NINJA'S NEEDED!! (cue eye roll)

Attention Employers! It's a buyers market. Over the course of the last 18-24 months software engineer Supply / Demand reports are showing approximately three open positions for every one qualified job seeker.

If I told you we were hiring JavaScript Ninjas would you think any less of me? Don't answer that. See, I'm not looking for "Rock Stars," "Warlocks" or a "Code Monkey" either.

Attracting top talent takes more than posting an extensive laundry list of required skills or using clever words and phrases to appear "hip."

What if I told you I simply need a solid client-side developer who can come up with elegant front-end solutions? You'll be given autonomy to make decisions, work with some reasonably talented and friendly human beings, and be treated & compensated fairly. Sound reasonable?

The methods recruiters (both corporate and agency) are using to engage with technical professionals need to change. Job descriptions should be descriptive of the job not a generic list of skills that you won't find combined in one person.

Here's what top talent wants to see in a job description:

• A decent picture of the day-to-day roles and responsibilities. They understand they'll be slinging code and running unit tests. They also understand there likely will be some production babysitting. They're looking for the FUN stuff like researching and deploying new technology along with being an integrated member of the solution development & delivery team. Coding existing technical requirements is part of every software engineer's job, but if that's all they're going to do reference "code monkey" and make sure your day-to-day picture looks like that. (Note: this will likely negatively impact the number of applicants.)
• What kind of people will they be working with on a regular basis? What's the team make-up? Who inside and outside the organization will be influencing and impacting their work on a daily basis? Is there a mentor? Is there someone there TO mentor?
• What the company offers in terms of culture, benefits, and opportunities for growth. Ultimately they want to know why it's a great place to work and what might set you apart from the other two employers who are competing for their services.
• How much money the employer expects to pay for the right person. They'd also like to know the non-monetary reasons to consider the job if the money is on the low side of the scale.
• Some core technical expectations without running down the litany of every piece of technology and third party vendor currently residing in your data center.

What top talent doesn't want to see is qualifications listing "a minimum of five years experience in XYZ" or a demand for "excellent organization, communication, and/or people skills."

They also don't want to see jobs that don't pay a fair market wage. A recent senior .NET developer posting in Kansas City touted "TOP PAY $" yet listed pay range is $25,000less than average compensation level and $35,000 less than what empirical data from a number of reliable sources indicates.

The data tells me the senior .NET developer you are so desperately trying to attract to your team is currently making anywhere from $90k - $120k annually. An advertised $65 - $85k range represents a significant cut in pay which will only attract unqualified applicants or no applicants at all.

PS: I didn't run the numbers on a ninja, but I'm certain that will be higher.

Software professionals are smart buyers so talent acquisition professionals need to be savvy marketers.

PPS: I seriously am hiring a couple solid client-side developers to build elegant front-end solutions who will be given autonomy to make decisions, work with some reasonably talented and friendly human beings, and be treated & compensated fairly.

Recruiter Do's and Dont's

As a technical recruiter / recruiting manager with over a decade of experience I know having a good recruiter in their corner is important for IT Professionals. The IT market is Red Hot right now which means weekly calls from recruiters. I've seen a lot of mistakes made by candidates over the years so I wanted to share my Do's and Dont's for building a good working relationship & optimizing the time you spend with an agency.

DO consider recruiters as a partner. They should be asking questions about your expectations beyond how the buzzwords on your resume align with their client's job spec. The more they get to know you; your goals, aspirations, interests, style, and "hot buttons," the better they will be able to serve you.

DON'T be afraid to engage with a recruiter, even if you're not actively looking. You never know when the next layoff is coming or your great boss is about to be replaced by the office politician. Having the relationship in place before you need their services will make the process a lot easier when you do.

DO ask about their client base. A recruiter needs to tell you about their clients. Knowing who the agency covers lets you determine what other agencies should be in your portfolio. If their clients aren't of interest to you, you're wasting your time. You can also strengthen the relationship by providing insight you might have about their clients.

DON'T work with every recruiter that says they have a job for you. Get to know 3-4 recruiters local to your targeted area and let them go to work for you. If you know their client base, have a great relationship, and have an open and regular line of communication you'll be able to cover all your targets without getting 10 agencies involved in your search. Good recruiters generally will shy away from candidates who aren't selective - they're usually either desperate or simply don't appreciate the value a recruiter brings to the table.

DO meet with recruiters. There's nothing that can replace the value of a face-to-face meeting to get a comfort level with one another. Recruiting is a numbers game, and some recruiters like to shortcut the relationship to get the numbers. There's recruiters out there just trying to serve their needs by hitting their daily quota rather than engage on a deep level to serve your needs. Agreeing to be represented after a 5 minute phone call increases the chances of things going south dramatically.

