Tag Archives: resumes

Are IT Recruiting Agencies Spamming Clients?

In the IT recruiting business, the golden rule is to stay in touch with clients to create reoccurring customers.  Technical recruiters do not want hiring managers or IT contractors to forget about them or think they do not care, so they reach out frequently to check in.  While this is crucial in the IT staffing industry, when does following up evolve into spamming?  Here are some tips to keep in touch without crossing the line.

Be Consistent

When first reaching out to IT consultants, ask when a good time would be to meet and discuss resumes, IT job interviews, or just life.  IT recruiters should let their clients know they wish to reach out on a weekly basis if that is the case so candidates are aware and will expect their call.  At the close of discussions, schedule follow up meetings.

Surprise visits can make a consultant’s day, but it can also be a disaster if it is poor timing.  Try to avoid surprising clients unless the recruiter is certain the client will not be too busy with work to have a conversation. 

Make Personal

When sending emails, do not act as though this is the first interaction with a recipient.  An IT recruiter can try calling clients the next time they are about to respond to a message.  Hearing a voice on the other end brings a closer connection than emails where tone and expression can be lost in translation.

A technical recruiter can make the relationship friendly, while also staying professional.  Remember details about IT consultants and ask about anything exciting in their life.  The recruiter may find something in common that he would not have known otherwise!

Mass mailings may make IT headhunters lives easier, but are often easily recognized.  Try to take a few minutes each week to recognize clients.  They will appreciate the personal touch.

Send Valuable Information

Allow clients to control how much content they are receiving.  If they are subscribed to the Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn of IT recruiting firms, they may be receiving the same updates repeatedly.  Try to keep material fresh and irredundant so clients have a reason to subscribe.

If IT staffing agencies are using the same content for social media outlets, they may experience attrition in subscribers.  Also, only send important updates or news so technical recruiting companies are not wasting their client’s time as the message will be deleted.

The point of staying in touch is to not lose contact, do not drive customers away by being overly aggressive!

Technical Recruiters Warn: The Flu Season Approaches

As the temperature drops, fevers rise.  From October through the month of May, flu season raises its ugly head to spite IT recruiting offices throughout the Northeast.  When IT recruiters find they are the victim of the plague, should they be the office heroes or stay curled up in bed?  Here are some reasons why it is better to stay quarantined at home than in the office when a technical recruiter becomes ill.

Causes of Illness

Germs and viruses are incubated in colder weather as more people opt to stay indoors longer.  The air becomes stale and recycled.  Another reason illnesses are on the rise is because children are back in school.  Children are more weary of bacteria and easily spread their germs, bringing it home to their families as well.  Soon the whole household will be sick and will share it with fellow IT headhunters, wiping the IT staffing company.

Reasons People Come to Work Sick

Whether they are afraid of being reprimanded for their absence or hurting their chances of being promoted, some employees try to make it to technical recruiting companies under any condition.  With jobs being cut across the country as the recession continues, there are less replacements to cover workloads and cross train on projects.  Employees may avoid taking a sick day because they would prefer to use their PTO for vacation time, but which is more important: overall health or a day’s work of pay?

Reduced Productivity

An IT recruiter will not be the office hero if he is working at fifty percent of his healthy productivity level.  Soon he will be bringing other’s efficiency levels down with him whether from contagiousness or pure distraction.  If a recruiter must work while sick, he should offer to sift through resumes at home if possible and be available via phone or email.

Hiring managers would rather have happy and health employees than ones who miserably strain themselves while taking a toll not only on their physical health, but also their mental health.  If you are not feeling one hundred percent well or begin to feel sick, notify your supervisor in a timely manner and request a sick day.  IT staffing companies will thank you in advance!

IT Staffing Firms Enjoy Apple Treats

October 21st is a festival called Apple Day for residents of the United Kingdom.  Over here in New England, everyday can be Apple Day in the fall.  Rinse off those apples you picked a few weeks ago and get ready to bake for your IT recruiting office!

The Baked Goods

Most IT staffing agencies have a designated baker along with a clan of voluntary eaters.  If you have a surplus of apples, go with classic favorites such as apple pie or apple crisp.  Want to really win over IT recruiters?  Bring in a gallon of vanilla ice cream to go with the warm treat.

If you are concerned about temperature sensitive dishes, bake an apple strudel or bread.  When making bread and muffins, substitute apple sauce for any oil to cut down on fat and extra calories.  Cookies and muffins are also excellent solutions in terms of portion control and serving sizes for the diet conscious IT headhunter.

The Treats

Almost all candidates and patrons of IT staffing firms cannot turn down candy apples.  Whether you dip them on a Friday night with your family or socializing with friends, making caramel apples is a fun and filling process.  After dipping the apples, consider rolling the apples in chopped nuts for added protein and a crunchy kick.  If you are daring, drench the dried caramel apples in chocolate and roll in crushed candy, cookies, or brown cinnamon sugar for an over the top dessert.

In addition to homemade applesauce, consider making some fresh apple jam or butter for technical recruiters.  You can also give the jars as small thank you gifts for hiring managers or those who help you and make your time enjoyable at IT recruiting agencies.

Go Raw

Apples do not always need to be all dressed up in sugar or baked into sweets.  Bring in some fresh apples at your IT recruiting company for a healthy treat.  Studies have shown that just one apple a day can help with cholesterol and weight management as well as diabetes prevention.

Recruiters deserve a break after working hard sifting through resumes and setting up IT job interviews.  Suddenly the fall just got sweeter for IT recruiting firms!

