Tag Archives: IT staffing company

Reel in the IT Recruiters—Choosing Your Resume Title

When publicly posting your resume on IT job boards such as CareerBuilder, LinkedIn, and Monster, you are allowing IT staffing agencies to approach you with open positions.  But how do you specify which jobs are a fit for you?  Are technical recruiters mind readers when it comes to dubbing resumes?  Here are some tips for choosing your resume title to narrow down your career options:

Include Qualifications and Details

Placing your title just as your name is taking a stab in the dark.  How will IT staffing firms know who they are dealing with? Research the title of the IT job you are seeking.  If you have experience in this area, do not be afraid to include it in the title.  This could help maintain your game as IT recruiters Boston filter candidates.  You might think it is clever to create your own IT job title, but IT recruiters could overlook your resume.  Keep it professional and the more specific you are the better an IT staffing company can assist you.

Abbreviate—Don’t waste space!

Sites such as Monster have a limit on the number of characters when choosing your resume title.  Abbreviations allow candidates to catch the eye of technical recruiters by not leaving out key criteria.  While abbreviations are helpful, do not go overboard and try to jam all your skills in your title.  Too much abbreviation can hinder your chances of being selected by an IT staffing firm as it can cause confusion, stick with the basics.

Tailor Your Title

Just as you fit your resume to IT jobs, tailor your title to the prospective position.  Monster allows its users to have more than one resume on file.  The flexibility expands your choices as some job markets are severely limited.  If you are open to more than one position, keep different resumes named and geared for each.

Remember when you post your resume on public job boards it is not all about having the technical recruiter come to you.  Be aggressive and make the first move by reaching out to IT recruiting agencies.  Your resume will now be on file, potentially build a relationship, and score some career advice!    

How To Find The IT Recruiting Job That is Right For You

There are so numerous IT recruiting  jobs out there.  The problem for many IT recruiters is that they may not know they’re value or level of experience in comparison to other technical recruiters.  Therefore, here are a few ways to navigate the IT recruitment industry and find the right job for you.

Try taking on new projects within your current IT staffing company. This will allow you to venture into other parts of the recruiting industry without having to switch careers.  During these projects you may meet new people within the company and learn about the kinds of tasks they do in their technical recruiting job.

Read blogs that pertain to the IT recruitment industry.  Many IT recruiting companies have blogs that are saturated with industry information and technical chatter.  Learn about other recruiting professionals and what they are doing for a living.  You can research the companies they work for and the opportunities they have access to.  This will allow you to see what IT recruiters MA are up to and what you can potentially do in the future.

If there is something you think might interest you, try presenting a project to your boss that will allow you to try out them out.  Trying out new roles will help you decide whether it is the right thing for you.

Also contact one of the many IT staffing firms local to you.  Build a relationship with a handful of headunters (based on their credibility, responsiveness and other factors that separate them from the thousands of recruiters out there).  Research local IT recruiting agencies.  Find which specialize in information technology, then read the reviews about each company.  Narrow your search to the best of the best as this is your career you’re putting in their hands.

In the end, the more you try out and explore other roles or companies, the more you’ll be able to identify what it is you want to do within the information technology recruiting industry…..and what company you want to work for.  Activity is king, sitting back and doing nothing will get you nowhere.

Checklist of Preparation Tips before an IT job interview

Job seekers put in countless hours applying for IT jobs and contacting IT recruiters.  High activity typically translates into multiple interviews.  The focus then becomes the face to face meeting with the client company.

First, take a close read through our Interview Tips.  Always remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.  Therefore, do everything you can to put your best foot forward the minute you walk through that client’s door or the lobby of the IT staffing company representing you.

Do the research.  When you interview for a company, have a background of what they do.  Find their competitors in their industry.  Show the interviewers that you are familiar with their company – this will let him/her know that you at least have some level of initiative…and interest in working for the company.

Think about why you want to apply for this position.  Some hiring managers will even ask why this position interests you.  Even if you are not completely interested in the position, make sure you have a response ready for this question.

Know your strengths and weaknesses.  Cliché question, but it’s one of the interview questions often asked by IT recruiters Boston and client companies alike.  Take your skills and experiences and show the technical recruiters or hiring managers why you are interested in the IT job and why you want to work there.

Most importantly, ask the hiring manager questions.  Questions can range from topics surrounding the IT job description to the company culture.  Having questions prepared will once again show the interviewers that you have a strong interest in the IT job opportunity as well as the company.

