Are IT Recruiting Companies Using Twitter Properly?
IT staffing firms might be wondering what the purpose of using Twitter when their technical recruiters have Facebook or LinkedIn. If they are actively using Twitter, are they maximizing its benefits to the full potential? The IT recruiters of AVID Technical Resources are happy and willing to provide some valuable insight on how to make the best use of Twitter, especially for IT recruiting tactics!
Potential Clients
If IT headhunters are interested in working with a particular client company, get noticed by following them on Twitter. The social media platform allows for quick response in real time. News about upcoming layoffs, strategies, or budget expansion can also help to see potential growth and development for IT recruiting firms. If they are having a difficult time getting in touch with companies, try tweeting at them. For public relation purposes, companies are more willing to publicly respond to tweets versus emails.
Current Clients
Follow your current customers as a heads up for any unexpected changes or just to see how companies or IT consultants are doing. If a prospective candidate is vocalizing his disappointment with technical recruiting companies, immediately follow up to see if you can help to satisfy both parties. When IT contractors praise your company, retweet your well deserved compliment! You can also use Twitter for referrals to expand your network and build your client base.
Increase SEO
Twitter allows SEO for growing companies. By keeping your Twitter account public, your corporate account will appear in searches such as Google and Bing. Posting links or tweeting trends also helps to get your business’ name on the internet. Tweet relevant information to your company or interesting news to drive discussion, too.
The best part of Twitter is it only allows 140 characters per tweet, eliminating clutter and noise while getting to the point. In today’s world, too much information is just as bad as too little, so keep it short and simple with your tweets!
Technical Recruiting Companies Responding to Your Emails?
Do you fire off emails instantaneously and always provide an update? I will let you in on a little secret: not everyone is as prompt and efficient as you. It can be frustrating waiting around on a response from hiring managers or IT recruiting supervisors for the go on a project or decision. Before technical recruiters and prospective candidates assume they are being ignored, here are some reasons why you may not be getting a prompt answer back.
Did You Hit Send?
Embarrassing as it is, sometimes IT recruiting companies make honest mistakes. An email a technical recruiter thought he sent may be sitting in limbo within their draft folder. Did the IT recruiter accidentally send the email to the wrong person? If so, retract the error by apologizing to the accidental recipient and immediately send the email to the correct person.
Also, check the wording in messages. IT staffing firms may have been vague in their requests or sent their emails to multiple recipients. If this is the case, send a message defining the request and ask a specific person for an update. Chances are the recipients are confused as to who should respond.
Busy Signal
The recipient could be buried in work and has not yet found time for email. If they have, they may have read it and acknowledged it, but moved it off to the side for a higher priority. When IT headhunters experience this situation themselves, they should try replying to IT consultants and acknowledge having received the message and will provide an update shortly. This allows the sender to know that their request is in process and has not been lost in email clutter.
Forgot
Humans forget! Sending a follow up messages is an excellent way to remind the recipients of a request while asking for an update. Be mindful not to follow up too often, though. Spamming your IT recruiting firms every hour or every day for an update is a sure way to get on the recipient’s bad side.
Not Important
Some email messages do not need responses and just add to the clutter. Before hitting send, think if this email is important. Try picking up the phone and giving the person a call, rather than cluttering their inbox. They may appreciate a personal message more than another new message in their inbox!
Ignoring all messages is not only rude, but it is poor business. Think of a time you could not reach a live person. Wasn’t it was frustrating?! Manage your own company by providing the best customer service possible!
IT Recruiting Companies Working with White Noise
Do you work in an IT staffing environment that is cluttered with noise such as music, loud talking, or random distractions? Perhaps you work in a dead silent area where you can hear a pin drop. If you enjoy these conditions, by all means continue working! If you find that you are having trouble focusing, the IT recruiters of AVID Technical Resources suggest white noise to help keep you on track.
Do You Hear That?
The funny thing about white noise is you typically do not realize it’s there until it’s turned off. White noise helps to block out static noises that could otherwise disrupt your work. Almost every college student has hit the library to study for finals or perfect their resume, only to be irritated by the dead silent air and frequent disruption of page turning, sneezes, or pencils dropping. With background noise in smaller areas of IT recruiting firms, these distractions are instantly reduced. This allows individuals to focus and gather their thoughts.
