Across North America, the landscape of the tech recruiting and the IT workforce is changing almost daily. In 2022 alone, we’ve seen the continued rise in remote work, The Great Resignation, inflation concerns and layoffs in certain sectors, emerging technologies and best practices, and much more. Not since the dot com boom and bust of the early 2000s has there been a more rapidly changing time to be in tech.
With all these things going on, keeping track of the latest trends inside the biggest tech companies can become overwhelming, especially during a job search. If you’re looking for the next steps in your career in tech - and considering the 13.5% job turnover rate in IT according to Motion’s 2022 Tech Salary Guide there’s a decent chance you might be - working with an IT recruiting agency might be the best move you can make for your career. Let’s look at the reasons how a tech recruiter can help impact your job search.
Need a jump start? Apply to open tech roles on Motion's job board.
1. (Good) Recruiters Live and Breathe the Tech Job Market Every Day
It’s been said that looking for a job in itself is a full-time job, and if you’re looking to leave your company, spending hour after hour looking for positions that don’t fit what you’re looking for can take a toll. When using a recruiter, that onus is taken off your hands. Recruiting firms like Motion have people spending their days expanding their knowledge of the job markets, staying up to date with the latest trends in the industries, and matching companies with candidates.
Because of this knowledge, a good recruiter will be able to not only help you find opportunities but how to better overall present yourself on the job market. Resume advice, desired skill sets, salary trends, all the things that are difficult to find on your own.
As Regional Director at Motion Andrew Slepitza said, "Think of your job search like buying a house. You wouldn't try and figure out market trends and prices all while setting up showings on your own. You'd hire a real estate agent to help you find exactly what you're looking for. That's what recruiters do for your job search."
2. For the Candidate, It’s An Insider Look for Free.
While most tech recruiters aren’t helping people find a job out of the goodness of their hearts, when it comes to recruiting agencies like Motion, candidates will never have to pay a fee for finding a new job. Companies that are looking for talent and don’t want the hassle of searching for qualified candidates will work with recruiting agencies for a pre-determined fee.
Additionally, recruiters partner with their clients closely, guiding them with insight into how to position themselves in the talent market - and as a candidate, you not only get that same benefit but also an understanding of how to put your best foot forward for a particular interview. You get feedback and almost an insider look into what's happening in an interview process. Ghosting should become a thing of the past, and you'll know why it was a "yes" or "no" - and how to improve your prospects after an interview.
Read More: 3 Things You Need to Know When Considering a Counteroffer
3. Find Opportunities Not Found on Job Boards.
When you go on a job search on your own, you’re at the mercy of the job boards, both internal and external. Many of those can be outdated, difficult to navigate (who hasn’t attached a PDF of a resume, only to have to fill in an entire work history manually on the next page) and might not show the whole picture of what’s available/what’s a priority for a company that’s hiring.
.png?width=760&name=Copy%20of%20Blog%20Call%20Outs%20(9).png)
When with a recruiter, many of them have ongoing professional relationships with different hiring managers. A good recruiter will be in constant contact with the hiring managers, better understanding what jobs are truly a priority and which are on the back burner for the time being. Instead of wasting time on applications and even interviews for positions that will end up going to an internal candidate, when working with a recruiter, when it gets to the interview process, you know you’ll have a fair shot of getting the job.
4. Gain Confidence In Securing a Job That's the Best Fit for Your Needs.
When it comes to job searching in the tech industry, sometimes a job title is not what it seems. Especially when it comes to non-tech-specific companies hiring for tech roles, many hiring managers just don’t have the experience or acumen to know what the exact right title is for a certain position. Add to the fact that for many skill sets there is not a universal standard of what responsibilities should be given to a job title, going on the job search on your own could lead to wasted time searching for job posts that don’t fit what you’re looking for.
Read More: The Highest Paying Software Jobs in 2022
A recruiter does this heavy lifting for you. A good recruiter will get to know what you’re looking for in a role, understand why you want to make a move and find opportunities that are almost tailor-made to your needs and skill sets. Since recruiters are doing this every day, they understand each company’s internal job lingo and can tell you that when they say Data Scientist, they mean Machine Learning Engineer, and can adjust expectations accordingly.
5. Recruiters Will Help You Save Time During Your Job Search.
Trying to make the next step in your career can sometimes feel like a full-time job in and of itself. Fine-tuning resumes, doing the research, hunting on job boards trying to avoid scam jobs and dead ends, sending out applications, then follow-ups, then trying to schedule interviews around an already busy schedule, all of it becomes overwhelming. When you use a recruiter, a big part of that leg work goes away. A recruiter becomes your job search concierge and allows you to focus on the most important things, while she or he takes care of the rest.
6. Recruiters Can Help You Get the Best Possible Salary.
While all the above reasons are important, sometimes the most important thing is that a recruiter can help you make more money - or the right amount for your role and skillset. The way recruiters make money is via a negotiated percentage on top of the agreed salary for the new hire. (For example, a company uses a recruiter for a fee of 15% and hires someone for 100k. The candidate gets 100k, the recruiter gets 15k and the client gets a great new employee.)
Therefore, it’s in the best interest of the recruiter to get as high a salary as makes sense for their candidates. Plus, being experts in the field, a good recruiter will know the going rate for salaries in similar positions as the jobs you’re looking to get into. If your salary range is drastically lower than the rest of the industry, having a recruiter on your side will prevent you from accepting an offer lower than what you deserve - or missing out on a good opportunity because you're shooting far higher than the market can offer.
You might have noticed that on multiple occasions, the term “good recruiter” was used versus just “recruiter.” That’s because one of the most important things when working with a recruiter is finding one that you are happy working with and you feel like is working with you to find the best possible opportunity. When you have a good professional relationship with your tech recruiter, there is an even greater chance for success in your job search.
Working in tech and looking for a new opportunity in your career? If after reading this you’re interested in seeing if a recruiter can help you in your job search, contact your local Motion Recruitment office today to connect with one of our recruiters to see how we can make your job search easier, or check out our tech salary guide to see other tech employment trends you need to know.
