It makes sense: From the company’s point of view, a video conversation can save both time and money, very similar to a phone interview but providing a view of the candidate.

And, of course, the Coronavirus pandemic dramatically increased the use of video interviews, making video interview skills more important for job candidates.

Video interviews provide a convenient way for hiring managers to have an initial conversation with a candidate, before committing to the time and expense of tests and additional interviews.

Also, recruiters say that, as the competition for talent becomes more intense in technology centers like Boston and San Francisco, companies there are becoming more open to the idea of hiring remote workers in secondary markets. Clearly, the pandemic has increased that interest.

Video interviews are an invaluable tool for screening those candidates.

How to Prepare for Your Video Interview

As with any interview, the key to a successful video conversation is planning. The difference is you need to prepare more than your answers and what you’re going to wear. You must consider the technical issues involved in using video properly.

Yes, the software is easy to download and install and, yes, webcams and microphones today are plug and play or already built into your computer.

But neglect the simple aspects of using video, and you will end up looking amateurish and unprepared.

Here’s how to make sure you are ready:

  1. Set up and test ahead of time.  

First, be sure you have downloaded, installed, and tested the software well before your interview is scheduled — the sooner the better.

Have video chats with several friends to make sure everything is working properly on a variety of systems.

• Set up your camera so that your face is nicely framed.

  Try positioning the camera so that the lower edge of the frame is in the upper part of your chest, roughly in line with the third button of a dress shirt or a couple of inches below your collarbone. Position the top of the frame about a hand’s width above your head.

  Try not to be looking down at the camera. You may need to position the camera so that it is on a box or stack of books at roughly the same level as your face, with a light above and in front of you, not behind you.

• Test your microphone.

  For sound, your voice should come through without any echoes, hums or buzzing. If in doubt, invest in a headset. It is better to wear one than to have poor sound quality that will distract from what you say.

• Check the lighting.

  Your image should be plainly visible without being too bright. While it’s true you’re not making a feature film here, get your skin tones to appear as natural as you can by adjusting the camera’s settings, the angle of the room’s lights and the window shades.

• If you wear glasses, minimize your computer monitor’s reflection in your glasses.

  Change the monitor’s angle, cover it with paper, or possibly turn it off during the interview. Or, consider removing your glasses if you are sure you won’t need them during the interview. Whichever approach you take, test it out before the interview itself.

• Prepare the room.

  Set up a professional-looking background that won’t distract from the conversation.

  Don’t have a basket of laundry on the sofa behind you or an open door that reveals a hallway full of trash bags. Avoid using your bedroom: Having your bed and nightstand in the background is a little too personal.

Careful set-up — in advance — is very important for a successful interview.

  2. Rehearse.  

This is a key to any successful interview, but being comfortable with the technology is especially important with video. Not only do you want to make sure you can maintain your poise despite any question you get, you want to be comfortable talking to the camera.

Bear in mind how you will appear from the interviewer’s point of view.

You will look them in the eye by looking into the camera, not by watching their image on the monitor. Practice talking to the camera and find the position where you are the most comfortable, so you can sit that way for a long period of time.

Provide your friends with a set of questions you expect to be asked, and have them run through them with you, hopefully using the same video technology as the interview. Ask them to mix up the questions, so you can field the questions in any order. Having your friends add in their own questions will prepare you to deal with unanticipated topics.

  3. Prepare your environment.  

When the time comes for the interview itself, be sure that you will not be disturbed. Try to find quiet space where you will not be disturbed by the environment.

If you have kids, you will need someone to mind them. If you have pets, put them out of the room.

Turn off the clothes dryer so its alarm does not go off in mid-sentence, and turn off your landline and cell phone, too.

  4. Dress up. 

How to dress for a video interview? Put on the same clothes for a video interview that you would wear if you were going to interview in-person. If the company is formal, wear a jacket and tie for men or a suit jacket for women. If the organization is more laid back, wear a business casual shirt or blouse.

Don’t give into the temptation to dress up only above the waist. First, wearing the complete ensemble will help you stay in the interviewing mood. Second, if you have to stand up for some reason, you don’t want your shorts or jeans to ruin the impression you’ve made.

This advice applies even if you are doing a one way or prerecorded interview.

