Not getting enough calls from ICT recruiters in Canberra?
Envious of your office peers who seem to be receiving an endless chain of calls from recruiters attempting to “Head-Hunt” them?
You’re happy in your role and you don’t necessarily want a new one, but it would be nice to get a call from a Body Thief once in a while, even if only for a bit of career confirmation, wouldn’t it ?
So, what can you do to make your LinkedIN profile more appealing to an ICT recruitment professional in Canberra and get yourself head-hunted?
1. Establish, consolidate and perpetuate a clear career niche.
One of the first things us Head-Hunters look for is a square peg for the square hole we are trying to fill for a Client. The bounties can be quite large for senior and highly skilled technology professionals in Canberra. If a Client is going to hand over a chest of gold and silver to a Head-Hunter, then the big game dragged into camp needs to be exactly what the Client is after. If the Client is paying recruiting fees for a Business Analyst, then they expect the technology professionals provided by recruiters to be consolidated Business Analysts with 3 – 8 years’ experience as Business Analysts.
So, to be head hunted more often, ensure you establish, consolidate and grow a clear career niche.
No more jumping around between differently focused positions!
2. Ensure your resume matches your LinkedIn profile….exactly.
Determining who is telling the truth and who is embellishing their experience and/or qualifications is a key challenge for all ICT recruiters in the Canberra federal government contracting market. One of the key tools us recruiters have in confirming truth is the publicly listed information included on an applicants LinkedIn profile. When compared to the privately disclosed information on an applicants resume significant discrepancies are often highlighted. Someone might be happy to call themselves a Team Leader on their resume, but on their public LinkedIn profile, they tell the truth and list themselves as just a Team Member. If they don’t, someone is likely to point out their lie.
Perhaps a resume might indicate or suggest that you’ve obtained a certain qualification from an educational institution, but you might not be as confident publicly listing it on LinkedIn. A recruiter is looking for such telltale signs of deception and will notice it.
The start and end dates for each position, leaving out some companies entirely, different role titles (changed in a resume to enhance a targeted application).
All are discrepancies that good recruiters look for.
Eliminate all discrepancies between your resume and LinkedIn profile and it will be a step towards being hunted more.
3. Just one qualification is not enough.
As already stated, ICT contractor recruiters are seeking to provide niche technology experts to their Clients. Clients don’t pay recruiter fees for ordinary technology professionals to work within their teams.
Contractors quite often are required to lead the way and breakthrough difficult challenges for federal government clients. ICT contractors need to be highly capable technology professionals.
Your university degree was only the beginning, now you have established your industry niche you need to back it up with further industry qualifications. Java developers should get Java certifications, .NET Developers should get Microsoft certifications, Project Mangers – Princ2, Business Analysts – BABoK, Architects – TOGAF or SO, and so on.
If you want the Head-Hunters to come sniffing around then get those industry certifications that relate to your chosen career niche.
4. Demonstrate passion for your chosen career niche
Clients constantly tell recruiters “We need someone with passion.” And as a recruiter I’ve seen just how big a difference it makes to a Client when an applicant comes along who clearly demonstrates a passion for their chosen career niche. They generally hire them straight away because passion, as strange as it sounds, is not all that common, but it is an ‘X” factor that good ICT recruiters in Canberra look for.
I define passion, in these circumstances, as an internal motivation that drives a career professional to learn and develop new skills and knowledge within their chosen field.
You can demonstrate this through your LinkedIn profile via a few means, including:
- Having a GitHub account and listing it in your Profile (and regularly adding content to your account)
- Develop a blog or website devoted to your career niche and include the url on your LinkedIN profile
- Include a reading or podcast list relating to your career niche
- Include descriptions of any personal projects that you do to develop new skills
- List any unpaid voluntary work you do that relates to your career niche and/or
- Obtain industry certifications relating to your chosen career niche.
Saying your passionate is one thing, recruiters pay a lot more attention when you can demonstrate your passion.
5. Establish strong tenure
As a recruiter, once I have established on LinkedIN that a technology professional has an established career niche and the necessary associated qualifications and certifications, the next thing I look at is tenure.
Short tenure (skipping from job to job and from company to company) is a clear red flag to an ICT recruiter in Canberra. The highest quality ICT contractors get extended, their Clients don’t want to let a good person go once found. The best ICT Contractors in Canberra generally only leave a Client by their own choice when they are ready for a new challenge.
I don’t make the joke: “more permanent than the permanents”, about ICT contracting in Canberra for nothing.
Short tenure in Canberra ICT contracting generally indicates a Client has not wanted to extend a contract. If we, as recruiters, see short three and six month stints throughout a technology professional’s LinkedIn profile then we are encouraged to move on to considering someone else for the role.
Try and stay in contract roles for at least 18 months. If I see an 18 month to three year tenure repeatedly in a LinkedIN profile, I know that the technology professional has had their contracts extended and thus delivered services to satisfied clients.
6. Use a good photo
First impressions count. A photo taken with good lighting in your best business clothes, freshly cleaned and perfectly groomed, makes a much stronger first impression than a photo as you fish off of the back of a boat with a cap on and a beer in hand.
If you take the care and pride to present yourself well on LinkedIn, recruiters can confidently expect you to present well in person to clients at interviews and when delivering services.
