See you in September my fellow IT Professionals

To all those who started reading my IT Career Advice blog, I want to thank you. To everyone who signed up and read my weekly IT Career Advice Newsletter thanks. You guys and gals really make my day.

I’m going to be going on vacation until Labor Day. Going to spend time with my wonderful fiancé and enjoy life. Until then…

Have a successful and profitable IT career!
Ivan Hurt, CPRW

Update Your Microsoft Certifications Now

Now is the time to get your Microsoft Certification

I don’t know about you but now is probably the best time to take a Microsoft certification or update your Microsoft certification. Those folks in Redmond just restarted the second shot exam deal. If you don’t know what this means, let me tell you.

If you fail any Microsoft certification exam, you get to take it again for…

FREE!

FAIL ONE EXAM, TAKE IT AGAIN FREE!

There’s one catch. You have to register first for the second shot exam.

Here’s the even better part, you have until June 30, 2009.

Almost One Whole Year!

Do you know how many certifications you can have? So don’t be lazy, now the best time to become Microsoft certified.

Click here for more information.

To a profitable and successful IT career,
Ivan Hurt, CPRW

Use sound bites in your next IT interview

It’s that time of year when politicians are trying to get us to vote for them. This time around, it’s Barack vs. McCain, each wanting to lead our great nation.

If you notice each politician has a secret to answering everybody’s question. It’s called the sound bite. You know those very short answers that we see running on the news all the time.

That’s a sound bite.

Short!

Simple!

Straight to the point!

That’s how your answers should be when you are on an IT interview. I’ve interviewed hundreds of qualified IT professionals and there is one difference between those who’ve had a good interview and those who sucked.

Those who interviewed well usually used sound bites when answering my questions.

Here’s some key things you want to remember before your next interview. Do these simple things and you will drastically improve your IT interviewing skills?

• Make your answer no more than 5 minutes
• Keep it short and simple
• Never add any unnecessary information

Remember to think like a politician and use sound bites in your next IT interview.

To a profitable and successful IT career
Ivan Hurt, CPRW

Common IT Job Search Myths

Let’s start off by helping you to dispelling some of the many myths about landing a new job that we’ve heard over the years. Many of these myths are just plain old BS. We’d thought we’d clear the air on some that you may have heard over the years.

Here are some of our favorite myths we usually hear when a new client walks into our office wanting to land a new IT position:

1. There is one right way to land a job – If you think there’s only one way to land a job, you’re WRONG, WRONG, and WRONG again. If you believe this, NOT only are you prolonging your job search but you’re limiting yourself in so many ways – NEVER EVER USE ONLY 1 WAY TO LAND A JOB.

2. It’s not what you know that matters but who you know that counts – This is the biggest crock of B.S. that I hear from IT professionals all the time. Oh, I can’t get a job because I don’t know anybody on the inside of the company – Poppy Cock I say. You can land the IT job of your dreams by reading myth number 3 very carefully because it’s not who you know but what organizations you belong to that matter.

3. If a job isn’t advertised in the paper or the Web site, the company isn’t hiring – Another silly myth that most IT professionals still believe. Some jobs are never advertised on job boards or in news papers. Some IT positions are filled through peer networks – Hint, Hint – IT Professional Organizations! That’s right, some jobs are posted to IT Professionals Organizations such as the
• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• IEEE Computer Society
• Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA)
• Alumni Organizations – that’s right, get in contact with your old school, it will definitely can help you
• Any local professional organizations – search the Internet for local IT professional organizations in your area and get involved.

4. Positions open up in around the beginning and middle of the year – Wrong again. If you haven’t noticed businesses operate all year around and the need for IT professionals is strong all year around. So don’t think that if you need to wait for the beginning of the year to find an IT position. Think again. Great IT Professionals are always in demand all year around.

5. When times get tough, take the first job offer you get – Never, ever do this or you’ll wind up quitting the job after 6 months. If you are unsure about an IT position for whatever reason, don’t take it because you feel you have too. Take it because you really want the job. All you will be doing is looking for another job real soon because you’ll find some reason to quit. Why, because in the back of your mind you know there’s a better job for you out there somewhere.

6. The most-qualified person always gets the job – Nope it doesn’t work that way. The most-qualified person doesn’t get the job all the time, because that most-qualified person may be a terrible interviewer, has poor communication skills, a Prima Dona. It’s the person who convinces the employer to take a chance on them that gets the job. Remember they may be most-qualified on paper, but it’s the person who’s most-qualified during the interview process that gets the job.