PORTLAND, OR – FEBRUARY 16, 2017 – EdgeLink, a leading employment agency in the technology industry, announced today they have once again won Inavero’s Best of Staffing® Talent Diamond Award and Client Satisfaction Award for providing superior service to their clients and job seekers. Presented in partnership with CareerBuilder, Inavero’s Best of Staffing winners have proven to be industry leaders in service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their clients and the permanent and temporary employees they’ve helped find jobs.

“To again be recognized with the Best of Staffing awards is truly an honor,” said Mike Miadich, EdgeLink Founder and VP of Contract Services. “Every single EdgeLink employee strives to offer world-class service in each interaction with our clients and candidates. These awards are validation of the hard work it takes to maintain consistent and superior IT staffing services.”

Less than 2% of all staffing agencies in the U.S. and Canada earn the Best of Staffing Award for service excellence. EdgeLink previously won both awards in 2016, with the added Diamond Talent Award distinction for winning the Best of Staffing Talent Award at least five years in a row. Focused on helping to connect people with the right job opening, EdgeLink received satisfaction scores of 9 out of 10 or higher from 62% of their clients and 63% of their talent, a level several times higher than industry averages.

Survey responses that earned EdgeLink’s high ranking amongst staffing agencies included the following:

“The Edgelink partners I work with are professional and responsive, and most importantly, deliver the talent we are looking for. It is a pleasure working with them.” -Client Testimonial

“Unlike other recruiting companies, EdgeLink staff cares about cultural fit and makes sure that the candidate is happy at a placement. They are also easy to work with.” -Candidate Testimonial

“The results of our last engagement were amazing, but more importantly the path leading to the results was very smooth. The Edgelink team is great to work with.” -Client Testimonial

On average, clients of winning agencies are 2.5 times more likely to be completely satisfied and talent of winning agencies are 3.6 times more likely to be completely satisfied with the services provided compared to those working with non-winning agencies. The 2017 wins represent EdgeLink’s 7^th Client Award and 8^th straight Talent Award.

“Staffing firms are giving top companies a competitive advantage as they search for talent in North America,” said Inavero’s CEO Eric Gregg. “The 2017 Best of Staffing winners have achieved exceptionally high levels of satisfaction and I’m proud to feature them on BestofStaffing.com.”

About EdgeLink

EdgeLink is a technology staffing firm that recruits the best mid-to-executive level technical professionals on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct-hire basis. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, EdgeLink works with start-ups to Fortune 100 companies throughout the country. Their knowledge of the technology industry allows them to take a personalized, targeted and consultative approach to match the right candidate with the right company. For more information, visit www.edgelink.com.

About Inavero’s Best of Staffing

Inavero’s Best of Staffing® Award is the only award in the U.S. and Canada that recognizes staffing agencies that have proven superior service quality based completely on the ratings given to them by their clients and job candidates. Award winners are showcased by city and area of expertise on BestofStaffing.com – an online resource for hiring professionals and job seekers to find the best staffing agencies to call when they are in need.

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1.) Conferences

There are a number of great tech conferences across the country with various focuses. These semi-formal settings feature informative speakers sharing their expertise and perspectives with attendees, as well as ice breakers and activities designed to forge new relationships between industry professionals. The Women in Technology Conference that our team attended provided some great opportunities for growth through IT job networking. For specific skills, TechFest NW in Portland, the Mobile Growth Summit in San Francisco, Oracle CloudWorld in Washington D.C., and the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in Grapevine, TX are just some of the many upcoming options.

2.) Hackathons

For a fun change of pace, hackathons provide an exciting environment to meet peers. Often competitive, they foster a fast-paced environment where getting to know others on your team is expedited and bonds are quickly formed. In addition to networking, hackathons also are a great way to keep your tech skills sharp while having fun and building something productive.

