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Are you struggling to fill your open entry-level roles? May is graduation month for many universities and colleges, which could be just the opportunity you need. If you can't find the right people to expand your team, it might be time to look at a new group of professionals ready to enter the job market. Here are a few things you can do to attract recent university grads to your company.

Create an Engaging Online Brand

Most current college graduates fall into Generation Z. This generation isn't just tech-savvy; they've been raised with social media and are very competent at online engagement. Creating an employer brand makes you likely to reach more of your target audience.

Attend College Job Fairs

Don't forget that colleges and universities offer opportunities for local jobs to connect directly with upcoming graduates. Take time to attend job fairs so you can meet and greet new potential talent. Think of it less like a job fair and more like an expo where you can showcase who you are and why someone would want to work with you.

Encourage Referrals

Your current team may know people about to graduate from college. Let everyone know that you're looking to hire recent grads in your entry-level roles. Offer a referral bonus to encourage your team to recommend friends and family looking for these positions.

Offer Internships to Current Students

You don't have to wait until someone graduates to get to know them. Offering internships or part-time summer jobs to college students can open doors. Work with the related departments at your local university to create programs where students can gain real-world experience. If they are a good match, bring them in once they graduate.

Make the Application Easy

Most companies have an online application process. But much like social media engagement, generation Z also needs to see mobile-friendly and easy procedures. They want to be able to apply with the touch of a button, not jump through repetitive hoops.

If you're still struggling to attract the talent you need, get in touch with our team!

What does it mean to be underemployed? It can be a lot of things. For example, you could be a recent college grad but unable to find a job using your degree. Even seasoned employees can find themselves underemployed if their job title and duties don't match their skills and experience. So, what can you do about being underemployed? Here are a few tips to take your job to the next level.

Know Your Worth

The first step is to determine what you're truly worth. What is the sum total of your experience, and what are people paying for those positions? You can conduct research online with sites like Salary.com or Glassdoor to get a better impression of what someone with your preferred job title should be making.

Ask for a Promotion and Negotiate

It's okay to start negotiations at this stage. Remind your current employer that you have these additional skills, provide examples of how you can be of use to them, and your expectations in terms of salary. Even if they're unable to provide anything more, you are now better positioned to start your job search.

Volunteer

There are other ways to use your diverse work skills outside of your job. Many people are okay with their role but do additional work on the side through volunteering in the community. Non-profits and charities can always use extra help, so reach out with your background and skill set to see how you can assist them.

Perfect Your Resume

If you are ready to start looking for a job better suited to your experience, now is the time to work on your resume. Include a list of accomplishments showcasing how you've used your skills in the past. Make it clear that your objective is to find a position where you can make the most of your previous experience.

Apply with a Recruiter

You don't have to do this alone. When you're looking for a new job, be sure to apply with a recruiter like itec group. They can review your resume and background and talk with their extended networks to find you an opportunity that better matches your experience.

Contact itec group to provide the tools, confidence & the know-how needed to find a great new job in your field.

May is Mental Health Awareness month. It's more important than ever to check on your employees and determine the best ways to support them. Burnout rates are higher than ever, and it's easy to fall into a rut. It's crucial that you understand what you can do as an employer to provide options and solutions to your team. Let's take a closer look.

The Rise of Employee Burnout

The pandemic didn't specifically cause employee burnout, but it did exacerbate it. Employees have felt the push of work/life balance and integration for a long time, but few companies have focused on real employee-based solutions. We're seeing this become a significant issue for many professionals.

The Great Resignation

The rise of burnout led directly to what's known as The Great Resignation. In the latter half of 2021, over 4 million employees quit each month. Middle career, management, and technology professionals led the way, with more women than men quitting. Healthcare and service industry workers have also been affected.

Access to Mental Health Counseling

To help employees avoid burnout and have a healthier experience at work, employers need to readjust how they provide resources to employees. One significant benefit that companies can easily offer is access to mental health counseling. This can be through health insurance or by providing subscriptions to online counseling portals.