  5. Get in the zone.  

You have to pay special attention to what’s going on during an interview. The interviewer can see you, but picking up on their visual cues is more challenging when you are trying to keep your attention focused on the camera. So, do not forget to look at the screen often to see what the interviewers are doing — smiling, frowning, looking at notes, or where ever their attention is focused.

Pay attention to your video interview body language.

• Focus on sitting up straight and making eye contact, which is a lot more difficult than it may appear.You’ll be tempted to keep your eyes on the monitor, but focus instead on the webcam. When you do, interviewers will see you looking at them directly.If the camera is built into your computer monitor, use a sticky note to point to the camera’s lens, if you cannot easily see it.
• Lean forward, and nod during the conversation so the interviewers can see that you are engaged.

All of this is in addition to the preparation you’d do ahead of a telephone or in-person interview.

For example, research the employer so that you understand its business, and write out a list of questions of your own so you can envision how and where the job fits into the organization.

After the session, be sure send the interviewer a thank you note.

The Bottom Line About Video Interview Preparation

Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and the other video platforms are relatively simple to use, but you might need to take some time and practice to make your video look and sound clean. Prepare for your interview well ahead of time and you wull look good to the hiring manager, and save yourself a whole lot of stress.

If your field is IT, the standard is higher. Employers expect IT professionals to have technology that works flawlessly.

More About Job Interviews:

• What to Wear to a Job Interview: Choosing the Right Interview Outfit
• Ace Your Video Interview
• 12 Keys to One-Way Video Interview Success
• 10 Keys to Success in One-Way Video Interviews
• Smart Answers to Interview Questions
• Guide to Writing Thank You Notes After an Interview with Sample Thank You Notes (and Emails)

About the author…

Mark Feffer has written, edited, and produced hundreds of articles on careers, personal finance and technology for leading business and career sites. He is currently writing for JobsinME.com, JobsinRI.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinNH.com, the top local resources for job seekers, employers, and recruiters in New England.

The post 5 Tips to Prepare & Dress for Your Video Job Interview appeared first on Job-Hunt.

For most, the move to management is a promotion that happens in their current workplace.

It means more money, more responsibility, and a greater chance to have an impact on their company’s long-term plans.

But if climbing out of the trenches is your goal, have a realistic idea of what’s involved.

The Manager’s World

Becoming a manager isn’t just about growing your current role to its next logical step. Instead, it means drastic changes to the work you’ll do, the way you’ll interact with others, and the scope of issues you’ll be responsible for.

For many professionals, such dynamics are simply part of the territory that comes with an advancing career. But others may not be prepared for the sudden shift in priorities and approach that’s required when you become the boss.

The move to management can be a tough change to negotiate.

As a manager, you’re not just a part of the team – you must lead the team. People will look to you for direction, for advice, for coaching and to resolve conflicts.

Where before you were only responsible for your own work, now you’ll be judged on how well the work of others gets done.

As if that’s not enough, your relationships are going to change:

• Your peers aren’t your peers anymore.
• No longer can you vent about a colleague or wonder out loud if the CEO knows what the heck he’s doing.

When you’re in the manager’s chair, your opinions and behavior take on a whole different context.

Managing in IT is a complex proposition and requires skills that go far beyond the technical. The ability to communicate, to organize, to present and to listen become more important than your knowledge of JavaScript or VMware.

Though you may work in the same building and with the same people as you did before, in many ways you’re entering a whole new world.

The Work of Others

As a tech professional, you were judged on your skill and ability to contribute as a team member. As a manager, you’ll also be judged on how well your team performs under your supervision.

No longer will you be a technical professional responsible for coding assigned portions of a project or troubleshooting the network’s firewall. Now you’ll be on the hook for delivering the whole package — the final product, the secure and functioning network — on-time and on-budget.

The personnel issues, conflicting priorities, and endless questions that used to be someone else’s problem? Well, now those problems are your problems.

It’s All About… Them

By definition, a manager is someone who directs or oversees the work of others. That means that what you do every day will involve keeping track of what your subordinates are up to and making sure they’re on course to meet their deadlines, stick to their budgets and, in general, keep all the promises they’ve made to clients or others in the company.

Doing this involves more than asking for status updates. In the course of talking to people about their work, you’ll have to help them identify and solve problems that involve everything from code to non-responsive co-workers.

Effective managers are good leaders, and leadership is about more than checking off boxes on a to-do list. It means motivating your team, understanding the obstacles they face, and looking for ways to help get past them.

