Tag Archives: resumes

Resumes: Consistency is Key

One of the most important aspects to writing a strong resume is consistency.  IT recruiters working for various IT staffing companies will tell you that a clean, consistent and condenced resume can make the difference between getting that all-important first interview or not be selected at all.  We asked a number of technical recruiters for more specific feedback:

1)  Font:  This is the most obvious key to a sharp resume and the easiest to make consistent.  Highlight the entire IT job resume and choose a font.  Make sure it’s consistent throughout.  There is nothing more frustrating to IT recruiters San Diego than to see inconsistent font.  It’s a clear sign of laziness or lack of attention to detail.

2)  Spacing:  If you skip one space between Objective or Education or Work Experience, be consistent throughout. Single space the resume – there is no need to make a long resume even longer.  IT recruiting firms look for consistent spacing before sending the resume to their clients.

3)  Company info/title:  Whether you bold the company name or that of the various IT recruiting companies that you worked for, then underline your IT job titles (or vice versa), just be consistent.  Do not bold the IT recruiting firm under one past employer, then not the next.

4)  Dates:  If you use months and years (recommended by most IT staffing firms) to accurately show the dates of your employment, be consistent throughout your resume.  Don’t use the month and year under one past employment, then not the next.  Additionally, just using years is frowned upon by most IT recruiters CA as it appears as though the IT job candidate is trying to hide a gap in employment.

5)  Margins:  Lastly, check the margins in your resume and make sure they all line up.  There’s no need for significant spacing on top or the bottom of the resume.  Keep both to a half inch to an inch.

For more questions about resume writing, contact one of our IT recruiters Boston or one of the many IT staffing agencies Boston.

Early Bird Gets the Worm

For technical recruiters working in the IT staffing industry, the early bird gets the worm.  Because technical job boards are such a major resources for IT recruiters, and sites such as Monster.com dominate the market for prospective IT job seekers, the earlier IT recruiting companies open the door to allow their IT recruiters Boston to log into these sites the better.  Ultimately, thousands of candidates post their resumes every day.  Therefore, typically the first IT headhunters to reach out to each will have the right to submit their resume to the appropriate IT jobs.  Additionally, ties do not go to the runner, the first IT recruiter to email a candidate will usually be the IT headhunter that the candidate will work with.

Therefore, IT staffing agencies should open their doors by 8am at the latest.  Otherwise, provide keys or a swipe pass to their IT recruiters CA so the early birds can get the worm.

Sending Paper Resumes To IT Recruiters

As an IT recruiter working for one of the fastest growing IT staffing companies Boston, we periodically receive paper resumes blindly sent from candidates in the information technology industry.  Here are 3 reasons why prospective candidates should not send paper resumes to technical recruiters:

1)  They get thrown away:  IT recruiters Boston typically look at paper resumes as a sign that the candidates are not technically saavy enough to utilize email.  Therefore, paper resumes are more of a red flag than a summary of one’s life technical work.

2)  It “ages” you:  Mailing your resume a decade+ ago was your only option of getting your informatioin to IT recruiting companies.  Therefore, this is typically associated with a technique someone from an older generation would do.  While you cannot IT job descriminate, this certainly does not help your chances of landing one of the technical jobs that the IT recruiting company has posted on their website.

3)  They will not be added to the database:  Because it’s paper, technical recruiters will have to scan the resume in order add it to their IT job database.  When you’re looking at hundreds of technical resumes every day, and cal easily parse them with a click or two of a button, then human nature is going to win over and you’re not going to take the extra steps involved in scanning a resume into your IT staffing database (especially knowing #1 and #2 above).

Therefore, if you’re a prospective IT job candidate, save your forty-five cents and email your resume to as many IT recruiters CA and IT staffing firms as you can.  Most will be added to their respective resume databases.

How IT staffing Companies Find Candidates

The majority of IT recruiting firms pay to access the top resume and IT job boards such as Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice and Net Temps.  The better IT staffing companies also have robust databases full of information technology resumes (any database over 100,000 resumes is typically considered pretty strong).

However, the best technical recruiters and IT recruiting agencies find candidates that aren’t plastered all over the job boards.  They find the passive IT job seeker.  To do this, IT recruiters Boston use the following techniques:

1)  Referrals:  Any strong IT recruiter will ask for a referral on every call to help build their pipeline of candidates.

2)  Linkedin:  This site has become a critical tool for IT recruiters MA.

3)  Networking Groups:  A great place to meet high tech professionals – especially with niche/specialty skill sets.

4)  Google and other search engines:  AIRS provides some great training for technical recruiters MA to put together string searches that will yield quality candidates who have their resume on various sites outside of the traditional technical job boards.

5)  Posting jobs:  Technical recruiters Boston will post jobs on as many niche/industry websites as they can find.