One great aspect of hackathons is that they can be found nearly anywhere, providing easy and continued opportunities for IT job networking. Many events feature a different spin on the classic model. Boasting the distinction of being the largest hackathon in Boulder, CO, HackCU is a great event held in April. If you’re looking for a more grueling challenge in the area, check out the T9Hacks 24-hour hackathon in late February that is known for welcoming newcomers.

3.) Charity Events

Always rewarding and often fun, charity events are an excellent place to meet like-minded workers. These types of events can range from dinners, golf tournaments, or soup kitchen volunteering, to the more unique and involved. Our team greatly enjoyed participation in the Startup Games, an Olympics-style all-day competition that raised $25,000 for a number of charities.

Likewise, some of our staff also had a great time celebrating Colorado Ski Day with C-Level/Technology Leadership Ski Day, again raising money for non-profits and meeting wonderful industry peers. Opportunities to network through charity events can be found everywhere ranging from your own local community to the national stage with the Women’s Tech Council and Technology and Diversity for Charity organizations.

4.) Coworking Spaces

For a workforce that is gravitating toward freelance opportunities, IT workers that work remotely often seek out environments outside the home where they can be productive alongside others in their industry. These coworking spaces provide an excellent opportunity to network with other remote IT talent and often produce strong connections.

Excellent coworking spaces are available in cities across the entire country, including great options in Colorado. A great feature of many coworking spaces is that they are geared toward specific people. Some may be strictly for developers or programmers, while other spaces tailor themselves less toward a profession and focus more on a certain type of working style. These can range from laid back environments featuring ping pong tables and TVs, to the more quiet and reserved atmosphere.

5.) Meetup Groups

A cross between informal conference and social club, meetup groups provide an additional opportunity to network with those that have a similar skill set or interest. The most popular meetup groups website, www.meetup.com, boasts millions of members with opportunities everywhere. Meetup groups can range from the general such as meetups for IT professionals, to the more specialized such as Javascript groups which house 2.3 million members.

6.) Staffing Firm

When it comes to your career it’s often most productive to turn to an expert, and IT job networking is no different. A good IT staffing firm can connect you with a vast network of professionals and employers that they have longstanding relationships with. A staffing firm knowledgeable in the latest trends and well-connected with key decision makers can improve your networking in the new year.

Smarter IT Job Networking

Networking is one of the single most important things you can do throughout your career. Regardless of the method, continuously meeting industry peers is essential to future success. With a wide range of choices from the fun to the formal, the casual to the well planned annual events, networking is always a fruitful experience as you grow professionally and personally in life.

Looking to build your network and land a new job? Apply with us today!

The post 6 Opportunities for Smarter IT Job Networking in the New Year appeared first on Edgelink.

The age

To build upon our previous look at contract vs. full-time employment, let’s take a deeper dive into areas to consider as you make the big decision. 

Career Development

The most significant aspect to consider in making the choice between working as a contractor of full-time employee is how it will impact career growth. Contract work requires someone who needs little to no further coaching, while a full-time employee often goes through more regular and formal professional development. Those who value continuous on the job training may be more suited for full-time permanent roles with organizations that can provide mentorship.

On the other hand, contracting work allows those in IT to see the inside of many tech companies, often picking up a variety of skills they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to otherwise. This can quickly bolster a resume and provide extensive networking opportunities. If one values getting varying experiences quickly, contracting will be attractive. 

Compensation

With the IT skills gap driving up salaries, it’s a great time to be working in IT. Comparing contracting pay with full-time pay, contracting work often pays more with individual IT contractors reporting over 60% higher wages over full-time similar roles. Adding to the already high salaries, organizations that contract out can afford to pay more in salary as they have less taxes than when they employ a full-time employee. For IT job-seekers valuing pay above all else, contract work may very well be their choice.