Mental Health Days

Taking time off to recharge is also critical for improved mental health. Rather than rationing paid time off or creating arbitrary categories, allow your employees to take time off for any reason without any justification.

Flexible Work Options

Work-from-home has become the new normal over the last several years. While many companies worried it would affect productivity, we're finding that it's been an enormous benefit for many professionals. Offering remote work, hybrid schedules or flexible hours can all help someone better manage their days.

One on One Feedback

It's also vital that your management team maintains good communication with every employee. Regular check-ins help with determining the status of work-related projects. It can also allow managers to assess how their employees feel and what kind of additional support they might need.

If you need to hire or expand your team, get in touch with itec group!

It can take a lot to impress a potential employer. Some candidates fail to understand that interviews should be a two-way engaging conversation. During the interview, you may be asked, "do you have any questions for us?" Make sure you're prepared with questions that will impress your interviewer. Here are some must-ask questions to add to your list.

What's One Thing You Hope Your New Hire Brings to the Role?

You want to know what the interviewer believes is the critical factor for success in the role. This could be a specific skill or a personality trait. It could be a skill they're missing that would help round out their team. When they provide the answer, see if you can work your personal experience with it into the conversation.

What Does it Take to Be Successful in Your Company?

This can help you prepare to start the job or decide if this is the correct position for you to consider. Success means a lot of things to many people, so you must be able to see yourself succeeding in their environment and with the expectations that they place on their employees.

What About My Resume Caught Your Attention for this Position?

This is a chance for you to get excited about the potential match between your skills and experience and the company's expectations. You want to know what about you stood out, and then you can elaborate on that specific experience or skill.

How Long Has the Job Been Open and Why? Where Are You in the Hiring Process? 

This two-for-one question may be one of the most important. It gives you a chance to watch out for red flags. People leave jobs for many reasons, but if they're unable to articulate how and why the last person left to your satisfaction, it may be worth reconsidering. You also want to know where they are in the process so you can plan your follow-up strategy.

What Do You Like Most About Your Job and this Company?

Now is a chance for you to find out from the interviewer what makes them happy in their job. This can give you a lot of insight into the company and its culture to help you decide about accepting the job.

Are you ready to step into your next career? Contact the team at itec to learn more.

Working from home became a cornerstone of the New Normal over the last two years. While many people enjoy WFH, it can still take a toll on your work/life balance. If you're worried about your ability to set boundaries and separate work from home life, here are some strategies to help you work toward a healthier balance. 

Take Lunches and PTO

It can be far too easy, when working from home, to eat lunch at your desk and not take breaks. You're at home anyway, so it feels natural to work that way. Many work-from-home employees will also not take PTO days when they would have in the office, such as feeling unwell or needing to attend an appointment. But not taking lunch or necessary time off creates an unnecessary tether to the job that can lead to future unhealthy behaviors. 

Create a Close Out Routine

What's one more email at seven o'clock at night if you're working from home anyway, right? If you don't establish a proper end-of-day, you may find yourself working into the night without any clear division between work time and family time. Create a daily close-out routine to finalize any communication, plan for the next day, and turn off the computer. 

Establish Healthy Boundaries

Healthy boundaries when working from home need to happen with your employer and your family. For example, when you're on a conference call or zoom, the other people in your home need to know not to bother you. On the other hand, your manager and coworkers need to be aware that you're done working at five or six every day, and anything after that time will be handled the following morning. 

Set up a Dedicated Space

At the beginning of the pandemic, many people were displaced into remote working situations. They grabbed any spare square foot of space to set up shop in the house. But now that we've had time to settle into new routines, creating a dedicated workspace will be necessary for productivity. Your specific home may have its limitations, but do your best to find a quiet place, ideally with a door, where you can set up a desk. 

If you think a new job altogether may be more of what you need, start your search with itec! Get in touch with our team to learn more. 