IT Staffing Gurus Plead: Bad Applicants Need Not Apply

Technical recruiting veterans know the process for weeding out bad applicants for their open IT jobs.  Yet, sometimes a bad candidate can slip through cracks, make it to an interview, and completely embarrass the IT staffing firm.  The recruiters of AVID Technical Resources provide some clues to prevent this scenario and spare the feelings of candidates.

The Resume

IT recruiters are used to skimming resumes to find the right applicants for their roles.  If a sloppy resume is filled with poor grammar and typos, it is a red flag that this candidate should not represent IT recruiting companies.  When a contractor keeps a sloppy resume and makes you look for his key skills and experiences, you could take this as a sign that he may not value his accomplishments.

Communication

If a candidate seems to be avoiding his technical recruiter like the plague, it is generally not a good sign.  Something is up when a candidate cannot provide answers or is constantly making up excuses to steer clear up his recruiter.  Be straight forward by asking the contractor if he is interviewing for other positions or if he has a potential offer lined up.  The contractor should be honest and open about his actions while providing the IT recruiter the opportunity to open this position to other applicants.

Behavior

When a contractor seems to be hiding something or avoiding his recruiter, it is better to address the issue than keep up this charade.  IT headhunters know the way to the heart of a hiring manager and can provide insight to their client.  If a candidate is not taking your advice, such as tweaking his resume or showing up to meetings on schedule, it might be time to wipe him as a potential candidate.

Worse than avoiding contact, the candidate could be blowing off interviews or showing up with a messy appearance and poor attitude.  If the contractor has not shown any signs of respect or gratefulness to his recruiter, then chances are he will follow suit with the hiring company.  Save IT staffing companies the trouble and embarrassment by not letting things get to this point!

Making the Most of Your IT Recruiting Internship

The best way to subsidize a college career is with real world experience in the IT staffing world.  An internship provides skills and knowledge within the information technology industry that one cannot learn in a classroom without having to commit to a full time IT job.  They also allow students and prospective technical recruiters the opportunity to challenge themselves and discover a potential career path.  Here are some tips for making the most of an internship for IT headhunters.

Being Professional

Just because a technical recruiting internship is not a full time position does not mean it shouldn’t be treated like one.  Interns should anticipate arriving on time daily, maintaining an upbeat attitude, and eagerly accepting any task that is at hand.  Be respectful to others and try to mirror other employees’ dress and work demeanor.  Remember outside of the office interns still represent the IT staffing firms so be mindful of actions.

Work Ethic

Some interns feel because their position is temporary that they only need to complete assigned work.  Technical recruiting firms seek interns who meet and exceed expectations whenever possible.  When an assignment is complete, an intern should maintain focus and ask for additional challenges.  Setting goals and working on multiple projects provides more exposure which will spruce up the intern’s resume and provide discussion for future interviews.

IT recruiting companies would rather see their intern succeed than struggle, so never sacrifice quality for quantity.  Take notes and ask questions if directions are not clear. Hard work and thinking outside of the box sets others apart, but never trump others to make it to the top.

Ending an Internship

The best part of internships is the networking within technical staffing agencies.  Connect with IT recruiters on LinkedIn.  Do not be afraid to ask for recommendations.  If possible, make a portfolio of the accomplished work or a book of achievements.  Stay in touch with a manager and view them as a mentor for the future.

An internship might not guarantee a full time perm position, but it is a step in the right direction!

How to Gain Experience with New Technologies

With so many software and hardware systems on the market today, IT job seekers need to stay current with new technologies.  If you feel like you are falling behind on your skills, then look to take on a contract position to gain exposure to specific technologies.

Additionally, look to take classes.  There are free classes and networking events that hold lessons on new protocols and software.  The government is also funding training programs for the unemployed.  Take the time, do some research and take advantage of these offerings.

Finally, although typically among the most expensive resources, look to become certified in new technologies.  IT recruiters will tell you that employers often look for IT professionals with certifications.

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.

Is the IT industry going Green?

Lately there have been many blogs and articles about the Information Technology industry going green.  More companies are looking to create products that are environmentally friendly while remaining efficient.  Combining the two things is hard but businesses are beginning to research and look into the possible solutions.

IT recruiting companies are using less paper and relying more on technology.  Hiring manager’s typically read resumes instead of printing out piles of paper.  Technology is driving the green revolution, IT contractors are also beginning to learn more about these solutions and new IT job opportunities are opening up.  This trend of going green is slowly catching on, but seems to be growing at a quicker pace, as environmental changes appear to be effecting us more.

Should you start looking into getting certified to work on green efforts?  It might be a good idea to give yourself that extra line on your resume.  Hiring managers are always looking for something that will differentiate you from the next candidate.  Even if they aren’t working on green solutions they might in the future.  It will then give you an advantage over other candidates!

Keywords, the main ingredient to being found

In the IT staffing, there are keywords that are specific to a certain job position.  Each one varies and allows them to find the appropriate candidates.  Some keywords for example would be ‘Java’ or ‘.NET’.

When IT recruiters go on websites such as Career Builder and Monster, they type in keywords (such as skill sets) to search for resumes.  Technical recruiters are usually well versed in using Boolean searching techniques in order to optimize their resume searches.  Therefore, in order to make sure you come up in relevant searches, use the skills keywords that will help IT recruiters find you.  Do not use terms that are not commonly used or synonyms.  Be direct on your resume and include exactly what it is that you are skilled in.

IT recruiting agencies train their IT recruiters to pay close attention to keywords in IT job descriptions.  Therefore take a look at a job description that interests you and model your resume using the relevant keywords.