However, the topic of compensation is not so straightforward. Full-time employees enjoy valuable benefits that contractors typically do not. Employer contribution to healthcare plans, in some cases covering the entirety of a premium, is an attractive benefit that can make up for a lower salary. Likewise, full-time workers receive paid vacation and holidays, while contractors are paid for the days/times they are working. Companies offering excellent benefit packages to their permanent workforce are a popular reason to forgo contract work. 

Workplace Variety

Job engagement in the U.S. is poor, with 68% of employees defining themselves as not engaged or actively disengaged. If IT workers feel indifferent or unhappy about their current employer, then it is no wonder they may prefer contract work that allows for a change of workplace more often. A bad experience that makes IT workers want to change jobs can happen to anyone, but the desire to work in new environments frequently is a lifestyle decision.

One group that enjoys a lifestyle of variety are Millennials, with 60% being open to a new opportunity and 21% having changed jobs within the last year. It’s clear this newer generation of workers enjoys change and values novel experiences, and IT contract work could speak to those preferences better than being full-time. As baby boomers continue to retire and the younger generations take up an even larger portion of the workforce, this trend in tech could continue. 

The Future

Will contracting work be the norm in the future? The amount of non-permanent workers in the U.S. is higher than ever, with contingent workers making up over 40% of the entire workforce. With the rise of automation set to take over low-level menial tasks, IT talent will only become more specialized, and that could lead to more niche temporary jobs. Honing a niche skill could make a tech worker valuable to many employers willing to pay top dollar for a limited engagement. 

IT Contractor or Full-time?

The decision IT workers must make between contracting and full-time work is not an easy one, and will come down to individual career paths and opportunity. As long as marketable skills are continuously honed, either choice will lead to success. Whether they choose to be a contractor or full-time employee, staying fresh on the latest tech trends will keep one gainfully employed and paid for years to come.

Looking for your next contract or full-time role? Check out EdgeLink jobs today.

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Here are several solutions to the IT skills gap that can keep your company competitive and thriving for years to come.

Invest in Internal Professional Development

Looking internally at regular training procedures is often the first step in battling the IT skills gap, and that means scrutinizing and overhauling professional development measures. Ideally you’re already looking to the future of the workplace and know what skills you need immediately with a strong idea of ones you will need in the near future. With this knowledge, a detailed and regular professional development process can be enacted.

Are some members of your team already experts in a certain area? Have them lead hands-on training sessions with employees that need the knowledge. Do you lack a certain skill completely on your team? Reach out to an industry professional or consultant to come in on a monthly basis and to help create a plan of action to build employees’ expertise in that skill. Regardless of the exact implementation, the act of holding regular productive teaching sessions with your employees in specific, well-defined skill sets will close the gap over time.

Encourage Outside Learning

It is necessary to foster a culture of continuous learning to close the IT skills gap. Looking not only inside, but outside the organization will help to quicken the pace and best round out employees. Despite many job-seekers believing themselves to be overqualified, 73% of managers report trouble finding experienced workers to fill roles. Investing in education can help avoid this situation in your organization. Consider contributing to a portion of formal education for employees, even if it is partial reimbursement.

Approving and paying for certain certifications are an excellent alternative to longer formal education programs or degrees. Certifications are a faster and cheaper way of injecting new skills into your business while providing professional growth to the employee. Additionally, it is important to think outside of the box when it comes to learning. There are various IT skills competitions and challenges that can push an employee to learn new skills, as well as tech conferences such as TechServe Alliance that can do a good job of filling in knowledge gaps.

Implement Internships

Taking a look at the internal internship program of your organization is a natural consideration when thinking about learning and closing the IT skills gap. Don’t have a formal internship program, or is it currently a bit unorganized in nature? It can do wonders to build relationships with career advisors at local colleges and universities. Not only will this provide you with a fresh pool of talent, but a solid internship program will help transition college students and graduates into a full-time permanent position with the skills they need to succeed.

