Tag Archives: IT recruiters CA

Bridging the Gap: IT Recruiters For All Ages

The information technology field, being relatively new as a professional field, is particularly inundated with generations X and Y.  It is also inundated with the problems that generations X and Y can cause in the workplace.  IT recruiters Boston to IT recruiters CA agree that generations X and Y certainly approach work and the workplace in different ways than their boomer generation counterparts.

There are many examples of disparate views IT recruiting companies see between generations as they attempt to fill IT jobs.  For instance, IT staffing agencies know from experience that while baby boomer managers tend to have experienced the workforce in only one or two companies, generations X and Y don’t operate on the same sense of a strong loyalty between company and employee. IT staffing companies also know that generations X and Y will/have already begun making more moves in their career field than baby boomers.  This means that IT job interviews can be especially fraught with tension as interviewers see vastly varied resumes that they do not expect.  It is the role of the IT recruiting agencies to help mold the resumes and the IT managers’ expectations to something closer to the middle.  IT managers can be persuaded to have more realistic expectations of a generation X or Y candidate, while IT staffing firms can coach IT consultants to understand and work harder to meet the expectations of a baby boomer IT manager.  The best asset technical recruiters can have in a market with two largely clashing sets of generations is to know how to bridge them and their expectations.  Happy generations X and Y and baby boomer IT professionals make for happy clients and candidates.  And happy clients and candidates make for very happy IT headhunters.

Change in the IT World: Necessary and Risky

Facebook’s changes this week certainly haven’t gone unnoticed by IT recruiters or the rest of the world.  While analyses on the details of these changes vary, the consensus seems to be one that the information technology world, and thus technical recruiters and IT consultants, have long understood: Change is key to staying relevant, but it needs to be done with caution.  IT recruiting firms and the IT professionals they work with often seek the balance between change and prudence in their work.  Frivolous change, change done solely for the sake of meeting technology’s break-neck pace, can meet loud criticism.  And loud criticism can mean the demise of a person or company’s reputation—at a break-neck pace, of course.

Marissa Mayer at Yahoo has also been struggling with similar issues.  As IT staffing firms and IT contractors watched her call all Yahoo employees back to work, they also saw the criticism pour in.  The results of Mayer’s change are yet to really be seen, but the consequences of shaking things up have certainly already manifested themselves and Mayer’s reputation has taken a hit.  Of course, not everyone is as visible in their actions as Mayer and Facebook, but the lesson for IT recruiting agencies and anyone else in the information technology field is just to make change cautiously.  Even when the industry standard requires IT recruiters CA to IT recruiters Boston to make change quickly to remain relevant, these changes are still subject to equally quick criticism.

IT Recruiters Rocking Out– and Networking in Austin

An IT recruiter and a music lover walk into a bar.  No, it’s not a joke, it’s happening in Austin this year– over and over again– at the highly-anticipated music festival South by Southwest.  While South by Southwest (often lovingly referred to by insiders as SXSW) the festival has become an increasingly popular haven for IT recruiting firms and IT consultants.  New technology is being marketed in the midst of what used to be a particularly grassroots musical festival, making it suddenly surprisingly relevant to the IT recruiting agencies across the nation, from IT recruiters CA to IT recruiters Boston.  IT staffing firms will find not only the place where indie artists like Bon Iver got their starts, but their next IT jobs or IT contractors to fill them.

SXSW 2013 will likely feature plenty of 3-D printing-oriented businesses for IT staffing agencies to peruse, as well as some involving space travel and wearable electronics.    IT recruiting companies may want to leave their nice briefcases at home, though.  No matter how much the information technology field is invading it, SXSW is still a gritty music festival at heart.

Americans Aren’t Convenient to Overlook in IT Field

Recently the news has noted quite a bit of American opposition to the H-1B reforms, especially in the information technology industry.  IT contractors have been alleging that technical recruiters already have a track record of favoring alien workers over American workers to fill IT jobs (even when they should not be).   IT staffing firms, they say, will only overlook American IT consultants more as H-1B reforms take place.

