IT Hire Wire

Sometimes I feel like the Energizer Bunny who just keeps going and going and going.  I have been recruiting in the IT industry for 13 years.  That is nearly a decade and a half!  I have worked in many markets including Cincinnati, Louisville, Memphis, and Chicago.  Some things have remained the same, and many things have changed throughout my career, and I wanted to share some thoughts and insights on my experience.

What Has Remained the Same

• Candidates still want to be treated respectfully and professionally. In fact, the standard is much higher today, because there are many more recruiting companies out there these days competing.  So in order to survive and flourish, you must constantly be setting the new standard of customer service.

• You need to listen! You have to listen and understand why your candidates need or want a new job, and you have to listen and understand as to what jobs they might be interested in their current search.  If you don’t, they will find someone who will.
• The market is constantly changing There will always be some great new technology that every company wants candidates to have experience with, but no one does because of the very nature of the technology being new to the market.
• Lists. Lists. Lists. Companies will always give you a need-to-have “laundry list” of skills they feel are required for the job.
• I can do it! You still have the candidates that think they can do everything and reply with “I can do that,” regardless of the skill or technology.
• You’re welcome. You will always have the candidates who sincerely and thankfully appreciate your assistance in finding them a new job opportunity, as well as those who feel like they did you a favor for taking the position.
• Resumes matter! Resumes are still important (now you just email them or submit them via an online tool rather that faxing them or, gasp, hand delivering it!)
• Networking helps too. Candidate referrals are still the best and the most likely candidates to fill a job.

 What Has Changed

• The sources. The sources for candidates are always changing.  Back 13 years ago, it used to be newspaper classifieds, job fairs, and good old-fashioned networking (i.e. asking for referrals and making a name for yourself).  I can still remember the day they connected our office’s first PC to the Internet and struggling to search the web for resumes.  Now these resume and job posting sites are the norm and we are witnessing new channels of recruiting through networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and The Ladders.  It will be interesting to see what is next.
• Contracting is now a good thing. The concept and opportunities for contracting/temporary positions have steadily increased and become more commonplace.  Temp jobs used to be reserved for administrative and clerical jobs, and “contractors” used to be the people who built your house.  These days, candidates have a multitude of employment opportunities ranging from contract work to direct hire search firms that cover all sorts of professions including IT, Legal, Healthcare, Financial, and many more.
• The employment market is always changing. I have seen the emergence of new technologies like client/server, relational databases, data warehouses, business intelligence, and many more which always have an effect on the ever changing IT job market as the supply and demand for these skills is always changing.  I have seen the challenge of Y2K (do kids these days even know what this acronym is?), the debate of H1B visas, the Internet boom and bust, the recession of post-9/11, the “outsourcing” model, and am anticipating the “labor shortage” expected when all the “baby boomers” finally retire.  What is next that will change the demand for IT talent?

What have you seen and witnessed?  What will I see in other 13 years?  Time will tell. In the meantime, I’m back to trying to find someone a new job!

Tags: recruiting

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