Tag Archives: IT job interview

The Mobile Job Search

The increasing sophistication of cloud computing and smartphone application suggest inevitable changes to come in the job-seeking landscape. With major job board websites like Monster, Careerbuilder, Indeed and Craigslist offering phone application versions of their sites, it’s a matter of time before job hunters adapt their search techniques to the advantages provided by advancing technology.

One of the most powerful ways phone apps can impact a job search is portability.

Technical Recruiting Goes Mobile

With mobile job searching apps, the job-seeking landscape is poised to evolve. Candidates who store their resume on their phones can check out and apply to new jobs in their chosen industries while riding the T to a resume workshop, or an interview.

Gauging the Job Search Pace

The most obvious potential impact of mobile job searching is a shorter job search through a more efficient use of time. Mobile apps allow candidates better flexibility in maintaining relationships with recruiters as well. A candidate seeking an IT position could contact a recruiter by email via an online job posting and receive a reply while grabbing coffee. The candidate could stay in touch through Linkedin, and follow up with the recruiter a week later over the phone using contact information on the recruiter’s Linkedin profile. Mobile networking is about portability and adaptability – a job search that keeps pace with a candidate’s schedule. Mobile job searches could lead to higher placement rates for recruiters and quicker interview requests and offers for candidates. As candidate familiarity with mobile job-searching grows, additional benefits may materialize that recruiters can use to their advantage.

Here at AVID, where technical recruiters place IT candidates, listings on Linkedin and Monster are part of our recruiting approach. Adapting to the mobile job search is an important part of our recruiting strategy.

IT Recruiting Tips: Your Elevator Pitch

When you step into technical recruiting firms for interviews, does your mind draw blanks or do you spill every intimate detail ranging from your professional experience to your personal life?  You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so when hiring managers or technical recruiters request that you tell them about yourself, you instantaneously become vulnerable.  Loosen up and use these provided tips to ease through your IT job interview starting with your elevator pitch.

Prepare

Prepare your elevator pitch by sitting down and writing out your key accomplishments and experiences that are unique to you.  After you have drafted up some points, make it concise by highlighting your education and employment history.  Keep repeating until you have the most important facts along with a theme.  This will be your elevator pitch.

Longer is NOT better: You have the whole interview to discuss your other relevant experience and resume, so leave some material out of your pitch.  Also, after about one minute, the attention span of hiring manager and IT recruiters begin to diminish.  To maintain the spotlight, keep it short by limiting yourself to sixty seconds.

Be Honest

Be honest about your skills and experience.  Do you want your first impression for hiring managers or IT headhunters to be that you are a liar?  Embellishing what you did during your elevator pitch is a slippery slope because you will have to explain yourself later in the IT staffing interview.  Stick to the facts, but do not be too modest by selling yourself short.

There is a difference between talking yourself up and lying.  Eventually, the truth will come out and you will burn bridges in the process if you are dishonest.  Stick to the facts and win over IT recruiting companies with your personality!

Practice

Always practice your elevator pitch so there is a smooth transition from first introductions.  You may be nervous, but the more your practice, the easier it will become.  Try not to make the routine too rehearsed and vary your tone and body movements so it appears natural.

Nearly anyone can memorize a speech, so bring some life and personality to your elevator pitch.  It may be what sets you apart from other candidates and snags you the position!  

IT Recruiting: Did You Blab through Your Interview?

During your last IT job interview did the timeframe go from the anticipated one hour to two or three hours?  You may leave thinking you won the hiring managers over, but think again.  If you were doing most of the talking and managers seem disinterested, this is generally not a good sign.  Some IT candidates might speak more when they are nervous or have so much experience on their resume they do not know where to begin.  Here are some suggestions for maintaining confidence and control while not spilling too much detail during any upcoming interviews for IT jobs.

Prepare Your Questions and Answers

Look up typical interview questions and prepare your answers along with relevant examples.  When you have finished, practice by having a mock interview with a family member, friend, or IT recruiter and, if necessary, time your responses.  You do not want to provide too much detail to the point where you bore the hiring manager or technical recruiter, but you also do not want to leave out any important experience.  Ask for honest feedback and weed out any unrelated material by sticking to the point.

Take a Breath

In order to qualify for a position, you must communicate why your experience and skills are ideal for the role.  Almost everyone becomes nervous when they are put on the spot and rushing through their speech is a common occurrence.  Rather than flying through your spiel, annunciate each word and pause to check for the attention of IT recruiters and hiring managers.  This pause will also indicate you have made a point and allow them to comment or ask for further detail.

Look for the Signs

If the hiring managers appear to be bored, wrap up your response and wait for the next question.  When a manager stops taking notes, move the interview on to the next stage for new material. Checking the clock could indicate they are short on time, so get to the point!