Turn to a Staffing Firm

While there are measures an organization can take internally and in their community in looking for a solution to the IT skills gap, it may ultimately be best to partner with an experienced staffing firm that can locate experts for any skill that is needed. Reports indicate that , and a staffing firm can rapidly pinpoint workers to fulfill these tasks.

Not only can a staffing firm save an organization a drastic amount of time, but it can also provide a large cost savings as well. It takes a great financial effort to put together training sessions that constantly follow industry trends and new skills. Having someone that can simply hand you the perfect talent will avoid a costly overhaul process that is not guaranteed to produce results. Staffing firms are also able to provide temporary workforces, as contingent workforces are an excellent way to obtain specialized talent when needed.

A Solution to the IT Skills Gap

In spite of the challenge facing the industry today, there is a solution to the IT skills gap. Begin with an eye at improving the entire timeline of an employee from revamping the hiring process, to professional development and investing in outside learning. As this process improves over time, there is the comfort of knowing that a knowledgeable staffing firm is standing by to quickly provide you with the expert talent required.

Need assistance in locating the specialized talent necessary to fill your IT roles? Contact EdgeLink today.

The post What Your Solution to the IT Skills Gap Says About Your Future appeared first on Edgelink.

This past May I had the opportunity to meet Sara Reeves, the Program Director of the Startup Games, and for months I worked with her to organize and bring the Startup Games to Denver. In the process I became not only a community advisor in finding volunteers and organizations to participate, but I also took on the role of Head Referee for the entire event.

Seven Denver-area organizations participated in the games: Blinker, Circle Graphics, HomeAdvisor, Ibotta, ReadyTalk/Dialog Lab, ReturnPath, and Sphero. Similar to the Olympics, there was an opening ceremony with each team marching out and displaying a flag that they created to officially kick off the day. Then, the competition rapidly began. Events included Jenga, Connect Four, Beer Pong, Flip Cup, Foosball, Liar’s Dice, Cornhole, Trivia, and more.

Over 250 people, including 36 volunteers and 17 sponsors, were in attendance as I officiated each exciting event. It was enlightening to see how strategic the teams became in the competition, meticulously planning which teammate would compete in a specific event based on their strengths. For example, Ibotta decided to put their best software engineer on Connect Four, and they won that event.

The teamwork and internal teambuilding I witnessed was great to see and a major part of the day, but it was dually wonderful to know that it was all in the name of charity. A staggering $25,000 was raised during the day, divided up between all the great charities in a sliding scale according to place.

After a first ever Startup Games tie-breaker had to be conducted, Ibotta emerged as the overall winner and as a result won a $7,000 charitable donation to their choice, Judi’s House. Second place went to Blinker who helped St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital take home $5,500, and third place went to HomeAdvisor with $4,500 awarded to Open World Learning.

My day began at noon and ended at nearly 7p.m., and while it was an exhausting experience it was something so fun and unique to participate in that I wouldn’t have had it any other way. The Startup Games have been expanding across the country and will spread to Atlanta in 2017 and Chicago in 2018. I highly recommend any startup to consider participating, and everyone else to think about volunteering to witness all the fun and help out some great causes.

It’s great to see more events for the startup community in Denver, and I already can’t wait for next year’s competition!

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Prediction #1: HR Outsourcing Will Thrive

It’s no secret that current companies are using staffing firms to lower costs in hiring tech talent, but will they outsource other HR duties as well? It is predicted that new technology will assist non-HR employees to perform current low-level HR tasks. At the same time, companies will be looking to outside HR experts to help understand changing laws and unique personnel situations.

The verdict? Real. While the HR department won’t go completely extinct, constantly improving technology is already helping employees to better fill out time sheets, check their remaining vacation time, review records of pay stubs, and accomplish many more tasks that once required input from an HR representative. Likewise, laws affecting and protecting employees are regularly updated. A smaller business trying to keep up with complicated changes will find it easier to rely on outsourced experts.

