Avoid These Outdated Tactics When Recruiting Technical Talent

Avoid These Outdated Tactics When Recruiting Technical Talent The demand for talented developers is at a fever pitch, and the supply just isn’t there to meet it. With 87 percent of developers stating that they’re currently employed and only 13 percent actively looking for their next job, it would be easy to conclude that growing your engineering team this year is essentially an impossible task. However, keep in mind that over 75 percent of the developers who responded to the Stack Overflow 2017 Developer Hiring Survey, which fielded responses from more than 64,000 developers, told us that they’re interested in hearing from recruiters about job opportunities. While that doesn’t change the fact that technical hiring is a unique challenge, it does show that you can find great developersâ€"if you’re willing to change your approach to recruiting them. Here are a few of the most common (and outdated) recruitment tactics that you should avoid when you need to fill some critical openings on your engineering team. Impersonal and untargeted recruitment emails When you’re under tight deadlines to hire developers, relying on email templates can seem like an ideal way to save yourself a few precious minutes. However, developers pay close attention to every email they receiveâ€"and if there’s any hint that you haven’t personalized your message, they won’t hesitate to hit “delete” and move on with their day. Your initial recruitment email is often the first (and only) opportunity to make a positive first impression on a candidate, so it’s important to make it clear that your message was written just for them. Start by using the candidate’s name in your greeting, and make sure that you’ve spelled it correctly. Additionally, do some research about their background, and point out a few things you’ve admired about their previous work that’s led you to believe that they would be a strong match for one of your open positions. Not only will these details flatter them, but it will also show the candidate that you’ve taken an interest in helping them meet their career goals. Recruiting without a basic knowledge of technology terms You’ll be hard-pressed to find a developer who insists that you take a coding exam before you begin recruiting them. Developers care deeply about their craft, but they don’t expect you to know as much about programming as they do. But while they’re empathetic to the fact that your job is to identify technical talent, they still want recruiters to have a basic knowledge of the technologies that their open positions require. When it comes to displaying a basic understanding of technical terms, there’s a fine line that recruiters need to navigate. On the one hand, you shouldn’t recite every single programming language you’ve ever heard of to show developers you’ve “mastered” the ins-and-outs of their jobs. But on the flip side, you do need to show them that you understand how the programming languages you’re recruiting for are relevant to the job you need to fill. If you’re ever unsure of how the required technical skills for your open developer roles are related, don’t be afraid to ask one of your current engineers or an engineering manager for additional clarity. Interview questions related only to their coding aptitude Relationships are crucial in developer hiring. Programmers have no shortage of job opportunities, but they’re highly selective and are far more responsive to recruiters who take the time to get to know what makes them tick. Of course, your job is to evaluate their technical capabilities, but the best recruiters understand that developers are real people with real career goals and concernsâ€"and that they want to be treated as such. In addition to asking them about their technical aptitude, sprinkle in a few questions about their interests outside of work. Be wary of getting too personal and asking questions that are illegal, but if you know that a candidate has a particular hobby or side project, make sure that you give them the opportunity to share details about those things as well. Having non-technical conversations during the recruitment process can set you apart from the competition, especially as companies of all sizes and industries find themselves in need of talented developers. About the author: Rich Moy is a Content Marketing Writer and Developer Hiring Expert at Stack Overflow, where he covers the latest in tech recruiting and hiring. When hes not writing, Rich can be found spending time with his wife, watching his favorite college football team with his dad, or training for his first marathon.

Learn to be a leader in tolerance

Learn to be a leader in tolerance Heres a piece in the Boston Globe about learning how to react constructively when someone makes offensive comments at work. In fact, the majority of people, it appears, will say nothing, even though a comment offends their sensibilities. Decades of research into bystander apathy shows that people freeze when they are in a group. In one 1969 laboratory experiment, people were put into a room where they heard someone behind a curtain moaning about a hurt leg. Seventy percent of those who were alone offered help, compared with just 40 percent of those who were with a stranger. This does not surprise me. I am Jewish but for some reason, bigots do not realize that Im Jewish. So I hear a lot of slurs against Jews and they always catch me off guard. Once my boss made a comment about getting Jewed out of something, and I said, Im Jewish. Certainly, there are better responses one that would educate, perhaps. But I couldnt think of one on the spot. I remember as a kid being told by the Just say no campaign how important it is to rehearse beforehand. I think this is true for diversity training as well. Its very hard to come up with the right thing to say in the moment, but its important. To be a leader at work, you need to be a leader at bringing tolerance to the workplace. People who matter will admire and appreciate you for this.

