When it comes to searching, applying, and interviewing for a new job, most tech professionals have a pretty clear understanding of the things they definitely should do: submit up-to-date and clear resumes; search multiple sources for opportunities; dress appropriately – just to name a few. What’s often less clear – but is no less important – is what they should not do.

Here are the top four mistakes to avoid when searching for a new tech job:

Submit an application, resume or cover letter with grammatical errors

This one is probably fairly obvious, but you would be surprised by how often it happens. Make no mistake: First impressions matter a great deal when it comes to finding a new job. These documents are the first point of contact you’ll have with a potential employer and should be checked, double-checked, and triple-checked to ensure they’re free of any typos.

Abuse your connections

When looking for a new job, it’s natural to want to bypass the exhaustive hiring process by looking for favors from connections you have within the industry. This is not a good look for anyone. When you’re seeking new opportunities, it’s totally appropriate to reach out to your connections to ask questions about potential opportunities; however, you should not expect them to go out of their way and pull strings for you.

Be terse in your descriptions of previous roles

Going back to the importance of being thorough with your resumes for a moment: It’s vital you go into some depth when you’re outlining the responsibilities you had and the skills you gleaned from previous roles. Employers use your previous job descriptions to gauge how qualified you are for the role you’ve applied to, so you should be as clear as possible about how your past has prepared you for your next position.

Don’t be overconfident

Don’t get us wrong – confidence is a great quality to have when applying and interviewing. It demonstrates that you’re leadership material and capable. But it’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Watch out for language in your cover letter, resume, email communications or interviews that suggest it’s somehow inevitable you’ll be handed this job. When in doubt, it always pays to be humble about your accomplishments, credentials and ability.

 

If you’re ready to get started in your search for an exciting new role in IT, check out our jobs page.

 

For the last two decades, the rise of Silicon Valley has coincided with tech’s rise to preeminence over all other industries and products. The industry has also served as the guiding light for how workplace cultures should be organized in order to maximize harmony, creativity, and productivity. Open office plans and in-office beer taps are now more or less taken for granted in modern offices, but they are only a very recent innovation that began in tech.

 

In recent years, however, voices from the rank and file within the tech industry, previously hidden within layers of bureaucracy but now empowered by the internet, have made it known that the bubbly and bright work culture we all associate with tech is more or less a facade, covering up a dark underbelly. Poor workplace conditions, shadow workforces, unfair pay, and sexual harassment scandals have bubbled to the surface, which has led the media to declare that tech has entered a “culture crisis.”

 

As with any case where we could point to the downtrodden masses speaking out against unfair treatment from an elite group, this “crisis” in tech foreshadows not the entry into a dark age for tech, but rather the unfolding of a renaissance. Professionals are rising up in every sector of the IT industry, making it known to corporate bosses that long hours, lack of diversity, and impersonal workplace conditions that have long defined the industry (despite the open office plans and ball pits) must be changed.

 

The solution, as is being discussed in tech circles around the world, is to build a new workplace culture for the industry, one that is based not solely on output and innovation but is also focused on diversity, inclusivity and dissolved-hierarchical boundaries. What’s needed, as tech workers and leaders the world over have been unequivocally demanding, is a tech industry in which more women and minorities are represented in leadership, and employees at all levels are able to freely voice concerns to industry leaders. In this way, the forward progress of the industry would become a collaborative, cooperative, inclusive project.

 

Build Your Team with NueVista

Are you looking to add talented professionals to your workforce? If so, NueVista is here to help you get connected with top-talent IT professionals. To get started, contact us here.

 

An IT company is only as productive and successful as the leaders, executives, and managers who run the show. At a more granular level, the success of individual IT leaders is directly determined by the productivity and efficiency of the employees that they oversee. Therefore, as IT leaders who are striving to elevate the success of our companies, the big question on our minds should be, “how can we motivate and inspire the professionals on our payroll to work more effectively and efficiently?” 

Here are our top four tips for maximizing the productivity of your IT specialists: 

 

Delegate Effectively  

The thing about IT specialists is that, well, they have a specialty. And usually, given the extremely technical nature of their work, that specialty is confined to a pretty narrow space. IT leaders who take the time to familiarize themselves with their specialists and assign tasks according to individual expertise typically see much more efficiency than do leaders that treat their IT employees as human swiss-army-knives.  