You’ll need to build a level of trust that allows you to know when you should leave people to their work and when you should get involved in an issue.

And, you should be able to make each individual feel as if their work is more important than a single assignment and a paycheck.

Tools to the Team

When it comes to putting your arms elbow deep into the kind of technical issue you excel at, well… That’s not your job anymore.

Now…

• One of the manager’s responsibilities is to provide their team with the tools necessary to get their work done, meaning the direction and resources that lead to clear responsibilities and adequate time for a project to be completed.
• Making sure time sheets are properly filed is now your headache.
• When HR mandates that new training be conducted, you’re the one who has to make sure the team signs up.
• When that technical issue crops up, it’s your job to assign the right person to handle it so you can focus on what you are supposed to be doing.

Your responsibilities — and interaction with former co-workers — are now quite different.

Ear to the Ground

Communication is an important part of the manager’s job, and that includes information-gathering as well as information-sharing what you’ve learned.

Just as executives need to stay up to speed on the status of your department’s work, your team wants to know about the company’s plans for facing new competitors or marketing its new product.

In both cases, people will depend on you to collect information from different sources and put it together in a logical way. Where, before, your communications were focused on a few projects, now you’ll be in touch with a wider range of people on issues that go beyond the status of certain deliverables.

It’s a sensitive area. Your boss will be curious about what people are saying when she’s not around, and your employees will want to know the story behind the latest feature in the company newsletter. A good manager knows how to share intelligence in a way that helps people see context and understand how their concerns fit into the greater whole.

The Bottom Line

Good managers spend most of their time thinking about their teams and making sure they’ve got what they need to get their work done. Succeeding requires both the ability to step back for a wider view and the knowledge of how technical parts fit together. Many IT professionals love the challenges that come with moving up, but more than a few have realized that their first love is the hands-on work that managers often leave behind.

Moving into management can be challenging, but many people successfully make that transition, fortunately. Good management is essential for successful projects and successful organizations.

More About Career Changes

• 7 Signs It Is Time for a Career Change
• Overcoming Career Change Fears
• Self-Assessment for Successful Career Change
• 10 Smart and Simple Steps to Start Your Career Transition
• Finding Your New Career by Trying It Out
• Research for Your Career Change

About the author…

Mark Feffer has written, edited, and produced hundreds of articles on careers, personal finance and technology for leading business and career sites. He is currently writing for JobsinME.com, JobsinRI.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinNH.com, the top local resources for job seekers, employers, and recruiters in New England.

The post Career Change: Becoming the Boss appeared first on Job-Hunt.

MANY employers have been forced to shut their doors, hopefully only temporarily.

Working from home is the new normal for many professionals.

Finding a job is not easy, even though some employers are still hiring.

No doubt, you have become discouraged by searching relentlessly for for full-time positions that are very hard to find.

So, perhaps it is time for a change in your job search strategy.

The Contracting or Freelancing Option

Consider directing your energies toward freelancing (also known as “contracting”), where you can find project based, skill-centric, time-specific positions, which are usually paid well and by the hour.

Contract positions are available across industries, fields, experience levels and salary ranges.

While they may not present the ideal situation, these jobs allow you to stay in touch with the professional world, pay the bills, and show prospective employers that you’ve remained active and engaged in the workforce.

They’re not just for lower-level candidates or Millennials, either.

If you’re worried that you will be put in the “permanent freelancer” box, it’s worth noting that while a small percentage of businesses do offer contractors full-time positions, the job market is changing radically, and the way we work is far more diverse than it’s ever been. Contracting may be what we all do in the future.

[MORE: Is Freelancing Your Future Career?]

Starting Your Contracting Work

Finding contract jobs is a bit different than a full-time search. Here are some tips to get you started.

  Create a Contractor Resume  

A solid contractor resume should be shorter and more focused than your standard version, and targeted specifically to the position you’re pursuing. Include a brief personal profile – the equivalent of your elevator pitch – along with a list of skills, certifications, achievements and your career history.

Make sure to sell yourself in both the resume and cover letter. Your approach should be honed in on the value you can bring to the table today, as opposed to what you did in the past.

  Get on the Radar  

Because a lot of contract work is sourced via agencies and websites that focus on non-employee positions, it’s critical to research which ones are appropriate for your resume

Find out which recruiters specialize in filling independent positions in your area of expertise and make contact. Also, tell recruiters you already know that you’re available and looking to work outside the box.

