Tag Archives: IT staffing firms

2 Questions to Ask Candidates in Technical Interviews

Interviewing technical candidates can be challenging. You want to find a way to assess their skills without making your interview a non-stop whiteboarding session or test.  Here are two questions to ask candidates that IT recruiting companies suggest for technical interviews.  These questions help managers explore a candidate’s technical skills, personality, and experience.

What environment did you come from previously? Technical recruiters find this question can help managers get a candidate talking about a few important things.

  • Perhaps most importantly, a candidate can take this as an opportunity to talk about the technologies they’ve gotten to work with most recently.  They can use this question to help you understand the range of their technical skills (and if they’re what you need in your next hire).
  • Next, this question can lead to a discussion about the team they worked on.  Was it large? Small? Who did they report to?  Did they have anyone reporting to them? IT staffing firms find that this kind of information will help you understand how much of projects the candidate actually handled themselves, if they had to own these tasks or others checked their work and helped, if they can manage people effectively, etc.
  • Lastly, the question can give you a good gauge of the kind of corporate culture the candidate is coming from.  While technical acumen is important, the ability to fit into corporate culture is nearly as imperative. When candidates don’t mesh well with a corporate culture, IT recruiting agencies usually see that the candidate is unhappy and winds up leaving the role early or is let go.

What environment are you looking for in your next role? IT recruiting firms find that when you can get the candidate to articulate their next ideal environment, it will help you understand if they’re a good fit for your role in a more in-depth way.

  • This question will build upon the first one to help you understand not only a candidate’s strengths, but what will make the candidate happier.  And good IT staffing companies know that happier employees are always more successful in a role (and stay longer, or until the completion of a project).
  • A candidate’s answer to this question will also let you know if their needs match what you and your company can provide.  For instance, perhaps the candidate is not interested in IT jobs that report to a higher level like CIO– but your open job requires it.  You’ll be able to tell the role won’t be a good match.  Or perhaps the candidate tells you they want a more advanced tech stack in their next employer, and you can offer that.  Now you can confidently sell the job harder to the candidate.  Getting on the same page will help you make the right decision to hire, or not hire, a candidate.

 

Interview questions for technical candidates
Having a candidate articulate what they want in their next environment is immensely helpful. Photo credit: qimono via Pixabay.

 

Tips for Using Skype and Facetime in Job Interviews

Skype and Facetime interviews are becoming more and more common in the tech field.  Considering how often Skype and Facetime interviews are used instead of (or in conjunction with) phone screens, it’s amazing that the technology has only existed for about 15 years.  If you have a video chat interview coming up, here are some tips IT staffing firms would suggest.  Even if you’ve used Skype or Facetime to do job interviews before, you may still find some new info below to help you nail your future interviews.

  • Make sure your connection is good, right before your interview. Doing it the night before or even hours before won’t give you the same reassurance.  Skype a friend or your IT recruiters for a few minutes before your scheduled interview to confirm everything is working perfectly.  If you’re at home, consider asking everyone else to get off the Wi-Fi so there are no possible interruptions.  IT staffing agencies have certainly seen employers nix a candidate because of a bad skype connection.
  • Dress like you were going to a face-to-face interview. The tech field is noted for having plenty of workplaces that are very casual, but that doesn’t usually translate to the interview.  Wear a suit (or whatever your technical recruiters suggested), shower, comb your hair, etc before you interview.  It’s also very important to note here that you don’t want to assume that you can wear pajama pants or sweatpants because the camera won’t show them.  IT recruiting agencies have heard plenty of horror stories about this before.  Avoid becoming one of them yourself and dress completely appropriately.  From head to toe.
  • Take anything odd or distracting out of view of the camera. You may not think anything of it, but if you have some weird posters, desk toys, etc, it’s time  to just clear them off and put them away.  They could distract, or possibly offend the interviewer.  There’s no reason to risk ruining your interview when you can just put them back after.
  • Make sure your username is professional. If you need a new Skype account just for job interviews, you might want to consider it.  Having a silly or rude name for Skype is just as bad as having an unprofessional email address.  Make a simple, easy to remember username that is comprised of your name (and possibly your birthday, location, the year, etc if your name is very common).

 

Video chat interivews
The web cam may not see your whole outfit, but you should dress well head to toe. Photo credit: Vitamin via Pixabay.

 

2 Questions That Will Knock Your Interviewer’s Socks Off

One of the most popular questions candidates have before an interview is what questions they should be asking their interviewer.  The main rule of thumb is to make sure that all of your questions are about things you’re genuinely interested in and will help you decide if the job is a good fit for you.  Asking questions just to impress an interviewer or to try to show off an achievement, research, etc, will never look good.  In fact, it could suggest that you just don’t understand professional norms or you have terrible communication skills.  Both conclusions could certainly sink your chances of landing IT jobs.  Here are 2 questions IT recruiting firms suggest you tweak according to your own needs and ask in your next interview.

