Tag Archives: IT staffing industry

Trying too Hard in the IT Staffing Industry

IT recruiters must have amicable personalities when working with different clients and candidates.  Adapting to meet one’s needs and personality is necessary when conducting business, but it is important to remain professional while respecting oneself.  Here are some tips to stay friendly without trying too hard.

Overly Flexible

Whether you are new to IT recruiting companies or a veteran, it is important to refrain from being the doormat.  It may be hard to say no in fear you will be disliked, but always take care of yourself before you help others.  Those who choose to take on more work than they can handle are the ones who cannot say no and feel their time is not as valuable as their peers’.  Set boundaries and limits early on as it may be difficult to set matters straight while progressing within IT recruiting agencies.

Too Personal

Nothing is more uncomfortable than overbearing technical recruiters who want every intimate detail of your life.  Being friendly is encouraged, but try to maintain a business oriented relationship.  Clients might not be willing to share a relationship beyond business and a technical recruiter should abide by their wishes.

Talking too much and always butting into others’ private matters is a severe offense.  Rather than prying for details, let the other party open to an IT recruiter before trying to start a conversation about their weekend or significant other.  Likewise, limit yourself from spilling all the details of your personal life to your candidate.  It might make you seem like an inviting person, but could also creep out the client and come off as a braggart.

Too Pushy

When a contractor is uneasy about a commitment, pushing them will only make them feel more uncomfortable.  IT headhunters will then become upset if the contractor backs out of his contract.  Rather than persuading the candidate to make an ill fated choice, allow him to time to think it over and make decisions with his best wishes while providing support if he has questions or concerns.

Jeopardizing the technical recruiting company and your reputation to close one deal is not worth the risks.  Keep working conditions comfortable by staying consistent and professional.  The contractor may refer you to others, providing you the opportunity build your network.

Strong Work Ethic at IT Jobs

Technical recruiters must engage in strong work ethic in order to be successful.  While there are a number of values honored at IT recruiting firms, there are some that are of higher ranks.  Honesty and commitment are a given and listed below are crucial criteria in the IT staffing industry.

Professionalism

IT recruiters present themselves professionally which includes being respectful to all levels of employees and maintaining a positive, upbeat attitude.  They typically arrive early and prepare for meetings with appropriate dress and organized material.  No matter how comfortable or disengaged a recruiter feels, he will speak and conduct business enthusiastically and in an appropriate manner. Recruiters address all questions and concerns of their clients and provide timely feedback so there are no surprises or unanticipated disappointments.

Responsible

Technical recruiting agencies expect employees to be responsible and confident for their actions and work.  Recruiters are self-motivated, flexible, and open minded as new projects are constantly arising.  They must maintain contact with their clients and stay committed through projects and assignments.  When faced with challenges, IT staffing representatives are encouraged to be creative and think outside the box.

A recruiter will own up to his mistakes and actively seek solutions.  He will openly accept criticism and ways to improve his technique.  If the IT recruiter completes his tasks, he will reach out to his manager before work needs to be assigned.

Team Oriented

Though technical recruiting firms seem to be self-driven, it is team goals that help the corporation succeed.  Recruiters who meet their goals and focus on improving the company are more valuable than a recruiter who consistently thrives and soars above his peers.  While the star technical recruiter will receive his glory, it is those who make an overall difference within the company that will truly stand out.

 

Mirroring the Hiring Manager in the IT Staffing Industry

An IT headhunter enters an interview and prepares to do the skill he has learned in a number of classes, articles, and books…mirroring the hiring manager.  The manager enters the room running behind schedule and forgets to extend a handshake.  He immediately begins complaining about traffic, weather, and whatever is on his mind.  The manager stretches back in his chair and exerts a boisterous yawn before he gets down to business (and checks his phone).  The technical recruiter panics, he was not prepared for this.

Staying Professional and Positive

While this example may be over the top, candidates and IT recruiters should focus on making the best first impression.  Rather than fall into the trap of negativity, you can state your own opinion if you do or do not agree, but always follow up with a positive response.  If the hiring manager forgets to extend a handshake, take initiative and impress him by offering your hand first.  No matter how laid back a manager may seem, maintain professionalism, as this may be a test of your censors and limits.

Be Honest

You do not need to agree with everything the hiring manager says.  You should also never exaggerate your skills for the IT job.  Conflict and lies are the last things IT staffing firms want during an interview or business meeting.  But expressing your honest opinion can open the floor for discussion and conversation.  You will display your true personality and management may admire your confidence.

Look for Connections

Here is where it’s completely acceptable to mirror from the manager.  When you research the interviewer or employer, you have the opportunity to view their interests.  Look for any connections on sites such as LinkedIn.  Use these connections to your advantage.  Do not be afraid to mention them in your meeting, because it will show you did your homework.

Be Responsive

Post meetings, managers look for those who are most responsive.  Follow up with thank you note in a timely manner.  If you have any further questions, address them in the message.  Reiterate your interest in the position if you feel it is a true match for your skills and interests.  Thank the hiring managers or technical recruiters for their time.

You can tell if an interview is going well through non verbal communication.  Look for physical cues, such as smiles and eye contact.  If the interviewer has a bad tone or attitude, do not follow suit.  Even if an interview does not go as smooth as planned, you can save your reputation and first impression by staying positive and ending on a happy note.

Proofread

As a job seeker actively looking for an IT job, you are constantly sending out resumes and emails to hiring managers or IT recruiters working for IT staffing agencies.  In order to make sure that your email or resume is not disregarded, make sure that you proofread for any typos and grammatical errors.  Hiring managers want to go through a resume quickly without having to interpret what you meant to write.