Prediction #2: Companies Finally Go Green

Some organizations treat environmental stewardship like a marketing gimmick while others lead the charge in reducing waste and lowering their ecological footprint. By 2022, typical organizations will have drastically reduced waste, using more efficient means of production, and aligning their views to ones of more sustainable living.

Real. Not only are environmental laws getting tighter, forcing organizations to commit to conservation and sustainability, but job seekers prefer working for sustainable companies. When given two offers from competing companies, if all else is similar a candidate will likely choose to work for the more green organization. This, along with the fact that major companies such as Coke and Levi’s are already touting their sustainability in order to win over environmentally conscious millennials, means more companies will be going green.

Prediction #3: Work-Life Balance is Lost

With people increasingly connected to digital devices, the internet, and cloud computing, work-life balance will shift to work-life integration. Lines will blur, with employees becoming accessible at all times causing them to create a new mixture of working hours. They will increasingly and routinely be working while off the clock and out of the office, and this will become the norm.

This one? Hype. While it’s undeniable that people are connected like never before, businesses will not foster this environment if they want to attract top talent and keep their employees from burning out. Many are accustomed to working off the clock and answering emails on the weekends, but a full-blown loss of work-life balance is one that employees as a whole will not stand for, and will ultimately drain productivity. In an effort to win and retain the best candidates, organizations will tout their unparalleled work-life balance as a selling point of their company culture.

Prediction #4: Goodbye to the Office, Hello to Global Talent Warfare

The increasing usage of the internet has birthed businesses that are completely remote, only operating over cell towers and fiber optic cables. More and more organizations will save on physical costs by employing remote workers. Likewise, by 2020 there will be 18 million less high-skilled workers than there are openings for those workers, creating a fierce global search and competition for talent.

Real, and job-seekers in certain IT industries have already found themselves to be extremely in-demand. With information being the driving force behind business, companies will seek out candidates that meet their need no matter where they might live, allowing them to use their tech skills remotely from home. While certain industries may be immune and require a physical presence to tackle their trade, more and more are employing roles that can be done mostly through a fast internet connection.

The Future of the Workplace

Daydreaming about the future is an interesting exercise, but nobody will really know what the future will hold until it arrives. What is sure is that the workplace has changed over the years, and it is sure to continue to change for many more. The advent of the internet has created an entire new way of working and living, and as it continues to alter more work processes and ways of living, so too will the workplace change.

EdgeLink stays on the forefront of evolving technology to locate and deliver the most knowledgeable tech talent in a rapidly changing industry. If you need assistance navigating the present workplace landscape to find the best tech talent, contact us today.

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One of my favorite parts of the week was the Startup Crawl, which took place on Thursday evening. Similar to a bar crawl (but far more educational), we met at basecamp Downtown and as a group got to visit the spaces of some of the most cutting-edge startups in Denver, going behind the scenes to see what everyday life is like in their shoes.

Additionally, the mobile website hosted an interactive map that allowed crawlers like me to plan a route, digitally check-in at the various organizations, and keep track of how many of the 18 companies I visited. This was just one of many smart pieces of technology found throughout the week.

During my time at all the events, the thing that struck me most is how much of a tech city Denver truly is. Over the years, it’s really been cultivated into such a great hub for tech talent. We have so many innovative people in this city, using their creativity as developers, engineers, or business leaders. Watching all these gifted people come together to collaborate, grow their knowledge base, and expand their command of new technology was a great representation of Denver’s startup community.

Attending the job fair portion really cemented my great impression of Denver Startup Week 2016. I had the opportunity to connect with a great deal of solid candidates, something that was rewarding for me both on a personal level as well as professionally for EdgeLink. Being surrounded by so many remarkable people made it difficult for me to imagine that the first year of the event drew just 1,000 people. This year had 300 events fit into just one week, which was quite a feat to witness.

