Tag Archives: IT recruiting

Unfortunately There are No Guarantees in the IT Staffing Industry

As one of the leading IT recruiting companies in the industry, we take full responsibility for the performance and reliability of our IT contractors.   However, as thorough as we are with our interview process, unfortunately there is never a guarantee in the people business.  You could ask every question, dot every “I” and cross every “T,” meet the candidate in person, check and dig into their references, conduct a thorough background check on the individual and there still is no guarantee that the person will report to work every day as promised.  The IT recruiting industry revolves around people, and unfortunately, people are one of the least reliable products out there.

Luckily, for every candidate that backs out of an job at the last minute or leaves an IT contract assignment before completion, there are a handful of hard-working, dedicated and professional IT consultants who go in and do the job to the best of their ability.

However, there are some steps that can be taken to help provide incentives for IT contractors to complete their assignments as promised.  One of the more widely used are completion bonuses in which IT staffing companies withhold anywhere from $1-5/hour of the weekly pay of their IT consultants, then pay them a “bonus” at the conclusion of the contract assignments.

For some IT consultants, just doing their job is motivation enough – especially knowing positive feedback will prompt IT recruiting firms Boston to want to work with them again in the future (subsequently driving up their future pay rate).  Ultimately, it’s up to the individual IT recruiters Boston to uncover each individual person’s motivation, then build some sort of retention program around that to ensure the client gets what they’re paying for.

Are Business Condos the Way to go for IT Staffing Companies?

If you have the savings, it’s the age-old question, is it time to rent or buy?  Although this is often a personal decision with regard to a residential property, the same should hold true on the commercial side.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to leasing vs. buying a business condo.  Renting obviously provides you with flexibility.  If you’re a small IT recruiting firm, unaware of what your future holds, you may be biting off too little, or possibly even too much, than you can chew.  Purchasing a business condo may lock you into a space that you’ll either out-grow or may never fully use.  Additionally it can be a financial handcuff that you never recover from.  Your business will have its ebbs and flows, but your mortgage will always be constant.  For some companies, the heavy financial burden can be crippling.

Here’s some advice from someone who has been there.  Just four years into the birth of my IT recruiting company, we purchased a 4,000 square foot office condo in downtown Boston, MA.  Home to the HQ of AVID Technical Resources; this space solidifies our flagship office.  While there were many unknowns when we bought the condo (our future revenue, future IT recruiting force, the commercial value in a market where business condos were scarce and in a city already pricing out many other IT staffing companies), we took the calculated risk based on a couple of certainties.  First, we saved every dollar earned and were able to put enough money down to make our mortgage manageable.  Second, based on the number of colleges in Boston, the city will always be a hotbed for start-ups and companies looking to tap into these educational resources.  These vary reasons have historically driven the commercial leasing market, making Boston one of the most expensive rentals in the country.  Subsequently, our mortgage would be no greater, and in fact possibly even less, than a typical 5-year rental.  Third, whether you purchase a house for your family or a business condo for your company, it gives you the chance to build equity instead of handing your money to a landlord.  Finally, and probably the biggest factor that drove our decision, we had confidence in our ability and in the future of our IT recruiting agency.

Even after a virtual real estate market collapse, I can sit here almost four years later and honestly say purchasing our office condo was one of the best decisions we made (for ourselves and for the future of our IT recruiting company).  In fact, as we continue to expand across the country and open up additional IT staffing locations, you can be sure we’ll be looking to purchase office space in future cities as well.

How to De-stress Your Life in Your IT Recruiting Position

As a professional in the IT recruiting industry, there is a lot of stress you may have to deal with from home and the IT staffing office. This can then affect your behavior, and more important, your health. So how can you improve your life and de-stress from your daily activities?

First you should make sure that you take necessary vacations from your technical recruiting job. Every year you should be allotted a certain amount of vacation time and should take advantage of that. This will allow you to have time for yourself and relax. Go somewhere peaceful and/or do something that you enjoy. Everyone needs a break. Everyone needs to recharge their battery.

The second step you should take is making sure you don’t bring your work home. Figure out a schedule that will keep your tasks at work and not at home. When you blur this line, it could impact your family. There’s only so much work a person can do in one week. If you are constantly doing this, take a second look at what is going on to evaluate why this is happening.

