The Highly Competitive IT Staffing Industry
IT staffing is a very lucrative industry that gives IT recruiters the opportunity to make six figures + (most at a very young age). Subsequently, there are thousands of IT recruiting companies and tens of thousands technical recruiters. Therefore, IT staffing companies must find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. One of the ways to do so is to provide exceptional customer service. No matter how many IT recruiting firms out there, client companies and candidates alike will gravitate towards the IT staffing agencies that treat them well.
Unfortunately, because of the abundance of IT recruiters Boston, coupled with their ability to produce significant returns, technical recruiters Boston have developed a bad name. The consistent feedback is that IT recruiters San Diego will only call a candidate when they need them (ie when they can make money off of them).
Once again, IT staffing firms can differentiate themselves by providing better customer service. Simply put, IT recruiters CA should treat candidates the way they would want to be treated in return. This means, if an IT recruiter submits a candidate’s resume to any number of IT jobs, they should follow up with the candidate on a weekly basis at a minimum. Even if technical recruiters have not received feedback from their client, they can simply pass along a message to the candidate that says they’re trying and that he or she hasn’t fallen through the cracks.
Ultimately, it doesn’t take much for IT recruiting agencies to separate themselves from other technical recruiting companies. Their IT recruiters just need to provide better customer service than their competition.
Do IT Recruiting Firms Typically Meet Their Candidates?
Most IT recruiting firms say their technical recruiters meet with every candidate for their IT job submittal. However, that claim is unrealistic and often a stretch of the truth. The reality is that IT recruiters cannot meet with every candidate. Not necessarily because the IT recruiters Boston are too busy to meet with prospective information technology candidates. Instead, it’s typically the candidates who are too busy or just don’t want to take the time to meet technical recruiters Boston.
From a candidate’s perspective, they’re not sure the IT recruiters CA can help them or guarantee the meeting with produce a submittal of their resume never mind an interview or a new IT job. Since, many IT staffing companies simply just require a face to face meeting with their IT recruiters San Diego, even if they don’t have any IT jobs, candidates are hesitant to commit time out of their day without certainty of a submittal. While there certainly is value in building relationships with IT recruiters, one can understand the hesitation. Instead of IT recruiting companies requiring their technical recruiters meet with every candidate, they should simply require a face to face meeting only after they have identified the candidate as someone they would like to submit for an actual position. However, while this approach sounds good in theory, even this has it’s flaws. Waiting for a face to face meeting could delay the s process and ultimately contribute to missing out on the IT job. Since most needs are immediate, especially in contract IT staffing, the technical job could be filled before the candidate’s resume even makes it to the client’s inbox.
Ultimately, IT staffing firms should not make statements like they meet with every candidate. Instead, they should claim they try to meet with candidates whenever possible. Meanwhile, candidates should not avoid meeting with IT recruiters LA. Instead, they should be selective as to whom they meet with and make sure the meeting is worth their time.
IT Recruiting Around the Holidays
IT recruiting companies slow down around the holidays as a direct result of their clients closing down or running with a reducted staff. However, while there are fewer IT job placements, the holidays are a great time for IT recruiters to identify prospective candidates simply because most people are off work and home. Therefore, the very best technical recruiters will actually step it up and focus on connecting with information technology professionals that might not otherwise have the chance to speak with various IT staffing companies.
The holidays are also a great time for IT staffing salespeople. Ultimately, their clients and IT managers are typically in more festive moods, which translates into a willingness to meet with various representatives of IT recruiting firms.
Finally, the holidays also give IT recruiters Boston and IT staffing companies MA a chance to say thank you to the IT contractors and client companies that supported them over the past year. While some clients cannot accept gifts, all IT managers can accept a simple thank you and a hand-shake.
Therefore, for all IT recruiters San Diego in the IT staffing industry, be sure to capitalize on the holiday season, thank you clients and put in some extra work to find prospective candidates.
Are Suits Becoming a Way of the Past?
The reality is that business attire is becoming more and more casual. IT recruiting companies that once mandated suits are now requiring just dress pants and a collared shirt. However, is that setting IT recruiters up for success? Opinions vary, there are two schools of thought:
Pro’s:
1) Play it safe: IT recruiters Boston are continually meeting with IT managers to solicit working on their IT jobs. While most hiring managers are in casual dress, IT staffing companies understand that they are there to ask for their business. Therefore, why take any chance of underdressing for a meeting? If technical recruiters find themselves in a very casual environment, they can always take off their tie. However, if IT recruiters CA find themselves underdressed for a meeting, they can’t suddenly put on a tie in front of the manager (or if the IT recruiter happens to have one with him, he should have worn it in the first place).
2) Dress for success: IT recruiters San Diego are always meeting with clients and prospective information technology candidates. They’re always looking to make a great first impression to both as it could lead to future business or placements. Therefore, many IT staffing firms prefer to put their best foot forward with business attire.
3) Feel the part, be the part: Simply put, if you dress the part, and feel the part, technical recruiters Boston will be the part.
Con’s:
1) Unnecessary: As mentioned, many clients are business casual these days. In most sales scenarios, people like to mirror their clients so dressing in a full suit might be too extreme.
2) Uncomfortable: I don’t know any IT staffing salespeople that enjoy a tie bound closely to their throat and neck. It can be uncomfortable…and hot in any warm client or summer months.
