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Tag Archives: IT staffing agencies

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!

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.

 

Interview Thank You Note Tips for IT Consultants

Most IT consultants hunting for new IT jobs know a lot about how to polish resumes and ace interviews.  However, it’s almost as important for IT contractors to do something they rarely do: write excellent thank you notes after interviews. Here are some pointers that will help you write thank you notes that wow IT recruiters, IT staffing firms, and hiring managers.

Write a timely thank you note, but take your time writing it.  Whether you send the thank you note yourself, or your technical recruiters or IT recruiting agencies send them for you, make sure the note is free of errors and thoughtful.  It will make a far worse impression to just dash a note off for the sake of doing so—no matter how good the interview may have gone.

Don’t cross any boundaries. Being overly friendly or familiar in your note will make the hiring managers uncomfortable and your IT staffing agencies upset with you.  Remember to remain professional in the note.

Make sure the note highlights not only why you’d be a great candidate, but also shows that you paid attention and learned more about the company.  Making the note all about your own candidacy will make you look like less than a team player.

Don’t Say These Things As You Quit Your IT Job!

Since a lot of work is project-oriented in information technology, most IT contractors find themselves leaving IT jobs somewhat frequently. What IT consultants say on the last day of the job, whether their IT recruiters and IT staffing firms have found them a new job or not.  Here are a few guidelines for IT professionals on what they should not be saying on their last day at job.

Don’t blast the company, job, your boss and coworkers, or the product or service.  Assume anything negative you say will eventually get back to somebody.  IT can be a small industry, and you’d never want to burn a bridge or tarnish your own reputation.  It’s not worth it– no matter how good it would feel to let the criticism fly.

Don’t say anything about counteroffers and try to end all conversations about them ASAP.  In the long run, nobody is actually happy at a place that gives them a counteroffer.  It’s not worth getting into any haggling over one, either.  Keeping things civil and clean is your best bet.

Don’t frame your decision to leave as something related to money.  This will make things awkward and potentially do a lot of harm to your reputation.  IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies don’t like to work with  IT professionals who just jump from job to job, seeking the highest compensation. Don’t make it seem possible to view you in that light.

 

Words IT Professionals Shouldn’t Use in Their LinkedIn Profiles

Any IT contractors looking for new IT jobs know that their LinkedIn profile is almost as important as resumes are.  IT recruiting agencies and new potential employers alike are drawn to IT consultants with concise, effective LinkedIn profiles that clearly demonstrate their experience in the information technology industry.  Here are some key words to scrub from your profile (and resumes) so technical recruiters and IT staffing agencies start calling you nonstop.

  1. Buzzwords: People-pleaser, synergy, team player, go-getter, etc.  Just hold back on these.  They don’t actually do you any favors because they’ve been used so frequently that they’re pretty meaningless.  It’s also far more effective to show you have these qualities through any achievements at work or recommendations you get from previous bosses, etc.
  2. I, Me, My, She, He, and other pronouns.  Generally, you don’t need to be speaking about yourself or others directly.  Doing so can get awkward at best and look downright narcissistic in the worst case scenario. While it wasn’t always true, IT companies currently tend to really value hiring somebody with a great personality.  Don’t risk making it look like you don’t have one by using pronouns in your LI profile.
  3. Ninja and other ‘creative’ titles.  While these might fit into your culture at work right now, they may turn off IT headhunters or potential new IT managers.  Better to keep your profile pretty conventional—your skills and experience is what will really turn heads.

Are You Actively Preparing For Your IT Interviews?

IT contractors who have been on the hunt for IT jobs before are probably used to being pretty passive, especially if they worked with IT recruiters or IT staffing agencies.  The process can feel very much like the employer is in charge, not the IT consultants interviewing.  However, if you take a more active role in your search, whether you’re working with technical recruiters or not, you’ll be more likely to find a role you love.  Here’s how:

Firstly, make sure you get a few pieces of information from your IT headhunters who set up your interviews.  Ask them not only where you’re going and when, but also who you’ll be meeting with, how long the interview is likely to be and what materials you can prepare or study beforehand.  Most IT staffing firms will make sure you have this info.  If you’re not working with IT recruiting firms or you just didn’t get this info, it’s your responsibility to ask!

Next, work through this info to help yourself prepare.  Research the company, the people you’ll be meeting with, and any topics you were alerted to be ready to speak on.  You may not use all the info you find, but at least some of it will be useful.  Perhaps you have some connections on LinkedIn in common with your interviewer, or you have a few alum from your school working at the company.  This information is worth having in your pocket in case the opportunity comes up to mention it.

