Do You Answer This Question Right in IT Job Interviews?
IT contractors may encounter some tough questions in interviews for IT jobs. One of the toughest questions IT consultants may have to answer isn’t about their resumes and isn’t one that IT recruiters or IT staffing firms are likely to prepare them for. It is (or is some form of) ‘What do you see yourself doing in 5 years?’
While IT staffing agencies and technical recruiters can remind you to study up on relevant technologies or to practice basic interview questions, it’s up to you to practice a good response to questions about your long term goals. The key to answering this question well is making sure the job you’re interviewing for is a part of it, but not just a stepping stone. Giving the impression that you’ll be in and out of the company quickly would be a bad way to respond to a question like this. Practice answering this question with your IT recruiting companies and IT headhunters or perhaps just with a trusted, knowledgeable friend or family member. If you have a basic answer practiced, you’ll be ready to answer any iteration of this question well.
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New IT job? Keep This In Mind To Succeed!
For IT contractors who’ve worked hard with their IT recruiters and IT staffing firms to land a new job, it may feel like you have confirmation that you know what you’re talking about. Your technical recruiters and new bosses clearly approve of your technical knowledge and your ability to work as a member of your new team. But before IT consultants start new IT jobs, the best thing they can do is check their ego and closed mind at the door. Information technology may seem like a field where jobs are pretty uniform- what you know about one technology and way of doing things carries over from job to job. However, your best bet is to ask a lot of questions and listen well.
Even if you know how to use a technology perfectly, your new company will probably have its own corporate culture and way of doing things. Try to adapt to this as well and quickly as possible. Your prior knowledge is important. But one thing holds true even if you’re the most competent programmer, Business Analyst, or anything else. The more seamlessly you blend into your team, the better an impression you’ll leave on your bosses, coworkers, and IT recruiting firms. Companies don’t just want somebody who’s good at something in a vacuum. They need somebody who’s good at doing something within their company. Keep this in mind at your new job, and you’ll definitely succeed.
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Want to Appear Calm at IT Job Interviews? Slow Down.
Interviews for IT jobs can be pretty nerve-wracking for IT contractors. No matter how much their IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies prepare them, IT consultants may still feel very nervous on the day of their job interviews. Plenty of people, including your technical recruiters, IT staffing firms, friends, family, etc can give you their advice on how to calm down. But there’s one thing you can do to appear calm, even if none of this advice works: Slow down.
Being nervous tends to make people do everything quickly: speak, move, breathe, you name it! So to minimize the appearance of stress, make a conscious effort to do everything a little bit slower. Take your time when you speak. Think a minute before responding to questions from your interviewer. Make sure your breaths are deep and slightly slower. You don’t want to appear as if you’re in slow motion, but making an effort to slow down your actions, words, and breathing will help you appear calmer. It will also likely help to actually make you calmer. Focusing on this tactic, rather than how nervous you are, will ease your anxiety. Try it at your next interview!
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A Tip to Make Your IT Job Interviews Even Better
The art of acing interviews for IT jobs is complex—IT contractors have to be well-versed on their information technology knowledge, their knowledge of the company of they’re interviewing at, and in interview etiquette. This is all pretty standard stuff that IT consultants know to practice and IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies know to help prepare them for. There are some things that will help IT professionals go above and beyond, though and really impress their interviewers and technical recruiters. Here is an important tip to set you apart at your next interview.
Stretch your interviewing muscle and get warmed up. In some ways, interviewing for a job can be like playing a sport. Try practicing a few interview questions within the hours before you got to the job interview. Do it with a friend, family member, your IT headhunters you’re working with, or just in front of a mirror. Start cutting any inappropriate interview language out of your speech so you’re already used to it when you show up at your potential employer’s office. Get your head in the zone as you travel there. Interviewing requires a different mind-set and you’ll do yourself a favor if you’re already in it the moment you arrive at the interview. Think about the way professional sports players have been running drills for at least 30 minutes before a big game and apply that to your next interview. It will help you really hit a home run.
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