Don’t be afraid to approach hiring managers directly at companies looking to fill contract positions. You can also connect with businesses you’d like to work with and pitch yourself as a cost-effective alternative for short-term projects.

Be sure that your LinkedIn Profile supports your contracting work expertise.

  Search Broadly  

Now, turn to the job boards. Search using terms like “contract,” “contracting,” “temporary,” “remote,” and “freelance.” Many employers don’t realize there can be differences between these descriptions, so their positions could be misidentified in the title.

Read carefully, and apply accordingly.

[MORE: How to Find Part-Time or Project Work.]

  More Pros than Cons  

As an independent contractor, you are not considered an employee. You would likely be hired for a single project and a specific timeframe, and you will most likely be paid by the hour.

You may make more than you would at a comparable full-time position because you’re being hired for expertise exclusive to a project.

But, bear in mind:You are responsible for all of your own expenses which include health insurance, self-employment taxes, and other related expenses. So, the employer saves money while you have added costs.
When you price your work, keep your additional costs in mind.

By accepting contract work, you can reduce gaps in your employment and have the opportunity to network within an organization.

If a full-time position becomes available, being on the inside – even for a short period of time – will give you the chance to make a positive impression.

Another bonus is that each new environment is target-rich. With every assignment you will be able to develop fresh networking contacts and open different doors to potential prospects in your field.

Finally, while many contractors work on-site in non-pandemic time, many work remotely from their homes. Perfect now.

The Bottom Line

Look at taking contract work as a series of small steps forward rather than a big leap into a dream position. Do not pass up short-term opportunities, even if they are not exactly what you are looking for. A contract may be your best option for generating needed income, ending a long-term period of unemployment, or creating a new way to make a living. Each step can lead you down a path toward more opportunities and a better fit in the right spot.

More About Contracting/Freelancing

• Is Freelancing Your Future Career?
• How to Find Part-Time or Project Work
• Landing Freelance Jobs: How to Market Yourself
• Job-Hunt’s free Guide to Freelance and Contract Jobs
• Job-Hunt’s free Guide to the Temporary Work Option

About the author…

Mark Feffer has written, edited, and produced hundreds of articles on careers, personal finance and technology for leading business and career sites. He is currently writing for JobsinME.com, JobsinRI.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinNH.com, the top local resources for job seekers, employers, and recruiters in New England.

The post Battle Unemployment Through Contracting or Freelancing appeared first on Job-Hunt.

Working on a contract also provides a unique opportunity to expand your network to include potential new employers and land future projects.

This means you should approach each engagement as if there’s an element of strategy to it – that it’s about more than getting a check.

Of course, you want to perform well, but when you arrive at the office do more than focus solely on the work at hand.

Be visible, too, as an active and contributing member of the team, an experienced expert with detailed knowledge of the latest technical tools, and a smart businessperson who understands how your efforts impact your client’s business and contribute to its success.

Two Primary Elements of Contracting

The first element is obvious: Do your job well.

The second element is to network beyond the org chart of your team, and take advantage of opportunities to attend presentations to management or members of other departments.

Some contractors hesitate to do this, thinking that they should restrict their interactions to the department that’s engaged them. They don’t want to go “out of bounds,” as it were.

But the truth is, such self-imposed restrictions aren’t necessary, as long as you reach out to the right people in the right way.

Before we go further, bear this point in mind: These elements aren’t either/or strategies. Pursue them simultaneously.

As a freelancer, you’re a member of the employer’s community – albeit a temporary one – and it behooves you to take advantage of that fact.

Networking is Part of the Freelancer’s Job

Remember that networking is the single most effective way to find your next job. When they’re sifting through candidates, employers weigh a number of criteria, like skills, experience and cultural fit.

When evaluating potential hires, they always feel more comfortable when dealing with candidates with whom they have some kind of connection. Those connections result from your networking efforts.

Networking is a long-term proposition that starts with building relationships – meeting new people, then helping them get to know your background and understand how you can solve business problems that they or members of their own network may encounter.

Of course, the logical place to begin building those relationships is with your team. To do that, go beyond making your expected contributions to its work by actively communicating – sharing opinions and advice, say, or helping out colleagues when they run into a problem they can’t solve on their own.

But don’t leave it at that:

• Ask team members out to lunch or coffee, and get to know their personal as well as their professional interests.
• At the same time, tell them more about your technology and business experience than they might have learned when the boss introduced you.

