How Women Can Tap The Massive Opportunities In Tech

There is no escaping the huge opportunity that tech-skilled positions present in today’s hiring marketplace. These high in-demand jobs are expanding at a rate faster than availability of talent, driving employers to develop more creative and substantial hiring packages to compete for these sought after candidates.

Despite the tech talent pool shortage, women continue to be under-represented at all levels in the tech industry. Diversity and addressing “women’s issues” has become the hot topic as many companies of all sizes have started taking action to overcome biases and improve hiring opportunities for women. It does not immediately fix the challenges that women face, but the good news is that women can take charge and be proactive in their approach to gain an edge, get hired and thrive in tech roles.

Choose a Tech Career Path

Women need to want and choose a tech career path. With today’s modern culture and economy dependent so much on software, the technology field represents a huge opportunity and females with technical skills can take advantage of this. A recent report from Cisco reveals one million job openings in 2016 for cyber-security alone. Demand is expected to rise to 6 million globally by 2019.

However, research by Harvey Mudd College identified three primary reasons why women did not choose to pursue roles in the tech industry:

• Young women did not consider a career in tech to be interesting.
• They doubted their ability to be successful at it.
• They did not believe that they would be working with people with whom they would feel comfortable.

The starting point is young women opting a tech-focused learning path. The jobs are out there for the taking, and women are in a great position to take advantage of getting trained to succeed in the tech scene.

Have a Job Search Strategy

Just as with any job search, having a plan goes a long way to finding the right company fit. For example, using online and social communities to discover or crowd-source advice prior to submitting a resume can help women address any preconceptions about the company’s culture, work environment, leadership, work-life balance, harassment, equal pay, etc.

Women can also ready themselves to enter male-dominated workplaces by setting their own tone. A critical challenge facing women is the way they can begin to feel, act, or are expected to act, when working with men. The key is for women to stay true to who they are and avoid comparing themselves to male counterparts. Everyone has their own unique progress and growth experience and women should avoid feeling that they need to take on the traits of men to advance in tech roles.

Joining a professional women’s tech-focused networking group is also a great way for aspiring female techies to get the insights, connections and mentorship to launch or advance their career.

Taurean Consulting is a 100% women-owned business and we work extra hard empowering our female tech candidates to excel in full time and contract placements. It doesn’t stop once they are hired; we remain active in providing opportunities for their continued development of in-demand skills. We also consult with hiring companies to establish how they can support and inspire the female techforce in their workplaces.

10 Tips To Help You Ace Your Next Job Interview

Getting ready for an interview can cause a lot of anxiety in many people. Especially when it’s a position that you really want to land. Your resume has impressed enough to get you through the door. But despite your skills and qualifications, how the interview goes will determine whether you make the final cut. Knowing what to do and not to do can help put you at ease.

These tips will help you avoid making common mistakes that can get in the way of landing a job you really want.

1. Don't be late

It seems obvious but pay extra attention to the time. Arriving late can throw off the interview before it’s even started. Plan ahead to ensure that you get to the venue around 10 minutes before the interview begins. This will give you time to get composed. Being on time starts you off with a positive impression and allows you to continue to build positive rapport with the hiring team.

2. Don't appear uninformed

Don't go for an interview without knowledge of the company. Once you get invited for an interview make sure you do enough research to be well informed on the company’s goals, missions, visions, as well as the position you are being interviewed for. If you know anyone working in the company you could also try to get more information about the company from them.

When you can ask relevant questions and speak to the company’s latest news and events it demonstrates to the hiring team that you have a genuine interest in being a part of the company.

 3. Don't answer the phone

Before getting into an interview room, ensure your phone is off or on silent mode. Having your phone out in view, answering phone calls or replying to messages presents as rude and not fully interested in the interview. This in turn gives an impression on how you may conduct yourself in your new role giving the hiring manager one more checkpoint to filter out interviewees.

4. Don't be negative

Negative talk of any kind will not serve you well in an interview. Make sure you do not talk ill of your current or previous employers. The hiring manager does not want a person who is likely to talk negative of them in future.

Also, do not fall in to negative delivery when it comes to presenting yourself during the interview. Showing self-doubt through your words and how you frame your responses, or even through your body language, can jeopardize your success. Sit up straight, make eye contact and be direct about why you are the one the company should not let get away.

5. Don't be untruthful

It might be tempting, because you want the job so badly, to try and mold yourself into the perfect match for the position. But being untruthful on your resume or in how you respond to interview questions can quickly lead to negative repercussions and losing your place in the running.

The hiring manager might pick up on a lack of authenticity or lead you down a path of questioning that digs you in to a hole. Impress, instead, with your truth, positivity and clear presentation of how you propose successfully impacting the position…your way.

6. Don't get too personal

Hold back the sharing of too much about your problems, family issues, and troubles. It’s one more thing that can sway the interview off track. Stick to the questions asked and avoid giving very personal information. Don't also ask the hiring staff personal information.