 

Provide the Appropriate Toolkit 

Workplace collaboration and communication technologies continue to continually evolve. This, in turn, makes industry leaders responsible for staying up-to-date on best practices and providing their specialists with the tools they need in order for them to work as effectively as possible. 

 

Provide a Company Story  

The narrative behind a company – including the mission statement, purpose, and values – is the glue that holds everything together and synchronizes the efforts of employees at every level. Given how multi-layered and complex modern IT companies have become, it’s all too easy for specialists within a company working in a narrow space to feel like a small cog in a vast machine. Once again, clear and persistent communication is the antidote to this problem. Regardless of the role that a specialist is playing with the company, their efficiency can be greatly enhanced if they understand how, specifically, their efforts are contributing to the larger mission of their team, their department, their company, and their industry. 

 

Provide Feedback 

Taking the time to address an employee’s performance in person is not only a great way to let them know how they’re on track and how they could improve, it’s also an opportunity to establish rapport. In an age where employer/specialist relationships are confined more and more to remote interactions, taking the time to provide face-to-face feedback can be an invaluable tactic for increasing a team member’s productivity and enthusiasm. 

 

Build Your Team With NueVista 

Are you looking to add talented professionals to your workforce? NueVista is here to help you get connected with top-talent IT professionals. To get started, contact us here. 

 

There are more voices advocating equal employment opportunities for women today than ever before. This is undoubtedly a sign of progress, but there is still a long way to go. 

In certain fields, and in the tech industry in particular, the actual number of women who comprise the workforce remains surprisingly low. Despite the fact that women make up more than half of the US workforce, they account for less than 20 percent of all US tech jobs. 

The good news is that there are some tactics that tech companies can implement into their recruitment models to increase their number of female employees. In this post, we’ll be exploring four tips for finding and hiring more women in the tech world. 

• Include women on interview panels. When you’re interviewing women for a position within the company, having a female colleague – who is ideally in a leadership position – will demonstrate to your interviewee that your company values equal gender opportunities. 

• Promote a Referral Program. To offset recruitment trends that skew disproportionately towards males, tech companies can offer a bonus to employees that are able to refer women to the company’s HR department. Incentivizing female hires in this way will ensure that that existing employees network with female colleagues, promoting your company, and resulting in a higher percentage of women in your workforce.  

• Offer Family Leave & Benefits. Data suggests that women are much more likely to apply for positions within companies that offer parental leave and family-friendly benefits. To attract more female tech professionals to your company, speak with your HR department to make sure you offer the following benefits (the more, the better): 
  • Health insurance
  • Family and Medical Leave
  • Remote work options
  • Daycare facilities or vouchers 
• Run a campaign to source female talent. If cultivating an equal-opportunity employer culture and hiring methodology is important to you, you might consider specifically targeting female candidates in your job search. Social media, online recruitment platforms, and third-party recruitment agencies can all be powerful assets if your goal is to specifically get in contact with female top-talent tech pros.  

 

Enhance Your Team with NueVista 

If you’re seeking to diversify or grow your team by getting connected with top-talent IT pros, NueVista is here to help. Begin your IT candidate search by visiting our contact us page.  

 

 

Everyone wants to earn more money for their hard work. It’s a no brainer. But even if you’ve been killing it at your job it doesn’t mean your employer is automatically going to offer you a raise at your annual review. Being patient enough to wait till your one-year anniversary may seem like a lame strategy, but it’s generally a good idea to go with some established benchmarks before boldly asking your boss for more of the green stuff.  

 

How can you earn more money? Ask for it? But experience shows us that how and when you ask for it is important to successfully negotiate more money in your job. Here’s what you need to know. 

 

Own Your Income 

The first thing to psych yourself up with before asking for a salary increase is that you are the primary driver of your income. It’s not your experience or employer holding you back; it may be your own fear of reaching your full potential.  

 

Start the process of increasing your salary by asking for feedback throughout the year. If your company doesn’t have a 90-day review in place, ask for time with your boss to talk about how you’re doing. Asking for an assessment will show how serious you are about the position and your work in the company. Document the feedback you’re getting and then use it to help you meet your goals. Then, at the one-year mark, if there isn’t a formal review process in place, ask for one. That’s a meeting you’ll want to prepare for if you’re seeking more money. Here’s how to do it. 

