Tag Archives: IT staffing firms

Are You Using This Bad IT Job Interview Advice?

Recently, technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies have come across candidates who are acting on some terrible job interview advice.  Some IT professionals have heard that it will really impress their interviewer if they ask them if they have any concerns about them as a potential hire.  IT recruiters and IT staffing firms would strongly urge that you never, ever ask this question when on interviews for IT jobs.  Here are 2 reasons why this is a terrible question to ask.

Firstly, asking this question might suggest that you aren’t confident in your own candidacy.  Your IT recruiting agencies and IT staffing companies are advocating hard for you.  You need to supplement this effort by coming across as confident in your abilities and experience.  When you’re in IT, confidence is especially key.  Nobody wants to hire somebody who does a sub-par job working on important internal systems, websites, or provides poor tech support.  Giving the impression of low confidence will make it easy for your interviewer to question your competence as an IT professional.

Secondly, asking this question may actually highlight any weaknesses your interviewer hadn’t really noticed before.  Again, your IT recruiting firms are working hard to highlight why you’ll be a great candidate for the IT job.  You should do the same for yourself.  Don’t bring any extra attention to your potential (or perceived) flaws.

IT job interviews advice
Don’t ask your interviewer if they see any reasons not to hire you.

 

How to Talk About Weaknesses in IT Job Interviews

Lots of IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies come across IT professionals who aren’t sure how to answer this tough interview question: What is/are your weakness(es)?  Worse, some technical recruiters and IT recruiting agencies work with candidates who think they know how to answer this question, but do it poorly.  Here’s how to talk about weaknesses so you impress your interviewer and get some positive feedback for your IT staffing firms and IT recruiting companies.

  1. Don’t give a fake weakness. Give one that is real.  If you say something like ‘perfectionism’ it will make it harder for the interviewer to feel like you’re being honest and genuine with them.
  2. Give a weakness that isn’t prohibitive to doing the IT jobs you’re interviewing for. If you’re interviewing for a Software Developer job, you wouldn’t want to say you’re not very attentive to detail.
  3. Lastly, make sure your weakness is something you can actually improve upon. It’s best if you can give a brief summary of how you are currently working on this weakness, too.  This will ensure that your IT staffing companies and IT recruiting firms get some great feedback after your interview!
IT job interviews weakness
Don’t give fake weaknesses, like ‘perfectionism.’ They guarantee that your IT recruiters will get bad feedback after your interview.

Do This to Wow Your IT Job Interviewer

Most IT professionals are looking to differentiate themselves in interviews for IT jobs.  Your IT recruiters and IT staffing companies will certainly advocate for you, but you also will want to really stand out in your interview.  Here is one way that you can really impress your interviewer (and by extension your technical recruiters and IT recruiting firms).

Before you interview, get a good, thorough idea of what the job will entail from your IT staffing agencies and IT recruiting companies.  Then think through any potential challenges you’ll face if you get the IT job.  Make a list for yourself, and then work on some basic strategies you’d apply to these challenges.  If you’ve faced similar challenges, think about what strategies did work in these instances.  Now practice going through these.  When you go to the interview, you can use these challenges and solutions if the interviewer seems open to hearing them.  If your examples are good, your IT recruiting agencies and IT staffing firms will likely hear some great feedback about you!

IT job interveiws
Make a list of challenges you anticipate the IT jobs you’re interviewing for. Then try coming up with potential solutions.

Don’t Quit Your IT Job Yet!

When your IT job is unpleasant or stressful, it can be tempting to simply quit and focus solely on finding new IT  jobs with your IT staffing companies and IT recruiters.  Technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies will tell you that this isn’t a good idea, though.  Here’s why you need to tough it out in your current job until your IT recruiting companies and IT staffing firms find you a new job.

  1. If you work as an IT contractor, your resume is already probably full of shorter stints at a lot of companies. This isn’t a problem on its own.  However, if you quit a job without having another to move into, these things combined can create a red flag.  Hiring managers want to be able to trust that you’re reliable and resilient, even if you’re faced with a tough project, team, end-user, etc.
  2. Quitting a job without having another lined up will make it easier for hiring managers to assume you were fired or about to be fired. While your IT recruiting firms can try to explain these things, it’s better to have nothing for your IT recruiting agencies to explain for you. Do your best to keep your resume as pristine as possible, because you never know what other candidates you might be up against.
IT job search
Don’t quit before lining up a new job. It could really hurt your IT career.

Using The Right Tone in IT Job Interviews

When you’re searching for IT jobs, job interviews can be intimidating.  Some candidates deal with nervousness by practicing with friends, family, and their IT recruiters and IT staffing firms.  Especially for IT interviews (in which technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies may need you to brush up on particular technologies) practicing, doing your research, and studying are all important for success.  However, there’s a line you don’t want to cross.

Though it’s not common, sometimes IT staffing companies and IT recruiting agencies will be told by an interviewer what a candidate sounded too rehearsed.  This problem is very easy to avoid.  Go ahead and practice with your IT recruiting companies.  Study and role play with your friends and family.  Try to stop short of memorizing answers word for word to particular questions.  You want to keep the feeling of conversation in the interview.

Why is this important? Firstly, the interviewer needs to feel like they’re having a genuine conversation with you so they can see if you are truly a good fit for the job.  Secondly, if you’re interviewing for a role that interacts with customers or end-users, then this is particularly important.  The interviewer needs to be able to see you have an easy, professional rapport with somebody.  Keep these things in mind and you’ll do well in your next IT job interviews.

IT recruiters IT job search
Your interviewer needs to feel like you’re having an easy, professional conversation.

