In today’s competitive hiring environment, it’s easy for a company to make compromises when hiring a developer for a temporary project. In extreme cases, companies may end up vetting temporary software developer candidates based solely upon their availability.

Short-term compromises are common when hiring temporary staff, but in the long-run, these compromises can make it difficult to build a truly quality product. If you’re hiring for a temporary IT project, you’ll want to keep the following considerations in mind.

Permanent vs. Temporary IT Staff

On a permanent team, you want a blend of experienced IT staff and younger developers that can be molded into ideal, loyal senior developers. What you don’t want is to recruit temporary staff members that you will only need for a short time. Many companies hire temporary developers simply to mine the specific skills required to complete a single project. While temporary staff members offer a perspective that is broader than that held by your company’s permanent employees, they are not invested in the long term success of your company’s initiatives.

If you’re hiring for a one-time IT project (for example, an app) and need to hire temporary staff, you may lack the technical expertise required to effectively evaluate your candidates’ relevant capabilities. However, you should still be able to rely on a candidate’s portfolio. Any temporary developer worth their salt has a portfolio that accurately reflects their ability.

When evaluating a temporary candidate, skip the theory. Skip bulleted skills sections. And skip the Famo.us-style coding tests. Instead, ask to see and use an app (or two) that your candidate has built. This allows you to immediately gauge the candidate’s skills and expertise or lack thereof. Was using the app intuitive and easy? How fast did it load? Was the touch screen user-friendly and easy to navigate? Were the statements, wording, and messages simple and clearly communicated? Did the developer look at the interface in terms of accessibility and usability for all users?

The Value of Communication Skills in Developers

Most software developers aren’t known for their excellent people skills, however, while a permanent staff member doesn’t need to be particularly gregarious or charismatic in order to fit in at the company, they do need to be able to build rapport reasonably well in order to collaborate on the project. If a company doesn’t have dedicated IT staff on hand to liaise between the temporary developer and the rest of the company, then it should put extra emphasis on finding a temporary software developer with excellent communication skills.

Temporary developers must be active communicators and active listeners. It’s likely that these individuals will work more independently than many others at the company, so they must have the ability to keep fellow employees in the loop. Also, as experts, they need to know how to translate that knowledge in a simple, direct way, to communicate with less technical members of your company.

Most importantly, according to a study done in 2013 on soft skills and software development, 88% of job postings for software developers required excellent communication skills as part of their criteria. It’s commonly known that in order to be a good software developer, you need to understand the end user, and the human element of design. (At iTech, we understand this in other words we hire people who get people.)

Hiring a Temporary Software Development Team vs. Individual Developers

Effective development teams are shown to be more creative and more productive, but, when you are dealing with temporary projects and short-term relationships, the bond between team members may not be as strong. Despite your best efforts to build camaraderie, team chemistry is not something that can be developed in a short time.

You can, however, hire established teams instead of hiring multiple individual developers. A team that already works together already knows how to get along, how to delegate tasks, share input, and maximize productivity. Teams require less management and the refined team dynamics result in fewer interpersonal conflicts. This immediately translates into fewer headaches from a project management perspective. At iTech, we coordinate business and technical teams, in addition to fulfilling your needs for individual developers.

Don’t be intimidated by the current market demand for software developers. You don’t want to hire just any temporary software developer, you want to hire an excellent temporary software developer. Just as you don’t want to create just any product or mobile app; you want to create an excellent one. At iTech, we hire the best, work with the best, and retain the best employees from across the globe. Contact iTech to find out how we can help insource the top talent you need to build your next excellent product.

The post The Unwritten Rules of Hiring Temporary IT Staff: Software Developer Edition first appeared on iTech.

Executives from a handful of notable, high-tech companies engaged in a recent panel discussion on the best ways to hire technical talent. Some of the companies represented included VMware, Stripe, and Dropbox. While the tech executives agreed on many hiring tips, they also disagreed about some things. This may have been because their company cultures differed, and they didn’t all have the same priorities. These tips could prove valuable, but every business really needs to develop their own hiring strategy.

Four Hiring Tips from Tech Execs

These were the most common points of agreement or disagreement about hiring IT staff and other technical people:

• Most executives agreed that internships provided a valuable chance to attract young talent. The internship period gives the candidate and the team a chance to really get to know each other.
• The executives also agreed that they shouldn’t shy away from hiring immigrants to fill hard-to-place spots. They observed that people from other cultures and countries often helped fuel innovation and were necessary to fill gaps.
• Before creating job postings, hiring managers really need to know what or who is competing for top talent. In some cases, it might be a famous tech company; but in other cases, it could just be a better location.
• One point of contention was the idea of paying higher salaries to attract superstar talent. While some companies believed the high producers brought value, others believed that it was management’s job to hire good people and groom them to produce more.

In addition, the executives talked about their company cultures. For example, some companies might value people with a more humble character; however, others preferred a little swagger. It’s this cultural fit that might be key to retaining people. There aren’t right or wrong company cultures, but they do differ quite a bit. The executives agreed that company cultures needed to get expressed in the hiring process. This way, they could find applicants who be more likely to fit in smoothly and stay loyal.

At iTech, We Help Make Hiring Technical Talent Easier

At iTech, we value our people and our clients. We can help you fill almost any type of technical position that you have. Let us know about your need for permanent employees, contractors, or temporary talent. You can find our contact information right here.

The post 4 Executive Tips to Hire Tech Talent first appeared on iTech.

Plenty of industry studies support the idea that data-driven sales help companies increase revenue. Businesses have been compelled to adapt new technology to keep track of consumer behavior; this includes information about behavior at the company level and even the industry level. Even small businesses have the chance to gather a lot of information, so the task of trying to make it meaningful might seem overwhelming at first. Still, it’s important to recognize the value of data-centered sales practices and know that intuitive and helpful tools are available that can make proper business intelligence and analysis accessible for all types of companies.

