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How to Stand Out in a Competitive Tech Market

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While there are more and more tech jobs opening up in businesses across the country every day, it’s still a competitive market. If you want to make sure you’re considered top talent, you need to take certain steps to ensure you’re being considered for every position. Skills, experience, and education are important, but  How can you make sure your application stands apart?

  1. Improve Your Resume: Chances are that you and the candidates you’re competing against for a position have similar skill sets and educational backgrounds. Finding ways to get the edge on your competition is important and it doesn’t need to be dramatic to make an impact. Have you taken any continuing education classes? Are you currently working towards gaining a certification? Make sure that even in-process achievements are listed on your resume. Also, make sure your resume is clean and buttoned up – have a friend or peer review it for errors, typos, or other issues. Having the right skills for a tech job is important, and being a clear, a careful communicator can go a long way towards helping make the right impression.
  2. Do More Than the Minimum: Your resume and cover letter are important parts of your application, but they don’t tell the whole story and they certainly don’t have to be the limit of your application materials. If you can show a strong work sample – even if it’s not outright requested – you may be able to set yourself apart from your peers. Keeping an up to date digital portfolio of work projects and samples can help you effectively show employers why you’re the best candidate for the job.
  3. Be Mindful of Social Media: Recruiters aren’t going to single-handedly depend on your Twitter profile to make a hiring decision but making sure your social media presence is professional – or at least not offensive – is an important part of looking for work. Having personality is important, but if it comes down to you and another candidate, you want to make sure you’re the one that the company will be proud to be associated with.

These small adjustments can go a long way towards helping you stand out for a competitive position. Looking for your next role? Get in touch today. RightStone can help you find the right job for your experience, skill set, and career goals.

5 Tips to Overhauling Your Resume

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Your resume is still the best tool to get noticed by recruiters. It’s a streamlined way to showcase your career and education highlights in an easy format to quickly send off to employers. It’s a good idea to keep your resume updated at all times – even if you’re happy in your current position or only passively looking for a new role. This way if a can’t-be-missed or once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ever comes up, you’ll be ready with resume in hand.

Here’s how to overhaul or improve your resume.

  1. Pay Attention to Format: Whether you’re handing out print copies of your resume or sending them through email and job portal uploads, the top of the page matters most. This is what recruiters and hiring managers see first. Make sure the most relevant information is at the top of your resume.
  2. Get a Second Opinion: Have a resume writer or other qualified person take a look at your resume and ask for input. Whether it’s giving you information on what a 30-second review tells them or offering advice on how to format your experience for maximum impact, you can get a lot out of third-party outlook.
  3. Make it Match: Even if it’s not a highly designed resume, make sure it looks clean, professional and consistent. Ensure your fonts in the header section match the body of your resume and take time to match your cover letter to your resume.
  4. Edit Your Experience: If you feel like your experience section is lacking, incorporate more kinds of experience to fill it out. Everything from volunteer work to part-time jobs to freelance and contracting positions can help make your resume more robust and showcase a broader skill set.
  5. Use More Data and Facts: Describing your experience with qualifying information is key – how many projects did you work on and what were the results? If you oversaw a software installation that improved productivity of a department or entire business unit, note the percentage increase on your resume. Showcasing accomplishments that can be linked to hard data is one of the best ways to stand out and solidify your experience.

Improving your resume can ensure that you are taken seriously as a candidate and can qualify you for the best possible positions. Performing an overhaul or making significant changes to your current resume can make sure it’s ready for wherever your career path takes you.

If you’re looking for your next job opportunity, get in touch today. Our expert staffing professionals can help connect you with the next step in your career.

Top Cities for the IT Professional Looking to Relocate

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The tech industry shows no signs of slowing down. All across the country, most technology-related jobs continue to see growth, and new positions continue to pop up on job boards. So, where’s the best place for an IT professional to settle down and grow a career? Are there cities worth uprooting and moving to in search of a dream job?

Student Loan Hero notes that certain IT jobs are more common and abundant in certain areas of the country. According to their study, computer programmers have the best chance of finding work in the southern region of the US, while web developers and systems analysts have more success in the Midwest.

Overall, the south is home to 47 of the top 100 cities that are best for those seeking tech jobs to find work. Not only is work readily available in these growing areas, but the cost of living to salary ratio is also higher than in other areas. If you’re looking to relocate for your tech career, you might consider making your home in one of the following U.S. cities:

  • Hinesville, GA
  • Charlotte, NC
  • Hattiesburg, MI
  • New Bern, NC
  • California, MD

Another 2018 survey found that tech workers are also finding work in other major cities, all experiencing population growth and new business development, including:

  • Dallas
  • Seattle
  • San Francisco
  • Houston
  • Miami

Whatever your dream IT job is – cybersecurity, business intelligence, programming, web and mobile development or another focus – you don’t have to settle for what’s available within your zip code. Many companies are short on good talent, particularly in certain areas, so it might actually be easier to find your dream job outside of your closest major metropolitan area. Don’t limit your job search to your immediate vicinity. Finding an innovative company in an up and coming city can help accelerate your career, so it’s worth considering spots outside of your current neighborhood.