By proofreading everything you send to a hiring manager or IT recruiter, they will be able to get through your documents and better see what IT skills you have.  The IT staffing industry is fast-paced and IT recruiters want to find the right prospective candidate for the IT job quickly.  By facilitating the process, you are giving yourself a better chance at that IT job.

Most importantly, by not proofreading your resume, you hurt your chances of landing that perfect IT job.  Take it from this IT recruiter who has had more than one client disqualify one of our candidates due to errors in the resume, proofreading is critically important.  Always put your best foot forward during the IT job search.  Don’t let someone disqualify you because you didn’t take the extra couple of minutes to proofread.

Informational Interviews and Shadowing

In the IT staffing Industry, there are many techniques aimed at helping a candidate land an IT job.  As a prospective  candidate, you should utilize all of these “tricks of the trade.”  One “trick” our IT recruiters recommend is trying to schedule an informational meeting with a potential IT hiring manager.  Most managers and executives like to talk about how they got to where they are.  It gives them a chance to look back on their IT career and see what got them there. Another great way to learn more about that IT job you hope to have one day is shadowing an executive or manager for a couple of hours or a couple days.  You would of course first have to make sure they feel comfortable with this.  They can tell you, the job seeker, what technical skills you need to know and the different tasks they handle throughout the day. So when you can’t find too many IT job opportunities, try getting to know IT managers and executives.  Not only will you likely learn something about the IT industry, you’ll make an important contact as well.

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.

Experiences from our IT recruiter Intern

This summer we hired 3 interns to help us out with recruiting information technology candidates.  We went through the interview process and identified the right candidates for our IT recruiting internship program.  They seemed to be a good fit with our company culture and appeared to have the drive/motivation.  Looking back, we were right.  Each has proved to us they have the skills and qualities to be a successful recruiter in the IT staffing industry.

Now that the summer is coming to an end, our interns chose to tell us about their experience working as an IT recruiter for one of the fastest growing IT staffing companies in the country.

He summarized his experience like this:

1. People Skills

Having people skills is a factor that helps talking to prospective candidates about the different IT job opportunities you have available.  An IT recruiter needs to know how to connect with a candidate on a personal level to make them feel comfortable and willing to listen to what you have to say.

2. Cold Calling

An IT recruiter will receive many applications to job postings, but in the end, you will need to go digging through a resume database for some candidates that fit the IT job description

3. Phone manners

IT recruiters need to work on their phone manners, especially when you are constantly working with prospective candidates.  Acting in a professional manner will always help keep the candidate interested and comfortable.

4. Hard Work

In order to succeed you need to put in the time and effort.  Nothing is free in life and you need to work hard to get the results you want.  Finding the right candidate is not as easy as picking a name out of a hat.  An IT recruiter has to search through databases and applications to find candidates who will fit the IT job description, as well as the culture in the company.

Overall, our IT recruiter interns felt that they learned valuable lessons from working in the IT staffing Industry.

How to market yourself during an IT Job interview

IT recruiters are constantly selling positions to prospective candidates.  Each IT recruiter knows that their job needs to appeal to what the prospective candidate is looking for, so they “sell” the opportunity (while obviously keeping the candidate’s best interests first).  Candidates should do the same in return.

Recently, we asked a handful of IT recruiters to make a list of additional recommendations.  Here are some of the responses:

  • Look presentable:  As much as a hiring manager may not care about looks, they are not going to hire someone who is dressed sloppily or comes to work late.  The impression they will get from that is that your work is sloppy and assignments might not be completed on time.
  • Show off:  During an interview you have to make yourself look good.  Show off the work you have accomplished in the past.   If you did a great job on a project tell the hiring manager about the time and effort you put into it.  It will show your dedication to completing an assignment.
  • Confidence:  The most important factor in marketing yourself is having confidence.  Have confidence in yourself and let it show during the IT job interview.  Confidence is extremely important especially in the IT staffing industry.  Having an IT job requires knowledge of technical aspects that other workers may not be aware of.  If something goes wrong, they want to know that you’ll be able to speak up about it and feel comfortable working through a problem

So remember to think like a salesperson and sell yourself!  You will see much better results with various IT staffing agencies and direct clients as well.

A Forward-thinking & Dynamic IT Recruiting Company

When companies remain stagnant, they eventually fail.  It starts with leadership.  If an executive is set in his or her ways, the competition will likely pass them by.  The IT staffing industry is no different.  At AVID Technical Resources, we pride ourselves in being a dynamic and forward-thinking IT recruiting firm.  As technology evolves, so does our company.  We embrace technologic advances from new software to social media.  AVID understands the importance of changing as the economy changes and evolving as our IT recruiting industry evolves.  Most important, we never stop moving; we never remain stagnant.

A good example of this is social media.  Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have grown in popularity over the years.  AVID saw the emergence a few years ago, before many companies had even heard of the sites.  Therefore, our company Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin pages have been built out, optimized and are designed to market every one of our IT jobs.

Another good example is Search Engine Optimization.  AVID recognized the dominance of Google and the importance of SEO years ago.  Subsequently, this IT recruiting company has invested years and thousands of dollars into optimization.  Because of this, our IT recruiters are able to identify more prospective IT candidates and our salespeople frequently have clients find them.

Slow-moving, stagnant companies eventually become extinct.  Forward-thinking, dynamic companies rise to the top.  This approach has helped AVID Technical Resources become one of the Fastest-Growing Private IT staffing companies in the country: https://www.avidtr.com/about-avid-awards-and-recognition.aspx.