How to Market Yourself As a Top Tech Candidate

If you have a specific company in mind for whom you would love to work, or an idea of the sector that is the most appealing to you, learn more about the businesses. Work, especially in the tech field, has a lot do to do with company culture, mission, vision, and who they serve. When you understand all of these factors and feel like you have found a company that is a good fit, you can better market yourself specifically to their business. 

This works because employers want to hire people who fit into their company in every way, technologically and culturally. These are the people who are easy to retain and are in it for more than a paycheck. 

How can you show that you are a good fit once you have researched a company to find out what they are all about? It’s important that your resume, cover letter, and other communications are tailored to the business and what they want. You cannot risk being another generic applicant.  

As you are building these documents, think about the skills you offer outside of hard technical skills. Of course, your tech skills are important, but anyone applying for an IT job will arguably have these skills. Soft skills like collaboration and communication, and proof of how you have and use those skills, can set you apart. 

Let’s talk more about communication. It’s a soft skill of vital importance in the tech world, because as you know, everyone has to understand the parameters of a tech project, collaborate effectively, and fulfill their roles and responsibilities. That’s impossible without good communication skills. Talking about tech work with non-tech people requires excellent communication skills. Recruiters and hiring managers are looking for techies who can talk.  

If you care a lot about tech, and spend your non-work time immersed in it, your name will naturally come up in all the right places. Whether you are attending tech conferences, submitting articles or writing blog posts, or engaging in discussion in groups online or offline, this is a genuine way to network while showing that you are passionate about technology. 

You may even encounter the company in which you are interested while you are establishing yourself in the tech scene. Many companies act as corporate sponsors of tech events, or host events. You can use these opportunities to directly connect with people who work for the company in questions, to learn more about their business and cultivate valuable relationships. 

These activities also provide proof of those soft skills previously mentioned and are great subjects to bring up in an interview.  

Professional networking sites like LinkedIn are crucial to any kind of job search. Human Resources professionals and IT recruiters use these networks to build their talent pools and scope out prospective hires. Take the time to update and polish your profile, with high-quality photos, professional writing, and connections to others in the industry. 

LinkedIn and similar sites often offer networking and industry-based groups. These are great places to establish your name and become recognized.  

Working with an IT recruiter is one of the best ways to land a great job.  IT recruiters often have access to jobs are not advertised elsewhere and know exactly what their clients are looking for in terms of hard and soft skills as well as cultural and organizational fit.  IT recruiters can not only connect you with companies and opportunities that are well suited to you, we can also help you polish your resume and prepare for networking and interviewing.  

That being said, you should also market yourself to recruiters! We want to connect the very best talent to our client’s jobs, which means you should put in the same level of effort when contacting a recruiter as you would to the employer. Double-check your resume, cover letter, and any other communications you may send, including applications. Be clear about what you are looking for in a job, so we can best utilize your time and ours.