Do you have a long commute to your technical recruiting office? Most people either drive or take public transportation to get to work. There are very few people who are lucky enough to be able to just walk to their IT staffing office. You might not realize, but long commutes can take a toll on you. If you are driving, not only do you have the stress of getting to work on time, but you have to deal with traffic and any accidents or adverse weather conditions while on the road. If you add a long commute on top of that, you’re already starting your day stressed or frustrated. If the commute is too long try discussing with your boss about the possibility of telecommuting a few times a week.

On the flip side, commutes can also provide a chance for IT recruiters to unwind. For some people, in the ideal world, they would like 15-20 minutes max to decompress. Listen to your favorite music, talk show or book on tape. Do something that helps you mentally unwind so you’re not taking any frustrations from your work day home with you.

Is Technology Dumbing Down our Society?

Probably ironic that I pose this question being in the IT staffing industry and the fact that we rely upon technology as an IT recruiting company.  However, I see more and more startling examples of technology actually hurting our intelligence.  Speed and efficiency is an important driver for technological changes.  However, these advances also have repercussions.  Let’s take a look at three in particular:

Spell Check:  What would we do without it?  In the technical staffing industry, improper spelling can damage the credibility of an IT recruiter.  Credibility is everything in the technical recruiting world – otherwise how do you expect a prospective candidate to take our IT jobs seriously?  Spelling is not everyone’s strength.  If you’re one of those who have a difficult time spelling the most basic of words, then you rely heavily on spell check.  So why is spell check a problem?  It’s a problem because people rely so heavily upon this technology; they are losing their ability to spell some of our most basic words.   The result:  spell check is actually dumbing down our society.

Phone Numbers:  When you need a number, people typically scroll through their cell phones to find it.  An individual’s address book in their phone is basically their lifeline and it contains virtually every important person, or place, in their life.  However, what do you do if you lost your phone and need to reach out to someone immediately?  What do you do in case of an emergency if you can’t access the numbers in your phone?  If not for the simplicity of 911, how many emergency phone numbers, or even numbers to your closest friends and family, do you actually know off the top of your head?  I still remember home phone numbers of the childhood friends I grew up with.  However, I couldn’t come close to providing a single phone number from an immediately family member or best friend.

Text Messaging:  This is the most obvious example.  I’m amazed to find professionals in the IT recruiting industry send out emails like they’re written in text code.  The need for speed and habit of sending short, choppy text messages is the biggest culprit of dumbing down our society.  There is no room for such emails in the IT staffing industry, especially when technical recruiters are constantly trying to prove their credibility and value-add to prospective candidates.

In the end, as much as we rely upon the technologies described above, they do have some negative repercussions.  Although we obviously should not abandon these advances, IT recruiters should be aware of their faults and make sure they compensate accordingly.

Arguing in an IT Recruiting Office

As an IT recruiting professional, you have to be able to build and sustain relationships no matter what the situation is.  However, there will come a time when you and other technical recruiters in your IT staffing office will disagree, but you have to know how to handle the situation.

If and when you get into a heated conversation, make sure to remain polite and professional.  You’ll lose credibility in the office for flying off the handle or saying something disrespectful. Throughout the conversation, remember to remain on topic.  This will help your argument, as you won’t be switching constantly between topics.

Being able to argue on a professional level will show  other technical recruiters that you are able to handle disagreements fairly.  If it starts to look like others are starting to bicker too much, try to get everyone back to the main argument and move them away from the direction they were moving into.

Regardless, of what the argument is about, know when a break is a necessary for everyone to cool down.  If you don’t get the result you wanted, do not sulk.  Just make peace with the decision and move on.  You can’t always win every battle in the IT staffing industry.

What to do With Your Aging Laptops

Technology companies such as Dell, HP and Toshiba are continuously coming out with laptops with new features and faster speeds.  As an IT recruiter, you want to utilize the latest technologies but buying a new laptop every year is just not reasonable.  So how do you keep your laptop up to date and make sure that the speed on your computer isn’t lacking in comparison to others?

