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How Recruiters Can Help With Your IT Job Search

Recruiters can simplify the job search in the IT industry, because the search for a new job can often be a complex matter for IT experts. When you’re looking for a new job it is not just about finding the right employer. It also entails tasks such as preparing your detailed application, many phone calls, interviews, and salary negotiations that need to be mastered.

Even after going through all of this, as an IT job seeker, you still cannot be sure that you know enough about the future company and the position you are aiming for to make it a successful and long-term satisfactory decision. The entire job search in IT can be much more efficient, targeted and effective if you work with a recruiter. Here are 5 reasons how recruiters can simplify the job search especially within the IT industry.

  1. Create better applications

Applicants usually go to great lengths to prepare suitable application documents. However, a good recruiter can be very helpful here because they often know the corporate culture and the people with whom the future employee will work – at least at management level.

Therefore, recruiters can constructively support the applicant in tailoring their application documents precisely to these parameters. This then can result in an application that does justice to the applicant and provides the company with exactly the information it needs to make an informed decision.

  1. Find the right position with a recruiter on your side

The IT industry is very specialized. A recruiter can often help in determining the growth opportunities within the company the applicant is looking to apply at. Recruiters usually have a wealth of information that goes beyond the details of a requirement because they worked with the companies and their hiring managers for many years and are very familiar with their environment and their needs. 

  1. Shorten the application process

The application process in the IT industry is sometimes complicated and requires many rounds of interviews, especially for managerial roles. The various steps in the application process can be much more coordinated and efficient by working with a recruiter. Recruiters have already pre-screened applicants and have a more detailed picture of the person. They can now pass this knowledge on to the companies and represent the applicant’s interests at the same time. 

The potential candidates therefore always benefit from the services of a recruiter, because of the relationship and trust between the recruiter and the company. Of course, the company will always want to get their own idea of what the applicant is like, nevertheless, it should be noted that those who have been selected and recommended by a recruiter will always find themselves much more supported during the hiring process.

  1. Negotiating optimal conditions

For IT experts, many factors play a role when it comes to committing to a job. The financial compensation is important, but sometimes not the decisive criterion. Important aspects are the work environment and interpersonal relationships, but also perspectives for further professional opportunities.

Applicants can confidently discuss salary issues with a recruiter without fear of putting themselves in a bad light because of excessive demands. The applicants can speak openly and immediately receive feedback from the recruiter as to whether certain ideas are unrealistic. A recruiter mediates between both sides by also taking into consideration how the overall market looks like for the specific role.  

  1. The job search can be more discreet with a recruiter on your side

When IT professionals are in the middle of an established career, the thought of looking for a new position with better opportunities is a little daunting at first. At all costs you want to avoid revealing your efforts so as not to endanger your current position.

In these types of situations, recruiters do a very good job working discreetly by being able to forward resumes to the company anonymously at the request of the applicant. In this way, the new employer learns everything important about a potential employee – except their identity. 

 

There are many more reasons why it can be very beneficial to work with a recruiter. It will save you valuable time during your job search, expose you to a much larger network than your own, and allow you to get access to a lot more job opportunities out there. Most importantly, it is always in the recruiters interest to see you land a great job.   

Are you looking for the right IT job? Visit our job search page for many current opportunities. With us you will find your dream employer! Contact us to get a personalized consultation by our experienced recruiters that offer valuable guidance for IT professionals no matter what stage in the job search they are.  

 

13 Steps to a Better LinkedIn Profile

For many people, the Internet is an important platform for presenting themselves to others – also from a professional perspective. LinkedIn is one of the most important social business networks. More and more people trust LinkedIn when looking for a job and when networking; on the other hand, recruiters and HR managers use the site to find and contact interesting candidates. Therefore, the better you design your LinkedIn profile, the higher the chance that recruiters or HR professionals will notice you. If you apply proactively to companies via LinkedIn, your profile should also convey a competent impression. Many users create their profile once and do not change it afterwards. Follow these tips to optimize and refresh your LinkedIn profile.

 

Profile Headline

After your name field – which should really only contain your first and last name – the headline of your LinkedIn profile plays an important role. Make sure you have a meaningful, but concise text that highlights your strengths and focus. Formulating this can take some time, but you should take this time as the headline/title is crucial for the first impression of your profile.

 

Image

As in other social networks, the same applies to LinkedIn: A professional, personable and appealing image has a significant impact on your profile. Make sure that your picture suits you, both in terms of color scheme and appearance and that it conveys the effect you want.

 

Contact information

If you want to make contacts and build relationships, you should of course offer appropriate contact options. You do not necessarily have to provide all possible contact information. Rather concentrate on the channels that you are actively using and through which you can really be reached.

 

Profile URL

LinkedIn offers you the option of adapting your profile URL to make it more readable – and easier to remember. Make sure to use this option and be sure to choose a URL that is easily identifiable to you or your primary website. This not only increases the chance of being found by others, the links with your profile URL also look nicer and more elegant.

 

Add Value

In order to attract other members’ attention and to create real added value in the network, you should ideally share interesting content on a daily basis. These can be your own articles as well as articles and contributions from other sites and users. If you repeatedly share the content of certain authors in a targeted manner, you can also attract their attention.

 

Keywords

The online business network works in a similar way to Google. This means that LinkedIn also needs information from your profile and your behavior in order to be able to suggest topics, people, companies, content, etc. The better LinkedIn can assess who your profile might be suitable for, the better for you! This happens through the algorithm at LinkedIn, that has to be “fed” with key terms. Therefore your profile should contain keywords that someone would use to search for new employees or interesting contacts to connect with.