How Data-Centered Sales Improves the Bottom Line

To understand how data-driven salespeople can improve their performance, it might help to learn about some of the benefits. Companies capture data about many different aspects of consumer behavior. In turn, they use business intelligence practices and tools to turn this raw data into insights about areas for improvement and predictions for the future. These insights can be used to benefit the company in many ways, and these are just a few examples:

• Salespeople gain a better understanding of both their customers and their own business processes.
• Companies have a tool that enables them to learn from their mistakes.
• Managers and executives have a way to deal with uncertainties by making predictions about the future.
• Companies learn the importance of their data and take steps to improve the quality of the information they gather and store.
• Businesses don’t have to operate in the dark or take situations at face value when they have information on which to base their conclusions.

Contact iTech for Help With Data-Driven Sales

At iTech, we take great pride in our partnerships with industry leaders. We can introduce your company to the best business intelligence tools for your own particular situation. Get in touch with us today, so we can help you gather and understand the data that you need to grow your business. We help our clients sell more and run more efficiently.

The post Reasons That Data-Driven Sales Offer a Competitive Edge first appeared on iTech.

What’s next in the field of tech recruiting? IT staffing departments already struggle to find recruits with certain skills. Unemployment rates for technical people have fallen as low as 2 percent in some areas, according to a report by the Society of Human Resource Management, or SHRM. At the same time, the way that software gets developed and maintained is evolving rapidly, so it’s not enough to know which software jobs are tough to fill now; it’s also critical to keep an eye on the future. With this in mind, it might help to consider some IT staffing predictions for the next few years.

In-Demand Skills for Tech Recruiting in the Future

The SHRM also analyzed job posting information from DICE, a popular tech job board. According to this report, average IT salaries in mid-2016 topped out at over $96,000, which is an 8 percent increase over the previous year. It’s probably fair to predict that companies may need to offer competitive salaries or other perks to recruit qualified talent. Some of the most desirable skills from the analysis of this job board include:

• Java and/or Python as programming languages
• Experience or education in the design of user interfaces
• Cybersecurity
• Programming and databases for use with big data

It’s pretty safe to assume that the skills that companies demand today will still be hot for some time. Besides these, the competition for skills in some other areas is expected to increase very soon:

• Machine learning has become important for the development of many applications, including the Internet of Things, or IoT. Recently, IBM has been promoting the API for their own cognitive data platform, usually represented by Watson, the famous AI personality.
• Programmers use containers to reliably and simply port applications from one computing system to another. Companies that use cloud computing have generated a need for people with the right skills to understand how containers work.

Let iTech US Be Part of Your Company’s Tech Recruiting Future

We monitor trends in the IT industry to make sure we can satisfy the tech recruiting needs of our clients. Contact us to see how we can be part of your company’s future.

The post Future Tech Recruiting Trends to Watch first appeared on iTech.

There’s little doubt that the hiring managers in charge of attracting, recruiting and evaluating technical people face many challenges today. In many parts of the U.S., it’s tough to attract qualified talent because competition for top prospects is so intense. After IT hiring managers select recruits to interview, they have to figure out which ones have the skills, aptitude and personality to get the job done and fit in well with the company or even an individual team. Companies that recruit IT staff need to have a good hiring system in place to make sure they are attracting and hiring the right people.

Implement an IT Hiring System to Make Recruiting Effective and Fair

It’s almost certain that IT managers already know which of their current employees they most hope to retain. These managers can work with recruiters to document some of the qualities that tend to be common among their most valuable employees. Of course, some of these criteria will include specific sets of skills or a demonstrated aptitude to learn new technical concepts.

Beyond these basics, some jobs might require people who live or will relocate to a certain city, who have indicated a willingness to travel, or who don’t mind pulling an evening or weekend shift during a busy time. The exact personal traits required for each job will vary.

Once a list of criteria has been established, they might be prioritized. After that, there should be a way to score candidates to determine which ones are likely to become valuable employees in the future. This provides IT hiring managers with a fair and efficient way to hire the right people for the jobs that they need to fill.

We Want to Make IT Staffing Easier for Your Company

At iTech, we’re here to simplify hiring the right IT staff for your particular project and unique company. You tell us about the people that you need to hire, and we’ll help you get it done. Learn more about IT staffing with iTech.

The post A Brief Hiring Manager’s Guide to IT Staffing first appeared on iTech.

How to Land Your Next Project Management Job

This information suggests that it’s a good time for technical professionals to hone their project management skills and seek these positions. Certainly, the easiest way to get considered for your next project management job is to already have demonstrated success when managing technology projects. Experienced project managers certainly have an advantage when they compete with a pool of applicants.

However, even if you’re currently working on the coding or analysis side of software development, you might have more project management experience than you think. Most team members need to keep track of task lists, interact with project managers, and familiarize themselves somewhat with their own team’s project management tools. If you’d like a hiring manager to consider you for project management jobs now or in the future, it’s a good idea to highlight this experience on your resume or application.

In addition, you can demonstrate your interest in and aptitude for project management in the following ways:

• Read about project management topics.
• Attend seminars on the subject of project management.
• Seek out mentors who can help you develop skills and assign management tasks.

At iTech, We Offer Project Management Careers, Not Just Jobs

We’re not just another IT staffing company; we’re an employee-centered organization with a very good record of retaining and developing our people. Of course, we need to hire and groom project managers to meet our client’s demands, but that’s good news for you if you want to take a step forward in your career. Visit our website to learn more and find your next project management job.

The post How to Get That Next Project Management Job first appeared on iTech.