Jobseekers

IT recruiters utilize the latest technologies in the industry to better arm themselves for success in the IT staffing industry. These tools help technical recruiters prepare for the everyday challenge that comes with cold calling, pushing for feedback and confirming working to confirm each and every placement.

The list of technologies starts right under your very fingertips: a computer.  IT recruiters use it everyday, just like most companies in the world.   Computers, along with the internet, have revolutionized the way we do business (and generally go about our daily lives).  In addition to the computer, wireless internet has made IT recruiters mobile.  It has given them the ability to work around the clock without being at their desk (or any desk for that matter). Prior to the advent of the computer, IT staffing firms had to require their employees to be in the office and at their desks to get work done.

Other technologies that may seem simple and common by today’s standards have greatly improved effectiveness and efficiency for IT recruiters. The first of these being the telephone. While it may seem elementary at first, being able to contact someone who is hundreds of miles away, instantaneously, is a rather impressive feat. Imagine trying to recruit potential high-tech candidates by sending out letters in the mail? Feedback would take weeks and things would get lost in translation. It would never work.

The second of these technologies is the advent of voicemail. As recently as the 1960s, there was no such thing. This meant that unless a candidate was sitting by the phone and was available to talk, you were not getting in touch with them and they had no way to call you back because you could not leave a message. The voicemail allows you to leave your name, number and why you were calling with your own voice so IT recruiters have the information in needed to call you back.

This all sounds like great stuff, but telephones and answering machines have cords– and cords tie you to a desk. The invention of the cell phone has also greatly increased productivity among IT recruiters alike. Being able to receive a phone call on the go and access your voicemail remotely has allowed technical recruiters to be available around the clock and stay updated in real time. Now technical recruiters can be accessible 24/7/365, as opposed to just when they’re just sitting at their desks in front of the computer.

Another quick and easy way of contacting someone who is unavailable to speak is the e-mail. E-mail allows you to send massive amounts of information, such as IT job descriptions and resumes all at once for someone to review at his or her convenience. Again, this is much quicker than mailing hard copies.  It can also allow for a quick and easy last minute editing to be done as well. You can only call so many people in one day, but being able to mass mail hundreds of people at once is going to greatly increase the odds of getting responses from qualified candidates.

Shortly after the rise in cell phones came the creation of smartphones.  These are basically mini laptop computers that can also make a phone call. Smartphones allow IT recruiters to make phone calls, get instant access to emails and even search the IT job boards using a browser. IT headhunters can even send documents to a printer remotely, thus literally allowing you to do every aspect of recruiting from anywhere in the world.

It only makes sense for IT recruiters to stay on the cutting edge of technology and accessibility. After all, we are literally using the technology that the people we place in jobs, develop. By staying up to date with new technology, it allows us to stay sharp on the phone and via e-mail when communicating with hiring managers and candidates. It also allows us to better understand the requirements presented to us in an open position. What better a way to understand the technologies of a requirement than to actually use them on a day-to-day basis?

Aside from hardware, technologies such as search engines and resume databases are also helping IT recruiters become more efficient with their time. Larger IT staffing firms tend to use their own databases, but smaller boutique IT recruiting firms also rely on social networking websites like LinkedIn and Twitter to come across those ”hard to find” candidates.

Being accessible around the clock and exposed to an extremely wide variety of ways to search, and be searched, is the best way to achieve an optimal IT recruiting level. Gone are the 9-5 workdays. For better or for worse, if you’re not working around the clock, you are behind schedule.