Tag Archives: Monster

Programming a bridge over the Gap (Model)

Could IT Professionals use some practice communicating?  IT staffing firms Boston to IT recruiting companies CA have long been aware of “The Gap” model— A method of looking at the gap between IT consultants and the IT recruiters they serve.  Hiring managers and IT headhunters are certainly looking for IT contractors who can deeply comprehend and create what IT recruiters Boston need.  However, there tend to be a few barriers that obstruct great communication between those who hold IT jobs and the IT recruiters San Diego they serve.  Generally, the Gap Model tends to note that IT consultants tend to have a higher reliance on logic and rationality, lack empathy for less experienced information technology users, have less of a need for social interaction, have a higher propensity for perfectionism when it comes to technological issues, and to operate on ‘IT time,’ or to take longer than expected to complete IT tasks.  Of course, these qualities tend to be the opposite of what technical recruiters possess, creating a conflict in work styles and communication within IT staffing agencies themselves.

When people discuss the Gap Model, they tend to compare these communication barriers between users and IT recruiters MA to the kinds of communication conflicts caused when people are actually speaking different languages.

Whether the comparison is an exaggeration or not, the Gap Model certainly suggests an important problem—one that the information technology industry, including the IT staffing industry, IT contractors, and hiring managers would all do well to consider.  Resumes, Linkedin and Monster profiles, and IT job interviews would be great places for prospective candidates to make sure they stress their willingness to communicate with a variety of IT recruiters LA.  With some of that trademark IT professional obsession and perfectionism, the Gap Model could easily become a thing of the past.

Secrets for Making your Recruiter your Best Friend

In today’s job search environment, recruiters often play an instrumental role in a candidates job search, whether the job is in the medical, financial or technical industry, or the position sought is contract or permanent. The reason is that recruiters spend each work day doing for a living what candidates do only during periods of time when they’re on a job search – create relationships with hiring managers and their companies, keep abreast of the most current job openings available, and cruise job boards like Monster, Indeed, and Craigslist, as well as professional networking sites like Linkedin and Yammer. A job-seeker applying to jobs online may encounter at least one position of interest that has been posted by a recruiter. In contacting the recruiter, the prospective candidate for the position initiates a relationship with the recruiter to determine if he or she will be a good fit for the role.

Here’s a secret: cultivating a relationship your recruiter correctly can make him or her your best friend. Mainly because that person has the potential to get you a new job. What is the protocol for candidate-recruiter alliances? The golden rule is – Imagine they’re the boss. If you make contact with a recruiter over the phone, your confidence, ability to describe your past roles and the value you added persuasively and succinctly, and clarity when defining the type of role you want to be your next will be as impressive to the recruiter as it would be to a hiring manager. The type of candidate that impresses a hiring manager is the kind of person a recruiter wants to get in front of the manager. It’s a win-win for everybody.

So here’s the bottom line: when you speak to a recruiter about a role, handle it like in interview. If you meet with a recruiter face-to-face, dress to impress. If your recruiter requests that you send references, or stay in contact once a week, make it a priority to do so, just as you would if you were in long-term negotiations with a hiring manager. Recruiters operate in a fast-paced environment – they’re not going to eat up a lot of your time. An investment of a few minutes a week on the phone with a recruiter you’ve established a relationship with could be the difference between getting the salary and benefits you want in a company you want to work for, or having to settle for less.

IT Recruiters at AVID focus on maintaining relationships with IT candidates with technical backgrounds. As an IT staffing agency that is more specialized that an all-industry recruiting firm, AVID offers candidates recruiters who are experts in staffing for the tech industry, and are best equipped to assist IT candidates with their job search.

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: Social Media Hindering Chances of Employment?

Most of us do not think twice when using Twitter to update statuses or post new profile pictures on Facebook.  We routinely monitor our activity to keep pages clean and work friendly.  But as a candidate, is your page being used against you?  Technical recruiters, do you ensure not to discriminate when filling positions?  IT recruiters and applicants need to be weary of these potential hardships social media imposes on candidacy.

Unintended Discrimination

Upon reviewing a resume, a technical recruiter notices the applicant is an alumnus of his college.  Immediately, the IT recruiter feels a connection and is favorable of this candidate.  He opens a new tab and looks at the candidate’s Facebook and LinkedIn to view his contacts and friends.  The IT headhunter begins to create judgments and puts the applicant’s resume aside.

Before reaching out to this candidate about his background and experience, this recruiter was biased by a mutual connection.  This relationship moved the candidate forward among his peers, but the recruiter did not like his circle of friends so it also backfired.  While this seems to be an immature approach at weeding out applicants, it happens more often than one would think.  To be safe, IT headhunters should avoid the temptation of judging and favoritism when researching potential new hires.

Too Personal

A hiring manager searches a candidate on Google and discovers the candidate’s Twitter.  He notices the candidate tweets at least twice per hour about controversial and personal matters that some may find offensive.  The hiring manager crosses him off his list.