Other Advice

Speaking too much during an interview may indicate to IT staffing companies and hiring managers that you are easily distracted or may talk too much on the job.  Also, by not letting managers or technical recruiters get a word in you are being disrespectful and frustrating which most coworkers cannot handle in the IT staffing office.  Interviews only provide a glimpse of who you are as an employee and your experiences so make use of the time with valid, relevant points.

IT Recruiters Boston Get Around Town

Ask IT recruiting companies that call Boston their home how they get around and you will get a number of answers.  The technical recruiters of AVID Technical Resources weigh in on their choice methods of transportation.  Which do you use?

Driving

Those who do not fear traffic, pedestrians, or the inevitable parallel parking in the streets of the city choose to use their own car.  While courting yourself around might seem more convenient, IT recruiters must remember the costs associated with owning a vehicle such as insurance, gas, and routine maintenance as well as the random perks of parking tickets.  To help lessen the burden of owning a car, an IT recruiter should consider joining a car sharing company such as Zipcar. Those who have flexible spending might enjoy the luxury of letting someone else grab the wheel by taking a cab.

Biking

The more health conscious or eco-friendly technical recruiter rides their bikes to IT recruiting firms or across the city.  The benefit of owning your bike is that you do not need to worry about fueling or traffic.  You will be reducing your carbon foot print, having fun, and taking care of daily exercise in one punch.  If you are uncertain if you want to invest in a bike, try Hubway bikes which are conveniently located throughout the city.  Always review terms and conditions as well as prices when considering your choice.

Public Transportation

If you do not mind crowds and a few delays, the MBTA is the most convenient way for technical recruiting companies to get around town.  The MBTA runs boats, busses, and trains to accommodate Bostonians at affordable prices.  Taking opportunity of these rides is not only good on your wallet, but it also helps the environment and reduces traffic, too.  There are private companies that even offer services to distant towns, cities, and other states.

Walking

Sometimes walking is the best solution for IT staffing firms, especially with there are one way streets and parking issues.  The best things about walking are it is a form of exercise and easy for almost anyone.  Next time you have an IT job interview, check to see if it is in walking distance so you can enjoy the weather and beat the traffic.

Boston may seem like a tricky city to get around if you are tourist or new, but once you get the hang of it explore the history and have some fun.

You interviewed for that IT job, now what do you do?

Getting that IT job interview is the first step of many.  You need to keep your name fresh with the interviewer(s) to make sure they remember you.  Sometimes there is a big gap of time between getting the interview and getting the job.  Here are a few things our IT recruiters recommend going through the interview process.

1. Business Cards

Before you leave that in-person interview, ask for the hiring managers business card.  Remembering the names of the people who interviewed you, as well as their proper spelling and contact information, is important.

2. Thank You Card

As we mentioned in previous blog posts, IT recruiters believe that a thank you card is one step you should not miss.  It gives you a chance to answer some of the technical questions you were not able to answer during the meeting as well as reinforces your interest in the role.  By going just a bit above and beyond, you can leapfrog other equally qualified candidates who did not do this.  Thank the interviewers for their time.

3. Social Media Networks

Do not go and update your status on Facebook or twitter about how well you interviewed with Company X or write anything that could hurt your chances of landing that IT job. Clients working with IT staffing agencies are known to check up on your social media networks.

Follow these steps and it will help you get that next IT job!

What kinds of questions should you ask during an interview?

IT recruiters are always prepping their candidates about what type of questions might be asked during an IT job interview. Although it’s important to be prepared and answer the questions effectively, it’s also key that you ask proper questions as well.

Answering questions is just as important as asking questions.  Clients of IT staffing agencies are looking for find candidates who show interest in their company and try to understand the industry.  Think of questions beforehand.  Ask yourself, what type of questions would I think are thought provoking if I were the one doing the IT job interview?

Here are a few questions our IT recruiters believe you should keep in mind:

  1. How did this position open up (is it a new IT job or are you replacing someone?  If you’re replacing someone, do you mind me asking why he or she is no longer with the company?).
  2. Can you provide a snapshot of this IT department over the past couple of years?  Has it grown or decreased in size?
  3. How does upper management see this position fitting within the company’s goals?
  4. What is the organization’s outlook for the next five years and how will this IT department be involved?
  5. What do you enjoy most about working at this company?
  6. Could you get into more detail about the day-to-day responsibilities this job will entail?
  7. Could you describe the management style in this group/company?
  8. What type of employee fits well with this company?
  9. Will there be performance reviews? If so, how and who will be reviewing my performance? IS there a list of criteria in which an employee will be evaluated on? How frequently will performance reviews be made?
  10. Is decision-making shared between Upper-management and employees?

