, or asking very few questions? Technical recruiters suggest you just let it go and do your best anyways. Don’t give up on the interview or start doubting yourself. Focus on the questions asked and building a rapport with the other interviewers (if any).

You might talk to your IT recruiters about it afterwards, and they may have an answer for you. Perhaps not. The hiring process can be unpredictable, so you can’t analyze things for signs. Put your energy towards working with your IT staffing companies until you find the right role for you. Who knows—you might just have won over that very disengaged interview.

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

Common Questions (and Answers) about References

May 17, 2017

IT staffing firms find that references can be one of the last things on a candidate’s mind. Maybe it’s because they’re so far along in the job search process. Or, maybe it’s because they seem to require the least amount of work. References just need to be called. Resumes need to be written and polished, and you need to do extensive prep and study up on relevant technologies for interviews. Whatever the case, IT recruiting firms find that many candidates and hiring managers have a lot of questions and even misconceptions about references. Here are some common ones that IT recruiters get:

Do ‘backdoor references’ really happen? This phenomenon is even more prevalent in the last 5 years or so because of LinkedIn’s growing popularity. If you’re not familiar with a backdoor reference, this is the basic premise: hiring managers will reach out to any personal contacts they have at your previous employers. IT staffing agencies find that this can be a problem particularly when you may had a bad experience working at an employer. Even if you choose not to give anybody there as a reference, backdoor references can reveal the skeletons in your closet. Backdoor references can be especially common when you’re looking for IT jobs because most people in this field are on LinkedIn. (In fact, it may say something negative about you as an IT professional if you’re not on LinkedIn or other social media!)

Can managers really be forbidden from acting as a references? Yes, but some will do so anyways. There are companies that have set policies that forbid managers from giving a reference. The severity of these policies and how strictly they’re enforced varies. Some managers feel like they have the ability do this without any real consequences, so it could be worth considering this if you’re leaving a company with such a policy. You don’t want to push too aggressively, but it may be worth asking if the manager would feel comfortable acting as a reference—you never know if they’ll say yes.

Is giving a bad reference illegal? IT recruiting companies find that some candidates assume that managers will never give them a bad reference. This is absolutely not true, so it’s important to act with this in mind. Give only references who will say positive things about you. Don’t burn any bridges. Work hard to build good working relationships with coworkers and bosses. As mentioned before, you never know if hiring managers will reach out for a backdoor reference. The point of a reference is that for employers to get a complete, honest picture of somebody as an employee. While technical recruiters find that many managers will refrain from outright trashing somebody (just out of basic human decency), they will be honest if they see red flags.

Can I just hand over my references when it’s time? This is a mistake IT staffing agencies see far too often. Contact your references and give them a heads-up you’re on the hunt for new IT jobs. Ask them if they wouldn’t mind acting as a reference for you. Let them know a bit about the kinds of roles you’re looking for. You want to treat them with courtesy, respect, and remember to thank them. Bad references can ruin your candidacy, just as good ones can strengthen it.

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References for jobs — Don’t forget to call your references before you start a job hunt. Photo credit: edar via Pixabay.