When a candidate is running his mouth, exposing confidential information, or sharing too personal information, hiring managers may reconsider their choice or snub the applicant all together.  You may be a different person on the internet than in the office, but you could miss the opportunity to prove yourself by this slip up.  As difficult as it may be to make all information private, be mindful of your actions and share your objectionable opinions with only those who choose to subscribe to your tweets.

Overlook Most Qualified

An IT staffing rep decides to utilize social networking sites over LinkedIn and the typical Monster.  He posts his open IT jobs on sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  He has an overwhelming response, but none seem to be the right fit.

By limiting himself to just social networking sites, the recruiter could be missing the most qualified candidates.  Rather than just using these sites, he could expand his candidate pool by including them within his resources.

New social media sites are popping up daily and seem to be a trend that will not be dying down any time soon.  Using them as a means to expand your network is a way to help speed along the hiring process, but do not forget that sometimes the traditional method can be just as effective, if not better!

IT Recruiting Tips: When You are Caught in a Lie

Technical recruiters search the web for candidates from sites such as Monster, CareerBuilder, and LinkedIn.  When the resume of a prospective candidate catches their eye, they add it to their database and try to contact him for IT jobs.  If an IT recruiter found out a contractor’s resume was falsified and skills were exaggerated, would he give the IT professional a second chance?  The answer is typically no, but some IT recruiters may be more understanding.  If you are lucky enough to find these rare recruiters, here is how to make penance…

Admit Your Fault

Covering a lie with another lie is a slippery slope that should be avoided at all costs.  Come clean to your technical recruiter by admitting your faults and taking responsibilities for your actions and its outcome.  Explain why you lied and the truth.  It might be difficult to admit you were wrong, but IT recruiting companies will respect you for owning up to your mistake.

Take the Next Step

Apologize to the IT staffing agency and all parties involved.  If your recruiter is still willing to work with you, send over a corrected resume with the accurate dates of employment and your skills.  When you apply for other positions in the future, explain your gaps of employment or your level of skill so technical recruiting companies and hiring managers are not mislead.

Don’ts of Lying

Never justify deceit with dishonesty because you will lose track of your deception and truths.  Also, never blame others for your lies.  Only you can control your actions and by blaming another party you are showing IT staffing companies that you have no responsibility.

Remember that you can always prevent the effects of a lie by starting with the truth!

IT Staffing Relationship vs. Human Resources

Take One:  It’s 4:30 pm on a Friday and there is not a soul in the office.  You have a question regarding your pay from a week ago.  You call human resources and the call is answered by four rings followed by a generic mailbox.  You leave a message, and a week later a representative you have never seen or spoken to follows up.

Take Two: You send an email to your technical recruiter about your pay from the prior week.  Almost immediately, you receive a friendly response, along with genuine conversation asking how your daughter’s recital went and what your plans are for the weekend.

While they share similarities with human resources, technical staffing firms pride themselves on their client relationships.  IT recruiters do more than just filling positions.  They maintain contact throughout the lifetime of their candidates’ roles, including the hiring process, during the contracts, as well as after positions end.

More Specialized Experience

Most recruiting agencies have experience filling IT jobs, so they know what the hiring company seeks.  The agency understands which skills are crucial and how much experience will be required for a certain role.  They can weed out unqualified candidates and choose the best.  This allows human resources to focus on their internal roles.

Job Openings

Most human resource departments post positions on the company’s job board and wait for the resumes to pile up.  Technical recruiters are proactive because they not only post their positions.  They also reach out to candidates within their database and on sites such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.  By expanding their applicant pool, they have a better chance to find a solid fit for the role.

Network

IT recruiting companies maintain a database of current, prospective, and past clients for upcoming positions.  When a recruiter works with a contractor and has a positive experience, he is more likely to recommend him for another job.  When a role with human resources ends, it is pretty much over.  Technical staffing agencies also network with hiring managers, so they understand who would be most compatible for the required skill set.

IT staffing firms are a component of human resources, which allows others within HR to focus on their goals.  Without human resources, there is no recruiting, because the relationships are all about the client.

Top 5 IT Job Boards on the Market

In today’s age, there are a number of resumes databases that IT recruiters can choose from.  Some are specifically geared towards information technology, while others are more general sites for candidates of all backgrounds to post their resume.  We decided to take this time and rank the top 5 that have worked best for our IT staffing firm:

1:  Monster:  Although a general recruiting site, Monster continues to lead the job boards.  It is the premier place for candidates of all levels, and background, to post their resume.  It’s become such a leader in the industry that it has almost created its own brand marketing.  When you think of online recruiting sites you think of Monster.  Our IT recruiters go to Monster first when conducting searches for IT professionals or want to post an IT job.