Focus more on talking confidently about your skills and accomplishments. Prepare great questions that show the hiring manager a forward style of thinking that can take you one step closer to landing the job.

7. Don't use foul language

Be selective of the words that you use. Avoid cursing or using inappropriate language and references that will cause embarrassment. Be polite, speak confidently, and don't be overly aggressive. Remember, you are not only being interviewed for a position but also how you will fit into the company culture.

8. Don't talk about money

Unless you are asked about expected salary don't jump into asking about money. You may seem more interested in the money than the job. Don't ask also about time off, bonuses, and vacations.  Leave this until you get through to the second interview and closer to negotiating your contract.

Instead, as the interview draws to a close, openly ask the hiring manager if there is anything that would create hesitation in hiring you, and if so, what that might be.  Understanding what creates a barrier to securing the position presents a final chance to clarify or provide more information to help move you on in the process.

9. Don’t forget to follow up

Remember to send a personal handwritten thank you note or email to the hiring manager within 24 hours after the interview. Keep it simple, brief and direct reinforcing your interest in the job and the qualifications that make you a serious candidate.

The thank you note also provides a great opportunity to include any appropriate information that you may have forgotten to mention in the interview as well as reinforce your response to any questions or concerns raised relative to you being the best match for the position.

10.  Don’t overlook using a good recruiter or staffing agency

Recruiters build their success through making sure that their candidates make it to and survive the final cut. So any good recruiter is going to assist in making sure that their candidate is thoroughly prepped. 

TaureanConsulting Group, for example, develops an interview strategy with each candidate based on knowing what our employers want and helping candidates present the best version of themselves, directly and confidently.

If your current job outreach is not getting the results that you want, connect with a strong recruiter or staffing agency that specializes in your positions and let them help you elevate the opportunity to ace your next interview.

Hot Trends for Social Recruiting Top Talent

Recruitment has long gone beyond traditional job posts on print and online media. According to Pew Research 65% of adults now use social networking sites providing rich opportunity for recruiters and hiring managers to create positive social exposure for available positions as well as connect to potential candidates. With over 75% of corporate recruiters now leveraging social media in some capacity, social recruiting has emerged a key source for finding top talent.

Here are some hot trend factors for strengthening your social media recruitment strategies:

Connect, Don’t Expect.

Put yourself or your company out there and be social where your core talent pool hangs out on the web. Use social media as a database of talent or a cost effective and efficient advertising platform or a combination of both. The most important thing is that recruiters create opportunities to seek out and reach out and connect to the talent pool to candidates rather than expect that the best talent will just stumble upon your job-opening advertising.

Where to Be Social

Some of the frequently used platforms for social media recruitment are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, BranchOut, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn. Facebook is still the biggest social network out there with usage by 71% of online versus 28% using LinkedIn. That said, LinkedIn continues to dominate the professional social media sector with over 300 million registered users, including over 39 million students and recent college graduates, providing abundant ground to find top candidates.

Positive Presence

Social media is a two-way street. While you are on the lookout for the right talent, job seekers are on the lookout for a great place to work. Therefore it becomes important that your social networking and profiles convey the right and accurate message to the job seeker, as it then becomes the face of your organization and builds your reputation. Your page and posts on social platforms are equally as important as your website and the same attention to conveying your voice and presence should be applied.

Plug In to Online Job Boards

Social media recruitment need not be a standalone solution and increased visibility and reach can be achieved when used as a plug-in to several job boards such as Monster, Indeed, SimplyHired, Naukri, ZipRecruiter as well as most Applicant Tracking Software (ATS).

Activate Social Referrals

Hands down, the best way recruiters attract top talent is through referrals. Research data has proven that people hired through a referral stay longer and are likely to be a better overall fit and performer. Also, referrals decrease the amount of time recruiters need to spend searching for potential candidates and cost outlay. That’s why referral recruitment strategies are fast growing in importance. Motivate your teams and your social networks to share jobs and refer people as a way of actively finding top qualified talent. There is also specialized software that you can use - such as Zao - to help engage and manage referrals and social hires.

Pre-planning Lets You Make the Right Hire the First Time

For many companies, staffing is their biggest line item. If people are your biggest corporate investment, then how you hire has a tremendous impact on the success of your company. A bad hire can cost you in productivity, morale, and other ways. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that a bad hiring decision can cost 30 percent of the employee’s annual salary: that’s $15,000 in addition to a $50,000 salary for an average employee. And it costs an average of $7,000 to replace a salaried employee; $10,000 to replace a mid-level employee, and $40, 000 to replace a senior executive.

To protect your staffing investment, it’s important to make the right hiring decision the first time. If you use the right employee assessment tools and hiring criteria, you can avoid bad hires before you interview your first candidate.