Not all candidates are created equally. When hiring, you need to do your best to find the right mix of skills, aptitude, and fit. If you're trying to find the next all-star for your team, you'll want to watch for some of the most common red flags that can indicate a bad hire. What are the things you need to watch out for before making a hiring decision? 

Negative Talk About a Former Employer 

Asking questions about why someone left their previous position is common and essential, but the answer is just as critical. If a candidate uses this as an opportunity to complain or speak negatively about their former company, manager, or coworkers, it's a red flag. Not self-editing means they are highly likely to treat you and your company the same way in the future. 

Overall Bad Attitude

Anyone can have a bad day, but knowing when to stay positive is essential for any professional. Having a bad attitude in the interview is not only a red flag; it's potentially toxic. When someone can't understand that positivity will go a long way, they are incapable of understanding professional norms or boundaries. 

Arriving Late to the Interview

With a few exceptions, anyone who arrives late to an interview is waving a big red flag. You would have no reason to believe the behavior is isolated. However, there may be circumstances where this is forgivable, but it would need to be couched with the idea that there will be consequences if it continues. 

Being Unprepared

The general advice for job seekers is to be as prepared as possible before an interview. That means knowing what the company does, being ready to answer common questions, and asking a few questions of their own. If someone arrives at an interview and is uncertain what the company does, why they are a fit for the job, or without questions that can help them gain insight, they may carry that unpreparedness into the position. 

Acting Entirely Too Casual

Another typical red flag is to act far too familiar in an interview. When candidates treat the meeting like a casual get-together with friends, that could be a big challenge. Sure, you want a candidate to be comfortable, but there is a fine line between comfort and overly casual. This applies to their dress, demeanor, and attitude toward the people interviewing them. 

If you're ready to hire, let itec group help you find your next all-star! 

Remote hiring goes hand in hand with our new world of work-from-home. Hiring any remote employee can be difficult, but hiring a remote employee in a technical role can come with challenges. If you need to hire a tech candidate, here are some tips for finding remote tech talent you can trust. 

Be 100% Prepared for Remote Work

Nothing is more frustrating for a new employee than feeling like their company is unprepared. When you hire a new remote technical employee, be ready to provide them with all the tools and technologies they need. This may include a computer, VPN, software logins and access to remote devices, and ways to make your remote employees feel like part of the team. 

Consider Previous Remote Experience

When hiring for remote technical positions, consider their experience working from home. This has been much more common in the last two years, but having someone who can prioritize their time when working from home will be a great addition to your team. They already understand how to set boundaries, work efficiently and effectively, and communicate with a remote team. 

Conduct In-Person Interviews If Possible

During the pandemic, remote interviews were just as common as work-from-home arrangements. But today, as things begin to open up a little more, the ability to conduct in-person interviews is back on the table. If geography and time allow, still meet with your candidates in person. This gives you the ability to gauge all aspects as you decide. 

Give Assessment Tests

To ensure new technical employees have the skills necessary for success in your company, use assessment tests. Many options are available across multiple industries that can give you a good sense of individual skill levels and aptitude. Assessment tests have always been a critical hiring tool but can give you more peace of mind, specifically in remote work arrangements. 

Need to add more talent to your team this year? Get in touch with the itec team!

The sun is out, the snow is melting, and spring has sprung. That means it's spring cleaning time. Spring cleaning isn't just for your home or office spaces; the concept applies to your online presence as well. If you're currently in the market for a new job, now's the perfect time to make sure your social media accounts reflect who you really are. Consider these tips for sprucing up your social media.

Make Accounts Private

It's completely okay to have personal information on the internet, but knowing that potential employers can see it will make you rethink the image you present online. The first step is to make accounts private. This is especially true with Facebook. If you lock it to friends only, employers will only see your profile and cover photos along with basic information.