2:  CareerBuilder:  While CareerBuilder boasts of owning a larger resume database, it’s a distant second in the eyes of our IT recruiters.  Although still a popular site with candidates, most resumes that our technical recruiters Boston find on CareerBuilder have also posted their resume on Monster.

3:  Dice:  This is the premier technical online recruiting site.  Being an IT recruiting agency, you’d think our technical recruiters would have ranked Dice among the top resume database and IT job posting sites.  The reason our IT recruiters MA listed it third is because of the sheer size of the database (far less overall technical resumes than Monster and CareerBuilder) and the abundance of H1-Visa candidates who blanket this site.

4:  Net-Temps:  Net-Temps is a solid online IT recruiting site if you’re looking for contract resources.  The reason it’s number four on our list is lack of resume volume and the fact that it’s a site for contract resources only.  Being a contract and permanent IT staffing company, our IT recruiter’s source for both consultants and full-time IT job seekers.

5:  HotJobs:  Monster purchased HotJobs recently so we cannot fairly rank this site separately.  Our IT recruiters listed HotJobs so the reader didn’t think we forgot about this once popular site.

In addition, these two sites are becoming increasingly popular.  Although they’re not your classic IT job boards with resume access, for different reasons, these sites are favorites for IT recruiters:

Linkedin:  Our technical recruiters use Linkedin more than any other candidate search site outside of Monster.  It’s not a resume portal, but it does contain the names and sometimes contact information of millions of professionals.  Although they may not be active on the IT job market, it’s a great site to network with information technology professionals.

Indeed:  Indeed didn’t make our IT recruiter’s Top5 list because it does not house resumes. However this site is becoming the premier spot for candidates to search for IT jobs.  Indeed is as efficient and easy as it gets for professionals to search for their next opportunity.  The candidate simply types in their job title or skills and the desired location, then let Indeed do the work.  The site will pull up the related positions from all sites all over the internet.  Yes, indeed, it doesn’t get much easier than that.

Facebook:  How can we speak about networking sites without at least mentioning Facebook.  Although not geared towards sourcing candidates (yet), Facebook still provides IT recruiters with the opportunity to network and even post their positions.

4G Technology & How it Will Help IT Recruiters

Mobile services companies have been updating their internet capabilities allowing any phones associated with their plans to use 4G technologies.  Although many older mobile phones may not have 4G capabilities, the new technologies may allow cell phone companies like AT&T and Verizon to offer a high speed network that will allow you to access internet at faster speeds.

So what does this mean for technical recruiters? Start preparing yourself for the change.  Anyone in the IT recruiting industry will need to start learning more about the 4G network how it works and how to make sure cellular phones are working properly with the new network.  The fast speed will allow IT recruiters Boston to browse their phones as if it were a computer.  This will allow them acess to many resume databases (like Monster, Dice and CareerBuilder) and/or company CRM’s from the palm of their hands.

There will be more opportunities in high-tech companies that develop and produce cellular phones like Samsung and HTC.  Although some of these companies have already ventured into 4G, with the mobile competition heating up and the holidays around the corner, they will be in need of more high-tech employees.

So if you are currently an IT job seeker, start researching on the 4G technology as it will give you one more skill to add to your resume that will be very useful in this technological era.

Advanced Search Results

IT recruiters are constantly searching for candidates on various IT job boards like Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice and Hot Jobs.  The resume search starts with key words, then ends with a phone call to the prospective candidate.  Therefore, as the job seeker, especially in the information technology industry, it’s critical that you put as many key words and technologies on your resume as possible.  This could make the difference with getting that first call, then subsequently that next job.

Google recently came out with a new feature that predicts what you’re typing as well as give you a preview of the search results.  This will allow technical recruiters to conduct searches even faster as it gives them the ability to quickly glance the search results as they continue to type additional key words. So what does that mean for candidates? Well for one thing, they will find more information on you and within a shorter time period.

The aforementioned IT job boards (Monster, CareerBuilder, Dice and Hot Jobs) will soon catch on to this fast and efficient advanced search technology.  Linkedin and other networking sites will likely blend their services and ultimately embrace this technology as well.

Use Facebook as a Tool for Job Searching!

As a college student and IT recruiting intern, I have noticed that there are many small businesses that start utilize social media sites as their main source to find internal resources.  Now many of you may be thinking why would I look for a job on Facebook when I can go on Monster and CareerBuilder.  The answer to that is, sometimes it is easier to hire from the network you have already established on Facebook.  You know them on a personal level and usually you can get a recommendation from another person on your network.  On the IT job boards you usually have people applying from many different states with likely no connection to you or your technical position.

IT recruiters are reporting that a number of prospective candidates are joining groups and becoming fans of pages for companies they like or want to possibly work for one day.  These companies in turn are using their fans and customers to get a better view into their consumer base.  Many of these businesses also hold contests for internships or even just have their video/print ad featured nationally on an advertising campaign.

By participating in groups and fan pages, you are allowing these companies to see the potential you have as an employee before they hire you.