After this initial meeting, keep building the relationship by sending links to articles that might interest your colleague or having more casual conversations when it’s appropriate.

Connect on LinkedIn. This isn’t simply connecting for connecting’s sake. It’s all about laying the groundwork for staying in touch after you’ve moved onto your next assignment.

Moving Beyond Your Team

You can follow a similar path when getting to know people beyond your team, though here you have to proceed more thoughtfully.

Chances are a number of your client company’s employees can be useful contacts, but don’t approach people blindly.

You want to connect with those whose interests align with yours, who share some kind of common ground with you.

These people are probably obvious: They’re the ones you see in multi-department project meetings, for example, or those who are in some way involved in your work.

They might be the salespeople who’ll connect your project with the customer, the marketing people who’ll raise awareness about it, or the Finance guy who’s keeping an eye on the budget. As with your fellow team members, your goal here is to develop relationships that will show their value over time.

Even though your background may be in technology, people in Sales, Marketing, Finance and other departments will know about new projects or full-time opportunities at both your client company and businesses their own contacts work for. Also, they may recognize areas where your talents overlap with the needs or interests of someone in their network, which could lead to another valuable contact.

The fact you’re involved in the same project gives you any number of conversation-starters. Reach out to ask a question related to their work on the effort, or tell them how helpful their input has been to your own work. From there, it’s simple to ask if you could have a little of their time to learn more about what they do and how they view the business. These are professional questions that will help you be better at your job, and as everyone in IT knows, good technology pros are always looking to learn.

Bottom Line

Every contracting assignment brings with it the chance to expand your network of contacts into new companies. In turn, that means you’ll hear about more contracting or full-time job opportunities, and meet more people who can help you develop your career down the road.

More About Contracting/Freelancing

• Contracting Battles Unemployment
• Freelancing: Your Future Career?
• Evaluating Freelancing as a Business

About the author…

Mark Feffer has written, edited, and produced hundreds of articles on careers, personal finance and technology for leading business and career sites. He is currently writing for JobsinME.com, JobsinRI.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinNH.com, the top local resources for job seekers, employers, and recruiters in New England.

The post Connecting with Gigs / Freelance Jobs appeared first on Job-Hunt.

That means your technical expertise has to leap out at a glance.

You can make that happen by incorporating your technical skills into every section of the document. But bear in mind: Employers aren’t just looking for technical skills… They’re looking for the right technical skills.

Think about it: A company that’s advertising for a software developer has very specific work that needs to be done, which will require expertise in certain tools and technologies.

If your resume doesn’t prominently feature skills that match their needs, the employer won’t make the connection between you and the job it needs to fill.

That means the first step toward effectively presenting your technical skills is to customize your resume to the job you’re applying for. Yes, that’s a lot of work. Yes, it may mean you’ll apply for fewer jobs. But customizing your resume is a sure way to increase the chances that an employer will see you as a good fit.

Match Skills to the Job Description

The key is to study the job description. In it, the company will detail the technology and tools that it uses. For example, an ad for a software developer might describe requirements that include experience with Java/J2EE, WebLogic, and Agile development methodologies, plus object oriented design and strong web programming skills. If your background matches these needs, you’ve got a road map to customizing your resume in a way that’s going to get the employer’s attention.

Include the Right Skills

The first step is to be specific. Tweak your entries so that they include references to the skills and experience described in the job ad.

For example, instead of writing that you “designed and developed user interfaces,” say you “designed and developed user interfaces as part of an Agile development effort.” Don’t simply say that you “coded.” Instead, include references to specific languages you’ve used in the course of your work: “Coded numerous projects using Java, JavaScript, C, and HTML.”

Set Off Your Technical Skills

Next, create a separate “Technical Skills” section of your resume where you can list all of your skills in one place. Organize the list according to area — for example, “Languages,” “Tools,” etc. — or by type of technology: “Programming,” “Networking,” “Platforms,” etc.

The section might look something like this:

Languages: Java, JavaScript, Java Beans, C, C++
Networking: Cisco, Juniper, VMWare, F5
Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows XP/2000; Mac OS X, Linux

Typically, this section should go near the top of your resume, beneath your resume objective statement or career summary. Placing the list so prominently increases the chances that reviewers will spot your qualifications at first glance.