Delete Inappropriate Content

On platforms without these kinds of privacy settings, go ahead and delete anything you're not comfortable being public. Go through your Twitter account, Instagram, TikTok, and other sites to remove any content that you feel may not show you in a professional or appropriate light.

Deactivate Old Accounts

If you have accounts you don't use anymore, go ahead and delete them. There's no point in keeping that Instagram you haven't posted on in three years if it no longer serves you. This will also prevent anyone from stumbling upon old content you forgot about.

Change Your Profile Photos

You'll want to choose professional photos of yourself. They don't have to be actual headshots but leave off the super casual images that might show you in a swimsuit, with a glass of wine or cocktail, or with other people. Choose a cover photo that professionally reflects your personality.

Update Your Bio

Lastly, make sure your bio is up to date across all platforms and reflects who you are as a professional. Most of them don't have a lot of space to add details, so keep it simple. The only exception to this is LinkedIn, which is intended for professional networking. Get detailed on your profile to attract potential employers and recruiters.

If you're still searching for your next career opportunity, browse our open positions or get in touch with our team today!

We are living in the age of The Great Resignation. Engineering talent all across Canada are considering alternatives to their current career paths. When you can't afford to lose your engineering experts, engagement is paramount. Engaged talent equals retained talent. Here are six tips for keeping your engineers engaged.

Develop Mentorships

Not only can a mentorship provide valuable insight for new employees, but it can also keep your current staff engaged. Allowing someone to share their knowledge, experience, skills, and insight will help them see where they fit in with the big picture of your company.

Provide Advancement Opportunities

Incoming employees don't want to feel like their new role will be the end of the road in their careers. They know that advancement won't happen overnight, but they want to see a clear path to a future with your organization. Show them how this is handled in your company.

Offer Additional Training

In the same vein, continue to invest in additional training for team members. This isn't just valuable for them; you will be able to take advantage of their new skills along the way. It's a great way to introduce new ideas and technology into your workplace culture.

Focus on Work/Life Balance

If the pandemic taught us one thing, our lives outside of work are critical to our professional success. Offering flexible, remote, or hybrid job opportunities will help your employees find better work/life balance. If you're not offering these perks, someone else will.

Communicate Your Corporate Culture

Your company culture and employer brand are essential for demonstrating your value to current and potential employees. They want to see how the company they work for participates in the community and treats their staff.

Value Your Employees

At the end of the day, if you're not valuing your employees' skills and experience, they will gladly find a new position with a company that does. Reevaluating your salary packages, benefits, and additional perks will help you stay competitive in this challenging employment market.

Are you struggling to bulk up your team? Get in touch with itec group!

As a technical candidate, it's not surprising that you focus on your analytical skills. If you have trouble with interpersonal relationships in the workplace, now may be the perfect time to reflect upon your soft skills. Soft skills are things like communication and teamwork. Here are a few examples of the soft skills people in highly technical roles need to cultivate.

Communication

Regardless of the specific skills or experience, every position relies on communication. Even if you typically work independently, there will always be some level of accountability with your managers, coworkers, or even customers. You will need to demonstrate your ability to communicate throughout the application and interview process effectively.

Creativity

While engineering and technology are analytical, data-based roles, there is always room for innovation. Problem-solving and critical thinking sometimes take a little added creativity to figure out the way out of a tight spot. Creative thinking will also help you develop new ideas that can move your position and company to the next level.

Adaptability

Whether it's individual situations or technological changes, adaptability is vital for technical roles. Stubborn behavior will only keep you boxed into old ideas and unwilling to explore new things. You may also find yourself in situations where you need to keep an open mind about your work, how you're doing, or the customers you're working with.

Interpersonal Skills

Beyond simple communication, technical professionals also need to understand interpersonal skills. It's okay if you have a particular communication style, but you may have to consider how other people communicate or work. You'll be adaptive but cooperative to determine solutions and develop positive relationships.

Are you ready to find a new engineering job? Start your search with itec group!