Dice.com - a career job board that HR professionals and IT recruiters use to post jobs and find qualified it professionals – recently posted its findings on employers most searched IT skills.

For IT job seekers, knowing the most popular terms that employers use in their searches for prospective candidates will give you a better understanding about what types of skills are most sought after.  Most of the results are not a surprise, but there are a few that did make us go hmmmm. Not because we found them to be unusual, but because we havn’t necessarily seen a huge demand from IT employers in Atlanta and the Southeast.

What are the hottest positions within IT organizations today? Developers, analysts and managers who can help drive business. If you’re skilled in any of the areas listed below, chances are companies  have a need for your skill set and will be very interested in finding out more about you.  In most cases, the demand is high, and there may even be more jobs than there are top caliber candidates.

The following list features (in descending order) the most popular job- or task-related phrases submitted by employers to Dice.com.

Java or Java Developer or J2EE – Java remains one of the most influential programming languages.  We agree that there is a very high-demand for Java Developers in Atlanta and other areas within the Southeast.

.NET or .NET Developer - This is a software framework developed by Microsoft for Windows. Like Java, there is a strong need in our community.

Business Analyst - As defined by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, a BA is an internal consultancy role that has responsibility for investigating business systems, identifying options for improving business systems and bridging the needs of the business with the use of IT. Given the current economy and the need for IT to deliver value to the business, demand for talented BA’s is on the rise.

Sharepoint or Sharepoint Developer – A Microsoft-developed Web application platform for document management, portals and collaboration.  We haven’t found a huge demand for Sharepoint from our clients, but demand within Enterprise systems is strong.

Project Manager – Project management is an approach of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the achievement of specific project goals and objectives. And that’s why successful PMs are in such high demand today.

Oracle DBA – Given Oracle’s presence within business, it’s not a surprise to us that there’s a need for database administrators who conduct activities like installing and upgrading the Oracle server, and optimizing database performance.

C# – This is a programming language developed by Microsoft to build enterprise applications within the .NET Framework. Just like .Net and Java, there is a big demand and limited supply of top C# developers.

QA/Quality Assurance – Since quality should be one of the most important (if not the most important) component for any business, it’s not surprising that QA skills are consistently in demand.  There are many opportunities presently available for sucessful QAs.

iRise – This platform offers developers a working preview of an application before they devote the resources to actual coding. Much like Sharepoint, demand is high in the Enterprise.

PHP – A general-purpose scripting language for Web development. If you have this skill-set, you’ll find no problem finding a job in Atlanta, the Southeast or other areas of the country.

Have you ever been asked by an IT recruiter if you have a shorter, more defined resume? Agile recruiter, Chris Smith, recommends that in addition to having a task-based resume, experienced candidates who have a long work history or have done multiple projects should also have an achievement based resume. This type of resume uses a formula known as CAR: Challenge-Actions-Results. The CAR resume can be extremely effective for IT professionals who are searching for a management/leadership level role.

Before a company considers you to join its management team, it’s critical that the organization understands how you have impacted your previous employers. This is why a CAR resume can be so effective. A CAR resume provides a clear picture of the challenges you faced, the actions you took to achieve your goals, and most importantly, the outcome or results of those actions.

Chris promises that writing a CAR resume isn’t difficult. In fact, once you understand the formula, it should be fairly easy to complete.  Here’s how she explains it:

A CAR resume tells a story of what you did to add value to each company in one brief paragraph. The first part states why you were hired or why you took the position. This is the “Challenge” in your CAR story.  The next portion details the steps or tasks you took to achieve your goal. These are the “Actions.”  The ending of the story is the outcome or impact your actions had on the company’s profitability, product line, productivity, etc.  These are the “Results.”

Here’s an example of how to formulate the Challenge-Actions-Results statement:

CHALLENGE: Assumed leadership position in the Product Management organization which had been experiencing slow sales and negative profitability from initial product launch.

ACTIONS: Reinforced and coached internal team through intensive training and sales techniques. Introduced new marketing initiatives which helped the company form strategic alliances with regional distributors and vendors.

RESULTS:  Product sales increased from $100,000 to 350,000 in just four months and continually grew unit sales by 20% each year from 2007 to 2010.

Once you have the elements, it allows you to create a revenue-impacting, quantifiable accomplishment for your resume that reads like this (and it doesn’t need to be a long drawn out paragraph but it does need to be listed before your tasks for the position):

Grew new product sales 250% in 120 days and sustained 20% annual sales growth for three consecutive years by introducing new marketing initiatives, forging effective strategic alliances, and implementing innovative training and sales techniques.

Other examples you can use to build your CAR resume:

• Helped the company save money or reduce costs
• Implemented processes that save time or increase work productivity
• Improved company’s competitive advantage in the marketplace by developing innovative technology

If you are an IT professional looking to move into a leadership role (near-term or in the future), Agile highly recommends that you keep a up-to-date log of your accomplishments by creating CAR stories as they occur in your career. By doing so, you’ll be able to create an impactful resume that tells an impressive work history highlighting some of the challenges you faced, the actions you took to accomplish your goals and the measurable results of your expertise.