And don’t worry about the fact that this list repeats information you’ve included in your job summaries. This section is about making your skills easy to see. In the body of the resume, you’re demonstrating that you know how to use them.

List Certifications Separately

Technical certifications should also be broken out. They can be listed along with your college degrees in an “Education” section or, if you have more than one or two, in a separate section entirely. Either way, list one per line.

Unless the job posting emphasizes required certifications — which might be the case in areas like cyber security — insert this section toward the bottom of your resume, just above or just below the “Education” section that contains your college work.

Bottom Line

Remember, your resume’s job is to get you an interview. By highlighting the technical skills that match the employer’s needs, you’ll demonstrate that you’re already an expert in the technologies they use –and that you’re a candidate worth talking to.

About the author…

Mark Feffer has written, edited, and produced hundreds of articles on careers, personal finance and technology for leading business and career sites. He is currently writing for JobsinME.com, JobsinRI.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinNH.com, the top local resources for job seekers, employers, and recruiters in New England.

The post Capture Employer Interest: Make Your Tech Skills “POP” on Your Resume appeared first on Job-Hunt.

When they’re checking out potential employers and engaging in interviews, spend as much time considering whether they want to work for the company as they do selling themselves for the open position.

After all, you spend the majority of your waking hours at work, and your interactions with your co-workers and boss have a direct impact on how much you look forward to going into the office each morning.

Good pay and benefits are important, sure, but you also want to be engaged by what you do and who you do it with.

Researching an employer is a basic task of job-hunting. Before sitting down for an interview, you want to know about the company’s lines of business, financial health, and the technology it uses.

It’s just as important to do homework on the background and style of the hiring manager. Besides helping you have a more productive and informative interview, what you learn will be of immense value when the time comes to decide whether or not this particular job is for you.

[MORE: 3-Step Proactive IT Job Search.]

What Kind of Boss Do You Want?

Before you do anything, take a step back, and think about the type of boss you want.

Doing so will put everything you learn about the hiring manager into a meaningful context.

For example, if you prefer to work with people who are engaged by technology — who post regularly on blogs and are involved in the open source community — you may be leery of a manager whose background is mostly in business.

On the other hand, if you prefer to work through technical problems on your own, you may appreciate a boss who cares more about the deliverable than the path you took to creating it.

Of course, you probably want someone who’s just a basically good boss: a manager who looks out for their team and will take the time to coach you, someone who makes each individual feel as if they’re a part of a greater whole. Don’t underplay those softer aspects of the manager’s job.

  Go Online  

Once you’ve defined the type of person you want to work for, it’s time to do some basic research. Start by going online, to LinkedIn and Google, specifically.

First, search for the manager’s LinkedIn profile. There, you’ll be able to see their career path, what kinds of technical positions they’ve held, what companies they’ve worked for and what organizations they’re involved with.

Look at their network to see if you have any mutual connections. If you do, they can be good sources of information about the manager’s approach to technology, business and management.

Also, look to see if the manager’s participated in any LinkedIn group discussions. That can give you an idea of their approach to various issues that touch their work.

[MORE: Beyond Networking — LinkedIn for Company Research.]

You can learn a lot from a Google search, as well. Searching on the manager’s name can uncover intelligence such as:

• Trade journal articles the manager may have written or been quoted in. These can provide insight into their depth of knowledge and approach to technical challenges.
• Their activity in certain meetups, working groups or professional associations. Besides giving you insight into the manager’s professional activities, you may also, again, identify mutual connections.
• Common interests between the two of you, either professionally or hobbies.

[MORE: 50 Google Searches to Avoid Layoffs and Bad Employers.]

Also, look on GitHub and appropriate open-source communities to see whether the manager has posted work there. Those are great places to get a sense of their hands-on technical skill.

  Ask Questions During the Interview  

A job interview should never be a one-way conversation. Just as the employer is using the meeting to get a sense of you and your skills, you should take advantage of the opportunity to decide whether this is a manager you want to work for.

Here’s where all of the research you’ve done comes into play. You certainly want to take the time to ask questions about the company and its approach. Doing so demonstrates that you’re interested enough in the firm to have learned about its business ahead of time.

(But remember: You never want to ask a hiring manager, “So, what does your company do, anyway?” You should have learned that before you ever walk in the door!)

It’s perfectly fair to ask the manager how they run their team and what they expect from employees. Ask them to describe their ideal team member, then see how well you match up. It’s a red flag if the two don’t fit together very well.