Less Distracting
There are plenty of ways for technical recruiters and hiring managers to distract themselves from different background noises, but often these distractions can cause noise clutter. If one IT recruiter is listening to his music and another chooses to drone out the other’s music with a song of his own, soon there will be chaos. Be mindful of others when choosing your selection and keep the volume low if you choose to do this.
Some can ignore the music and continue working, but when they hear a song they are sick of, they will keep changing the song until they find one they like. Other IT headhunters may become hung up on lyrics and cannot think clearly. The best thing about white noise is, there are no words and the music plays itself!
Where to Get It
Your white noise might be right in your IT recruiting office. That fan, air conditioner, or vent can provide you with the right amount of white noise to cancel out the sounds of shuffling paper or opening and closing of doors. If the volumes of distractions are too loud, consider buying your own white noise machine or playing music.
Everyone works differently, so be mindful of your habits!
What Not to Wear to IT Job Interviews
You have heard it before: it matters deeply what you wear to an interview. Now that you have your outfit together, are you breaking one of the interviewing apparel taboos? Take a second look at your outfit and accessories. Make sure you aren’t sending some inappropriate messages with your choices!
Head
Unless you are trying out for the Red Sox, avoid any head gear. For the ladies, put away your flashy earrings and tone down the makeup. Plan out your hair style the night before the interview. It might sound crazy, but what could take you only five minutes of styling may trip you up if you try something different.
Shoulders
Get that suit tailored! Nothing looks worse than an ill fitting outfit. It can also affect your confidence. You do not need to buy a whole new wardrobe! Look to your closet and touch up some of your business clothes. You will have a new look and feel more comfortable with clothes that fit well.
Cover up those shoulders, too. Often, some interviewers mistake clubbing attire for business professional apparel. If you have to question it, put it back. The same goes with any type of sweat shirt material.
Knees
Skirts that are too short belong in the club, not the IT recruiting office. Wear nylons with your skirt. A brand new pair is recommended to avoid runs or embarrassing holes. Never wear lounge pants, no matter how laid back IT recruiting companies may seem. Jeans are also a taboo when interviewing. Remember, you always want to dress a bit more professionally than how you perceive hiring companies. This will save you and IT staffing companies any potential embarrassment or mistakes.
Toes
Flip flops are never socially acceptable when interviewing with technical recruiting companies. Wear closed toe dress shoes or pumps, not sneakers. If you feel uncomfortable in high heels, do not wear them. Dressy flats are fine. Your feet will also thank you later!
Other
Leave the backpack at home and pick up a briefcase to carry your portfolio. Be mindful of your perfume and cologne, as the technical recruiters and hiring managers may have sensitive noses. You do not want to be known as the smelly interviewer, either, so practice good hygiene!
Blogging about Technical Recruiting Companies
You had a rough day at the IT recruiting office. Then you come home and are greeted by the blinding light of your laptop. You open WordPress and immediately pour your heart out about the unfair raise other technical recruiters were rewarded while you were overlooked. Or perhaps you go on a rant about the upcoming corporate layoffs or the latest gossip from the IT staffing rumor mill. After about twenty minutes, you finally feel relief as you press publish and close your screen.
A number of IT recruiters enjoy blogging. It’s a social media outlet that not only allows you to vent your frustrations, but it also lets your friends and followers get a peek at your daily life and thoughts. However, this is where it becomes dangerous. Without filters, you are setting yourself up to be stung. Before you write your next post about the latest events at IT recruiting firms, here are reasons you should reconsider your topic.
Reminds You of Negativity
Unless you live in a world where everything goes right all the time, you are most likely blogging about the negative aspects of your life. No one wants to hear about others’ misery, so stop yourself and do not give into the temptation. Misery loves company, so the only followers you will have are those who do not enjoy their IT jobs as well. If you do not enjoy your career, stop wasting both yours and your employer’s time. Start looking for new opportunities.
By publicly announcing your faults with your current position, you are betraying your IT recruiting company. Take your issues to your manager before you post them on the internet. Things could get sticky if a coworker or supervisor discovers your blog.
Expose Company Secrets
Most hiring managers of IT staffing companies have their employees sign a form that reiterates their privacy policy. Confidential leaked information is often from internal sources. Before you begin to write about the rumored layoffs, company restructuring, or IT job interviews, get your fact straight. Or better yet, do not write about it at all.
You most likely spend more time at your company than you do with your friends or family on weekly basis. Do not burn bridges by violating their trust. Protect your company and yourself by keeping tight lips about confidential matters.
