Technical Infographics
Talent Shortage vs. Candidate Pool [Infographic]
If there’s one thing that we hear over and over again in the tech market, it is that the talent pool is lacking. Yet, when job postings come out, I come across candidates who at least on the surface check off all the boxes on the posting.
So what gives?
The following infographic from the Career Advisory Board of DeVry University is interesting. Personally, I think the first item “Not Positioned Right” is a high-priority issue as it speaks to a bigger problem, which is that candidates often think they understand their audience and what matters to them when, in reality, that audience has a different set of priorities.
As we have discussed several times in this blog, understanding the needs of your target market is really at the core of both a successful job search as well as long-term career management.
HR: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
We’ve written in the past here about HR’s dilemma with IT and other “technical” operations within most organizations. The two have not always seen eye to eye, and many technical candidates I represent tell me that HR doesn’t “get” them, often misunderstanding key skills and background information in its role as gatekeeper.
In keeping with that discussion, I came across this infographic from SAP and NetBase that details some common things employees both love and hate about HR’s role within their organization. Although the “love” list offers some nice things, I tend to think the items on the “hate” list are weightier as they more directly affect the flow of business. Either way, I think the infographic does a good job of showcasing the delicate balance that most HR staff play between serving as advocates for employees and as gatekeepers for the organization.
In 2014 Tech Job Market, Ignorance Is Not Bliss
In my last couple posts, “Why Our Programming Knowledge Needs an Upgrade” and “Now That Techies Are Cool“, I have been emphasizing the need for basic understanding of programming that has quickly become a requirement for all staff (tech and non-tech alike) at many tech companies. As I mentioned in those posts, you don’t necessarily need to become an advanced programmer, but you should be able to talk the talk. In other words, ignorance of what it takes for engineers and programmers to build the back end of a project by the sales team or marketing staff is no longer acceptable. For example, if a client asks how long a project build is going to take, it helps to understand something about the challenges involved in coding that type of project before you answer, and it helps to know what makes your company tick…literally.
Getting Educated
With so many tools out there, finding resources to help you get better acquainted with the various programming languages should not be difficult. The infographic provided here by Pythonforbiologists.com is a great example. Dabbling in Python would be a great place to start. Learning about APIs would be another.
Figure Out What Isn’t Working
Who knows…maybe brushing up on your knowledge of computer code will even help you on the personal branding/career management side. With the plethora of job openings in the tech industry, and a shortage of talent (aka “a shortage of talent that the companies want”), it pays to listen to what they are asking for, despite whether you have hands-on tech experience or not.
So fix the errors. Take a course. Learn the lingo. Speak Geek.
—About Stephen—-
Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (check out his exclusive offer). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You?
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