 

How to Handle Your Annual Review 

Do some research before going into the meeting on what the average salaries are for your job position in the area. Give some thought to your budget and financial goals. Now measure these numbers against the regular feedback you’ve been getting. It’s a good idea to sit down and write out the feedback versus how you’ve shifted your work effort to improve based on what your boss has shared about your performance. Are you hitting on all cylinders, based upon the tasks and goals associated with the job? 

 

Go into your annual review with a raise in mind. Have a list of reasons that justify the salary increase. These are all tools you can use during the review to ask for more cash. But here is the important point; chances are, you’re going to have to ask. Keep in mind that if you are in a corporate culture where annual reviews and raises are systematized, what you will receive will follow preset guidelines.  

 

Handle these tricky financial discussions carefully and professionally, but go into them prepared to negotiate with concrete action items and documentation of your work. That way you’ll stand a better chance of getting the raise you feel like you deserve. 

 

Elevate Your Earnings with a New Job from NueVista!

Sometimes even the best self-promotion and bargaining won’t increase your salary to your desired amount. In that case, the best way to land more money is to consider a new career. NueVista places candidates in positions when they’re seeking a better work culture, higher responsibilities, or more money. We can help you improve your life. All it takes is one phone call to start the process. Contact us today. 

 

 

 

IT Managers have an important job in your company. Technology has moved to the forefront of business operations; today, it’s likely that all of your major business functions are tied to technology in some way. IT Managers maintain technology infrastructures and deploy improvements to keep your business running smoothly. Finding the right professional to handle these functions is a business imperative. But in a low unemployment market, it’s going to feel like a needle in a haystack. Here are some questions that will help you find the right IT manager for your business.

 

What to Ask an IT Manager?

 

The technology the IT manager needs to know depends on the hardware and software your company is using. But the job requirements should also encompass any strategic initiatives the company has. For example, do you have a data center that you’re planning to migrate to the cloud sometime soon? Is cyber and data security becoming a more pressing concern? Ask questions regarding the candidate’s experiences with the particular stack you’re operating under, but also determine their ability to manage the people, processes, and technology in our organization. Try asking questions such as:

• What skills do you think are important for today’s IT managers?
• What is your process for gathering system and user requirements?
• What do you consider some of the top priorities of IT budgets today.
• Tell me about a time when you had to negotiate for new software or hardware?
• What are the imperatives for data security today?
• Have you ever developed a bring your own device (BYOD) policy?
• How would you organize a cloud migration?
• What steps would you follow before deploying anew software?

 

 

Find out if the IT Manager has ever handled offshore teams. Ask them how they stay current on IT security and the latest hacker threats. Also look for IT Managers that have deployed large hardware or software initiatives. If so, the chances are they’ve prepared cost analysis reports and also handled situations that required the successful rollout of new technology systems.

 

As professional interviewers, we also like behavioral questions. If you’re interviewing an IT manager, try asking:

• Describe a situation when you had to describe a technical project to a non-technical audience.
• How do you handle conflict between team members?
• What is the most challenging technology rollout you’ve ever taken on?
• Describe how you motivate your teams?

 

Take your investigation a step further and find out about their attitudes toward disaster recovery planning; a skill that is crucially important at a time when everything from natural disasters to hackers threaten our corporate technology resources.

 

It’s also vital to find out the IT Manager’s attitude toward learning new things. Technology changes incredibly rapidly today so finding an IT Manager who is focused on continual learning is your key to a great hire. To assess their desire to learn new skills, try asking the IT Manager what was the last software IT skill they learned and what they are most interested in for the future.

 

IT Managers play an increasingly important role in your business. They are the professionals tasked with everything from innovation to keeping your critical data safe. They can make or break parts of your company like e-commerce or even invoicing, because all of our corporate functions leverage the software and hardware that makes up your technology stack.

 

Find Your Next Great Manager with NueVista!

Today’s best IT Managers are part strategists, part technologists, and part communicators to lead your business. Finding the right IT Manager starts with finding the right staffing partner. NueVista has a carefully crafted process to assess your needs and then a robust professional network to help fulfill them. Reach out to our expert recruiters today!

 

 

 

The first thing to remember about tech contractors is that they tend to be project-oriented. Their main objective is to understand the assignment and get right to work. They are not interested in spending a lot of time delving into their thoughts, feelings and motivations.  