CLEAR WORKFORCE PLAN

To minimize bad hiring decisions, you need to start with a clear workforce plan.  This means identifying key employees and decision-makers, their roles, and having an HR strategy in place that both identifies your staffing needs and the expertise you need before you start filling a position. When developing your hiring strategy, you need to understand what specific skills you are seeking:

• Assess the organizational structure first. Where does the open position fit within the organization? Does the role have a clear purpose that supports the company mission
• Determine if there is there a complete job description? Has the supervisor developed a job description and has HR vetted that description? Be sure the job description is comprehensive and adequately describes the job, including possible future duties.
• Identify the minimum qualifications for the position. Are there special skills or credentials that may be needed, such as CPA, MA, MD, or PhD, or specific software or tech skills? Are certain experience levels required, or a number of years of service, or certifications?
• Analyze your compensation plan. You want to perform a competitive analysis to make sure the salary package is competitive with room for growth. You get what you pay for, so being able to offer a competitive salary will help attract the best candidates.

PERFORMANCE BASED JOB DESCRIPTION

A common mistake that many hiring managers make is writing a skills-based job description that only outlines the requirements to do the job. A better approach is to describe the role within the company. A performance-based job description provides a better measurement of how a candidate will perform based on the expectations of the job. For example, if you were hiring for a sales position, a skills-based job description would require: a college degree, strong interpersonal skills, years of industry experience, number of years of sales or customer service experience.

The criteria are broad-based and will fit a wider range of applicants. To narrow the field, you can use a performance-based job description for the same role that might include:

• Expected to book 20 product demonstrations per month
• Achieve sales quota within first 90 days
• Achieve 20 percent customer renewal rate
• Responsible for incoming query calls and routine customer questions

The performance-based job description sets the expectation for both the candidate and management. It also provides a benchmark for employee assessment before the candidate is even hired. Get specific with the tangible skills and capabilities that the position requires.

EFFECTIVE HIRING ASSESSMENT

It has also been proven that an effective hiring assessment should cover:

• Day-to-day responsibilities, such as routine responsibilities. A “day-in-the-life” scenario will weed out a number of poor candidates.
• Employee expectations, such as performance indicators, required duties, and job metrics.
• Cultural fit, including alignment with the corporate culture and potential career advancement.

Hiring for highly qualified tech talent can often prove challenging and you can benefit from partnering with a specialized tech-recruiting firm who can help to accurately review and evaluate the tech skills of candidates, and assist your company to make smart hiring decisions.

Proper preplanning and employee assessments before you hire can result in tremendous savings. It always makes sense to hire right the first time than to use trial and error. With the right tools and tests, you narrow the field before you even start your search and make it easier to find the perfect candidate. 

3 Smart Reasons You Should Use A Staffing Agency To Recruit The Best IT Talent

The hiring process for IT talent is critical to a company; not only to find people with the right set of skills and technology knowledge but to find the right people who are a fit with a company’s culture, existing IT teams and vision. To do it right and ensure successful hires, a company is looking at investing a lot of time in to planning, reaching out, engaging, filtering, interviewing and negotiating with potential IT candidates.

A smart way to go is let a professional staffing agency handle the entire process and here are 3 top reasons why:

1.   IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO TOP IT PROFESSIONALS

A professional staffing agency has an existing and immediately accessible network of high-level tech candidates. These candidates have been prescreened, pre-interviewed and oftentimes tested for skill capabilities.

At Taurean Consulting we take it one step further. Part of our screening process includes making sure that all candidates receive online training to elevate their skills as well as acquire the certifications that have become requisite for many tech positions.

A good staffing agency will be also be proactive in deploying innovative strategies to attract top IT talent consistently so if the best candidate for your need is not immediately available, they’ll know exactly where to go and how to represent your company in finding the right fit from an external search.

2.   SAVE VALUABLE TIME

You’ve got other things to do! It’s easy to underestimate just how much time and energy the hiring process takes, especially in a high-demand tech talent pool. From placing ads, going through resumes, short-listing candidates, scheduling interviews, dealing with interview reschedules, developing and negotiating packages that attract and retain top talent… and all the paperwork.

To make a winning hire and get the tech talent that you really want, it takes a relentless focus on recruiting. It also takes knowing how to influence and close the candidates that you want. This is where a staffing agency excels and can make getting the right talent on board as easy and effortless as possible. Finding the right staffing agency to be your partner in recruiting can be invaluable in saving you time as well as ensuring a successful hire.

3.   MAKE THE HIRING PROCESS A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

Top tech talent is in hot demand, which puts a higher level of pressure on the recruiting process. Your company is often in the position of being interviewed as much as you are doing the interviewing. Then getting the talent that you really want can become a high stakes negotiation. And even after all that, have you had time to ascertain if there is a right fit with your company culture and the rest of the IT department team? Are you enjoying this yet?

Staffing agencies understand how to represent and fulfill the needs of both talent and employer and will navigate and facilitate end-to-end recruiting solutions. Developing a strong relationship with an experienced IT staffing agency will prove invaluable to ensure that recruiting is always a positive experience for your company. They will handle every aspect of what can become a daunting situation allowing you to focus on showcasing your company and attracting the talent that you really want in the interview.