How to Effectively Handle Objections While Telephone Job Prospecting - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

How to Effectively Handle ‘Objections’ While Telephone Job Prospecting - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Editor’s Note: This blog is an adaptation of the chapter entitled, “Never Rebut an Objectionâ€"Roll with it!,” in “‘Headhunter’ Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever!, by Skip Freeman. What is your first “gut” reaction when you encounter an “objection”â€"“We’re not hiring right now,” “You need to call HR,” etc.â€"while telephone prospecting for a new job among hiring managers or the companies they represent? It’s to immediately rebut or counter the objection, right? “I’ve already tried to call HR numerous times and all I get is a busy signal,” you might respond, probably with even a slight edge of frustration in your voice. This of course would be a very normal, quite human reaction. It is not, however, likely to work in your favor or get you where you want to goâ€"to land a new job. In this blog I am going to review some of the more common objections you’re likely to encounter while job prospecting by telephone and then show you how you to effectively  handle them by resisting the temptation to “push back” by offering a rebuttal or countering the objections in some other way. By learning to effectively use this approach you will brand yourself as someone who is different from and better than the typical job hunter who is perceived as “just someone else looking for a job.” (Coincidentally, the suggested ways of handling common objections featured in this blog work best when you precede your telephone prospecting by the direct mail campaign  outlined in these previous blogs: http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/frustrated-by-%e2%80%98post-and-hope%e2%80%99-job-hunting-try-this/  and http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/still-job-hunting-online-never-hearing-back-try-this/) In my executive recruiting firm we coach all of our job candidates that the best way to handle objections they’re likely to encounter during their job hunt is, first, to think in terms of the martial arts, wrestling or similar forms of hand-to-hand combat. To be effective in these disciplines, one must learn to “roll with the punches” or other aggressive tactics and not  attempt to “block” them. This same approach also works quite well with objections you’re likely to encounter during your job hunt. The basic rule is this: Never, never rebut or counter an objection, “roll with it.” Let’s start with the number one objection you’re likely to encounter during your telephone prospecting activities: “You need to call HR.” The best way to handle this objection, which will occur often enough to become an issue, is by using a response such at this: “Sure, I can call HR. But before I do, may I ask if I am the type of individual you could see making a contribution to your team?” Notice that you made no attempt to block or rebut the objection. Rather, you “rolled” with it when you said, “Sure, I can call HR.” You merely agreed with the person making the objection, which they probably were not expecting at all. So, when you asked the follow-up question (“. . . may I ask if I am the type of individual you could see making a contribution. . . .”), the person is far more likely to work with you, at least for awhile. Here is another, very common objection you likely will encounter while telephone prospecting: “We are not hiring.” An often effective way of handling this objection is by saying something like this: “I didn’t necessarily think you were at this point. If someone were to resign, or when business increases at some point in the near future, am I the type of individual you would be interested in speaking with?” This answer (as well as virtually all of the other suggested responses in this blog) presupposes, of course, that you have adequately and thoroughly laid out your credentials beforehand by initiating your direct mail campaign and including your credentials in it. Otherwise, you can say/ask: “I didn’t necessarily call thinking you were hiring right now. What is the best way for me to get my information in front of you, so that if someone were to resign, or when business increases at some point in the near future, I will be “top of mind” in terms of being able to bring value to you in a position?” At this point I can practically “hear” what some of you reading this blog are probably thinking: “This would never work in ‘the real world!’” “This is all merely theory,” “pie in the sky.” Au contraire! Admittedly, these approaches certainly do not work each and every time you use themâ€"no approach works every time!â€"but they work often enough to seriously consider using them! How do I know? Not only do the job candidates I present to hiring companies effectively use them, as a “headhunter,” I also regularly and effectively use them when I am prospecting for “job orders,” i.e., positions companies want to fill, among hiring companies. Here is an example of the type of objection I routinely hear during my telephone prospecting activities as a “headhunter”: “We don’t use recruiters.” The response of many “headhunters” to this type of objection would consist of an attempt to convince the hiring company why they should use “headhunters.” And, to be honest about it, that was the approach I took when I first started out in the business. It didn’t take me long, however, to learn that this approach, this response, was largely counterproductive and essentially ineffective. Nowadays, this is my typical response to the objection: “I understand. Please tell me, when you have a very difficult position to fill, how do you go about filling it?” Notice that I didn’t “push back” or “argue”! I merely chose to “roll with it,” by agreeing with the objection, i.e., “I understand,” and that’s what you should learn to do too. Otherwise you will automatically be branded as “just another job hunter” who can quickly become “a pain in the neck” to the company representative answering the telephone, someone to get off the phone as quickly as possible. Let me share one more instructive example, involving an objection encountered with increasing frequency these days. Suppose the company representative you’re talking to says, “You need to go to our website, see what positions we have open and then apply online.” Sound familiar? Here’s a response to this common objection that can work well: “Certainly, I can do that. By the way, may I ask you a brief question?” Their likely response would probably be along these lines because only the rudest and most impatient of people usually would deny such a polite request: “O.K., but please make it quick because I don’t have much time to talk.” You then say something like this: “What do you feel makes your company a unique place to work?” Assuming you’ve not connected to one of the more disgruntled employees of the company, they may respond by briefly telling you why they like working for their company. Your response could then go along these lines: “Wow! That sounds interesting and it sounds as though you really like working there.” I’m sure you get the idea by now. Handled correctly, and with tact, as well as with politeness, you can perhaps get a dialogue going with the company representative, thereby setting the stage for the real goal of your prospecting efforts: Getting your information into the hands of a key representative of the company. Here is the approach you might take to accomplish that: “May I send my information to you? I would like to be able to stay in touch with someone who is as excited about her work and company as you are. I’m sure you will agree, that attitude is somewhat rare these days.” Now, she may or may not agree to accept your information, but nonetheless, you may have cultivated an “insider” with whom you can stay in touch, as well as one who may ultimately agree to “sponsor” you within the company if a suitable position should come open in the future. I hasten to add that there are no “magic” words to use for overcoming all objections you may encounter during your telephone job prospecting activities. There is, however a “magic formula,” and here it is: Whenever you encounter an objection during your job hunt, follow these simple rules: Never, never “push back, i.e., do not become (or appear to become)   hostile or argumentative. That will only serve to alienate the company  representative and brand you as a job applicant to be avoided at all  costs. Ask questions!  That will aid you in getting an all-important, potentially productive  dialogue going with the company representative. Learn how to  â€œlead the witness” and use this very effective approach during interviews  and while prospecting. (To learn  more about the elements of this approach see:   http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/winning-face-to-face-interview-by-leading-the-witness/) If you’ve already been searching for a new job in today’s extremely competitive job market, you already know that, in order to succeed, you must brand yourself as a candidate who is new and different from and better than the “run-of-the-mill” candidate. That means stepping out of your “comfort zone” and embracingâ€"and then implementing!â€"new, different and better approaches and job hunting tactics, not simply following “the herd.” If you are just now entering the job market looking for a new job you soon will learn this fact. Otherwise, looking from a hiring manager’s perspective (or the companies he or she represents), you are destined to remain just another faceless applicant among a growing sea of faceless applicants, any given face virtually indistinguishable from all the others, with little or no chance of rising to the level of an exceptional candidate. Author: Skip Freeman is the author of “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and RD professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