So do your homework and prepare before every interview. This will ensure you’re putting your best foot forward and will help separate yourself from other IT job seekers applying for the job.

What Salary Should You Ask For As An IT Recruiter

The big question that many prospective IT recruiters are faced with after their final interview with an IT staffing company is what salary should they demand.  Since the key to most IT recruiting companies is their commission plans, the appropriate salaries can vary.  Therefore, technical recruiters must take a number of factors into consideration:

  • Commission Plan:  This is the most critical piece of any compensation plan.   IT recruiters Boston who are confident in their work ethic and ability will want an aggressive commission plan.  This in turn, would translate into a lower salary (as ideal as it would be, you can’t have both).  If you’re an aggressive technical recruiter, then you’ll want an aggressive plan.  If you value work/life/balance, then find an IT recruiting firm who is heavier on the front end (salary).
  • Additional bonuses and/or stock:  Does the IT recruiting agency provide any additional bonuses or incentives?  Annual bonus?  Stock sharing plan?  Additional vacation time?  These are all things that IT recruiters need to know before deciding on a fair and equitable salary.
  • Insurance plan & other company contributions:  In today’s age, health insurance rates are through the roof.  Therefore, take a look at what out-of-pocket expenses you might incur with your plan.  What percentages of your health insurance will the IT staffing firm pay?  Would the money be withheld pre or post-tax?  Is there a 401k match?  A disability or life insurance plan?  All these factors will have an effect your salary requirements.
  • Vacation policy:  Holidays are scarce in the IT recruiting industry as technical staffing firms must be open if there is a chance any of their IT consultants are working.  Therefore, knowing you may only receive 5-6 holidays, dig into your vacation time.  IT recruiters Boston work hard; therefore it’s critical to have some time off to rest and recharge the battery.
  • Volume of requirements:  Outside of compensation, this is the most critical factor to success for technical recruiters.  Simply put, does the IT recruiter have enough qualified job orders to make money?  Dig into req volume; fill ratios and other metrics that will help you gauge the realistic opportunity for you to fill positions.
  • Company growth & opportunity:  Unless your career aspiration is to be a life-long technical recruiter, you’re going to want to know about the potential to move upwards within the IT recruiting firm.  Is there an opportunity to run the IT staffing branch?  A regional role?  Training other IT recruiters Boston?  Dig into the potentials, and then ask for real-life examples of people who have been promoted into these roles.
  • Personal experience:  Of course your own personal experience and past IT recruiting production numbers are a huge component that will help drive your salary requirements.  Your past annual revenue numbers can drive your market value up or down based on productivity.
  • Personal bills & expenses:  Figure out the amount of money you will need to live comfortably.  This should be your bottom line in terms of salary.  Next calculate how much you would ideally like the IT staffing agency to pay you.  Make sure that is not unrealistic and competitive.  You may not be sure what you are worth or what salary the hiring managers are willing to pay.
  • Competitor Comps:  If you can find salaries and hourly rates of the job you are interested in, you can compare them with other IT recruiting companies Boston.  This will allow you to find an average salary range for the IT recruiting position based on the current economic climate.

Where can you listen to your favorite tunes?

Where can you listen to your favorite tunes?

Being connected to the internet is as much of a necessity for IT recruiters as it is to movie stars.  Music is something we always wanted to keep on us, but we can’t always carry around our iPod with us or listen to it through our headphones.  So how can we keep on listening to the tunes we love?

A great option is streaming the music from the internet.  There are many services now that will play the music you love.  Some of these websites are Pandora, Last.fm, Grooveshark, and YouTube.  These websites either play the same genres or specific songs that you choose.

Pandora allows you to choose a genre, artist, or song that you enjoy and then from there it will select things that are similar to what you chose.  In addition you can pick which ones you like and don’t like.  The ones that you don’t like will be kept in your account and won’t be played again.  They also have an application for most smart phones, so if you enjoy it, then you won’t have to listen to the radio on your commute to work or on your way home.

Grooveshark on the other hand allows you to pick all the songs you like.  Then you can create playlists just like you do on your iPod’s.  They have a huge variety of music and it also allows you to download the application for your cellular phone.  This option though requires you to get the paid version of Grooveshark.

There are quite a few options out there for you to enjoy your music while at work or on the road.  So check out some of these sites and see which one fits your lifestyle.

Music sooths the soul and helps people relax or even energized.  In our IT staffing company understands this and subsequently let’s all technical recruiters listen to music softly as they go about searching for high-tech candidates.