DON'T mislead a recruiter. There's nothing that will kill a relationship quicker than being dishonest. Good recruiters are your agent - they need to know the good, bad, and ugly in order to best serve you.

DO seek out recruiters that live and work in the area you're targeting. Local recruiters will be better connected and have a much better handle on the local job market. Agencies hit their numbers using regional recruiting call centers that "smile and dial" through resumes they find online and in their database. These recruiters generally have minimal experience and nearly no understanding of the local market. Some of the national agencies have outsourced these call centers to India.

DO disclose companies where you've applied and agencies that have already submitted you to their clients. Keeping this information to yourself makes both the agency and you look bad if your resume ends up on someone's desk from two sources. In some cases it will automatically disqualify you from consideration.

DO expect an ongoing line of communication. Good recruiters are proactive about keeping you in the loop on immediate and ongoing opportunities. You should expect to hear from them at least every week or two if there's a job cooking. If you have to initiate all the contact and they're slow to return calls (or completely unresponsive) find another agency that will interact with you without feeling like you're pulling teeth.

DON'T be afraid to say no to an opportunity. Recruiters wanting to hit their numbers might use strong arm tactics to get you to say yes - don't let them. Good recruiters understand if it's not right, it's not right. They'll reset and hopefully find something that will work for you.

With that said....

DON'T be afraid to explore something if you're on the fence. Agreeing to be represented or interview is simply one step in the process. If you're curious about something that may have potential but aren't certain it's okay to do some exploration. Just be sure to discuss your concerns with the recruiter before you agree to be submitted so they aren't blindsided if you say no.

DO fully understand all the aspects of their client's offer before saying yes. If you think your company might counter when you turn in notice talk to the recruiter about what they could do to keep you. If you still aren't sure about the offer clarify EVERYTHING before saying yes. One of the biggest things you can do to erode the trust of a recruiter is to say you're going to start with their client and then back out (especially if you back out the night before via email and yes, that has happened).

Working with an agency will uncover some great opportunities that might not have been available otherwise. It also gives you an advocate in the hiring process as well as during employment that can help you sort through critical decisions.

DON'T be afraid to engage with a good recruiter - they can be a great asset for your career.

Why Recruiters are Jerks

I’m guessing if you’ve been an IT professional for any length of time you’ve run into a recruiter that was a jerk.  One who over-promised and under-delivered.   Who didn’t return your messages after they had ‘the perfect job’ for you?  Ever have a recruiter get downright nasty because you accepted a competing job offer?   It happens.  And it gives the entire industry a bad name. 

I don’t want to pretend I know exactly what makes recruiters like that tick, but I have experienced some general “jerk factor” behaviors that you will want to keep in mind when talking to a recruiter.

1.    They think you’re a ‘great fit’ for a job even when you're not.  You look at the details of the job and you’re not even close.  This is the hallmark of a ‘numbers game’ recruiter searching keywords in a database and reaching out to EVERYONE that meets their search criteria.  Either they’re not reading your resume or they don’t know HOW to determine someone’s expertise from a resume.   Either way it demonstrates a lack of commitment to recruiting professionalism.  I’d cut a newbie some slack but if they’re not inquisitive about what you do they’re not going to last long.

2.    There's a “hot job” for you so they’re your best friend until your resume is in front of the client.  Then they go radio silent – calls aren’t returned until a year later when they have another “hot job” for you.

3.       The conversation never strays off your resume and experience.  They don’t seem to have much interest in what will be important to you; they only want to make sure you’re a fit. 

4.       There’s not much enthusiasm to help you beyond a specific job they have in mind.  A good recruiter will always be a source of information and leads outside of their immediate client needs.

5.       You know the used car salesman stereotype?  Not that all used car salespeople are like this, but you know what I’m talking about – there’s just something about their approach that doesn’t sit right with you.  You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you have a gut instinct that this person shouldn’t be trusted.  Your gut is usually right.  The implications to your career are too important to not implicitly trust the recruiter.

6.       Commission drives decision making.  This one is a little harder to detect, but if you see other behaviors that make a recruiter a jerk this is probably an issue.  Recruiters in this business who are primarily driven by money don’t have a heart to serve & will not have your interests in mind.  Often it will manifest itself with a ‘hard-sell’ to get you to make a decision that you don’t necessarily think is the best decision.

To be honest, recruiters who are jerks usually have a ‘me first’ attitude.  You have to accept that there are people who are simply consumers.   They take every opportunity possible to use what they can to get where they’re going.  They don’t see the value in giving anything back.  This type of personality does not make a good recruiter. 