5 Things To Consider Before Accepting a Job Offer - Classy Career Girl

5 Things To Consider Before Accepting a Job Offer Finding your first “real” job can be tough. When you’re offered a job with a high salary (or even just a decent one), you may be so excited that you want to say “yes” right away. If you’re lucky enough to have more than one offer, your instinct may be to immediately accept the offer with the higher salary. While this temptation is understandable, it’s important to consider the entire benefits package rather than making your decision based solely on the salary. You’ve probably thought about the cost of medical and dental insurance, but here are five other benefits you should look at when deciding whether or not to accept a job offer. 5 Things You Should Consider Before Accepting a Job Offer 1. PTO Your time is valuable, and you don’t want to spend all of it at work! Even if you love your job, it’s healthy to take a break once in a while. Companies often mention during an interview how many days of PTO are offered during the first year, but sometimes the HR person forgets to mention whether or not PTO increases with time. 10 days of PTO in the first year may seem like a lot if it’s your first full-time job and you’ve never had PTO before, but will you still get only 10 days per year even if you stay with the company for 10 or 20 years? This is important to know â€" many companies offer PTO that increases with the amount of time that you’ve been with the company, but others offer only a flat amount that never increases. 2. 401(k) Employer Match An employer match on the 401(k) is one of the most important benefits that a company can offer. Let’s say a company matches 100% of contributions up to 6% of salary. If you earn $40,000 per year, that’s $2,400.   After only two years, that would nearly $5,000 total. Based on an average rate of return, after 45 years, that would become nearly $180,000. Keep in mind that companies typically have vesting schedules â€" after one year, you might only be vested 25%. This means that if you leave the company after a year, you only get to bring 25% of the employer contribution with you. Organizations use vesting schedules as an incentive to keep employees from resigning when they’ve only been with the company for a few years. 3. Short-Term Disability Of course, you hope you never have to use disability, but it’s best to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Can you afford to go without pay for several weeks if you have an injury or medical condition that prevents you from being able to work? If you’re planning to have a family in the future, this benefit is particularly important. By law, your employer is required to give you up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the birth or adoption of a child (assuming that you’ve been working with the employer for at least a year and the company has at least 50 employees). Your employer is not required to pay you for this time, but you can use short-term disability to replace a portion of your pay. [RELATED: What Your Job Offer Is Really Worth] 4. Basic Life Insurance Just like disability insurance, companies typically offer basic life insurance at no cost to employees. If you’re young and healthy, you’re probably not going to pass away anytime soon, and thinking about mortality can be uncomfortable. Still, it’s always best to plan ahead. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. If you have children, you don’t want them to be left with nothing if you pass away. Even if you don’t have kids, you don’t want your parents or your spouse to go into debt to pay for your funeral. 5. Employee Discounts Perks Many different types of companies offer discounts to employees. A fitness company may offer a free gym membership, an animal shelter might offer discounted pet food, and a salon’s corporate office may offer discounts on haircuts, shampoo, and other haircare products. If you’re currently spending money on any of these things, working for one of these employers could save you quite a bit on these expenses. A Final Note If you’re offered a job that seems great, don’t say “yes” right away. Ask some questions about the benefits package and take a little time to think it over. If you have more than one job offer, first of all, congratulations! Secondly, consider the entire benefits package instead of looking solely at salary. A 401(k) employer match, short-term disability, life insurance, PTO, and employee discounts are all important benefits that can help you to save more money.