How to approach phone interviews

IT recruiters understand that hiring managers are typically very busy and do not want to commit to a face-to-face interview unless he or she knows the candidate is a solid prospective candidate.  Especially in the information technology industry, where resumes often list a plethora of technologies, it typically takes some digging to find out if the candidate truly has an in-depth understanding of each.  Therefore, many IT recruitment companies are pushing clients to begin the IT job interview process with a phone interview.  As professionals become more and more busy in the work forces, this is becoming a popular first step with any IT job hiring process.

There are some drawbacks with phone interviews.  For one, obviously there is no face-to-face interaction.  The hiring manger is not able to gauge a person’s reaction to comments or questions.  Additionally, they cannot analyze a person’s professionalism (dress, etc).   Finally, it adds another layer to a potential lengthy hiring process.

However, overall, IT recruiting firms are finding that clients are moving in this direction and prefer starting with phone screens versus personal IT job interviews.  Therefore, our IT recruiters have come up with a list of tips for candidates starting the interview process with a phone screen:

  1. Research the company thoroughly.  Make sure you understand what they do, write down any questions that you might have.  Print out the job description and study it thoroughly so you understand what they’re looking for.
  2. Look the IT manager’s profile up on Linkedin so you have some insight into his or her background.
  3. Be polite, talk slowly (but not obnoxiously so) and clearly.
  4. Call the manager by his or her full name unless they tell you otherwise (don’t assume they go by Mike” if their name is “Michael”).
  5. Try to take the call from a landline.  Even in today’s cellular era, mobile phones can be unreliable.  IT recruiters or hiring managers could become frustrated if there are static, delays or dropped calls.  This could have an impact on whether you move to the next phase of the IT job interview process.
  6. Print your resume.  Make sure to keep your resume near you on print or on your computer screen.  If you choose to use your computer, make sure to shut down any programs such as AIM or Facebook so as not to distract you from the conversation.
  7. Take notes.  IT recruiters always recommend you write everything down so nothing is forgotten.  If you pass the phone screen, they are very likely to ask you similar questions or comment on some of the answers you gave.
  8. Sell yourself.  Explain why you are the right fit for this role.
  9. End the conversation with an inquiry about next steps.  IT recruiters always recommend that you find out a timeline in which you’ll hear back, or whether there is a time in which you can follow up directly.
  10. Send a brief “Thank You” email to the manager for his or her time.  Reiterate your interest in the IT job.

Phone screens are important to keeping you in the game when hiring managers are narrowing down on candidates for IT jobs.  If you still feel uncomfortable with phone interviews, give one of our IT recruiters a call.

How to market yourself during an IT Job interview

IT recruiters are constantly selling positions to prospective candidates.  Each IT recruiter knows that their job needs to appeal to what the prospective candidate is looking for, so they “sell” the opportunity (while obviously keeping the candidate’s best interests first).  Candidates should do the same in return.

Recently, we asked a handful of IT recruiters to make a list of additional recommendations.  Here are some of the responses:

  • Look presentable:  As much as a hiring manager may not care about looks, they are not going to hire someone who is dressed sloppily or comes to work late.  The impression they will get from that is that your work is sloppy and assignments might not be completed on time.
  • Show off:  During an interview you have to make yourself look good.  Show off the work you have accomplished in the past.   If you did a great job on a project tell the hiring manager about the time and effort you put into it.  It will show your dedication to completing an assignment.
  • Confidence:  The most important factor in marketing yourself is having confidence.  Have confidence in yourself and let it show during the IT job interview.  Confidence is extremely important especially in the IT staffing industry.  Having an IT job requires knowledge of technical aspects that other workers may not be aware of.  If something goes wrong, they want to know that you’ll be able to speak up about it and feel comfortable working through a problem

So remember to think like a salesperson and sell yourself!  You will see much better results with various IT staffing agencies and direct clients as well.

How to write a thank you note after an IT job interview

You have just interviewed for that perfect IT job.  Now what do you do? Send a thank you note.  Typically, you should send a thank you note to every person you meet with.  It not only thanks the interviewer(s) for their time, it also reinforces your interest in the position.  If you interviewed through a technical recruiting company, then send the thank you note to your IT recruiter.

Here are some tips that our IT staffing company offers for writing Thank You notes:

  1. Like it or not, email is the standard form of communication these days.  It not only is efficient, it pretty much guarantees delivery (with proof of delivery).  However, a personal note shows that you go above and beyond, so don’t shy away from writing a note.  Check your handwriting.  If you have illegible handwriting, make sure you type the note so that the interviewer will be able to read what you have to say.
  2. Spell Check.  Spelling or grammatical errors will damage your credibility.  Also make sure you spell each recipient’s name correctly!
  3. Take notes during the interview. Reference some of the topics/items that you discussed in the IT job interview.
  4. Reiterate your experience.  Remind the interviewer why you are a good fit for the IT job.
  5. Send the thank you note the same day – no exceptions!