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday who has been a customer of mine for some time.  He recently decided to get into the recruiting game and said something that any good recruiter will have at the core of their value system.  He said what we do has such a profound impact on a person, both in the immediate and in the long term, that we can’t afford to get it wrong.  

He’s right, there’s nothing more important to me as a recruiter than making sure that we’re making a good match between candidate and employer.  And that goes well beyond buzzwords on job descriptions that align with buzzwords on a resume.

Some recruiters are jerks simply because there's jerks who are recruiters.  

Advance Your Career via Networking

My dad has worked for the State of Iowa since 1960 (although he retired in 2001, he still contracts part time).  Can you imagine 52 years with the same employer?  His first job was as a child welfare worker.  As he worked his way up he managed case workers, and eventually was promoted to lead the Child Welfare Division of the Iowa Department of Human Services.  *Side bar: they had to send a case worker to our house when he was the CPS chief because of my shenanigans - great dinner party story. 

But I digress - by the time he retired he was the #2 guy over the largest state organization in Iowa, serving the last decade as the public sector version of a COO in an organization with a 3-4 Billion (with a B) dollar budget.  He worked hard, sacrificed, and was rewarded with a fulfilling career spanning five decades.  My how the world has changed.  Today your employer (even if its the government) will not carry your career cradle to grave.  Your career stability will come from you, not your employer.

I'm not saying you won't have to work hard & sacrifice.  You will.  I'm not saying you won't have a fulfilling career.  Because you can.  What I am saying is you should always be looking for potential opportunities.  The average Gen X / Y / Millennial will likely have a new employer every 4-5 years over the course of a career. 

Expanding your network has never been easier.  Rather than turn this into a '"How To" on networking and developing relationships the take away is this - if you are not networking you are stunting your career growth.  Fortunately in the IT world there are dozens of places to start connecting.  There are dozens of organizations where you can connect to IT Professionals in Kansas City.  An aggregate list can be found here along with a calendar of events.


Who you know will have a big impact on what kind of opportunities will present themselves in the future.  That means you need to network now.  Don't wait until your company has a bad quarter and you become the latest RIF casualty. 

Rock Star Ninja Warlock from Mars?

If you read my last post you know the market for top talent is tight.  To attract that talent means I spend a lot of word-smith time authoring job descriptions. Part of the challenge I face as a recruiter is when we get clients asking for resources it can be hard to accurately paint a picture of the job from the description provided.  Maybe I'm wrong, but descriptions like the following are so generic I don't see them as something that will get a top flight software engineer to reach out.

As a Java Developer, you will be enhancing systems created using the following technologies:  J2EE 1.5, Java Server Pages, Java Servlets, Struts, Javascript, HTML and XML.

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED:

• The ideal candidate must have atleast 3 years’ experience with Java development
• The ideal candidate must be well versed with J2EE, JavaScript and JSP
• The ideal candidate must be well versed with Unit testing.
• The ideal candidate must have experience working within the Oracle or SQL environment

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS PREFERRED:

• Experience with JDBC or ODBC
• Experience with UNIX
• Experience with stored procedures, CGI, Access
• Experience with MVC, web services, SOAP, and xml
• Experience using Jbuilder or Eclipse

This was not sent to me by a client, I just pulled this off a job board as an example of what I frequently run across.  Notice the repetitive verbiage and "atleast" typo?  That's how much thought can go into this very important aspect of marketing an organization to potential employees.

I've been authoring and editing job descriptions for years, and am always experimenting with different styles.  Yesterday it seems I crossed the line from informative / creative to lame.  At least that's what I'm starting to sense from the audience I'm trying to reach.

Based on the feedback I've gotten so far, and on some other things I've been reading, this description I wrote is lame.  And that's cool with me - I'd rather make mistakes trying to make something happen than be like everyone else.  After talking to a few people I trust and respect, and going through this thread from a developer forum, I make this solemn pledge - no more job postings for a "Rock Star Ninja Warlock from Mars" (unless I need to hire Charlie Sheen at some point).

Which brings me back to what's important in a job description.  If I was looking for a job I'd want the posting to 'pitch' me a bit.  Give me a little flavor of what I could expect doing the job and what the company thinks is important.  Of course I'd want some qualifications, but if your description leads me to believe you aren't interested in hiring me because I don't have X amount of years of experience, or specific hands-on expertise with some obscure piece of software you happen to be using (even though its EXACTLY like something I use every day) I'm going to be turned off.

So my question to you is what do YOU want to see when you read a job description.  In general, what types of things spark your interest and what turns you off? 

Yet another .NET Developer needed.....