The cheapest option for most people is to just reinstall your operating system.  The first step that IT recruiters Boston should take before starting this process is to back up all your important documents and pictures on an external hard drive.  Once you have completed that step, make a note of all the IT recruiting programs you have installed that you still use on a piece of paper.  In addition, if any of those have license keys, be sure to copy them down as well before reinstalling your operating system.  By doing this, you will be able to get rid of all the programs and different files they have saved onto your computer which in turn will help it run more smoothly.

If that doesn’t help or you still need it to run faster to run certain IT programs that require more power, then you can always upgrade your RAM.  When doing so, make sure to you use the same brands.  If they are not compatible, your computer will reject them.   Look at it like a heart transplant in humans.

The next option is to upgrade your computer’s hard drive to a solid state drive (SSD).  It runs a faster speed and stays cooler then the hard drives that most laptops come with.  Most hard drives run at 5400 rpm with is much slower than the SSD’s.  The prices of these drives should be coming down in 2011, so if you ever wanted to upgrade your laptop with one of them, now will be your chance.

The IT recruitment industry is very competitive.  Subsequently, having a fast laptop, with additional memory can provide an edge for technical recruiters who put in additional work from home.

Pro’s and Con’s of the IT Recruiting Industry

Many people jump right into the IT staffing industry….then soon jump out.  Quite simply, it’s not for everyone.  There are many great parts about the IT recruiting job.  However, like any position, with the good also comes the bad.  Therefore, before you diving into technical recruiting, think more about the Pro’s and Con’s of the IT recruiting industry:

Pro’s:
For most IT recruiters and salespeople, IT staffing Boston is a very lucrative industry.  If the technical recruiting company specializes in placing IT contractors, then the commissions are residual for those responsible for making the job placement.  In addition, while the money is good, you’re also helping provide IT jobs for people at the same time.  There aren’t many careers where you’re actually helping people while making a healthy living at the same time.  Finally, for those who enjoy a very fast paced/sometimes hectic work day (in which you rarely have time to even look at the clock), then send your resume out to IT recruiting companies Boston.

Cons:
Over my 15 years in the IT recruitment world, I thought I have seen it all.  The reality is, I haven’t.  Because we’re in the “people business,” I never will.  Nobody ever will.  One of the most difficult parts of the IT staffing industry is quite simply the fact that we work with people.  You never know what a person will do.  For example, as an IT recruiter, you could identify a candidate, meet them, run references, ask a hundred probing questions and provide the absolute best customer service possible.  The candidate in turn tells you how much they appreciate your hard work; they accept the position, complete all of the necessary paperwork, then continually thank you over and over for providing them with this opportunity. Then the candidate never shows up for his or her first day of work.  They won’t return your call, your email.  Nothing.  No explanation.  Ever.

If you work for an IT recruiting company, you can guarantee that this unfortunately will happen to you.  There just is never a guarantee when it comes to people.

Fortunately, for every one of these situations, there are dozens of success stories.  The technical staffing industry is a very fast-paced, exciting, financially and intrinsically rewarding industry.  However, for those who might “grip the bat” too tight or can’t roll with the ups and downs, it’s certainly not for them.

Getting Past a Gatekeeper: Advice for IT staffing salespeople

Getting past the gatekeeper is one of the most key aspects in becoming a solid IT staffing salesperson. If you are unable to get past them, then your chance of making a sale of your product or service is slim. Most people that you ask about the subject will try and teach you tricks of how to do it but theres really just a couple of fundamental tips that you can use and you should be successful more often than not.

The most important thing you can do when you first reach someone in your target company is to be nice and polite. Your chances of succeeding in your mission rise exponentially when you are polite. It’s really just common sense but if someone is rude to you not only do you not want to help them out but you usually go out of your way to stop them from doing what they are trying to accomplish. Treat every gatekeeper like you were actually speaking with the CEO/Decision Maker.

Another important point to remember is that most of the time the gatekeeper’s responsibility is help their boss decide what is the best use of their valuable time. If you can convince them that you IT recruiting services can provide a value/cost savings, then you’ve just transformed the gatekeeper from a road block to an ally. Ask them questions about their companies growth strategies, how their trying to increase their value to their customers, how you can leverage your value into creating more for them. You don’t have to spend an hour on the phone with them but a quick 5-10 minute conversation can go along way and help you immensely in the long run. You can also leverage this conversation into solving another problem that some people run into: targeting the wrong person. Most gatekeepers are assistants to someone important in the company so they probably have a good understanding of what’s going on in the company. Knowing that they could probably point you in the right direction if you have some misinformation that’s leading you astray.