Privacy Violation
Imagine stumbling upon a co-worker’s blog and discovering they had written about you. It feels as though you are on a secret camera show or someone is spying on you. Suddenly, you feel violated. No one enjoys that feeling. Do not subject others to that position.
If it would make you feel uncomfortable that another co-worker wrote about you, do not do it to your peers. Make sure anyone mentioned in your blog is aware so it does not come as a surprise either.
Blogging is supposed to be fun and an excellent way to keep in touch with others about your life and experiences. Do not extend your office hours by incessantly posting about work topics!
IT Recruiting Advice: Write Your Thoughts Down!
In the IT staffing industry, there are peaks of booming activity, which is great for technical recruiters and IT consultants. But is there so much activity that IT headhunters have a habit of forgetting what needs to be done or letting tasks slip through the cracks? Technical recruiting companies might be so busy, that you begin to forget simple procedures or have trouble grasping ideas and concepts. Before the problem progresses, the IT recruiters of AVID Technical Resources have a simple solution: keep a notebook handy and write things down!
Less Stressful
Mentally creating a list of all the things IT staffing companies need to do is not helpful and often will make employees and hiring managers more stressed out. Having a tangible reminder of what needs to be accomplished will help you to see where IT recruiting firms have flexibility, as well as what will take priority in order of tasks. Also, by writing down thoughts and ideas, technical recruiters will not be drawing blanks later when they need the info the most.
Improved Understanding
You may find that you remembered the information after you wrote it down, and then think perhaps you do not need to take notes. To jot down notes is to think about the material twice, which will help to grasp a better concept of the information and improve your memory. By writing down material, you will be able to evaluate key facts and points and use them to your advantage at a later time. Before you give up taking notes, remember how it helped to reinforce detail. You might not have remembered otherwise.
More on Task
By gathering your thoughts, ideas, and tasks on paper, you are mentally preparing to complete a task and put your brain to work. Half the battle with procrastination is just getting a plan started. By writing things down, you might find you are more willing and ready to complete tasks, meet deadlines, and exceed expectations.
The brain can only retain so much information. Avoid overloading yourself by putting outstanding tasks and ideas on paper. Eventually, you will wonder how you survived without a handy notebook!
IT Recruiters Take Mental Health Days!
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed at IT staffing firms that you just could not stay on task nor did you care to finish your IT recruiting work? You may have been lashing out at family members, candidates, and friends, losing sleep, or simply not caring about any of your interests that were important to you. These are telltale indicators that you are in dire need of a mental health day. Before technical recruiters begin to feel guilt about playing hooky for one day, here are some reasons it may actually improve their performance.
Fizzle Out
Eventually, you will burn yourself out if you continuously work without taking a break to recharge your batteries. Soon, you will not begin to care about your performance and quality of output at technical recruiting companies. This fizzle could overflow from IT staffing work into your personal life, affecting activities you once took interest in or putting unnecessary stress on relationships. Put a stop to the problem before it begins by cutting yourself some slack. You will return to IT recruiting firms feeling better prepared and ready to take on lingering tasks.
Tackle Other Projects
If you have been neglecting your own work or taking a break from your personal activities, use this time wisely to catch up in other areas. By doing things you enjoy or crossing off tasks on your to do list, you will be diverting your attention away from tedious office work and feedback from hiring managers while refocusing your attitude. You may actually be stressed from not accomplishing your own tasks!
Silence is Golden
Turn off your cell phone and computer while warning others ahead of time. Provide an alternative contact in the event of an emergency at IT recruiting companies. You might feel that you are being lazy, but this mental health day is your own holiday in recognition of your hard work and dedication. Live it up!
IT professionals often feel that they must finish as many tasks in as little time as possible. This is when stress peaks are at their greatest. While it is admirable to meet and exceed expectations, go at a workable pace or create a schedule rather than struggling to meet unrealistic deadlines or taking on more work than necessary. You may find you are better at staying at task and accomplishing work by setting goals than charging through project after project.
Is the Grass Always Greener with the Other IT Jobs?
Do you find that you hate your current job and wish you never left your prior position? Are you always on the prowl for new, better IT recruiting opportunities? Stop yourself right in your tracks. If you are constantly seeking new roles without the proper research, you will be in this situation more often than necessary. Before you initiate the job search process again, here are some reasons you might want to rethink another move.