3) Expensive: Suits are expensive. With many IT recruiters being recent college graduates, multiple suits are likely outside of their financial means.
Depending upon the environment or culture of various IT recruiting firms, the pro’s of business professinal attire seem to outweight the con’s. However, for many IT staffing agencies, suits are becoming a way of the past.
Should IT Recruiters Be Allowed to Play Music at Work?
IT recruiters are typically working 8-10 hour days, usually locked in an office, strapped to their desk sourcing through hundreds of resumes and talking to dozens of candidates each day. While caffeine may help technical recruiters to physically get through each day, music can help mentally. Therefore, should IT recruiting companies Boston allow their technical recruiters Boston to play music at their desk? Overall, yes, however IT recruiting firms must provide some stipulations:
1) One source of music for the entire IT staffing office. If every IT recruiter has their own music playing, it will drown out conversations and ultimately be heard from IT contractors and candidates on the other end of the phone.
2) The music must be kept at a soft volume. The last thing IT recruiting agencies want is to lose credibility because their office sounds like a rock concert in the background of every phone call.
3) No rap or offensive lyrics. This is common sense.
Therefore, IT staffing firms should allow one source of music for their IT recruiters CA, but kept at low decibels without offensive lyrics.
Technical Recruiters Typically Aren’t All That Technical
Most IT recruiting companies have a team of technical recruiters that really aren’t technical at all. Most IT recruiters are college graduates who have been trained how to recruit information technology professionals and ultimately talk their technical language. Therefore, the question that arises is whether IT recruiters Boston can qualify technical candidates for their clients. The answer is yes, but it needs further explanation.
Technical recruiters Boston that aren’t technical will never be able to full qualify a candidate from an abilities perspective. However, there is more to the IT staffing than just “teching” out a candidate. Furthermore, given every client has a different technical environment, much of the technical screening should come from their IT managers and people conducting the interviews. Instead, it’s the job of IT recruiters CA to screen out the non-technical questions and the variables that arise in most IT job searches to ensure their clients time is not wasted if they take the time to interview the candidates. Examples of a screening out candidates would include whether they’re interviewing elsewhere and what stage are they at with each IT job interview. Additionally, technical recruiters can also dig into the commute and even dress code and typical hours. IT recruiting firms Boston would also want to know the candidate’s motivation to make a move if they’re currently employed and whether they’re committed to an interview if their resume is submitted to the client. All of these questions are critical for IT staffing companies as they don’t want to ever dangle a carrot in front of their clients only to pull it back.
Additionally, IT recruiters San Diego can still technically screen candidates by phrasing their questions properly. Asking open-ended questions about a person’s background can uncover a number of technical deficiencies. By making a candidate explain their technical skills, IT recruiters MA can discern whether the candidate is being honest and confident about their abilities.
“Typical” Hours in the IT Recruiting Industry
If you have worked for any number of IT staffing agencies you’ll know that IT recruiting is not a 9-5pm industry. It’s anything but that. When IT recruiters leave at the end of the day, typically he or she leaves their IT staffing office with numerous open IT jobs still on the board. Ultimately, their work is never done. Having said that, while typical hours are atypical in the technical recruiting industry, most IT recruiting companies open their doors between 8-9am with their IT recruiters Boston leaving between 6-7pm.
Having said that, the most successful IT recruiters CA will beat other technical recruiters to the punch by getting in early and staying late or working from home. This is why there really aren’t any typical hours in the IT staffing industry. IT recruiters San Diego and IT recruiters LA are constantly outdueling one another to find the best IT consultants and information technology professionals on the market.
The best IT recruiting firms acknowledge the hard work of their technical recruiters CA and set up goals or days in which their technical recruiters Boston can leave early to help balance the late nights and long hours.
If you’re looking at becoming an IT recruiter or entering the technical staffing industry then make sure you’re prepared to put in the time. If you’re able to work long hours, the fruits of your labor will pay off.
The Top Rated ATS Systems for IT Recruiting Companies
Applicant tracking systems, or ATS, are critical to the success of IT recruiters and IT staffing companies. Given the sheer abundance of IT recruiting firms, more and more companies are developing ATS systems and even their own CRM that eventually get packaged and sold out of the box to IT staffing firms. There are numerous ATS systems out there, IT recruiting companies need to test drive each and identify the one that meets their needs.
In order for IT recruiting companies Boston to set up their IT recruiters Boston for success, here are some of the key components that IT staffing agencies should consider:
1) Resume search: Your data is only valuable if your IT recruiters San Diego can find the resumes. One of the most important parts of an ATS, make sure the candidate search is strong.
2) Relational database: In today’s technical world, most ATS’ should have the ability to tie all emails and activity to both the client contact and the candidate’s. By doing so, it cuts down the time it takes IT recruiters Los Angeles to search for information – thus saving time and money.
3) Mass mail capabilities: Send an email message to thousands of contacts with just one click of the button. This feature should be standard with Applicant Tracking Systems. Make sure the one you choose has this capability if your technical recruiters like the idea of mass mailing information technology candidates or IT managers.
4) Crawlers: This is a key bonus to any ATS as it help build your resume database virtually around the clock. The only drawback for technical recruiting firms is the fact that most job boards will give you a max amount of resume views so you could burn these allotment up very quickly.
5) Support: No ATS is perfect and most IT recruiting companies MA want to customize their system based on the needs of their technical recruiters Boston. Therefore, make sure your ATS has unlimited support.