Communications of the ACM
Fifteen Common It Job Search Mistakes
Credit: Corrupted Development
Career coaches, resume writers, and IT recruiters shed light on the most commonly seen mistakes IT pros make when conducting their job search. Standing out from all the other job seekers in the IT market requires preparing a full-time job search strategy, contacting members of your network, and creating a focused plan that helps you find the best fit for your IT background. Overall, there are 15 concrete steps that IT jobseekers can take to optimize their chances of finding their next job.
Since more than half of job seekers are hired through a referral, you should spend some time growing your professional network. If people in your network don't know your skill set and what your value is, chances are they can't really help you find a new job. You have to cultivate and grow these relationships. However, experts warn that casting a wide net can leave a lot of holes. Expanding the scope of the search will not yield more opportunities; it actually does the opposite, diluting your message and spreading your time too thin. Another mistake is not researching prospective employers. Researching the company you are interviewing with will give you insight into what they do, who their customers are, and the problems they face. This, in turn, allows you to formulate intelligent questions for your interview.
Focusing too much on the technical skills in a position is something that's common in IT interviews. While these elements are definitely important to the position, companies hire on cultural fit so the person who's interviewing you needs to really get a sense of your personality in a short period of time. IT pros typically have longer resumes, but anything exceeding three pages can wear out even the most patient recruiter. If you struggle to fit your experience into two or three pages, consider looking at resume samples or working with a professional writer to trim your narrative for readability. Another mistake is focusing on the wrong part of the story — to focus more on the responsibilities in past roles and less on the important facts and real results.
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