Tech in Motion is proud to say that on Tuesday, March 18, at the Microsoft NERD Center, our Boston chapter hosted its second largest event to date: “2014: The Year of the Tech War for Talent”, an innovative tech hiring panel. It was the event to be at for those who have ever wondered what hiring managers are really looking for when they make their hires. The panel consisted of representatives from three different arenas of the tech hiring race – a startup, an enterprise, and an IT recruiting firm.
As attendees started shuffling in you could hear the buzz of lively tech talk throughout the two floors that make up the Commons space. Between bites of pizza, pasta and salad, techies were discussing hiring tips, past experiences, and excitement for the panel they were about to hear.
That panel was made up of Chris Chiodo, Director of Engineering at Tapjoy, Kimberly Morgan, Manager of Talent Acquisition at Sapient, and Phill Perkins, Division Manager of Jobspring Partners. The discussion was moderated by Tech in Motion vet and Microsoft MVP, Talbot Crowell, Chief Software Architect at Third Millennium, Inc.
Once everyone was settled in their seats, it was time to start the panel. After brief introductions from each panelist, Talbott dove right into the discussion. The panel covered a wide variety of topics including experience vs. degree, interviews, resumes, ideal hiring situations, recruiters, screening processes, turnoffs and interview questions.
Some major takeaways from the panel are:
- Be truthful on your resume while keeping it short and concise.
- It helps to look presentable during an interview whether it’s in person or via Skype.
- Get on Github.
- Show initiative and be excited in your interview.
- Tell your references that they are in fact, your reference, and they should be expecting calls.
- Once you walk into an office, you are interviewing.
- 60% of hires tend to come from recruiters
- If you don’t know something in an interview, DO NOT LIE about it.
- It’s okay for you to have a list of ‘Must Haves’ during an interview.
All three panelists shared some funny hiring horror stories at the conclusion of questioning. If you’ve ever had a bad interview, we promise these will make you feel a lot better.
[We were hiring a programmer one time and he had met with quite a few managers who were all on the fence with him. Some had really positive interviews, the other said 100% NO. We ended up hiring the guy and three days into work he was caught downloading pornography, smoking in the bathroom, and was abusing work policies. Needless to say we learned to start trusting the NO's a whole lot more.]
– Chris
[A month ago we flew in this guy for a face to face interview and some tests. He arrived in our offices and went to go sit in the Java Bean, our waiting area café. He had received a phone call and when the office coordinator approached him to let him know it was his time, he put his finger up. She waited quietly for him to finish and when he did he said, “Please do not interrupt me while I’m on the phone.” He wasn’t invited back.]
– Kim
[I placed a guy one time at a brewery. Apparently when you have a drinking problem, a brewery is the last place you should be working. This guy would leave in the middle of the day to go drink the free beer.]
– Phill
Following the panel, the three speakers took questions from the audience. Inspired by what had been discussed the audience came up with some amazing questions that sparked further conversation between the panelists. Once the official panel discussion concluded, a large number of audience members pushed their way to the front of the room to see if they could get one on one time with our speakers. It was definitely one of the most inspirational and thought-provoking events Boston has had.
We want to send out a big thank you to all of our speakers for their participation, Talbott for moderating, the NERD Center for hosting us, and our sponsors Workbridge Associates and Jobspring Partners. Please join Tech in Motion: Boston to hear about our upcoming events!