Posted on Fri, Aug 19, 2011 @ 08:06 AM
On Aug. 1, Businessweek named Cleveland the No. 1 city in the United States for technology job growth, citing that IT jobs in the city grew 107 percent in the past year.*
In addition, according to the first-quarter 2011 survey of its 900 member companies, the Northeast Ohio Software Association (NEOSA) found that 68 percent of Cleveland’s IT firms expect to increase staff in the upcoming year. Brad Nellis (@NEOSA_Nellis), executive director of the NEOSA, said that the number of Cleveland IT companies currently seeking new employees is at a five-year high.
For our own part, MCPc hired 56 technical associates in 2010 and already 47 so far in 2011, with expectations to bring several more on board before year's end.
Of course, job growth wouldn’t be happening without boosts in business. After a few years of belt-tightening brought on by the economic recession, some other promising figures from the NEOSA Q1 2011 survey include:
At MCPc, we’re excited to be a part of such a booming tech community, and can’t wait until we officially move into the heart of it all next month at our new, downtown Cleveland headquarters.
But It’s Not Only Cleveland…
In addition to the top-ten tech city countdown, Businessweek’s Rachael King (@sfwriter) reported on the growth in demand for talented IT professionals across the country. In fact, according to King’s article, the unemployment rate for tech professionals dropped 2 percent in January, from 5.3 to 3.3 percent, compared to a national unemployment rate of 9.1 percent in July.
Looking for a Technology Career in Cleveland?
Check out some of our previous blog posts for details on what we look for at MCPc, and general tips on landing (and keeping) a job in IT:
Or, for more on tech job growth in Cleveland, see Olivera Perkins’ July story for The Plain Dealer, Help Wanted: Cleveland’s High Tech Employers are Hiring.
Your Thoughts?
Are you as excited about Cleveland’s growth as we are, still skeptical of its staying power, or fearful of “brain drain”? Share your thoughts on the Cleveland technology community and its impact on the local economy in the comments below.
* Top cities for technology growth were determined by Dice.com, a technology-career website that tracks annual growth in job listings across the country.
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Beth Stec is VP of Corporate Communications and Human Resources at MCPc, and is responsible for the development and management of personnel programs and policies. Connect with Beth on LinkedIn.
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Image credit: The Cleveland Kid
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Posted on Fri, Nov 12, 2010 @ 07:58 AM
It can be said that by the time you join the workforce, your attitude — your general outlook on life and how you present yourself — is relatively set. Attitude is one of those intrinsic qualities people have that goes along with a good work ethic and a high level of integrity. These are foundational traits ingrained in us during childhood and often quite difficult to teach (although not impossible to learn). As human beings, we use the examples of those around us — such as our families, friends, teachers and coaches — to form our personalities and moral compasses. These traits direct us through life and subsequently, we bring them with us on the job.
The Psychology of Attitude
Now, I’m no psychologist, but I remember from my college psychology classes that when you do a personality inventory on someone at age 18 and then again at age 40, there will typically be little change in terms of attitude. Attitude is one attribute that follows a person in life, and thus a key indicator used by human resource professionals to gauge how successful a person may be in a given position.
People with positive attitudes tend to be more desirable to companies, as they usually have better soft skills (for example, listening skills, respect and empathy) and are more adept at working with others to solve challenges. They become top performers because of their innate ability to discuss and accept challenges, and move forward in working toward optimal solutions, even the most difficult situations.
What Hiring Managers Want
When hiring managers discuss with me what they are looking for in a candidate, I overwhelmingly hear them describe a person who is going to show up to work with a great attitude. The manager feels that he or she can teach a new employee the rest, but an attitude that doesn’t “click” with the team just won’t work.
Think about it: Aren’t ideal employees those with the right mix of positive attitude, confidence, energy, team spirit and genuine caring? Many organizations, including MCPc, are willing to hire “green” candidates with great attitudes because we know that attitude is a soft skill nearly impossible to cultivate, and also key to building an effective, motivated workforce.
What Interviewers Look For
Interviewers look to determine early on in the hiring process whether or not a candidate has an attitude that will fit in well with the department and organization to which he or she is applying. This is almost always reflected in overall demeanor and energy level.
Positive attitudes shine through in the way candidates talk about their past experiences. Although some prior work experiences may have been verifiably difficult, poor attitudes about former employers don’t necessarily bode well for a candidate. Rather, an interviewer views an individual that can effectively describe how he or she overcame a challenge at a previous position much more favorably. Discussing previous experiences also says a lot about one’s attitude and overall character. A friendly smile, direct eye contact, attentive listening skills and the ability to look at past experiences with a sense of humor can demonstrate a desirable attitude.