4G Technology & How it Will Help IT Recruiters

Mobile services companies have been updating their internet capabilities allowing any phones associated with their plans to use 4G technologies.  Although many older mobile phones may not have 4G capabilities, the new technologies may allow cell phone companies like AT&T and Verizon to offer a high speed network that will allow you to access internet at faster speeds.

So what does this mean for technical recruiters? Start preparing yourself for the change.  Anyone in the IT recruiting industry will need to start learning more about the 4G network how it works and how to make sure cellular phones are working properly with the new network.  The fast speed will allow IT recruiters Boston to browse their phones as if it were a computer.  This will allow them acess to many resume databases (like Monster, Dice and CareerBuilder) and/or company CRM’s from the palm of their hands.

There will be more opportunities in high-tech companies that develop and produce cellular phones like Samsung and HTC.  Although some of these companies have already ventured into 4G, with the mobile competition heating up and the holidays around the corner, they will be in need of more high-tech employees.

So if you are currently an IT job seeker, start researching on the 4G technology as it will give you one more skill to add to your resume that will be very useful in this technological era.

The iPad vs. Notebooks

Like most people, the iPad has certainly grabbed my attention.  I recently moved out of Boston, MA and now face a 30-minute commute to work.  Because I utilize public transportation, I have a half hour of down time each way.  This gives me an opportunity to catch up on some work, or in this case, even write a blog entry for our IT recruiting firm’s website.

Now I just need to find the right technology to maximize my time.  I started researching the iPad and various lightweight notebooks about two weeks ago.  I began reading technical reviews online and began asking some of our technical specialists and IT recruiters their feedback and exposure to each.  I explained that my first priority is finding something lightweight.  My second is speed, with third being memory.  Since I’m not a gamer, and will spending most of the time working online or utilize Microsoft Office, there aren’t many additional features that I really need as an owner of an IT staffing agency.  Having said that, this already narrowed my search considerably.

iPad

I first researched the iPad.  It doesn’t get much lighter at 1.5 lbs.  Apple has loaded the machine with almost all apps known to mankind.  Additional features include Bluetooth, WiFi, optional 3G wireless, 10 hours of battery life, typical MAC creative features that include vibrant pictures, photo frame, moving rentals and excellent gaming options.

On the flip side, the iPad does not come with Microsoft Office (although apparently there’s a software than you can download which will at least let you read MS Office docs).  Additionally, since there is no physical keyboard, just a touch screen (that is quite small), it may definitely take some getting used to.   The iPad also does not have a disc drive to download software, listen to CD’s or watch DVD’s.  However, in today’s information technology age where you can download the software, as well as music and even movies, you don’t lose all that much.

The consensus from all of the IT recruiters Boston who we polled is the iPad is amazing if you want something very small and light just to do some reading, net browsing and hold pictures/videos.  It won’t replace most of the functionality of a laptop.  Therefore if you’re looking for a notebook (for typical laptop use), this probably isn’t your best option.

Toshiba Protege R500

Next, I spoke to a number of high-tech professionals and researched all of the lightest notebooks on the market.  I narrowed my choice down to the Toshiba Protege R500.

Still light, weighing in at about 2.5 lbs, the Protege has a 12-inch display (obviously much larger than the iPad).  The battery life doesn’t last very long (5 hours) in comparison to the iPad’s, but it certainly ranks well versus many of the other laptops on the market.  The speed and memory are average, but can be upgraded if needed.

Some knocks on this desktop are the lack of a WebCam and mobile broadband antenna, as well as the fact that the machine has a tendency to heat up quite a bit (which also launching a fairly loud fan to cool the system down).

To summarize, the iPad is the lightest machine, but not having Microsoft Office or even a physical keyboard (especially for someone in the IT recruiting industry who types constantly), is a big turnoff.  Since the lightest of the notebooks is still only about a pound heavier than the iPad, but includes all of the necessary features, the decision is an easy one.  Apple will have to wait to get my business.