Congratulations, you got the job! But don’t relax just yet. Now, you have to prove that your new employer made the right decision.

Lately, many of the candidates Agile recruiters speak with communicate that they are looking at multiple opportunities and multiple job offers. No surprise, since Agile has seen an increase in hiring activity in the Atlanta Information Technology market in the past few months. Today, IT job seekers are telling us “I’m getting several calls a day from IT recruiters” or “I have several interviews this week” in a much more confident tone.

But job seekers shouldn’t breathe too easily…just yet. IT hiring managers are still being very selective. They have a lot of applicants and they review a lot of resumes. They conduct a lot of phone screens, and interview a lot of candidates. And then hiring managers must conduct team interviews and one-on-one’s with high-level executives including the CIO and CTO. If you’re fortunate to make it through the entire hiring process, you must have done an exceptional job impressing the employer with your credentials. But landing the job is just the beginning. Technology companies know that there is a huge pool of excellent IT professionals that would also like to have the job you just got. That’s why you must continue to impress starting Day 1.

Too often, people relax and give a sigh of relief once they’ve found the perfect job. This is a mistake. Your new team is expecting a superior performer. To succeed, you’ve got to have a minimal learning curve and fit in to the company’s culture right from the get go. In the IT staffing and consulting business, we see all too often that clients hire for hard skills but fire for soft skills. Your resume might contain the correct key words. You might have passed the technical screen and impressed everyone throughout the interview process with your expertise. But if your personality, communication skills and ability to be a team player are average at best, chances are you won’t fit in and your future with the company may be in jeopardy.

Don’t go in to a new job like a bull in a china shop; instead go in and show an immediate return on their investment. Take note of the established culture and begin integrating yourself into it. Remember, you’re the newcomer and having an open mind and flexibility is crucial in your new environment. Be sure to observe and apply similar behaviors. Managers want people on their team that can adapt quickly. Recruiters are frequently told by hiring managers that flexibility and adaptability are necessary in order to be successful no matter what the person’s role within the organization. “Our priorities are constantly changing” is a common theme among hiring managers. They have to employ people who can change with the priorities, and not get upset or flustered when change occurs.

If you’re in the process of finding a new IT career, or have just accepted that killer position, here are a few suggestions to help you get off on the right foot and stay on track:

• Ask for a suitable orientation.  Make sure you understand all of the company’s policies and manager preferences.  When in doubt about something, ask!
• Learn who your “go-to” people are.
• Make sure you learn and display proper office etiquette.
• Associate with the positive people in the office. Avoid negativity.
• Find ways you can get involved and bring fresh ideas to the project.
• Be sure all of your verbal and written communications are professional. Not adhering to this is where many people get in trouble. Think before you speak and proofread any documentation you write or email before sending out. Once you’ve proofed it, proofread it again. Consider your language and tone when speaking and writing. Never put in writing something you don’t want forwarded on to someone else.

Some of this may seem very basic, but sometimes it’s the most basic things that can be overlooked.  More people lose jobs, not for a lack of technical skills, but because they are unable or forget to apply these simple rules in the workplace. You can always improve on, or learn more of the hard skills, but if you don’t adjust accordingly to your new environment you may run the risk of not being considered “the right fit”.

Yes, the IT job market in Atlanta is looking good. But it’s how good you are at fitting into your new workplace that will determine your future success there.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 6th, 2010 at 7:33 am and is filed under IT Job Search, Job Seeker. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.