 

How to Resign Your IT Job Gracefully

 

After a long search for new IT jobs with your IT recruiters and IT staffing firms, you’ll have one more task: resigning from your current job.  Sometimes technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies hear about people handing this poorly.  Here are some tips to make your resignation graceful so you don’t burn any bridges.

  1. Tell your manager in person if you can. If not, tell them over the phone.  IT recruiting companies often hear about how people feel intimidated about actually resigning with their bosses.  While it might seem scary, the best way to handle this is to directly tell your manager.  Do not hide behind email, no matter how tempting it is.  It probably won’t be bad at all, anyways.
  2. If your manager asks for it, write a short letter of resignation. This letter can be a single sentence.  IT staffing companies and IT recruiting agencies would advise you to keep any grievances out of it.  Don’t give any feedback or list the reasons why you’re leaving.  Simply state that you’re resigning and when your last day is.
  3. Now back to that feedback: Should you share it? Only if you can do so constructively and you have somebody you think will be ready to hear it.  If you think your manager or HR won’t be interested or take it well, it’s best to just hold back.  Vent to your family or friends, maybe even your IT staffing agencies. It’s better to leave with positive relations at your job, even if you never want to work there again.
IT Letter of Resignation IT Jobs
Your manager may request a letter of resignation before you leave your IT job.

How to Call in Sick When You’re an IT Contractor

As the cold and flu season begins, more and more IT professionals will be calling their bosses to take a sick day.  Plenty of IT recruiters and IT staffing firms have experience with IT candidates abusing their sick days.  While it depends on the workplace culture, technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies want their candidates to operate via these rules of thumb:

  1. Make sure to notify the correct people that you’ll be out sick.  Your IT recruiting companies and IT staffing firms will probably tell you this before you start the job.  Sometimes you need to communicate with your IT recruiting agencies about sick days and sometimes the procedure requires you to tell a supervisor at the company you’re working at.  Make sure you know ahead of time so you aren’t caught unawares on a day when you are indeed too sick to come into work.
  2. If you’re required to tell your boss that you’ll be out, be honest, but don’t overshare.  If you have a personal matter you must be out to take care of, don’t lie.  Be honest with your manager without giving too much information. The aim is to be open with them, but not to make either of you uncomfortable.
  3. For a list of amusing examples of reasons you should not give your manager, check out the results from this survey.

 

 

2 Reasons You Didn’t Get Called For That IT Job Interview

Sometimes during the search for IT jobs, it can be surprising when your IT recruiters and IT staffing companies say you weren’t called in for an interview.  You and your technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies may have thought you were a perfect fit.  Here are two things that could have gone wrong:

  1. Your resume didn’t show you were a good fit quickly enough.  While your IT recruiting firms will usually help you update your resume, some of this is your responsibility, too.  The resumes that IT staffing firms find most successful are the ones that have a strong professional summary and list of technical proficiencies.  Time is of the essence for busy interviewers and hiring managers.  If you can get these two top sections polished and tailored to the role, you make it more likely a busy hiring manager asks your IT recruiting agencies to get you in for an interview.
  2. You list duties, not achievements for your jobs.  Again, while your IT recruiting companies will help you edit your resume a bit, some of this is your responsibility—especially since you are the expert on your own career.  When you are writing your resume, make sure you make it easy for hiring managers to see how you’ve been impactful at your previous jobs.  Don’t just list what you did, list the impact of what you did.  Giving them a picture of your achievements will make it easier for them to picture you achieving more at their company!

 

Think About This Before Your Next IT Job Search!

When you’re searching for new IT jobs, there are decisions you need to make.  There are plenty of things your technical recruiters and IT staffing companies will want to know: what kind of IT jobs do you prefer?  Do you like client/end-user interaction? What kind of corporate culture do you do best in?  But something your IT recruiters and IT staffing firms may not ask you about (but is still very important) is what kind of boss you think you can succeed with.

This might seem like a pretty straightforward question, but the more thought you put into it, the more likely you can make sure your IT recruiting companies and IT staffing agencies place you in a job you can be happy in.  Start by thinking about your previous bosses.  What qualities were great for your work style and what qualities weren’t?  What qualities made you happy or unhappy?  Make a list and share it with your IT recruiting agencies.  During interviews, ask the kinds of questions that can (without putting your interviewer on the defensive) help you see if your potential boss has these qualities.  While it’s not the most important part of a job, a boss will make a big impact on how much you enjoy it.

 

2 Easy IT Job Interview Mistakes to Avoid

There are a lot of mistakes you can make as you interview for IT jobs.  Most are hard to avoid, even if you have the support of IT recruiters and IT staffing companies.  Maybe you’ve spent a lot of time prepping both with your technical recruiters and IT recruiting agencies and on your own, but you forget some crucial info.  Maybe you wind up being late, despite extensive preparation and leaving early.  There are just some mistakes that are hard to avoid.  However, here are two mistakes you can very easily avoid (and make it more likely your interviewer gives you IT recruiting firms some good feedback).

  1. Leave any anger, bitterness, or sadness at the door.  Even if your previous boss was terrible to you, you can’t bring your feelings about that into your interview.  Interviewers will be overwhelmed and uncomfortable if you bring any emotion into the interview besides some moderate enthusiasm.  Keep things light and your IT staffing firms are more likely to hear good things about you.
  2. Don’t overemphasize it if you’re looking for work-life balance.  You may have been overworked in your previous jobs, but this is a topic for your IT recruiting companies and IT staffing agencies.  If work-life balance is important to you, there are subtle questions you can ask that will reveal whether a position offers it.  Check out this blog post on the topic.