Balancing Pessimism
One other common misconception is assuming that a “pessimistic viewpoint” translates to a bad attitude. Some of our best employees are pessimists (you know who you are), and just because they look at a glass as half-empty instead of half-full doesn’t mean they have a bad attitude or poor work ethic.
An organization needs multiple outlooks to build a well-rounded company that delivers quality solutions, ongoing flexibility and a high level of service to its customers.
Keeping Things Positive
Employers have a responsibility to provide a positive work environment as a means of fostering good attitudes among employees. Setting realistic goals and expectations, balancing workloads and providing open lines of communication all contribute to an employee’s positive attitude. And, employees themselves can foster positive attitudes among their co-workers by showing respect for them, refusing to take part in office gossip, and being as helpful and supportive as possible when they see someone in need of assistance.
Great companies are built on great people with great attitudes. How does your organization foster a positive working environment?
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Beth Stec is VP of Corporate Communications and Human Resources at MCPc, and is responsible for the development and management of personnel programs and policies. Connect with Beth on LinkedIn.
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Photo credit: where are the joneses
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Posted on Wed, Feb 03, 2010 @ 02:45 PM
It's one of those "million dollar questions" job seekers have: How do I get my resume noticed and make myself stand out as a job candidate? I'd like to share some insights, from an insider's point of view, that may or may not surprise you. And, although many of our positions at MCPc are technology-related, my comments generally apply to most professional positions.
I remember the first time I brought a pile of resumes home to review in the evening after work. That was ten years ago, before resume reviewing went high tech, which I'll get to momentarily. Anyway, my husband was astounded at the time, or lack thereof, that I actually spent reviewing each resume. How, he wondered, could I ever get a feel for a candidate through such a brief perusal of their resume? What a shame considering all the time and effort they no doubt put into creating the documents.
But herein "lies" an important recruiter mantra (pun intended)!
Resumes are marketing pieces; applications are legal documents. The point is, when a recruiter looks at a resume, they can easily scan it for some key leading indicators of a candidate's potential success and easily recognize falsehoods. What I was looking for was:
- Keywords such as required certifications,
- Accomplishments and responsibilities, clearly presented with bullet points,
- Brevity - a lengthy resume is not effective.
Resumes today are keyword searched.
Here's the "high tech" part I mentioned: Nowadays, many resumes come into company databases through ads or online applications, and can be scanned for keywords. This makes it even more important for candidates to mention keywords, industry catch phrases and certifications they possess on their resumes, so that programs searching for such words recognize their resume as being qualified. For example, if the certification required for a position is not listed, the resume won't even make it to the recruiter for review if they have assigned that certification to the keywords they are searching.
So, let's say your resume contains the keywords necessary to end up in the recruiter's inbox for a position; it must then be formatted properly. What I mean is it needs to be:
- Clear and concise
- Devoid of all typos
- Not too long, with bullets for easy reading
- Packed full of accomplishment-centered wording
Recruiters want to see that you understand the big picture - what you've done to contribute to your prior employer's success. For additional information, check out the many resources available online: we use http://www.dice.com/ and http://www.monster.com/ for our large candidate search engines, but many industry segments have their own specialized services and databases as well.
Connect with the Recruiter
After meeting all of the above requirements, if you can do so concisely, feel free to incorporate a few fun facts to warm the recruiter up to you as well. Ever hear of the halo effect? Wikipedia's definition explains that, "the first traits we recognize in other people influence our interpretation and perception of later ones because of our expectations."
In other words, candidates can be judged as being better qualified simply if they have something in their background that the recruiter can relate to, such as an affiliation with the same school or groups. Do your research and tailor your resume accordingly. For example, if you worked for a company that won the NorthCoast99 Award and you see that MCPc also won that award, you might want to mention it on your resume for a job here. Or, if you see on LinkedIn that the HR director of the company you're applying to volunteers at the same agency as you, be sure to include that in a list of organizations in which you're involved.
If your resume stacks up similarly in comparison to others in terms of qualifications and experience, information like this might help yours stand out to a recruiter if you share similar interests.
Are you an HR or corporate communications professional? What do you look for when evaluating resumes? To everyone else, what is the best resume-writing tip you've ever received?
Beth Stec is the Director of Corporate Communications and Human Resources at MCPc, and is responsible for the development and management of personnel programs and policies. Connect with Beth on LinkedIn.
Image Credits:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=picture+of+stop+watch&aq=f&aqi=g-s1&oq=
http://www.cisco.com/web/learning/le3/ccie/exam/index.html
http://www.northcoast99.com/