For those in our Denver business community or for any entrepreneurs looking for a community to learn from, the annual Denver Startup Week is one that should not be missed. Whether it was the co-founder of Under Armour starting off the week with a football huddle chant (hard to believe Under Armour was once a startup!), or whether it was meeting exciting people and hearing about new and original local success stories, the week was one that I won’t soon forget. I’m already looking forward to what events and conversations next year’s edition will bring.

The post Denver Startup Week 2016: Why We’re Still Excited appeared first on Edgelink.

Have Candidate Requirements Set in Stone

Candidates are difficult enough to find as is, and changing candidate requirements in the midst of an ongoing talent search means expending additional effort. Without concrete definitions of which skills are essential and which are only desirable, a candidate outside the original parameters can show up on your radar and change the entire direction of your search. Changing hiring direction to pursue such outlying candidates tends to add to a hiring manager’s cost per hire.

After all, deciding to look for more candidates similar to these great outliers (as defined by an original set of candidate requirements) means more time sourcing, interviewing, background checking, etc. for more candidates, taking up additional staff time in the vetting and interviewing process.

Instead, an organization must be as specific as possible with what they seek, come to an internal consensus as to what those specifics are, and stick to them! Putting conscious effort into these early steps helps to rein in the average cost per hire down the road.

Consider Remote Employees

Broadening your view of available job seekers to include remote workers will automatically increase your candidate pool and attract top talent. With so many talented IT professionals out there, why limit your reach to a geographic region surrounding your physical location?

Considering remote employees will help you tap into a wealth of great workers that do not reside in your area and otherwise would have never considered your organization as a career destination. Likewise, even IT professionals that live within a commutable distance but loathe the idea of a morning/evening commute will suddenly be open to working for you from the comfort of their own home.

Work Hard to Streamline Your Hiring Process

With the average hire taking just 23 days in the IT sector (with the top candidates fielding offers just 10 days after dipping their toes into the search pool), you’re going to lose great pros if you dawdle. So if you’re shepherding a great IT candidate through several interviews and tons of paperwork, you’ll probably lose them, wasting your time and increasing your average cost per hire.

Decreasing the number of candidate-facing steps between the initial contact with a potential hire and extending an offer to them will go a long way in converting interviews into employees.

Communication is Everything

Need more incentive to streamline your IT hiring process? When a company remains silent and does not extend an offer to an interviewee, nearly 25% of candidates lose interest in the role after just one week. Waiting two weeks to extend an offer or to provide further communication increases that number to a whopping 46%.

Given these statistics, it is drastically important to work hard to keep candidates in the loop regarding when a hiring decision will be made. Candidates understand that decisions can be delayed, but keeping quiet about it only hurts brands, resulting in a candidate taking another job offer and spiking the average cost per hire.

Consider Contingent Offers

If you’re at all seriously interested in a job candidate, don’t wait; make an offer and provide a start date. Just be clear that the offer is contingent on the candidate passing background, security, reference, and any other applicable checks.

This may create a sense of vulnerability, but it’s important to remember that any offer is only truly an offer if all the necessary checks are passed. As long as this is clear in the beginning, contingent offers are a no-risk way of keeping a talented IT professional interested while the necessary paperwork is being completed.

Think about Practicing “Prior to Need” Hiring

Take the time to forecast turnover, retirements, future needs, etc. so that you can find and hire replacements immediately when predicted opportunities come up. Attending networking events, maintaining a professional relationship with industry acquaintances, and keeping track of potential fits for your organization can go a long way in helping expedite your hiring / candidate search process.

Use Staffing Firms to Lower the Average Cost Per Hire

With so many other priorities on your plate, sometimes keeping the entire hiring process internal is too taxing on your organization’s resources, even if all the above recommendations have been put into motion.

EdgeLink has a deep pool of great IT pros who have been vetted and interviewed, and are practically ready at a moment’s notice. Plus, we help our clients finalize requirements before pursuing any candidates. If you need to hire quickly, contact us and we’ll get on your recruiting request immediately.

