Looking for a new IT job can be a daunting procedure to go through. This is true for both recent graduates and seasoned professionals who have not interviewed or changed jobs for a few years. For many people, focusing attention on yourself is a challenging proposition and writing about yourself can prove to be very difficult and stressful.
Let’s try and take the stress out of the process and look at the context of why you are looking for new employment. Just remember it is your choice and or need to make a move which means you have the power. Having the power is a mental enabler and strategic position to be in.
Let’s break it down.
You probably want to make a move for one or more of the following reasons:
- You are not getting along with your manager making the role untenable.
- You have reached a glass ceiling and there is nowhere to go.
- You need to develop your skills to stay current. In a company that values your experience and education.
- You have been there enough years to be confident that a promotion to a more senior position is your next move, and it needs to be in another organisation.
- The company has reduced the amount of work so you are not being fully utilised.
- You want to relocate to another state, country or suburb.
- The commute is taking its toll.
- You need a part-time position as circumstances have changed.
- You need a part-time position as circumstances have changed.
- You just want to try something different.
This IT job search list is not exhaustive but most of you will relate to at least one. So what’s next?
You decide what you want to do and the types of company you want to work for.
Here’s how:
There is more information readily available now than ever before. All you need to do is look at LinkedIn to review the company, the people who work at the company and glassdoor for reviews on the company. Ask your networks what it is like to work for certain companies and go to Seek and the company Career pages to see what jobs are available, that you think are suitable. Do your research and develop an educated view on the market. As a recruiter, I guess you wonder why I am telling how to do all of this? I will help bust some facts for you at the same time as helping you prepare for the interview.
- Not all information on the internet is accurate or up to date
- Not all companies respond to you personally and or the recruiter, on each application for every job.
- Not all jobs are advertised online or on careers pages
- Most internal recruitment teams have KPI’s to meet that do not include getting back to you.
- A relationship with one or possibly two good recruiters is definitely worth developing.
- Specialised Recruitment Agencies hear of the position first.
So now you are even more prepared for the interviews you will secure because you have:
- Decided that you are definitely on the market for a new job.
- You have identified the reasons WHY you are looking for a new job.
- You have researched the market, your target of preferred companies, spoken to networks, and are building a relationship with a good recruiter or two.
- You are now thinking about dusting off the resume and sending it out to market. See Article on The Winning Resume Formula that will secure you interviews and How to write your Executive Summary.
- You have started sending your resumes to Companies and your choice of good recruiters.
- You have started to receive calls from prospects to organise interviews.
Now the fun begins…
What does an interview look and feel like? Most people think of them as a face to face meeting to discuss skills, attributes, culture fit, interest level on both parties and a get to know each other.
In essence, this is true but the interview process, in reality, has already started. It started with YOU researching target companies, connecting to networks, your choice of a good recruiter and presenting your resume. These are all elements of the selection process. Now you are simply going to the next phase of selection.
This could take the format of any of the following:
- Initial phone interview
- Initial Video Interview via Skype
- Face to Face interview with a recruiter / internal recruiter
- Face to face interview with a Manager, HR or team members
- Face to Face interview with Senior Manager, CEO, Director
When you are looking for a new position you will more than likely encounter all of the above interview styles. Sometimes you might do all 5 and more, so be prepared to be available for interviews. Just imagine you have your Top 3 choice of companies all wanting to interview you and you went through one of your choice recruiters. This means you could be up for the following process then multiply it by 3.
- Recruiter receives your resume and wants to phone interview you immediately. You get on well, you have some of your basic questions answered to satisfy your level of interest. See Article on How to deal with agency pre-interview calls.
- The pre-interview with the agent leads you to a face to face interview with your choice of a good recruiter. See article on how to interview with a Recruiter.
- Your choice of good recruiter gets you an initial phone interview with the client. See hints and tips for taking a phone interview.
- Your phone interview goes really well so the client wants to meet for a face to face interview. See article on what to expect and how to prepare for a face to face interview with a client.
- Your 1st face to face goes really well so they want you to come back and meet with the team. See article on meeting the team.
- The team really like you and you really like them so you get called back again to meet HR and the CEO for final approval. See article on final interviews.
Hopefully you can see the investment in your time and energy it takes to complete all these interviews and if you multiply it by the number of companies interested in you suddenly you are very busy and need to start making some critical decisions about the companies, the jobs, the people, the work, the challenge, the reasons why you are looking in the first place.
Point of note, This does not account for other hurdles which companies will make you jump through that takes up more of your time:
- Technical Test
- Psychometric Test
- Police Check – This is standard for a lot of businesses
- Reference Checking – A legal requirement for recruiters set by the Government
- Educational Background Check – Optional and more common practice
- Visa and Right To Work check – A legal requirement for recruiters set by the Government