While the issue is obviously very complicated, IT recruiting firms obviously do not intend to overlook all American candidates, and very often are presented with a dearth of them.  IT headhunters follow the laws regarding H-1Bs and puts as much energy as possible into finding American workers because it’s in America’s interest and in IT recruiting agencies’ best interest to do so in terms of business.  IT staffing agencies can save a significant amount of time and money if they do not focus their efforts on IT contractors who require sponsorship. The hours, energy, and fees  IT recruiting companies might have to spend with immigration attorneys, clients, and job candidates are certainly not desirable when IT staffing Boston can find American workers who don’t require any of that. IT jobs, like the rest of the field, tend open and fill quickly, so time is of the essence to IT staffing companies.  All across the country, IT recruiters Boston to IT recruiters CA know that an American candidate is much easier to place in an IT job.

Cyber Warfare: Suiting Up for IT Battle

One niche area of information technology that IT recruiters are working with is Cyber Warfare.  While the name might connote violence, IT staffing agencies are actually filling IT jobs that require either defending or attacking networks.  Often attacking networks comes down to finding and exploiting software flaws, while defending them requires the opposite: finding and fixing software flaws.

IT recruiting agencies face a surprising dearth of qualified IT professionals when searching to fill these IT jobs.  IT staffing firms are coming up short in finding IT consultants to fill Cyber Warfare jobs because the skills required tend to be fairly specialized and to be especially well-honed with experience.  Since Cyber Warfare has only really begun to grow as a sector since circa the Bush Administration, the pool of experienced IT contractors that IT staffing firms can cull from is understandably still quite small.  The field is also understandably concentrated in particular areas.  IT recruiters Boston or IT recruiters CA, for example, are far less likely to come across IT consultants with Cyber Warfare skills and experience than technical recruiters in D.C. and Virginia.

Simply put, for IT professionals looking to make themselves more appealing to IT recruiting firms, it’s never been a better time to polish one’s technological combat skills.

Looking to Russia for IT’s future?

American IT recruiters, IT recruiting companies, and IT consultants are already aware of the impact that the EU’s approach to information technology on their own market, but some are just becoming aware of Russia’s influence.  While IT recruiters Boston and IT recruiters CA especially have been seeing the plentitude of talent from Russia for a while, the American information technology industry is beginning to slowly grow some relationships with its former cold war enemy.

While the cold war seemed to illuminate incompatible differences between the US and Russia, IT professionals are finding some very compatible strengths between the two.  Russian training in programming and engineering provides some impeccable skills (the same ones IT recruiting firms are already coming across in immigrants), while American entrepreneurialism provides the financial risks and growth that make successful companies. Currently, the cheapness of operating in Russia leaves many of the IT jobs in questions for Russian IT recruiting agencies to fill.  However, IT staffing companies in America may soon be finding themselves filling IT jobs that have grown from collaborations between MIT and the Skolkovo University or the Russian branch of Microsoft.  Though the Russian market is still slow to allow start-up growth, IT staffing agencies would not be ill-advised to start learning how to say at least “zdrast-vuy-tye”—“hello” in Russian.

Leadership in IT: Just do “it”?

Information technology as a field offers a wide variety of leadership roles: Project manager, Lead programmer, etc. The obvious perks of these roles are higher salaries, more prestige, more intriguing work, and more benefits or vacation days, etc.  However, does it ever make sense to turn one of these roles down, if offered?  Or to ask IT recruiters not to submit you for one? Recently, it has become more popular for business writers and leaders to openly discuss the benefits IT consultants and their IT staffing agencies might reap from turning down that leadership role.

Forbes blogger Mike Myatt states what would be obvious in almost any job market but the achievement-oriented, financially-driven American one.  If, as Myatt blogs, “You’re chasing a position and not a higher purpose,” then you’re probably setting yourself up for an unpleasant, if not unsuccessful, leadership experience.  Technical recruiters may offer to submit you for a high-powered project management position, but if you’re only taking it for the power or money you might reconsider.

It doesn’t serve you, your IT headhunters, or your potential new IT manager if you take a job that you don’t have the experience for or interest in. At best case, you will competently perform your job until you quickly burn out.  At worst, you will fail in meeting your job expectations and sully not only your reputation, but that of the IT staffing firms that placed you (and thus burn two bridges—your IT recruiting firm and your previous employer). IT contractors will get the most out of a job that really intrigues them and they can thrive in.  IT staffing companies will get the most of placing a successful fit in IT jobs and thus reflect their outstanding recruiting abilities.  So what should be your litmus test for those roles that move you up the ladder?  Let IT recruiting agencies and IT recruiters CA or technical recruiters Boston submit your resume for a role you would be excited to take on– even if the move was lateral in terms of salary and/or power.

