Technical Talent: What Hiring Managers Are Looking For
When you are searching for your next technical position, you may believe your skills and experience can speak for you. Chances are you’ve done enough with your career to get your next job. But is it enough to get the best job. Why be complacent about your prospects when a bit of extra effort can lead to more interesting projects, better opportunities and bigger paychecks?
Here’s what today’s employers are looking for. If you’ve got these skills, highlight them! If not, consider taking the time to develop them:
Job-Specific Skills
Of course, your marketability begins with mastering the skills of your profession. For programmers, engineers or project managers, the best opportunities come to those at the top of their game. All other traits come second to technical mastery. If your skills are out of date or not what they could be, make an effort to get some additional training or education.
Communication Skills
Knowing your stuff is great, but you’ve got to be able to relate concepts and data to others, including nontechnical people at all levels. You must be able to put information into context, giving people the why and not just the what.
Ability to Work as Part of a Team
Even if you perform most of your work alone, you still need to be able to contribute to a team. This could be other individuals contributing the same a project or being cognizant of completing your work accurately and on time, so the next person can get their work done.
Ability to Teach and Be Taught
It doesn’t matter how smart you are if all the knowledge you possess remains locked in your brain. You may have to train new employees, cross-train peers or explain concepts to those in other departments. By the same token, you’ll need to willingly learn company-specific policies and procedures and keep up with the latest developments, even if that means taking time from your current tasks.
Adaptability
There are few traits more important than being receptive to change. Things change fast. The ability to learn and grow is essential. In any field, those who stubbornly dig in their heels and resist anything new are a headache to the entire organization. In technical positions it can be lethal.
Leadership Skills
Even if you are not in a role that includes managing people, it’s likely that you will have to take point on a project or two. That means you must motivate people, collect and compile data and reach the project goal on schedule, all of which takes leadership abilities.
Motivation
Employers look for candidates who are focused, self-motivated and approach tasks and goals with passion. These traits are tough to fake. Make sure you’ve made the right career decisions, including your field, position and the companies where you choose to work.
At Burnett’s Staffing, we can help you find the technical job that fits your skills, experience and personality. Contact us today to learn more about our technical job opportunities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
