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IT Staffing: Unemployed…Now What?

January 27th, 2012

You lost your job due to a recent layoff and you are not alone.  Plenty of IT job seekers are in the same situation as most unemployed IT consultants.  They know what they should be doing, they hear it every day, and it becomes frustrating.  Rather than simply blasting resumes to technical recruiters and going on countless IT job interviews, supplement your daily routine with activities you did not have the chance to enjoy until now!

Unpaid Experience: Volunteering and Internships

Volunteering is a sacrifice of your time to help others.  While volunteering may not lead to a career opportunity, you will still be helping those who may be less fortunate than you.  Hiring managers and IT staffing firms would rather see prospective candidates make use of their free time by voluntering rather than waiting for IT jobs to land at their feet.  This selfless act shows a passion to work and dedication without necessarily a paycheck.  Use internship and volunteering opportunities to keep your skills sharp, network with managers, and potentially be hired fulltime. 

Discover a New Hobby

Have you ever wanted to run a marathon or learn to crotchet?  Maybe you wanted to travel across Europe or visit college friends, but never had the time.  Well, the time is now!  Depending on your budget and goals, turn this unfortunate event into an opportunity to achieve your dreams and provide an excellent topic to discuss with IT recruiters.  With the proper planning, you will not regret your choice or wonder what if you had done things differently.   

Further Your Education

Make yourself more valuable to hiring managers and technical recruiting companies by enhancing your skill set.  You will be more marketable by IT recruiting companies with new experience and the latest technical skills.  If a certain area of technology interests you, test it out and you may enter competitive, emerging fields.

Being unemployed is less than ideal, but having a plan can ease the transition from jobless to a new career.

Should IT Recruiters Respond to Emails on Vacation?

January 25th, 2012

You have planned a week long getaway from the IT recruiting office in another country, far away from hiring managers, ongoing IT job interviews, and IT consultants.  You set up your auto response and request all urgent matters be sent to a fellow technical recruiter.  Before you press save, be mindful of these vacation email response tips.

Spam

Providing an automatic response confirms your email address to potential spammers.  Before you give out your account managers or technical recruiters email addresses in your vacation auto-reply, which may also expose them to spam, try to customize your message for those on your contact list and then others.  Also, you may want to set up the response so it only reaches contacts once so they are not repeatedly spammed with your out of office message. 

Location

For security purposes, do not provide the location of your vacation or the itinerary unless it’s a trusted family member or friend.  Letting others know your house will be vacant during your absence imposes a threat of vandalism and theft.  Also, others outside IT staffing firms simply do not need to know your business.

Warn Ahead of Time

The IT staffing world will go on without you while you are on your holiday so think twice before you check your email.  Warn others at technical recruiting firms ahead of time for projects that will need your approval, consent, or opinion.  By repeatedly checking and responding to emails while you are away, you are letting work consume your life and disrupt your time to relax.  By providing a heads up, there will be no excuse, guilt, or blame for when you return.

IT Recruiters Should Borrow and Share Ideas

January 23rd, 2012

At a young age, IT recruiting firms have been encouraged to be creative, unique, and think outside the box.  What happens when technical recruiting agencies run out of ideas?  How can they take a thought from someone and make it one of their own?  Here are some tips for technical recruiters and hiring managers to gain inspiration from others while improving their work ethic.

Build On an Idea

There is always room for improvement at IT staffing firms which is why an IT recruiter should take the opportunity to build upon others’ accomplishments.  If certain IT headhunters have a technique, ask for suggestions and helpful tips to improve output.  A technical recruiter may be able to add to the process or make changes that are even more beneficial.  Avoid over complicating procedures, just tweak the areas of weakness one step at a time.

Apply to Different Situations

Borrow ideas and apply them to personal circumstances.  If an idea is working for filling IT jobs or sifting through resumes, try implementing the plan with other tasks.  Trial and error is an excellent way to see if different processes work in multiple situations.  Do not be afraid to make mistakes and be open to suggestions.  The best way to learn from change is taking the risk with a test run and handling the consequences.       

Give Credit

If a recruiter comes across a great idea, give props to the owner.  The more someone is praised for their thoughts, the more likely they will be to contribute in the future.  Stealing ideas and claiming ownership will cause others to be defensive and unwilling to share.  Be open and communicate with feedback and reviews.  Output will improve oneself as well as helping IT recruiting companies to thrive from internal suggestions and accomplishments!


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