1. What makes a successful employee at that this company?   How do they succeed both within the corporate culture and in their work?  These questions show that you’re interesting in setting high standards for yourself.  It also shows that you understand success is greatly influenced by a company’s unique corporate culture.  IT recruiters find that employers really appreciate it when a candidate shows some genuine curiosity about what they value in their workplace and how team members can significantly contribute.  

2. What will be the goals in this role in the first month, the first quarter? Especially because of the fast-paced, deadline-oriented nature of tech work, IT staffing firms find that employers love to see candidates who are ready to hit the ground running.  (This is even more important in contract roles!) Asking about upcoming, short term and longer term goals will help an employer see that you’re interested in coming in and making an impact ASAP.

 

Interview questions for IT jobs
Great questions can make a big impression on your interviewer. Photo credit: bykst via Pixabay.

 

Talk About This Topic and You’ll Bomb Your Job Interview

There are plenty of ways to bomb a job interview.  Not prepping enough, not brushing up enough on the relevant technologies, or arriving late.  However, one of the most common ways technical recruiters have seen people bomb interviews this year is by discussing politics. In such a politically charged year, IT recruiters have seen a lot of candidates bomb interviews because they thought it was ok to talk about politics with their interviewers.  Here’s why you need to avoid this at all costs—and how to gracefully sidestep it.

Why can’t you discuss politics in an interview for IT jobs?  There are a few reasons.  Firstly, you never know if you’ll be offending your interviewer.  Political views can be very touchy and personal.  The last thing you want to do is offend your interviewer.  The point of the interview is to make a connection with them and help them see you as somebody who’d be an asset to their team.

The second reason IT recruiting firms suggest you don’t talk about politics in your job interview is because it suggests you don’t understand professional norms.  Staying away from politics in the office is probably one of the most agreed-upon professional norms.  When you break that in your interview, you let your interviewer assume that you probably aren’t professional in other ways, too.

The last reason IT staffing firms tell candidates not to talk about politics in job interviews is because you’re putting interviewers in an awkward spot.  Learning about a candidate’s political views can be a slippery slope into areas an interviewer can’t legally ask you about.  Most interviewers are working hard to make sure they only ask you questions about topics they’re legally allowed to discuss and evaluate you with as a candidate for their job.  So when you bring up topics that might lead into these areas, you will make the interviewer very uncomfortable–  if not make them reject you outright.

So now that you know why you can’t discuss politics in an interview, here’s one way to avoid it: come up with some other legitimate small talk topics you can reach for instead.  Talk with your interviewer about the weather, sports, movies, etc.  When you have a go-to list of small talk topics, you’re less likely to bring up topics that will hurt you, like politics!

 

job interview tips
Don’t talk about this and ruin your chances of landing the job. Photo credit: RachealMarie via Pixabay.

 

Find IT Recruiters Who Will Get You Jobs You’re Happy With

Working with IT recruiters doesn’t guarantee you a job that will be a great fit.  Sometimes bad technical recruiters will place you in a job with a work environment you hate or with a workload you can’t handle.  Here’s how to make sure you work with IT staffing firms that will help you land a role you can succeed in and enjoy.

If an IT recruiter contacts you first, really look at their messages.  Do you they speak English well and write in a professional manner?  Are they offering a job that makes sense for your skill-set?  If the messages are confusing or suggest a role that is obviously not a fit for you, you can probably reply ‘no thanks.’

If the message does interest you and seems worth considering, look up the recruiters who contact you and the IT recruiting companies they come from. If they have bad reviews, or worse yet, no online presence, you may want to skip working with them.  Legitimate IT recruiting firms have their own website and decent reviews.  They probably also have a LinkedIn page and at least some social media presence.  In terms of reviews, you can take everything with a grain of salt.  If they have only a couple of bad reviews mixed in with a lot of good ones, they’re probably worth talking to. If IT staffing agencies have a ton of bad reviews, that’s a bad sign.  Don’t be a target for an IT recruiting scam or work with an IT staffing agency that doesn’t care what you need to succeed in a role.

If your technical recruiters seem legitimate, have an open, candid conversation with them about what you want.  They should care about more than just your technical skills and experience.  If you have scheduling needs, are looking to avoid a long commute, or need a particular kind of work environment to succeed, they should care about this.  Good IT recruiters want to place you in a job that is as compatible with your life and work style as possible.  This is because happy employees are productive, successful employees.  You can’t do your best work if the corporate culture of a company is suffocating to you or you’re exhausted from a marathon commute!