Make Yourself Available for IT Recruiters

When you are a job seeker working with IT recruiters, you need to be easily accessible.  When an AVID Technical Resources’ Account Manager identifies a new IT job opportunity, our IT recruiting team immediately begins looking for prospective candidates.  At AVID Technical Resources we try to submit candidates within the first few days the IT job position becomes available.  The IT Staffing Industry is fast-paced, therefore in order to beat out the other IT recruiting companies, we need to respond to our clients as quickly as possible.

If you miss a call or email, you might be missing out on your dream IT job.  If you don’t have a PDA (Blackberry, iPhone), it might be worth the investment.   In today’s age, whether good or bad, people must be accessible and able to respond immediately to emails.  Another reality is that clients typically needed candidates “yesterday.”  Therefore, the IT recruiters will go with the first candidate or candidates that respond to them.

So when one of our IT recruiters contacts you about a new IT job position, give them a call or return their email as soon as you can.  You never know what new opportunity is waiting for you.

Privacy

In the IT Recruitment Industry, there are stipulations when it comes to teaming up with a well known IT staffing company.  Depending on the type of position, and situation, most clients expect IT staffing firms to maintain some level of confidentiality when it comes to filling one of their IT jobs. There are a number of reasons for this, there might be someone currently in the role that is being replaced (due to performance, attitude, etc) or the client might simply not want people to know they are actively hiring.

On the other side of the hiring process are the candidates.  Many IT recruiting companies keep the name of their end client confidential to prospective candidates.  The reason IT staffing firms do this is to eliminate the risk of a candidate just submitting him or herself directly immediately after they get off the phone with the IT recruiter.  Although most people who never do this (ultimately it would likely just hurt their chance of landing the opportunity), IT staffing companies protect themselves just in case.

Not many job seekers go straight to IT staffing agencies and a good portion of them may not even know these companies are even out there.  Therefore, the IT staffing industry as a whole needs to collectively educate job seekers to reinforce the facet that IT recruiting agencies are seen as a viable means to land their next IT job.

How to write a thank you note after an IT job interview

You have just interviewed for that perfect IT job.  Now what do you do? Send a thank you note.  Typically, you should send a thank you note to every person you meet with.  It not only thanks the interviewer(s) for their time, it also reinforces your interest in the position.  If you interviewed through a technical recruiting company, then send the thank you note to your IT recruiter.

Here are some tips that our IT staffing company offers for writing Thank You notes:

  1. Like it or not, email is the standard form of communication these days.  It not only is efficient, it pretty much guarantees delivery (with proof of delivery).  However, a personal note shows that you go above and beyond, so don’t shy away from writing a note.  Check your handwriting.  If you have illegible handwriting, make sure you type the note so that the interviewer will be able to read what you have to say.
  2. Spell Check.  Spelling or grammatical errors will damage your credibility.  Also make sure you spell each recipient’s name correctly!
  3. Take notes during the interview. Reference some of the topics/items that you discussed in the IT job interview.
  4. Reiterate your experience.  Remind the interviewer why you are a good fit for the IT job.
  5. Send the thank you note the same day – no exceptions!

Mobile Recruiting – New Opportunity or A Passing Fad?

In this day in age, everyone has a cellular phone, from your 7 year old brother to your 90-year-old grandmother.  Not everyone is using applications on their phones, but most are.  IT recruiters, like almost everyone else in this world, are glued to their phones and never leave home without them.  So why wouldn’t IT recruiters pursue candidates through cellular phones.

From the perspective of this IT staffing company, most candidates will not always be on a computer especially since everything they need is now available on their phone.  So IT recruiting companies should start looking into new possibilities to market themselves in options such as mobile applications.  More and more companies in various industries are considering this option.  If we’re recruiting in the IT industry, then we should dabble in a few more options in the IT world.

Why use an IT staffing Agency?

Fortune 500 companies know that when they post that IT job they will get thousands of responses.  This is  not only because people need a job, but also because so many want to work at their company.  An IT staffing company knows that and keeps the company’s name off the job post to avoid all those applicants who just apply for the company’s name.

Taking an action like this not only speeds up the process, but also eliminates candidates who were not qualified for the position.  The IT recruiter then reviews the applicant’s resume to make sure their qualifications meet your requirements as well as do a short phone screen.  After the IT recruiters have gone through all those steps, they elect the absolute best candidate(s) and send only the most qualified candidates to the hiring manager.

An IT recruiter will work with you to make sure that all your needs are met and you find as many candidates that will fit those needs!