To get a sense of their technical sophistication, ask the manager to describe the company’s technical stack. Because their job is to manage, the manager may not be as close to the stack’s intricacies as are members of the development team. At the same time, though, they should be able to discuss the advantages and challenges the team faces in doing its day-to-day work.

Be sure to approach your questions in the right way. Like it or not, the hiring manager is in the driver’s seat during the interview, so you’re not in the position of performing some kind of interrogation.

Most managers expect candidates to ask questions, just be respectful and keep your tone light.

Always pose queries in a positive way. For example, don’t ask what might make the manager a frustrating boss. Instead, ask generally how they approach managing the team.

  Ask Questions of the Team  

Nowadays, it’s more than likely that you’re going to meet with some members of the manager’s team when you visit the company. No one will give you a better idea of what it’s like to work for someone than their subordinates.

Here again, you have to ask your questions carefully and positively.

Inquire about what kind of team member succeeds with this manager, and get a sense of how the group is run by asking about off-site meetings or team events that the manager might host.

Ask why the team members like working for the manager, but stay away from questions about his weaknesses or what he might do better. The team members’ level of enthusiasm will tell you a lot.

[MORE: Answering Do You Have Any Questions in a Job Interview (50+ possible questions for you to ask them).]

Bottom Line

Your relationship with your manager is a critical component of your success, not to mention your happiness at work. Take the time to learn as much as you can about the hiring manager, both before and during your job interviews. The effort will be well worth it.

More About Job Search

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• 5 Things You Must Do Before a Job Interview
• Developing Your Elevator Pitch
• Answering Do You Have Any Questions in a Job Interview (50+ possible questions for you to ask them)

About the author…

Mark Feffer has written, edited, and produced hundreds of articles on careers, personal finance and technology for leading business and career sites. He is currently writing for JobsinME.com, JobsinRI.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinNH.com, the top local resources for job seekers, employers, and recruiters in New England.

The post Smart Research: Check Out the Hiring Manager appeared first on Job-Hunt.

That’s no surprise: Here you are, an expert in your field, with code on GitHub and a track record of business results to point to, and you have to stand at a whiteboard to talk your way through using an algorithm or designing a database.

It’s a standard part of the IT hiring process, and that’s not going to change any time soon.

As grueling as they might be, these interviews help hiring managers answer fundamental questions. In addition to establishing a candidate’s core technical knowledge, they offer insight into how you approach technical challenges, work under pressure, and engage with others.

Hiring managers aren’t spot-checking your syntax, they’re evaluating your thought processes.

Show That You’re Thinking

For example, maybe they ask how you’d go about building a package-tracking system for a local delivery service. While you’re not going to create a complete solution during the session, you’ll have to identify the solution’s key functions, then sketch out how they’d be executed and the results they’d provide.

In developing your answer, explain the reasoning behind any assumptions you make. It’s OK to ask the manager questions.

For example, you might want to know how many drivers the hypothetical delivery service employs and how many packages it handles in a day. This is the kind of information you’d want to get while scoping out any project, and the simple act of asking the questions gives the manager an indication that you’re thinking about end users and the challenges you’re helping them to face.

If the manager tells you to make your own assumptions, go ahead. Just be sure to tell him what they are and why you’re making them. For example:

“Let’s assume there are five drivers, each one handling 60 packages a day. I’m assuming each driver can deliver eight packages an hour during an eight-hour shift because we have to allow for driving time between each address.”

This illustrates the key to successfully navigating the technical interview: You have to talk. Again, more than anything else, the manager’s trying to get inside your head.

By asking questions, explaining assumptions, and stepping through each step of the solution you’re building, you’ll provide a sense of your approach to information-gathering and problem-solving.

That’s why even talking your way into a dead end isn’t necessarily a sign of trouble. You’ll recognize the roadblock, and you’ll step back to try another approach. That kind of thing happens in the real world, and the manager knows it.

Engage with the Interviewer

The technical interview also gives managers a sense of how you engage with others.

Though many tech professionals dismiss the idea, communication is an important part of their job. Coding may be a solitary occupation, but in the course of their work, developers interact with team members on a daily basis, and may be called upon to work with end users, clients, business partners, or other employees of their company.

So always keep your cool. Don’t feel pressured to give the right answer — focus on explaining your approach in a way that’s clear and concise.