Secrets for Making your Recruiter your Best Friend

In today’s job search environment, recruiters often play an instrumental role in a candidates job search, whether the job is in the medical, financial or technical industry, or the position sought is contract or permanent. The reason is that recruiters spend each work day doing for a living what candidates do only during periods of time when they’re on a job search – create relationships with hiring managers and their companies, keep abreast of the most current job openings available, and cruise job boards like Monster, Indeed, and Craigslist, as well as professional networking sites like Linkedin and Yammer. A job-seeker applying to jobs online may encounter at least one position of interest that has been posted by a recruiter. In contacting the recruiter, the prospective candidate for the position initiates a relationship with the recruiter to determine if he or she will be a good fit for the role.

Here’s a secret: cultivating a relationship your recruiter correctly can make him or her your best friend. Mainly because that person has the potential to get you a new job. What is the protocol for candidate-recruiter alliances? The golden rule is – Imagine they’re the boss. If you make contact with a recruiter over the phone, your confidence, ability to describe your past roles and the value you added persuasively and succinctly, and clarity when defining the type of role you want to be your next will be as impressive to the recruiter as it would be to a hiring manager. The type of candidate that impresses a hiring manager is the kind of person a recruiter wants to get in front of the manager. It’s a win-win for everybody.

So here’s the bottom line: when you speak to a recruiter about a role, handle it like in interview. If you meet with a recruiter face-to-face, dress to impress. If your recruiter requests that you send references, or stay in contact once a week, make it a priority to do so, just as you would if you were in long-term negotiations with a hiring manager. Recruiters operate in a fast-paced environment – they’re not going to eat up a lot of your time. An investment of a few minutes a week on the phone with a recruiter you’ve established a relationship with could be the difference between getting the salary and benefits you want in a company you want to work for, or having to settle for less.

IT Recruiters at AVID focus on maintaining relationships with IT candidates with technical backgrounds. As an IT staffing agency that is more specialized that an all-industry recruiting firm, AVID offers candidates recruiters who are experts in staffing for the tech industry, and are best equipped to assist IT candidates with their job search.

The Mobile Job Search

The increasing sophistication of cloud computing and smartphone application suggest inevitable changes to come in the job-seeking landscape. With major job board websites like Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed and Craigslist offering phone application versions of their sites, it’s a matter of time before job hunters adapt their search techniques to the advantages provided by advancing technology.

One of the most powerful ways phone apps can impact a job search is portability.

Technical Recruiting Goes Mobile

With mobile job searching apps, the job-seeking landscape is poised to evolve. Candidates who store their resume on their phones can check out and apply to new jobs in their chosen industries while riding the T to a resume workshop, or an interview.

Gauging the Job Search Pace

The most obvious potential impact of mobile job searching is a shorter job search through a more efficient use of time. Mobile apps allow candidates better flexibility in maintaining relationships with recruiters as well. A candidate seeking an IT position could contact a recruiter by email via an online job posting and receive a reply while grabbing coffee. The candidate could stay in touch through Linkedin, and follow up with the recruiter a week later over the phone using contact information on the recruiter’s Linkedin profile. Mobile networking is about portability and adaptability – a job search that keeps pace with a candidate’s schedule. Mobile job searches could lead to higher placement rates for recruiters and quicker interview requests and offers for candidates. As candidate familiarity with mobile job-searching grows, additional benefits may materialize that recruiters can use to their advantage.

Here at AVID, where technical recruiters place IT candidates, listings on Linkedin and Monster are part of our recruiting approach. Adapting to the mobile job search is an important part of our recruiting strategy.

IT Recruiting: Do You Take Horoscopes Seriously?

Maybe it’s during the morning commute, or sitting down to coffee and a bagel for breakfast, perhaps it’s an after work guilty pleasure.  A number of IT professionals admit they read their daily horoscope.  Take it with a grain of salt or words of wisdom, horoscopes may actually be advising technical recruiters, hiring managers, and prospective candidates to make better decisions and improve performance.  Before passing the next opportunity to read your fortune, here are some reasons horoscopes may actually benefit you.

May Inspire

After reading that there will be changes in your life, actively seek and pursue new IT staffing opportunities.  The horoscope could motivate you to add spice to your routine or drop cumbersome tasks that stress you out.  If it were not for the astrology section, you may have not closed on that last placement!

Avoid Conflict

The astrology section could also help irritable IT headhunters to avoid conflict at technical recruiting companies.  When there is a horoscope saying to turn the other cheek, a technical recruiter may think twice about sending a sassy response or having the last word.  It seems when there is an impending disagreement brought to our attention, we will try to steer away.  The horoscope will keep IT staffing firms sound and on their toes in case of a clash.

Cannot Predict the Future

Are you in a worse situation after reading these predictions?  Most likely not!  So have some fun with these forecasts.  No one knows for sure how accurate these readings are, so share them with your fellow IT recruiters in an email when exchanging resumes or post some encouraging thoughts around technical recruiting offices.  While some may not believe the authenticity of horoscopes, they can change our behavior for the better!