 

Tech professionals tend to be black and white thinkers. Today’s interviewing techniques have become more behaviorally focused. Interviewers like to take a deep dive into a candidate’s psyche. Their goal is to get to know the candidate with a goal and find out if they will be a good fit and have the right temperament to work well with the team. 

 

The tech contractor, on the other hand, just wants to do the job. They may be aware they are lacking in the soft skills which are increasingly in demand in today’s market. This can make them nervous and uncomfortable in an interview despite their exceptional technical abilities. 

 

What can you do to make technical professionals more comfortable in the interview process? 

 

Keep the interview as short as possible.

Don’t spend a lot of time on vague or behavioral questions. Think through exactly what a candidate needs to be successful on the job and focus on that short list.  

 

Cut to the chase. 

Get right to the point with the questions you ask. Focus on questions that can be answered quantifiably, such as data regarding previous projects they worked on. Ask how they were able to reach objectives successfully and what their responsibilities were as part of the team.  

 

Ask for specific details. 

Have them describe a project they were involved in that failed or did not go as well as it could have. Ask what they could have done differently or what resources could have helped. Focus on questions with concrete answers, not how they felt about the outcome. 

 

Be frank with them. 

Describe the duties of the job and how well they suit the requirements of the position. Keep them updated throughout the process, but with specific next steps with dates where possible.  

 

Avoid “gotcha” questions. 

Tech contractors worry about looking foolish if you put them on the spot. If you need to ask questions that really get at the core of their knowledge, make them feel comfortable and make it relevant.  

 

Give them the opportunity to present their strengths rather than looking for weaknesses and you’ll really see what they are made of. 

 

Looking to Hire Top Talent? Reach Out to the Experts at NueVista! 

If you need assistance screening technical talent for your toughest challenges, contact the recruiting team at NueVista in Chicago.  

 

 

 

In the tech industry, managing is a delicate balancing act. Of course, you need to “manage up” to meet your supervisor’s expectations. But you must balance the needs of upper management with those of the individuals that work for you. How can you accomplish that and succeed on the job? 

 

Establish trust.  

Your employees need to know that you understand their job and have their backs if trouble should arise. Don’t jump to conclusions if there is a complaint or problem. If you remain calm and hear them out, they are more likely to come to you with small issues before they become big problems. While you don’t have to be capable of entirely performing their job, they should be confident that you understand the responsibility and stress associated with it. 

 

Be an advocate.  

In the tech industry, employees frequently need to work long hours, sometimes with little warning. This can impact their work/life balance, It’s essential to recognize this, and take steps to manage stress levels. Consider comp time that will allow employees to take an extra day off or go home early to offset those extra-long days. Managers who don’t pay attention to potential for burnout or the impact on personal lives will not get as much out of their employees. 

 

Communicate well.  

Successful managers will communicate openly with their employees to learn what their goals, ambitions and fears are. Do they have their sights on a management role? Are they worried that their skills will become obsolete? Are they looking for development opportunities? Being aware of these things and putting together an action plan is a big contributor of your success as a manager. 

 

Establish boundaries.  

Your employees are not your friends. While you should be cordial and friendly with them, it’s important to maintain a professional distance between them and yourself. If you become excessively friendly with a particular employee, when the time comes that you need to discipline or correct that employee, it will be difficult. Also, other employees will perceive favoritism even if it doesn’t exist. 

 

Respect their skills.  

Too often managers in the tech industry come from hands-on tech jobs themselves and tell employees that they could do their jobs as well as they do or better. Even if that’s true, check your ego. It’s not something that’s going to foster a positive working relationship. 

 

Hire the Most-Talented IT Candidates with the Help of NueVista 

Looking to add talented IT professionals to your team? Reach out to the staffing experts at NueVista! 

 

 

 

Running an IT company means adopting a lot of responsibility. Between monitoring products and services to making sales and catering to customers, IT leaders wear many hats. Today, it’s not enough to just do all these things. If an IT leader wants to be effective, they must find ways to excel at all of them, as well.

 

Fortunately, there are many proactive ways to become a more effective, productive, inspiring IT leader, starting today.