This blog, the first of a two part series, focuses on candidate salary requirements and what employers need to consider before they make an (attractive) offer. Part two will concentrate on job seekers and handling salary issues once an employer makes an offer.

Here’s a situation that we hope isn’t becoming a trend.  A highly qualified candidate provides her salary requirements to the recruiter before being submitted to the client.  The IT recruiter submits the candidate and communicates the salary requirements to the client.  The client company is very interested in meeting her, and the interview process goes smoothly.  The candidate is excited about the opportunity and believes the company will make her an offer.  But then she received the news from her recruiter.

The company extended an offer, but the salary is considerably less than what she requires. The candidate is very disappointed and somewhat perplexed as the company is aware that she has another job offer on the table.  Without hesitation, she declines the low-ball offer and accepts the other one that is within her salary range.

Hiring managers – don’t lose top IT talent by making an offer that they can refuse.  Here are five things to consider before choosing candidates to interview:

1. Be sure you’re aware of each applicant’s salary requirements before you begin the interview process. Know how much you’re prepared to offer if you find the right candidate for the job.  If you’re presented with a qualified applicant who falls outside the salary range, determine whether you may be willing/able to meet the desired salary.  If you cannot, then it’s best to move forward with other candidates. 
2. As the market continues to improve, IT professionals now have more career options. And as more jobs open up, candidates have the luxury of picking and choosing the right opportunity for them. Perhaps companies could offer lower salaries a year ago because the candidate pool was so big. Candidates didn’t have as many choices, so they were willing to take less.  That’s all changed.  Today, most qualified candidates don’t have to accept an offer that they aren’t thrilled about – because they most likely have or anticipate a better offer.  And if you hired talent at a lower salary during the Great Recession, be prepared to adjust their wages or risk having them jump ship soon.
3. Beware of the “haggle” factor. Most candidates do not want to go back and forth on negotiating salary with a potential employer.  If the candidate has provided a salary range, she may not mind negotiating a final amount if the offer falls just outside that range. However, coming back with a lower offer sends bad signals, which in turn, can create doubt with the candidate as to whether your opportunity is really the right one. And if your offer is too far off the salary mark, it’s likely the candidate won’t even try (or want) to negotiate.
4. Understand why the candidate wants what she wants. Usually, there are factors driving a candidate’s salary requirements such as commute, work from home flexibility, benefits, bonuses, etc.  For example, a candidate might expect $70,000 for a particular position, but since the job will require a longer commute and no bonus potential, she determines anything less than $76,000 will be a deal breaker. Do your best to find out those things that are affecting the candidate’s salary request. If adjusting the salary amount isn’t feasible look at other options that will help make your offer more attractive (i.e. mileage allowance, flex time, telecommute, etc.).
5. In most instances, an employee has one chance to be satisfied with their salary – and that’s with the first offer you extend. Once a candidate is hired, she can look forward to a yearly raise of three to five percent (if she’s lucky).  Within a few years (if that), she’ll be unhappy and look for other opportunities that pay more. By offering a salary the candidate is happy with up front, the risk of “defection” may be averted.

Pay attention to salary requirements when candidates are submitted, and ensure your company is able to meet those terms (or can at least offer options that will offset the difference in salary) before moving forward in the hiring process.  IT professionals aren’t feeling so desperate that they have to accept “unacceptable” offers.  If you don’t give them what they think they’re worth, another company probably will.  Your company should be asking “What will the cost to our business be if you lose top talent to competitors who are more than happy to pay up?”

We talk a lot about top talent – how these workers make up just 20% of the IT talent pool, how they are more productive (200% more than average workers) and innovative, and how difficult they can be to find – especially those professionals with high-demand skills.

It would be great if we could identify all top talent, put them in a “one size fits all” box and assign them to companies as required. But it’s not that easy. Top talent means different things to different organizations. Company culture plays a large part in defining what top talent actually looks like. For example, a hiring manager may be excited about a candidate who has strong technical skills,  but once the interview is over, the manager realizes that the candidate would not fit in to the company’s culture. Next!  

And therein lies the challenge – finding the right IT professional who possesses the necessary skills to do the job successfully, while also being a good fit with the company’s culture.

Culture can be characterized by attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values of an entire organization.  The attributes of an organization’s culture can be tangible, such as dress code, or intangible, such as shared values. In order to find your “top talent” it is important to think through all the attributes of your organization’s culture before launching a job search. Ask yourself and other members involved in the hiring process these questions:

• What are the values of the company? How do you know?
• How important is it that employees are highly committed to the organization’s mission? How do individual members contribute to the advancement of our mission?
• Is leadership a core value of the organization? How are decisions made and problems solved?
• What does the organization chart look like? Is your organization hierarchical or flat?
• What is the physical work environment like? Do you have offices, cubicles, or open workspaces? Are there common areas such as reception, a kitchen, or a lunch room?
• Is diversity of backgrounds, experiences, or beliefs important to your organization?
• How does the organization acknowledge personal successes and other milestones?
• What’s the work/life balance for staff?