Be prepared for trick questions: Some managers will use them to throw you off balance and see how you react.

And don’t be surprised if you’re asked to define even basic terms. The manager may want to learn how you’ll explain concepts to people who aren’t as technically savvy as you are.

During the technical interview, the manager’s interests go beyond what you know about syntax and arrays. Remember that by the time you’ve been invited in for face-to-face meetings, the employer’s already decided you’re capable of doing the job.

Bottom Line

While the whiteboard session gives you a chance to reinforce your technical skills, it’s also an opportunity to show off how you can bring your professional experience to bear, communicate with others, and be an effective member of the team. That’s what managers want to know.

About the author…

Mark Feffer has written, edited, and produced hundreds of articles on careers, personal finance and technology for leading business and career sites. He is currently writing for JobsinME.com, JobsinRI.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinNH.com, the top local resources for job seekers, employers, and recruiters in New England.

The post What Hiring Managers Really Want in Technical Job Interviews appeared first on Job-Hunt.

The Market Value of Credentials

These credentials are a big part of the IT job landscape: Some 84 percent of technology professionals in the U.S. and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) believe technical training is either very or extremely valuable, according to a study undertaken by the IT networking organization Spiceworks for the training company New Horizons. Most believe that training can improve job opportunities and increase salaries.

At the same time, more than a third — 39 percent — said that their employers place limited to no value on training, and 54 percent said they would pay for at least some of their courses out of their own pockets.

Those costs aren’t trivial. Course fees can range into the thousands of dollars, and many programs require a commitment of days or weeks.

Determining the Value to You

Are certifications worth the time and expense? Unfortunately, the answer’s not a simple yes or no. Much depends upon the skills you’ve got and the employer’s needs.

Tech employers regularly complain about a “skills gap” that has them scrambling to find professionals for roles in big data, programming and development, and security. If you’re looking to work with a technology that’s in high demand, a certification certainly demonstrates your basic competency. And at a time when many professionals may be pursuing work in a hot area, the right credentials can set you apart from other candidates.

But often, employers place a premium on experience. While certifications show an understanding of a technology, having one doesn’t automatically correlate to putting theory into practice. At the end of the day, many employers believe that nothing beats real world results when it comes to demonstrating your proficiency.

The decision of whether or not to pursue a certification, then, depends on a number of factors related to your career path, the technology, and the job market. Ask yourself:

• What skills are hot right now? It’s important to know whether the skills covered by a certification are in demand and how they’re evolving.Good certifications keep pace with technical changes, so you should be learning about the latest iterations and best practices in a field that’s experiencing market demand. For example, the increasing popularity of Amazon Web Services is pushing employers to pay more for AWS-related certifications, according to CIO magazine.

  There’s a direct relationship between the market’s needs and the credential’s value.

• How strong is your experience? It may be that you’ve worked so closely with a technology for so long that coursework won’t teach you very much. If that’s the case, you’ll need to determine how much weight employers give to experience alone.One way to do this is to scan job postings to see how many call for certifications. Another is to network with professionals who specialize in the technology to get their impressions of the job market.
• How is the credential perceived? In some cases, a certification and experience can go hand-in-hand. For example, even senior project managers benefit from having the Project Management Professional (PMP) credential on their resume.
• Are certifications required? Sometimes, having the right certification is essentially a requirement for a successful career.It would be hard to get very far in IT security, for instance, without holding the ICS2’s Certified Information Systems Security Professional, or CISSP. In many vendor-specific positions — a job focused on VMware applications, say — a vendor-backed certification may be necessary.
• What’s the payoff? Chances are you’re going to pay a significant portion of the certification’s cost on your own. What do you expect to gain in return? Maybe it’s a higher salary, or perhaps it will help shift your career focus from an aging technology into something that’s up-and-coming.Whatever the reason, you should be able to identify the benefits that holding the certification will bring you.

Certifications can burnish your resume and help prove your skills. But before committing to the time and expense of earning a credential, be sure you understand how employers view it, and just how much it can help you succeed along your desired career path.

About the author…

Mark Feffer has written, edited, and produced hundreds of articles on careers, personal finance and technology for leading business and career sites. He is currently writing for JobsinME.com, JobsinRI.com, JobsinVT.com and JobsinNH.com, the top local resources for job seekers, employers, and recruiters in New England.

The post How Important Are Technical Certifications for IT Job Search? appeared first on Job-Hunt.