If you are a good .NET developer I suspect your inbox and voice mail have been blowing up for weeks (if not months). It seems like every Microsoft shop in the city needs a developer. And while employers are certainly feeling the pain of a drained resource market, it also seems there's finally people out there ready (or close to ready) to make a change.

I read an article this week at Network World that projects 54% of 'disgruntled' IT workers will seek new employment. It didn't say what made them 'disgruntled', but it goes on to say that 41% of IT employees feel they have been left behind in their jobs because of the poor economy.

Market demand for software engineers in general has been increasing since Q3 of 2010 and certainly all indications are it will continue to grow in 2012.  Currently unemployment in the IT sector is 2.7% according to Network World (a full 3% points below what's considered "full employment").  The question is if we still have 9% unemployment why is the IT sector so robust?

In my opinion this supply/demand imbalance is a combination of factors related to how business operates and how people make decisions.  It started in late 2008 / 2009 when the job market crashed.  Companies are in business to make profit.  The single biggest cost to a business is their employees, so when profits start to wane employers reduce their workforce.  For the first time in their history, some companies that had prided themselves on providing a stable employment platform suddenly had to swallow that pride in the name of survival.  The press hit the panic button, unemployment soared to nearly double-digits and all of a sudden there was a tempest in the employment teapot.  The days of working for a single employer for 25 years and retiring with a nice pension were over. 

When it became obvious the economy was not going to recover quickly a new term arrived that the New York Times called "The New Normal".  Their story from the summer of 2010 references the Great Depression.  Employers either by choice or necessity, simply had to do more with less.  That means new initiatives were put on hold and the people left in the organization were 'taxed to the max' (you Tower of Power fans will get that reference).  Real or not, the perception was the employer was taking advantage of the economic situation and the employee's only alternative was to join the ranks of job seekers who were taking an average of 250+ days to secure employment.  Not exactly the type of "low risk" environment that is conducive to considering a change of employers.  So here we are in 2012 where overall unemployment still hovers around 9%.  There's still a perception that making the wrong move could result in a prolonged period of unemployment.

Reality (at least in the IT world) is there are more opportunities than people looking.  Which is why I think Ms Marsan at Network World is spot-on.  I've been optimistic about the market for well over a year and a half.  Organizations that generally do not use agencies are calling us for help.  A skilled software developer is like the hot Christmas gift that is sold the minute it hits the shelf.  There's a hoard of HR and recruiters at the front of "Engineers are Us" waiting for the Black Friday sale to start.

Companies can see blue sky through the clouds.  Banks are loaning money again.  Software has a shelf-life, you can't run your .NET 2.0 applications forever.  They're ready to replace the COTS system that is 7 versions old running on green screens (which still exist).  Projects that have been on hold for months (or even years) need to get done.  Now.  That means hiring analysts, managers, engineers, testers, and anyone else necessary to deliver and support these systems.

So take heart IT professionals.  Demand is high.  Employers are getting very creative to attract and retain top talent.  There's even a small company in South Carolina that will give you a $50,000 cash bonus on your five year anniversary.   The market needs you when you're ready.

Time to make the Donuts

In the 11 years I've been in the IT recruiting game the last couple of weeks of December has traditionally been  'burn unused vacation' time.  Technically I generally don't ever completely unplug - I stay attached to my desk via my iPhone and terminal server - but its nice to not make the commute and spend the bulk of the day letting work pile up.  All in all it was a good mix of time off and keeping up with business so I could come into the office this week without being a month behind.

That time of year is always predictably unpredictable.  There's been years where the only email coming across my inbox is SPAM.  Other years we've had more business than we can handle.  The good news is this year leaned more to the latter.  Our job order list grew,  we had people interviewing for jobs right up to the last minute and we had a decent run of placements this year.

I asked my recruiting team to develop a list of goals for 2012.  I think Kim nailed it when she sent me a picture of her kids with a goal of making sure they were cared for when she was at work.  I like having people that keep life and work in perspective.  Its all good here at RiverPoint.

I need another blog!

I already am a fairly regular blogger over at ThatJobGuydotcom.  That blog is dedicated to teaching people how they can conduct an effective job search.  However, with the new year I thought it would be a good idea to start doing a more RiverPoint specific blog, so here I am, doing yet another blog.

The plan is to put up my thoughts on the IT Staffing business in general, share ideas on what we're doing to run an efficient business, and maybe even share some stories about the goings-on here at RiverPoint.  Hopefully there will be some people stopping by and enjoying what I have to offer.  Even if the analytics stay flat it will be a good archive for our staff to utilize.

So welcome to the RiverPoint Recruiting Desk.  Stop by and check us out from time to time.