Ignoring the Positive
By continuously seeking other roles, prospective candidates are putting aside the positive aspects that drew them to this current position. Rather than focusing on all the things they dislike about their job, zone in on the pieces they do enjoy. IT consultants should talk to their IT staffing companies about expanding their role to incorporate more of these key features while eliminating or improving the bothersome tasks.
Ignoring the Negatives
Put down the rose tinted glasses and closely examine this new opportunity. As there are with most jobs, there may be drawbacks that one does not see at first glance. After reviewing, if candidates still feel confident about the role, devise a list of questions to ask hiring managers and IT recruiting companies to uncover any downsides. When technical recruiters have the key points for their candidate, the candidate may find this job is actually more troublesome than their current role.
Too Much Effort or Not Enough?
All the effort you are putting into finding a better career might be better used at current employers or technical recruiting companies. By exemplifying your drive to create a solid career path, you will show hiring managers and IT recruiters that you are not only dedicated to your current company, but that you are a valuable asset to the team!
You should not have to sacrifice your happiness at a job that is not right for you. Instead of always looking for a new opportunity, try to find what it is that you want and then pursue your IT staffing goals!
IT Recruiting Companies Debate: K Cups or Ground Coffee
Quantity
Are you brewing for the entire IT staffing office or just yourself? If you are brewing coffee at smaller quantities, you will want to go with the Keurig. The K cup machine provides the option to brew one cup without holding up the coffee machine for other technical recruiters. Coffee drip machines are made to brew larger cups of coffee which can lead to waste if it is not consumed. If IT professionals and hiring managers are looking to make a big brew at once, look to the coffee drip machine to satisfy your needs.
Quality
This is up for debate and varies by coffee drinker. Some say that ground coffee is superior to K cup coffee because of its storage capacity where as K cups can become stale relatively fast. Then there are the countless options when using K cups and its variety of flavors. An IT recruiter can purchase a variety pack which allows them to experriment with different flavors and choose which they like best. Typically with ground coffee, a technical recruiter must by a bag and test their options.
Convenience
Brewing a cup of coffee by drip machine seems to be outdated and time consuming as our society expects less and less in terms of time commitment. IT staffing companies want everything fast and immediately available with as little work as possible. The Keurig machine offers a single cup of coffee in about one minute and little to no clean up. Drip machines can take several minutes to brew and requires routine maintenance and clean up.
Environmental and Cost Concerns
The average price per standard K cup is about fifty cents, which can be costly where as standard coffee ground is about half the price per cup. K cup packaging is non-recyclable, but you can purchase a reusable filter to cut down on waste. The benefit of using the reusable filter is you can cut down on spending by buying coffee grounds, too!
Neither is necessarily better, but it seems the IT recruiters of AVID Technical Resources could not function without their K cup machine!
Gum—IT Staffing Industry Necessity
An IT staffing sales representative is preparing for a meeting with one of his clients. Before he leaves the technical recruiting company, he checks his bag to ensure he has plenty of AVID Technical Resources brochures, pens, and a folder with his notes and paperwork. There is something missing…then he remembers. He reaches into his desk drawer and pulls out a fresh pack of gum.
Ice Breaker
Since a young age, gum has been banned in schools and professional environments, but what caused this so-called taboo? Gum can actually be used as an advantage to break the ice when starting a meeting. Offer other IT professionals a piece of gum and see if they are receptive to your gesture. Another tip might be to choose a less common gum or obscure flavor to make small talk in the beginning of the meeting. Though some might not be comfortable with this approach, it can help the client remember you and set you apart from competing IT recruiting companies.
Freshens Breath
Almost every technical recruiter has had the experience of going to speak to someone and wanting to do an immediate one-eighty. Halitosis, or bad breath, is a common, embarrassing hygiene offender. Take a piece of gum yourself and then offer other IT recruiters or hiring managers a piece. This will avoid potential awkwardness while subtly hinting that their breath needs to be refreshed.
Helps Memory
Though it has not been prove why, gum helps to sharpen your memory when first chewed. When approaching a complex matter or designing a procedure, pop a fresh piece of gum in your mouth to improve performance. If it does not help with work, it will certainly help your breath!
Before you begin bringing gum with your to all your client meetings, check with your IT recruiting manager to be sure that it is appropriate and in compliance with your IT recruiting company.