Dealing with ethical concerns in the Technology Industry

IT recruiters and IT professionals encounter many issues when it comes to finding IT jobs for themselves or filling them for IT managers.  Though it often may not be the most pressing concern, ethics and human rights are inescapable issues in information technology as a field.  Apple is clearly one of the companies that has dealt with human rights criticism most recently, but due to the nature of technology they are not the only ones.  One major factor that makes human rights infractions harder to avoid in overseas factories is the way technology constantly updates and stages large, anticipated release dates.  Every time a new release date is set, a factory tends to require a sudden spike in labor, often resulting in a plethora of workers completing a great deal of overtime hours.

While Apple and others are working towards abolishing terrible conditions in their production, what can IT consultants and IT headhunters do in considering what companies to work with? Ethisphere creates a yearly list honoring particularly ethical companies in a myriad of industries that IT recruiters CA or IT contractors could check before submitting resumes if they have particularly rigorous standards.  When considering a specific company’s ethical track record, technical recruiters and IT professionals can benefit from a quick Google search.  Human rights infringements are, of course complicated matters.  IT recruiting agencies or IT consultants may need to skim a few different articles to get a balanced perspective on exactly how ethical or unethical a company is.  It’s important to note that the search doesn’t have to just be for one’s own edification.  IT professionals in IT job interviews or IT staffing firms in meetings with IT managers or potential clients can definitely display interest in a company with a mention of its stellar ethical record.

A lesser-known neonatal unit of America’s IT Industry

Since the IT job market often insists that it’s not what you know, but who you know, it seems it would be wise for IT consultants to know who has the technical job opportunities they’re seeking.  The source of many of the IT jobs that technical recruiters are working on is actually an area more known for its political conflict than its technical acumen: Israel.  Despite all of its internal (and external) turmoil, Israelis can all seem to agree that innovation is key.  Dubbed “The Startup Nation,” Israel has birthed 12 companies alone that just Cisco has bought in the past decade or so.  With such high contributions to the information technology industry, there is no doubt that most IT staffing firms are filling jobs with Israeli origins.

 What makes Israel a natural origin of some of the jobs IT headhunters have on supply?  The Economist posits that Israel’s innovative nature comes from its land: as desert dwellers, Israelis are highly practiced at creativity.  Living with a constant water deficiency turns out to be a perfect problem-solving boot camp.  IT recruiting agencies and IT contractors might also find themselves working with Israeli-born companies because English is highly prevalent there, as are all of the standard business practices of a largely democratic nation.  IT recruiters MA and IT recruiters CA may hardly notice they are working with a foreign-born company when they encounter of the many Israeli start-ups the American market has acquired.

What can IT staffing agencies and IT consultants do with this information?  Use it for even more preparation in IT job interviews and the process of submitting prospective candidates and their resumes.  Knowing that a sizeable portion of the Information Technology market has originated in Israel, IT recruiters can further inform their research.  A candidate or IT recruiter who knows more about the company they’re working for is always more successful.

H-1B’s Might Drive Change for IT Recruiting Companies

It might be January, but today feels more like Christmas Eve to the information technology industry.  As a bipartisan group of senators are set to present a bill that will increase the H-1B cap (and increase it again, depending on the demands of the market), IT recruiting firms, IT managers and IT contractors are waiting with baited breath.  IT jobs are very often sought-out by immigrants in need of H-1B’s and IT recruiters Boston and IT recruiters CA will likely be affected with the rest of the technology market if the bill is passed.

In addition to a general strengthening of the industry, IT headhunters are likely to see a surge in foreign applicants’ resumes for technical jobs if the bill is passed.  Previously, technical recruiters and IT consultants alike tended to count on the number of H-1B’s evaporating quickly.  This bill may change the game for IT recruiters San Diego as IT jobs become more open to immigrants and as companies reap the more indirect benefits of the bill.  Even if the bill does not pass, it marks considerable progress toward a bill like it passing one day in the future.  Whatever the result, IT staffing firms are sure to remember this day for a long time.