If you’re looking for your next IT job, we can help. Our expert recruiters are connected to a large network of businesses looking for IT talent and experienced candidates just like you. If you’re working towards your dream job and need some help with your search, get in touch today.

Benefits to Working With an IT Recruiter

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Looking for a job can be a full-time effort. Uploading resumes, writing cover letters, endless searches on job boards. A recruiter can be an amazing resource in your job search. Here’s why an IT recruiter might be the secret weapon to advancing your career.

  1. Better Connections: Applying for a job online is hit or miss. The chances of hearing back from a company about a position you feel you’re qualified for really depend on too many factors to feel confident about moving along in the process. Using a recruiter means they’re going to pass on your information to someone who wants to hire and trusts the recruiter to only suggest qualified candidates. This increases your chances of getting that initial interview.
  2. Interview Prep: A recruiter will often interview candidates to get to know them, but also to work through questions and concerns that a candidate has about interviewing with a company. The recruiter likely knows the company well and certainly is familiar with the position, so they can help you understand what to focus on and how to frame your experience in a conversation with a hiring company.
  3. Better Feedback: Recruiters are going to follow up with the hiring manager or interviewer after you meet with them to get their feedback. Whether it’s positive or negative, a recruiter can report back to you what worked and what didn’t, so you can learn from your experience.
  4. Access to More Openings: Some companies work with recruiters before they ever post a job online. These jobs, therefore, are only available when working through a recruiter, giving you access to hiring managers when they’re still excited about the search and not worn out after dozens of rounds of interviews.

Working with a recruiter can save you time and energy and reduce your job-search stress. Our expert staffing team can help you find the right fit for your skills and experience. Contact Us today so we can help you start your search.

How Social Media Recruiting Can Impact Your IT Job Search

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Modern HR has adopted new ways to help employers find the best candidates. Employers are relying less on traditional recruiting measures alone, such as resumes and references, and are using more holistic methods that can share information with employers beyond just skills and experience. Many employers are looking for more than just someone who fits a list of requirements, but someone who will be a good cultural fit and make contributions over the long term. That’s why social media is steadily becoming a standard part of candidate screening for many businesses.

Social media has the potential to both help and hinder your job search. Here’s what to know:

  • Showcase Your Personality, but Keep it Professional

    It’s okay to use your social media pages as a way to talk about your interests, share your opinions, and even post pictures of events you’ve attended or volunteer meetups you’re a part of. This can give employers a sense of what you value and what your hobbies are, which can help them understand how you might fit into their business. You just want to make sure you avoid posting anything provocative, inappropriate or dishonest. If you want to have a social safe space where you can censor yourself less, make sure you adjust your settings so your profile is either private or can’t be found by search engines.

  • Use The Right Platforms

    If you’re using social media to look for a new job or you’re hoping employers will find your social profile in their candidate search, make sure you’re using the right social channels. Snapchat is a great tool for advertising, but less effective for job searching. LinkedIn still remains one of the top channels employers and recruiters use to search for potential candidates. It’s a great place to be able to share more information about projects or certifications you would likely put on a resume, and it also offers you the ability to utilize your network to find out about new openings.

Find Your Next Career Fit Today!

If you’re looking for your next IT job, let us know. We can help match you with the right business and prepare you for what each company is looking for. Get in touch today.

5 Marketable Skills Every IT Professional Should Have

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You already know your skills and experience are crucial to finding a job. Often IT positions will require very specific certifications, education or project experience and only the candidates who have them will go on to interview and compete for the position. So, if every applicant has roughly the same abilities, how can you set yourself apart as the right pick for the job? Here are some additional skills to develop and display so you get noticed.

  1. Good Communication:

    Lots of IT professionals spend their days heads down at their desk, working on projects. One of the best skills you can have – and showcase in your resume, cover letter, and interview – is good communication. This shows you can share your ideas intelligently and will likely work well in teams and across departments.

  2. Creativity:

    You don’t have to be an artist, but employers often want someone with a sense of creativity, because these candidates are often the best at innovation, problem-solving and innovation.

  3. Commitment to Learning:

    Technology is constantly changing and it’s never enough to just get a degree or a certificate and be done. Showing you’re involved in or have completed continuing education courses can be a way to share with employers your love of learning and desire to stay ahead of the trends.

  4. Flexibility:

    The only thing constant is change and companies want to know how well you roll with deviations from the plan. This is especially important in IT, where the plan can change quickly due to problems with deployment or having to troubleshoot an unanticipated issue. Flexibility can be demonstrated by sharing your experience in various projects or talking about your time spent at a startup or other business where the day to day was anything but ordinary.

  5. Organized:

    Everyone needs a system. Employers look for candidates who are organized because they know they can follow the system and processes in place, or even help develop more efficient ones. Organization is a key ingredient to job success, as it’s often the driving force behind meeting deadlines, tracking projects, and effectively testing and implementing solutions.

Work With Us!

We can help match your marketable skills to the right employer. Let us help you find the employer that will appreciate your skills and enable you to do your best work. Contact us today to find your next role.