Monthly Archives: May 2013

Varying Workplace Culture in IT

IT recruiters CA to IT recruiters Boston have seen some vastly different workplace cultures.  Even in one industry like information technology, there are few standardized features of workplace culture that IT contractors can expect.  Such vast differences in workplace culture certainly stem from IT managers and their companies.

Some technical recruiters find that companies believe the IT professionals who fill their IT jobs should feel like family.  IT headhunters hear that their IT consultants would regret to ever leave such nurturing environments.  Other IT staffing agencies hear about companies that take the opposite view.  IT staffing companies only submit employees who are performance-oriented and emotionally tough to these candidates and their mantras are more along the lines of “get over it.”

Whichever one’s taste, there is a workplace culture for them and IT recruiting agencies to help them find it.

 

Cyclical Happiness in IT

Information technology is certainly stands apart from most fields in most ways.  However, there is one commonality that it tends to share with other professional fields: its happiest employees are generally its most valuable.  Happy IT consultants are not just pleasant to work with, they also get a lot more work done for IT managers and reflect well on their IT staffing companies.  While studies are somewhat inconclusive, they tend to suggest what we already know: happy IT contractors want to not only meet the expectations of their IT jobs, but exceed them.

IT recruiting companies know they can make a decent match when they find among stacks of resumes the IT professionals who can do the requirements of a job.  When IT recruiting agencies place a candidate in a job they truly love, though, they have made a truly spectacular match.  Technical recruiters can generally count of a candidate who loves their job to want to really prove their worth to a company.  People who love their jobs tend to be easier to manage and attempt to expand and grow in their roles.  And of course, the more somebody does to please their manger and IT staffing firms, the more a company will do to keep that employee happy.  This is the best kind of cycle IT headhunters can hope to implement in an office: a cycle of happiness and productivity.

 

Managers: How to Respond to Requests for a Raise

IT managers have a myriad of dreaded conversations with their IT contractors.  Perhaps the most dreaded conversation, though, is when employees ask for a raise.  While IT recruiting firms certainly try to negotiate the best salary possible for IT consultants upon entry of a new job, over time this amount will almost certainly become less than desirable.  Inflation, life changes, and more can cause IT professionals to realize they suddenly would like to be compensated more than their IT headhunters initially got for them.  So how should managers evaluate these requests?

IT staffing agencies may have negotiated salary based on resumes, but raises are based on current performance.  If an employee consistently meets and/or exceeds expectations in IT jobs for a long period of time, the request if certainly worth considering.  Another criterion is if the employee brings a unique asset to the company.  Perhaps IT recruiting companies didn’t suggest him for it, but if an employee has shown a special talent that has benefited the company, a raise might also be in order.  Lastly, an employee’s raise request has should be considered with this lens: have they brought more value to the company than technical recruiters thought they could– either in money and/or in creating a positive work environment?  IT staffing firms certainly try to find the best fit for a company in terms of skills, but if the employee has demonstrated not only a proficiency at their job, but also at making the workplace pleasant and more efficient, their salary is certainly worth raising.

IT’s new Silicon Valley: Berlin

IT recruiters Boston and IT recruiters CA are used to hearing about start-ups from Israel, Silicon Valley, and most recently, Russia.  However, IT recruiting firms and IT contractors will soon be hearing a lot about start-ups from Berlin.

The information technology field has already seen a slow rise in German start-ups for a few reasons.   IT headhunters will be seeing more successful companies and IT jobs coming out of Berlin because like Russia, the city offers a cheap cost of living.  Office space and amenities for company employees keep overhead very low for IT managers at start-ups in Berlin. Like Russia, Berlin is still recovering from an unsuccessful attempt at Communism and like Russia, Berlin is now a hotbed of potential for IT professionals looking to take entrepreneurial risks.  IT recruiting companies should seriously consider brushing up on their German—it might be a necessary skill on the resumes they look at in the future.