 

Why Improving Your Leadership Style Matters

While most people can lead a team or run a small company, very few can do it well. And while it may not seem that important to “master” leadership, it is essential to remember when you have a company and a team of employees relying on you, every improvement is a big one.

 

When you grow as a leader, it benefits the entire business. By increasing revenue, for example, you build your company’s bottom line. This allows you to pay your employees more and secure the financial future of your business.

 

3 Tips for Being a More Effective Tech Leader

Whether you’re stepping into a new role or simply looking to improve your leadership style with your existing company, these tips are essential:

 

1. Reward Progress

One of the biggest mistakes many IT leaders make is to overlook wins within their team. Over time, this makes employees feel taken for granted and underappreciated, both of which increase turnover and harm morale.

 

If you want to battle this, start by recognizing small wins within your company. Even a simple “thank you” for a job well done goes a long way. By showing employees you care about their success and you’re paying attention, you can boost esteem and generate productivity.

 

2. Be Honest About Your Failures

Lots of leaders try to make it seem like they came into their positions perfect and have stayed that way ever since. That’s a misrepresentation, and it reinforces impossible standards. Instead, humanize your relationships with your employees by being honest about the struggles and mistakes you’ve faced in your career. They’ll appreciate the vulnerability and the chance to learn from your path.

 

3. Build Your Relationships

Many employees feel like their manager is untouchable, unrelatable and certainly not someone they know on a personal basis. As it turns out, this may be harming your company. Effective leaders are connected leaders. With this in mind, focus on strengthening the relationships within your company. One-on-one meetings, team-building exercises, and work retreats are all great starting points.

 

Become a Better IT Leader This Year

Regardless of how long you’ve been in this industry, growing your skills is always essential. Fortunately, these three tips will help you become a more productive, relatable leader that people want to follow.

 

Great Leaders Know When to Staff Up! Connect with NueVista!

Looking to add talented IT professionals to your team? Reach out to the staffing experts at NueVista!

 

 

 

It’s probably true that many employees have a love/hate relationship with their boss. The politics of employer and worker may make the relationship tricky to navigate. For employees, it may be tough to get a boss to even listen to ideas, let along support them. While the standard response may be, “It’s not a priority right now,” there are some tricks to help persuade your boss to support an idea or a recommendation. Here’s what you need to know:

 

First, Think Like a Boss

Employees broaching a touchy recommendation with their boss should first consider the initiative from the perspective of their manager. People at the top often have a variety of pressures and requirements that may keep them from giving you their full attention. These managers must see the entire picture, which means that:

 

• There may be competing projects and too few resources. While the average employee may not understand this, the average boss does. Consider this when making a request. It may be turned down of because the request itself, but because of external factors or competing priorities.
• Along the same lines, your timing could be off. Your boss could have had multiple people suggesting initiatives this week. If that was the case, your employer could tell you to “get in line,” and disregard your request.
• What if your idea or request simply doesn’t fit the organization’s overarching strategic objectives? This means your boss will have a hard time selling it up the chain of command.
• Or, the boss could be simply too busy putting out fires to even respond.

 

These are some of the real underlying factors that could be affecting your ability to have your initiative heard. How can you continue pushing your ideas forward, even when your boss is giving you pushback?

 

Getting to the “Yes”

There are a few things you can do to help ensure you get support from your employer, despite these issues:

 

• Do the homework to understand how your ideas fit within the corporate objectives. Test out your idea by asking the boss to describe their goals. Then ask yourself where your initiative fits within that framework.
• Plan your case thoroughly. Make sure the approach solves a well-worn problem with clear ROI. Pitch your idea in the context of a problem solved with an impact plan and some estimated numbers on improved efficiency.
• Layer in any indirect benefits to make your case stronger. Use these benefits to counteract any doubts and pre-plan your responses with these points.
• Time your approach thoughtfully because timing really is everything when it comes to your boss.
• Sell the idea like a sales person would, thinking of your approach in terms of a sales pitch, counteracting any objections and closing the deal.

 

Management means allocating resources in the most appropriate ways. Your goal is to show your boss how your idea fits their goals and positively impacts the corporate strategies and goals. If you can do this, the chances are high that you’ll succeed in convincing management to agree with your approach.

 

Find a Great Career with NueVista!

At NueVista, our goal is to help talented tech contractors find the role that is the best fit for them. Contact our recruiters to get started today!