 

Language

The “About Me” section on LinkedIn may require some creativity and well chosen language. This is not a resume, but your chance to present yourself to visitors to your profile in a summary. Therefore, you should write from a first-person perspective and address your target group and readers directly. In this way you create a personal connection to your readers and can specifically point out who you are and what sets you apart.

 

Video / Media

LinkedIn offers you the opportunity to incorporate videos, slideshows or other media into the various stages of your professional career. Make use of this option and include meaningful videos or media here that give visitors to your profile an impression of your work or philosophy.

 

Experience

In addition to the “About me” area, the experience section on your profile gives you the opportunity to include your keywords and address potential employers and network partners. Take advantage of this opportunity and choose the experiences that you want to publish carefully while keeping your target group and objectives in mind.

 

Accomplishments

Some profiles display dozens of accomplishments. This may seem impressive at first, but it might turn into a disadvantage. When choosing your accomplishments for your profile, you should concentrate on only the relevant ones that underline your competence and tie in with the overall picture of the profile and the goals you have. If you list too many random skills and projects, it becomes unnecessarily difficult for HR and recruiters to filter out what your strengths are. Present your professional successes and achievements in a targeted manner. Include projects that you have led or worked on, highlight specific skills, and make it clear what skills and knowledge you have that set you apart.

 

Recommendations

Recommendations not only show that you are really active on LinkedIn, they also give visitors of your profile an impression of your professional network. If you give a lot of recommendations, make sure that the recommendations are visible on your profile by adjusting your settings.

 

Linkedin Contacts

With a well-designed profile, you are already doing a lot right on LinkedIn. An important factor on LinkedIn are also contacts that should be maintained. A profile with only a few contacts does not give recruiters the impression of a strong network. So add contacts to your profile! Network with all people in whom you see a benefit or who are potentially on your customer list. Maintaining contacts on LinkedIn means that you have to sort out names every now and then. Some contacts are out of date and might no longer fit your current situation. A smaller but active and useful network is better than simply collecting a large number of followers.

 

Participate in groups and discussions

One of the most important activities to become more visible on LinkedIn is participation in groups and discussions. Become a member of groups that are related to your industry or job and participate in topics that fit your specialty, your experience and your career aspirations. HR managers from companies are also active here and read along – whoever participates here has a good chance of being noticed. Pay particular attention to the quality of your contributions.

 

It is important to regularly update your LinkedIn profile. As your career evolves, so should your profile. Our recruiters at ESG Consulting, a provider of IT staffing, Engineering and consulting services can support you when it comes to optimizing your social media presence. Our expertise not only includes help in finding the right job for a candidate, but also advice on all stages of the application process and beyond. Let’s connect.

 

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Boost Your Chances For a Job Offer at the End of the Year

Many applicants think that their job chances are very poor at the end of the year. Combined with the current unpredictability of the labor market and the resurging pandemic, the job search seems daunting and not very promising. Often applicants assume that hiring managers act according to the motto “everything is new in January” and therefore postpone their job search to January.

 

However, this attitude means that applicants have to assert themselves against a particularly high level of competition in January. Take advantage of the next few weeks and increase your chance of getting closer to your dream job. Get active now and read our encouraging arguments and practical tips on why this is the right time to focus on applying. 

 

Towards the end of the fourth quarter, some companies have not yet used up their annual budgets. That is why they often fill positions in the last few months of the year. In other cases, it is worthwhile applying because businesses are looking for support due to increased workload and projects that still need to be completed. Depending on the industry, the job chances of applicants in December can be quite good. Applicants should definitely stay tuned and keep an eye out for new job postings, especially for temporary employment. Some of the jobs might be temporary, but they are a perfect way to get started in a company. If you prove yourself, you will often be taken on after the project assignment has ended. 

 

A lot of  job offers are often not yet advertised. If you apply now, on your own initiative you actually have a good chance of getting your dream job. That is the case in particular for internal job openings, because companies often first look for suitable candidates from within their own ranks. Therefore, applicants with good contacts and the ability to network are more successful. It is difficult and time-consuming for companies to find the right employees. Therefore, they increasingly rely on recommendations and references. This applies to both internal and external candidates. Anyone who is aware of that and is actively growing their professional relationships, has a good chance of being placed as a potential candidate.

 

If you are discouraged in your job search, take stock of the year and set goals for the new year, so you have a clear direction of where you’d like to be in your next career step. Where do you want to be at the end of next year? How do you want to achieve these goals? Who can support you on this journey? Identify your ideal job situation and then define your strategy for how you will find the new job. If your plan is in place, bring your application documents up to date. This also includes your profiles on LinkedIn and other social media outlets. Many recruiters also check the social media profiles of interesting applicants. If the “overall picture” is correct, your job chances increase considerably. Connect virtually with a network that you can learn from and that may help you advance and get closer to your goal. Join groups and learn how you can sharpen your skills for the position you desire.

 

It is not in your control how many interviews you will score throughout the remainder of this year. So focus on what you can control and with a good strategy you will be able to start the new year perfectly prepared. You’ll have a clear lead over your competitors, but most importantly you will increase your motivation during an uncertain time. 

 

As an experienced provider of IT staffing, Engineering and consulting services, ESG Consulting can support you in your job search. Our expertise not only includes help in finding the right job, but also advice on all stages of the application process and beyond. Let’s connect and put together a plan.