 

IT job search
Your IT recruiters should put you in a job that makes you happy. Photo credit: moonpie via Pixabay.

 

Why Consider Contracting Roles?

Many IT professionals are resistant to contracting.  However, when you’re looking for new roles, IT recruiters would strongly suggest that you consider contracting roles.  Especially in the tech field, contracting can have a lot of benefits that permanent roles don’t.  Here are 3 reasons why IT staffing firms suggest you seriously consider contracting in your next role.

1. You can expand your technical skills and experience. Contracting means moving around more, but it also means getting exposed to new technologies and skills as you move.  As opposed to a permanent job that you may spend years at, contacting lets you move on to work with new software, programming languages, etc, sooner.  This translates to faster growth in your career and a resume that is more enticing to employers and IT recruiting companies.

2. You might make more money. IT staffing companies often find their contractors have a higher income when they can go on their partners’ benefits. The biggest differences between contracting and permanent roles are usually the benefits (most contracting roles don’t provide benefits).  However, this isn’t actually much of a problem for some people.  If you have a spouse or long term domestic partner, you can often get benefits through their job.  (It’s worth noting that the cost per partner may actually be cheaper this way.)  Most contracting jobs pay more money to help you buy benefits completely on your own (often expensive).  You’ll be making more money, but spending less of it on healthcare, dental etc.  Thus you’ll find yourself with a fatter paycheck.

3. You can get hired faster. IT recruiting firms find that the hiring process for contractors is often less time-consuming and stringent.  If you need to move on from your current role quickly, contracting is a better way to do this.  Perhaps you need to move to a new area of the country, your current role is at a toxic workplace, or you need to make more money soon.  Being open to contracting will help you land IT jobs much faster to solve these problems.

 

Contracting for IT jobs
Contracting can have big benefits for IT professionals. Photo credit: qimono via Pixabay.

 

 

This Will Land You Help Desk Jobs in 2017

Help Desk jobs are slated to be one of the most common jobs that IT recruiters will be filling this year.  IT staffing firms will get a lot of Help Desk roles to fill for two reasons.  Firstly, there’s plenty of turnover in the field (often because of people moving up into new phases of their career).  Secondly, every company these days needs Tech Support.   (This will be especially true this year as the economy continues to recover from the  past recession and companies grow larger.)  With IT recruiting companies expecting to have so many Help Desk job openings this year, this makes people with the right skills and experience in demand.  However, this is still a competitive market.  IT recruiters find that if any section of the tech field is competitive for job seekers, it’s Help Desk.  Here’s the best way to make sure you’re ready to land the Help Desk job you want this year: Get your CompTIA A+ certification.  While some say the certification isn’t worth it, here are 3 reasons technical recruiters would strongly suggest you get.

1. Employers trust this certification.  IT staffing agencies find that employers will always choose to interview or hire the candidate with the CompTIA A+ certification over the ones who don’t.  This certification is comprehensive (covering important topics like installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security and troubleshooting), vetted, and has been around long enough that it’s recognized and respected by pretty much all employers.  It’s also internationally accepted, which says something about how well-regarded it is.

2. You differentiate yourself in a competitive field.  Since the Help Desk market for job seekers is largely entry level, there are more people who claim to have the skills and experience necessary for these jobs than something higher level (like Data Scientist jobs). If you get this certification, you definitely set yourself apart in a section of the tech job market that it’s hard to stand out in.  Though the certification may be getting more common on resumes, it still provides a strong competitive edge.  Employers will always prefer to have the candidate who comes having already learned the skills they need, rather than one that who might have to learn them on the job.    This can be especially imperative in a role like Help Desk, where end users expect speedy, competent service.  Having a CompTIA A+ certification guarantees employers you already have a good base of skills.

3. You’ll get paid more.  When you do land jobs, employers always pay more for CompTIA A+ certified candidates.  While it costs money to get the certification, it’s well worth it in the gains you’ll make your salary immediately and in the future.  Even if you’re not searching for a new job, your current employer will likely give you a raise if you get this certification.  They may even help you pay for the process of obtaining it!

 

helpdesk jobs
Getting the CompTIA A+ certification will make you a more desirable Help Desk candidate. Photo credit: StartUpStockPhotos via Pixabay.

 

2 Ways Being Over-Prepared Ruins Your Job Interviews

Here’s one surprising mistake IT staffing companies see too often in job interviews: over-preparing.  While it’s certainly important not to underprepare for you job interview, IT recruiting firms definitely see some candidates rejected for the opposite reason.  Here are 2 ways being over-prepared can hurt your chances of landing IT jobs.