The post Lowering the Average Cost Per Hire of IT Talent appeared first on Edgelink.

1.) Hacks Are on the Rise

Data breaches are on the rise with 601 reported cases thus far in 2016 (we can almost guarantee there will be more by the time you read this). That we know of, more than 13 million records have been compromised and there are presumably millions more that are yet to be recognized as compromised.

Organizations of all sizes across industries are being targeted. Healthcare providers, social media platforms, government organizations, and media companies have been breached this year and the spectrum of victims will diversify further by year’s end.

The lesson that every business should acknowledge is that no one is immune to being singled out by cybercriminals. Robust network security solutions are not just the priority of Fortune 500s and government agencies. Your data is often worth the effort cybercriminals put into an attack. Social security numbers can go for $30, dates of birth for $11, and health insurance credentials can go for $20 on the black market. Getting data in bulk makes it lucrative.

Plus, chances are good that even if the data isn’t the target, a breach through your network can provide them with a lead to another.

2.) Cloud Solutions and 3^rd Party Vendors Create Vulnerability

How many facets of your business are run by cloud providers or 3^rd party vendors? We increasingly outsource everything but our core deliverability, relying on platforms and services provided by the experts to give our companies an edge. That model is practical, but a trade-off comes to network security.

Remember the Target data breach a few years back? The retailer lost customer names, account data, credit/debit numbers, expiration dates, CVV security codes, and PINs in a data breach. And the culprits compromised Target’s otherwise strong network security solutions for their point-of-sale system, by hacking a third party vendor that obtained them access to Target’s maintenance and utility network and easily connected them to the main network. In the end, it was the vulnerable network security of Target’s vendor that precipitated the breach worth billions of dollars.

And cloud applications are not getting off lightly. Though most hacks occur in data on-premises situations, there are examples of cloud hacks. The iCloud hacks happened through a security issue with the iCloud API, essentially granting unlimited tries for hackers to guess passwords. Given time, any brute force attack prevails.

With more applications, platforms, and vendors being entangled within daily operations, the selection of high quality partners is all the more important. The strength of their network security solutions becomes an extension of your own, making it all the important to have strong internal resources.

3.) CyberSecurity Tactics Are Ever Evolving

Even businesses putting emphasis on network security in the past can still be vulnerable. More employees are accessing secure networks with unsecure devices. Zero day vulnerabilities lingering in untested network security solutions are ticking times bombs for cybercriminals to capitalize on. Plenty of network security vulnerabilities are lurking just out of sight.

On the plus side, cybersecurity tools are expanding to win the war against cybercriminals. Machine learning tools are being directed at network security solutions, detecting common anomalies and preventing enterprises from being breached. Microsoft EMET (Enhanced Mitigation Emergency Toolkit) helps to spread awareness to internal workers about cybersecurity threats. Plenty of tools exist that network security solutions only a few years old would lack. Businesses that fail to integrate the latest tools will provide an ever-expanding window for hackers to utilize.

Bringing Network Security Solutions Up to Speed

The rise of hacks, the integration of 3^rd party vendors into enterprises, and the evolution of cybersecurity tactics require an expert’s touch to prevent cybersecurity threats. The talent gap makes finding exceptional cybersecurity talent to face those threats difficult. That’s why it’s important to use all available resources to fill that essential position.

EdgeLink can provide that cybersecurity connection. Our team of IT staffing professionals has extensive experience with a wide range of IT specialties across industries and can find networking security professionals that fit your needs. To find the full scope of what we can do, check out our Services page and get one step closer to providing critical protection to your business.

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However, there are ways to convince employers you are the best answer to their mythic purple squirrel and get them to ask for you by name.

Understand There Is No Perfect Candidate.

The first step is to understand that there is no “perfect candidate.” Any job description is going to be an imagining of the type of ideal person for the role. Often, the type of person businesses are looking for at the beginning of the hiring process is not the same person they want by the end.