Lastly, prepare all the easy things for yourself ahead of time.  Make sure you set aside everything you’ll need for the interview ahead of time.  Resumes, portfolios, suit, nice shoes, etc should all be set aside and ready at least the night before the interview, if not a day or so earlier.  It’s also ideal to actually practice getting yourself to the interview site ahead of time if you can.  Be aware of any traffic patterns that might get in your way and avoid them.

 

3 Quick Ways to Improve Your IT Job Search

The information technology industry is constantly changing and to some extent, so are the ways IT contractors find IT jobs.  While IT consultants can always count on IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies to provide them with great connections to companies that are hiring, there are some things that IT professionals can do to make sure they’re the most marketable candidate on their technical recruiters’ rosters.

1. Modernize and optimize resumes.  Take out objectives and any jobs that are older than the last decade or so.  Both date you too much in an industry that tends to favor youth over experience.  Do put a ‘Technical Proficiencies’ section at the top of your resume, listing all technologies and skills you are current on.   This will garner attention from IT headhunters and hiring managers alike.

2. Polish your interview skills.  Be prepared for phone interviews, face-to-face interviews, or even skype or other forms of interviews.  Be ready to answer questions about the technologies you specialize in.  Recruiters can prepare you to some extent, but having the basic skills already down can make a big difference.

3.  Know what you want.  Have a clear idea about what you want in your next position.  Nobody can help you get the best new job for you if you don’t have good ideas about what kind of work, compensation, environment, coworkers, and bosses you do best with.

 

Finding a Job in IT When You’ve Been Unemployed for a While

In a market as hot as information technology, IT recruiters and IT managers tend to be very suspicious of IT contractors who haven’t been employed for stretches beyond 6 months. Of course, for IT consultants with big gaps on their resumes, there is certainly hope for getting IT jobs.  For these IT professionals, it’s all about selling yourself carefully to IT staffing agencies and employers.  Here are a few things you can do to deftly repackage yourself after a long stint of unemployment.

1.      Be prepared to explain your reason for unemployment and what you’ve been doing during that time.  It’s important that either you have a good reason you’ve been out of the workforce (like taking care of a family member, maternity leave, etc).  If you don’t, the next best thing is to make sure you’ve been busy during that time doing things that still increase your value to the workforce.  Classes, volunteering, and an active job search are all great things to be doing during this time.

2.      Even if you’re desperate, don’t let it show.  Employers don’t want to hire just anybody for their job.  They want the best candidate with the most interest and passion for the position.  Focus on these points, rather than how much you personally need or want the job.  Selling yourself as the best fit, not the one what wants the job the most, is the only way you’ll succeed.

3.      Dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s.  If you’re unemployed, you have absolutely no excuses left for errors in your job application materials, your interviews, etc.  Technically, you have an advantage over your employed competition.  Make sure you use the time you have to your advantage and be prepared and polished.  It could eclipse your employment gap!

 

How Older IT Consultants Should Job Search

Since the recession started back in the early 2000’s, IT recruiters and IT staffing agencies have seen an influx of older IT consultants looking for IT jobs.  Though the information technology market hasn’t suffered quite as badly during the recession, older IT contractors seeking jobs have certainly had a harder time getting hired (while the field was not at its peak).  There are a few reasons why the older IT professionals get their resumes tossed off the pile first, but with a little attention, they can get around this and get the attention of technical recruiters and IT managers alike.

Focus your search appropriately: There are some fields that will always value older workers.  These include health care, education, government, and nonprofits.

Limiting your resumes: You may look a bit older than 35, but your resume doesn’t have to betray that right away.  Hold back on the impulse to make your resume more than a page.  List the most relevant recent experience, so it’s still powerful, of course.  Just limit your experience listed to the relevant stuff-  you can talk about the other experience if needed in an interview.

Keep your skills current: Even if you aren’t young and fresh, your skills can be.  You may really impress IT recruiters and managers if you do this, because you’ll be exceeding their expectations.

 

Brooklyn: IT’s Newest Home

IT staffing agencies and IT headhunters are used to seeing an ever-growing concentration of information technology companies (particularly startups) in California, but Brooklyn seems to be starting its own colony of startups now, too.  IT recruiting agencies and IT recruiters are finding more and more interesting opportunities for their IT contractors on the East coast as the Brooklyn Tech Triangle slowly expands.

The Brooklyn Tech Triangle, arguably the start of this Brooklyn boom, was started in March 2012 by some local non-profits seeking to build the economy of the area.  Since this very successful launch, a steady flow of tech companies have come to Brooklyn, seeking a haven for like-minded companies, IT consultants, and IT managers, as well as surprisingly low rents.  In addition to boosting the local economy, the companies have also brought with them some new career possibilities for minorities in New York City and its surrounding suburbs.  The number of minorities in IT has jumped significantly.  Brooklyn, New York City and its citizens, and IT all seem to be winning with this newfound home on the East coast.