1. The interviewer doesn’t feel like they’re having a genuine conversation with you.  IT staffing firms want you to practice some of your answers or questions, but only to the point where you are familiar with them.  Employers really want to see who you are when they interview you—your personality as well as your technical skills and experience.  When you’re so over-prepared it sounds like you’re delivering a monologue, you’ll probably turn off your interviewer.  Making a good connection with your interviewer and showing off great communication skills goes a long way in the tech field these days.

2. You don’t answer the interviewer’s questions or provide the info they want.  Sometimes being over-prepared can make you come across as inflexible or unresponsive to your interviewer.  Technical recruiters find that being over-prepared can lead you to inadvertently neglect to provide all the information the interviewer wants.  You don’t want to be so busy making the points you practiced that you can’t answer an interviewer’s questions or respond warmly and genuinely to their small talk.  IT recruiting companies suggest you make a conscious effort to let the interviewer lead the interview.  Do this even if it means you may wind up leaving some of the material you prepared or studied by the wayside.   Don’t worry, you can always mention it your thank you note!

 

IT job interview mistakes
Delivering monologues won’t impress your interviewers. Photo credit: Concord90 via Pixabay.

 

Polish Your Resume to Land Remote IT Jobs in the New Year

If you plan on working with IT recruiting firms next year to search for new IT jobs, you’re probably already polishing your resume.  If you want your technical recruiters to be able to submit you to remote jobs, there are a few things you should add to your resume.

1. Prove that you are self-motivated and have taken initiative before.  IT recruiters see plenty of resumes that list the skills employers want remote workers to have.  However, that’s not what will land the job.  What IT recruiting agencies find really works is to demonstrate you have these important skills.  Were you able to complete elements of a project on your own, with no supervision?  Did you debug code without being asked?  Concrete instances of things you’ve done that make you a great remote employee (or things that show you will be a great remote employee) make it easier for employers to picture you doing the same things as a part of their team.

2. Give links to your best work and relevant web presence.  IT staffing companies find that having a great web presence and excellent work product to show off is especially imperative when you’re applying to remote jobs.  Do you have a digital portfolio?  Do you have a LinkedIn profile?  A website?  Make sure it’s easy for employers and IT staffing agencies to see all of them by adding links into your resume.  Part of landing remote jobs is making it easy for employers and IT recruiting companies to see how you’d be a great fit for their role.  Listing relevant links is one way to do that.

3. If you’ve worked remotely before, articulate how you still adhere to workplace standards and keep in communication with your team or managers.  Again, giving concrete examples of your ability to be a great remote worker will go a long way in helping employers picture you in their open IT jobs.  For instance, if you’re a developer, have you still participated in stand-up meetings via conference call?   Do you use an internal messaging service?  Helping employers and IT staffing firms see that you’ve thought about how to still be an effective member of a team, even when remote, will help you land the jobs you want.

 

IT jobs remote
Want to land remote IT jobs? You have to demonstrate that you have the skills. Photo credit: Life-of-Pix via Pixabay.

 

 

Why You Should Make Job Offers Faster

If you’re working with IT recruiting firms to fill open jobs on your team, you know it’s hard to find great talent.  The tech field has really been a job seeker’s market for a while now.  Recent unemployment rates for IT professionals illustrate this well.  As of last April, the unemployment rate in IT went as low as 2%.  This is less than half the national unemployment rate for all other fields combined (around 4.9%).  One thing IT staffing firms suggest to increase your chance of landing great tech talent is to make your job offers faster.

Why would making a job offer quicker help you hire more and better IT professionals?  There are two main reasons. Firstly, making a quicker job offer, especially one in the first 24-48 hours since an interview, makes a candidate feel really valued.  Especially in this field, IT recruiting agencies find that candidates are expecting quicker responses from potential employers.  To ensure the candidate feels desired, you need to extend job offers faster than in other industries.  The more interest a candidate perceives from an employer, the more likely they are to take your offer.  IT staffing companies see that candidates often respond well to job offers where they feel like the employer is excited about their skills and experience.  Never underestimate the power of making a candidate feel valued.

The second reason IT recruiting firms suggest you make your job offers faster is to make sure you don’t miss out on your second or third choice candidates.  If your first choice candidate declines, making a slower job offer to them means you’ll make an even slower offer to your second or third choice candidates.  As mentioned above, it’s definitely more of a job seeker’s market.  Technical recruiters usually find that their candidates are often high in demand and receive more job offers than candidates do in other fields.  So losing out on your first choice candidate after a slow job offer could also mean losing out on your second and third choice candidates!

 

IT jobs hiring
Faster job offers will help you land the tech talent you need. Photo credit: tookapic via Pixabay.