For example, a startup might believe that an incoming employee needs to have a strong understanding of UX design, a mastery of QA automation, and practical knowledge of the latest big data tools. Though the company may need all of those skills, they might be better off split between two technical professionals.

Or even if their perfect fit exists out there, the company still would be better suited with a technical candidate that doesn’t 100% mirror their ideal. Instead, a candidate that has 70% of the criteria mastered, but needs to learn 30% of the role on the job will be more engaged in daily work because it’ll actually be a challenge. So even if you don’t 100% fit the qualifications, don’t let that deter your search. You could very possibly be the best solution the client doesn’t even know they want.

Identify the Thorn in an Employer’s Side

A purple squirrel, when companies imagine one, is supposed to be the cure-all to a company’s prevailing challenges. He or she sees what’s wrong and gets proactive about reaching a solution. Though they might not have every answer, a candidate committed to impressing organizations will address their pain points.

Most companies will not come out and vent their greatest challenges in writing (or even in-person). A candidate that wants to appear to be a purple squirrel has to dig for answers and plant the seeds of confidence in his or her ability to come up with solutions.

First step is identify their worst pains. How does a tech professional do that? Serious research. What does the company focus on in their communication with clients and potential employees? The answers are in their website copy, press releases, blogs, and social media posts.

• Are they expanding? If so, which divisions?
• Are they releasing a new product line or service? If so, how do your skills apply to that growth?
• Are they starting a new division? Where would you fit in with that team?

Once a candidate identifies pain points, he or she needs to craft answers in advance. Let’s say that a business is planning to release new features in their ecommerce application. If they went with an MVP, as most companies in any highly competitive market will do these days, you can expect some level of on-the-fly troubleshooting being necessary to fix user facing problems.

Strategic candidates will in turn plan responses that show their involvement in a similar launch and demonstrate the tangible results they achieved. Include a few examples like this in your own interview preparations and it might be difficult to differentiate you from a purple squirrel.

Be Able to Talk about Cultural Fit

A purple squirrel, in addition to being a technical wizard, will also integrate into the team as if he or she was custom-made for the job. Surveys find that at least 59% of employers reject candidates due to a lack of cultural fit. In essence, they want a candidate who will be an obvious cultural fit from the moment he or she walks in the door. To be seen as that exceptional fit, candidates need to be vocal about the ways they fit with the culture.

At first, you might imagine it’s tough to achieve. Company culture is one of those intangible things that has a different criteria for different companies. Often, getting a good sense of it requires job seekers to combine findings from the following sources:

• About Us pages
• Mission statement pages
• Community Involvement pages
• Why Work for Us pages
• Awards pages
• Social media posts (Team Events, Join Our Team Ads, etc.)

Whichever cultural concepts overlap across sources are the ones you really want to emphasize. Once again, the major talking points will vary from company to company, so it’s important to evaluate in advance.

How does a purple squirrel differentiate from an ordinary job seeker? That preparation is the biggest differentiator. Plenty of job seekers go into interviews expecting to use most of their allotted questions asking about the culture and getting to know what a company values.

Though there’s nothing wrong with learning new things during the job interview, companies that see a candidate reflecting their own values in each response and who knows what’s important to them is going to seem more like that unbelievable candidate they’ve been waiting for to come along.

How to Get Hot Job Interview Tips and More

One way essential way to appear like a purple squirrel is to be able to adjust on the fly with the latest changes to an open position. Unless candidates have inside contacts at the companies where they are applying, they may be just as blind to the evolving role as the rest of the herd. Strategic adaptability is much easier when job seekers use IT staffing professionals to keep them informed.

Our team of expert recruiters have built relationships with our business clients and can quickly update candidates with the latest insight and advice. Plus, we can build up your reputation so that when employers actually meet you, it’s hard not to imagine you as the perfect person for them. Apply with us today!

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