Based on your answers to the above, determine the following:

• How do you define top talent? What does the perfect employee look like, and why do you believe this?
• How will you know when you’ve found top talent? What areas of that definition are subjective, and what does this tell you about the values and beliefs of the organization?
• How does the hiring process reinforce the behaviors of your values?
• How will you measure the success of recruiting top talent in the short-term and in the long-term?

Now that you know what top talent means in your organization, be sure to communicate your culture throughout the hiring process so that you will always attract and recruit the RIGHT people. A good way to start communicating company culture is in the actual job posting (this will also help recruiters reinforce the information to candidates during the qualification and selection process):

• Include your full mission statement within the posting.
• Offer an explicit description of the organization’s culture and values, such as “We work in a collaborative, team-based environment.”
• When listing job requirements, use language that mirrors specific values, such as “Collaborate with …” or “Produce results on. …”
• When listing candidate qualifications, include specific values such as “entrepreneurial” or “team player.”
• If diversity is an attribute of your culture, make sure to include this information. At the very least, include your organization’s “equal opportunity employer” statement.

What does top talent look like in your organization? What are some successful ways you’ve been able to attract and recruit top talent? If you need help finding top talent, contact a reputable IT staffing firm like Agile – we’ll be happy to speed your time to top talent!

Each week, our blog provides advice and tips to both IT job seekers and hiring personnel within IT organizations.  We blog about things that will help job seekers land the perfect job, and provide hiring managers with information that will help them hire and retain top talent . We blog about these things because we’re the experts when it comes to IT recruitment. We’re the experts, but sometimes we find ourselves in sticky situations – like not finding out what a candidate’s real motivators are until after a job offer is on the table. 

If only we had the opportunity to go back in time and start the IT search over with these candidates.  If only we could have a redo. 

But this isn’t Hollywood and some cheesy movie where the lead character gets hit in the head and travels back in time to make things right. In real life, there is no re-do! However, we can take what we have learned from our experiences and help job seekers understand the importance of articulating to the recruiter what drivers will motivate them to accept a job before the search begins. 

For example,  not too long ago our agency was working to fill a permanent Project Manager position for our client’s legacy technology. Our IT recruiter was working with a candidate whom, based on his past experience, seemed to be a perfect fit. He went through a multiple interview process and was finally offered the job.  At the last minute, the candidate turned the job down for a contract position in another state. It had nothing to do with money, benefits, commute, etc., but it was the technology that the candidate would be working with that persuaded him to take the contract position. This web-based PM role was more in-line with where he wanted to go in his career. After the offer was made, the recruiter learned from the candidate that he agreed to interview with our client only because he wanted a new job.  It wasn’t until he received the second offer that he realized what technology he wanted to gain experience in to move his career forward..

But what if we were given a redo? What could be done to change the outcome?  

Before moving forward with any job opportunity, we would ensure the candidate knows the direction he wants to take his career. He won’t settle for something that doesn’t really interest him, even if he’s highly qualified. If the job opportunity doesn’t meet his criteria, we’ll encourage him to be upfront and let the recruiter know what technology and type of role will really get him excited. Once the recruiter understands his career goals, they’ll both be in a better position to find an opportunity that will motivate the candidate into saying “of course” when an offer is presented.    

Here’s another example. After interviewing for a position with our client, the candidate determined this was the right job for him.  The company liked him too, and an offer was extended to the candidate. There was just one problem. When looking at the total compensation package, the candidate hadn’t taken insurance benefits into consideration. It was at this point that the recruiter became aware how important insurance benefits were to this candidate.  The client agreed to increase his salary to help offset the cost of insurance, but after several days of going back and forth, the candidate finally determined that the offer was not in his family’s best interest. The end result? The candidate invested a lot of time and energy pursuing a job that didn’t make financial sense from the get-go, and ended up keeping the job he had.

How would the redo go? 

 The candidate would know up front what the total compensation package needs to be for him to accept the offer. If insurance is his key motivator, he’ll make sure he asks the recruiter and employer about the specifics regarding the insurance plan and costs early on in the process. If benefits are a show-stopper, he’ll tell the recruiter so that she can work with the client to determine how and if to proceed with the opportunity. If it’s not going to work, the recruiter will ensure his time and energy is spent pursuing another opportunity that meets his professional and personal needs.

If you’re a job seeker, don’t count on the redo. Be prepared, know what you want, and communicate those motivators to your recruiter so that when a job offer is made, you’re ready and willing to say “I accept!”

Got a job offer redo you’d like to share?