IT Staffing: Unemployed…Now What?

You lost your job due to a recent layoff– and you are not alone.  Plenty of IT job seekers are unemployed IT consultants at one point or another.  They know what they should be doing, they hear it every day, and it becomes frustrating.  Rather than simply blasting resumes to technical recruiters and going on countless IT job interviews, supplement your daily routine with activities you did not have the chance to enjoy until now!

Unpaid Experience: Volunteering and Internships

Volunteering is a sacrifice of your time to help others.  While volunteering may not lead to a career opportunity, you will still be helping those who may be less fortunate than you.  Hiring managers and IT staffing firms would rather see prospective candidates make use of their free time by volunteering, rather than waiting for IT jobs to land at their feet.  This selfless act shows a passion to work and dedication without a paycheck.  Use internship and volunteering opportunities to keep your skills sharp, network with managers, and potentially be hired full time!

Discover a New Hobby

Have you ever wanted to run a marathon or learn to crotchet?  Maybe you wanted to travel across Europe or visit college friends, but never had the time.  Well, the time is now!  Depending on your budget and goals, you can turn this unfortunate event into an opportunity to achieve your dreams.  You’ll also provide an excellent topic to discuss with IT recruiters.  With the proper planning, you will not regret your choice or wonder if you should have done things differently.

Further Your Education

Make yourself more valuable to hiring managers and technical recruiting companies by enhancing your skill set.  You will be more marketable by IT recruiting companies with new experience and the latest technical skills.  If a certain area of technology interests you, test it out.  You might get to enter competitive, emerging fields.

Being unemployed is less than ideal, but having a plan can ease the transition from jobless to a new career.

IT Recruiters Should Borrow and Share Ideas

IT recruiting firms have been encouraged to be creative, unique, and think outside the box.  What happens when technical recruiting agencies run out of ideas?  How can they take a thought from someone else  and make it one of their own?  Here are some tips for technical recruiters and hiring managers to gain inspiration from others, while improving their own work ethic.

Build On an Idea

There is always room for improvement at IT staffing firms, which is why IT recruiters should take the opportunity to build upon others’ accomplishments.  If certain IT headhunters have a technique, ask for suggestions and helpful tips to improve output.  A technical recruiter may be able to add to the process or make changes that are even more beneficial.  Avoid over complicating procedures.  Just tweak the areas of weakness one step at a time.

Apply to Different Situations

Borrow ideas and apply them to personal circumstances.  If an idea is working for filling IT jobs or sifting through resumes, try implementing the plan with other tasks.  Trial and error is an excellent way to see if different processes work in multiple situations.  Do not be afraid to make mistakes and be open to suggestions.  The best way to learn from change is taking the risk with a test run and handling the consequences.

Give Credit

If a recruiter comes across a great idea, give props to the owner.  The more someone is praised for their thoughts, the more likely they will be to contribute in the future.  Stealing ideas and claiming ownership will cause others to be defensive and unwilling to share.  Be open and communicate with feedback and reviews.  Output will improve oneself, as well as helping IT recruiting companies to thrive from internal suggestions and accomplishments!

Keep It Simple at IT Recruiting Firms

An IT recruiter is assigned a project and he immediately begins planning.  After creating a plan, he realizes there may be a better way to implement the steps and scratches his initial idea.  He develops a new method, which includes different steps, but also checks and balances along the way and incorporates other IT headhunters into his work.  Before he knows it, he has overcomplicated the whole procedure when in reality he just needs to keep things simple.

To some, the idea of simplicity is boring or too easy and additional steps need to be included to feel a challenge.  Often, these supplementary steps are where mistakes are made, which may make the project more cumbersome than necessary.  Rather than over complicating tasks, here are some reasons to keep some routine tasks as simple as possible.

Less Stress

Why add extra work where it isn’t needed if it produces the same outcome?  Stressing over trivial details can make IT recruiters irritable and difficult to work with.  They may also overstep their boundaries, causing others to become frustrated with them as well.  Rather than taking on unnecessary work, try the simple route and keep it cool.

Less Wasted Time

Focusing on irrelevant details and creating new steps takes time and attention that could be used in other areas.  Rather than wasting effort on fixing something that does not require change, maintain a routine.  By perfecting the required steps, IT staffing agencies will save time to focus on other projects, such as editing resumes that may require more work.  Also, creating new ways to complete projects is a form of procrastination.  Stop procrastinating by taking the initial step!

Less Mistakes

The simplest procedure is sure to highlight any outliers or mistakes.  The more convoluted a plan is, the more likely there will be errors or failure to meet deadlines.  Keep the process smooth and avoid having multiple people handling the project.  Let others become information technology experts in certain areas to keep things moving.

While some change is beneficial at IT staffing firms, it is not always necessary and can actually hinder productivity.  Before technical recruiters implement new procedures, they should have a trial run first.  Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best ideas.