“If you were a Microsoft Office program, which one would you be?”
There’s nothing like an odd interview question to throw you off your game during an interview. You’ve prepared for all the normal questions. You’re ready to share your accomplishments with your prospective employer, but then you’re asked something like the above. What do you do?
US employment website, Glassdoor, recently compiled their annual list of oddball interview questions from actual interviews. Rusty Rueff, careers and workplace expert for Glassdoor, said surprising questions can be an effective way to gauge a candidate’s character.
“There’s a bit of pressure to find how you think on your feet, trying to test that a little bit,” he told the BBC. “But more importantly, they’re trying to get at how someone thinks, how they solve the problem.”
You can’t exactly prepare for a question like: “Would Mahatma Gandhi have made a good software engineer?” But if you are ever asked something like this, or the other 24 on the list, stay calm. Take a minute to think, and then answer with confidence.
Check out practical ways to prepare for your interview at ESP’s Resource Center.
Posted in Legal Technology News | Leave a commentSoftware Quality Assurance Engineer is the Happiest Job in America
Seems like you can have it all if you have a career in technology. On top of being a great time for highly-qualified IT professionals to get work (if you haven’t noticed-you’re in very high demand), software quality assurance engineer just topped the list of the 20 happiest jobs compiled by CareerBliss.
The list was based on analysis from over 100,000 employee-generated reviews between February 2011 and January 2012. Employees ranked the value of contributing factors on a 5 point scale. One’s relationship with the boss and co-workers, work environment, job resources, compensation, growth opportunities, company culture, company reputation, daily tasks, and control over the work one does on a daily basis were all taken into consideration.
Other IT jobs ranked in the top twenty were systems engineer (9), software engineer (15), and system administrator (20).
See the Happiest Jobs in America in pictures on Forbes.com.
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentThe return of the counteroffer, and why you should never take it
The recession found law firms laying off technology staff in addition to Attorneys and other administrative staff, making law firm technology departments leaner than ever, with only the best technology employees retained. As the economy improves, law firms are starting to hire again, and candidates are often receiving several offers. When one of these technology professionals resigns, the law firm currently employing them, realizing what they might lose, offers a counter offer.
Should you take it? Should you offer one?
When you’ve reached the point of a counter offer, you’re already in a lose/lose situation for employer and employee. The employee has decided they no longer want to work for their firm, and the firm recognizes, or should recognize this. Now is not the time to re-negotiate.
As an employee who has searched for and accepted a new role, you’ve already put in the effort to obtain a better job. Most likely, money wasn’t the only reason you were looking, and you’ll be happier if you stick to your decision. Keep this in mind:
Your firm has made you a counter offer because they don’t want to lose you—but did they recognize this risk before you told them you were leaving? What makes you worth more today, than yesterday?
What’s to say they won’t look for your replacement once they’ve made the counter offer, no longer viewing you as a loyal employee?
No matter what they say, they are not considering your needs and career growth, they are protecting themselves from the time and resources they would lose, in losing you. It’s cheaper for them to offer you a raise now, and then never raise your salary again, then to have to spend time and money looking for your replacement.
As an employer, who has received a letter of resignation, why would you try to keep this employee? Sure, in the immediate future, retaining this employee is your cheapest option. But…
You already know the employee is half way out the door.
By offering a counter offer, you’re setting a precedent that may cause other employees to threaten to leave in hopes of a counter offer in return.
How do you minimize the risk of an employee leaving? With the high demand for technology professionals, it is important that managers ensure their employees are earning a competitive wage, and are satisfied in their work, and environment. You can’t guarantee an employee won’t look for other work, but there are ways to minimize the threat.
Bottom line: a counter offer is never a good thing for the employee or employer.
Posted in Legal Technology News | Leave a commentLinkedIn’s IPO: Good or Bad for recruiting?
The settling dust on LinkedIn’s IPO last week leaves behind mixed reviews. When LinkedIn nearly tripled its initial public offering last Thursday, peaking at $122.70, talk of a new .com bubble met with arguments that LinkedIn actually earns revenue, and isn’t just selling ad-space, unlike the .com companies of the 90’s. It also opened up a lot of questions about how it will affect recruiters and staffing firms like ESP.
We use LinkedIn every day as a tool for recruiting. It’s a way to keep track of our connections, find passive candidates, and keep our own database up to date. So obviously, LinkedIn’s success is good for us, right? Jury’s still out on that. How will this affect recruiters and staffing firms? Could it make us obsolete?
Good thing we offer more to our clients than simply a candidate’s resume, or it could. We prepare our candidates for success. We weed out candidates who might have a great resume, but don’t really have the experience or skills to be a great fit for our clients. Can LinkedIn do that? Nope. So we don’t necessarily see LinkedIn as competition, but depending on the decisions LinkedIn makes in regards to their increased revenue, we may need to alter the way we use LinkedIn as a recruiting tool.
Will advertising change the way users use LinkedIn? Will it cut down the time they spend there, will there be backlash, or will it just keep growing in popularity? What about LinkedIn’s revenue strategy moving forward? Will they charge recruiters more for LinkedIn recruiter? Will they charge job seekers to use the site? What new offerings will LinkedIn provide for recruiters with the new finances rolling in? Will this cause a bubble? When will the shares fall? The truth is it’s probably too early to tell. But isn’t it fun to wonder, speculate and all around make a hullabaloo about it?
Posted in ESP news, Legal Technology News | Leave a commentServer System Engineers – Drifting away with the Cloud
As large and mid-sized law firms move towards Virtualization and Cloud Computing, how will it affect the technology staff in their offices?
As a leader in Technology Staffing for the Legal industry for over 15 years we have seen our fair share of technology changes in the Legal Marketplace. Back in 1996, we saw law firms slowly move away from Word Perfect towards Microsoft Word in order to be compatible with their clients’ electronic documents. We then witnessed the slow shift away from Novell to Microsoft NT as Microsoft offered a viable alternative for File and Print Sharing.
Neither of these changes caused a tremendous change in the types of technology positions available in law firms, only a change in the technology experience that was required. Law firms still required Help Desk Support staff, only now with Microsoft Word experience instead of Word Perfect. They still needed System Engineers, but now wanted them to have Microsoft NT versus Novell Server experience.
This newest development is different. Virtualization and Cloud Computing are not only changing the technology experience requirements for law firm technology staff, they are also changing the position types and the number of technology support employees needed.
Looking back 5 – 10 years, the traditional large law firm would have the senior level System Engineers in the main office and then a very solid, if not also senior, System Engineer in their branch offices. With servers remotely located across the country, firms wanted server-savvy staff in all locations.
Enter Virtualization and The Cloud. No longer do you need a System (Server) Engineer in each branch office at an annual salary in today’s market of $85-100K. Instead you can hire a User Support Technician in the $55-65K range. The greater need currently, is for someone onsite who can install PCs, troubleshoot hardware and software issues, and perform light System Administrative tasks such as adding, deleting and setting up user permissions on the network.
More change is on the way as the Cloud drifts into more firms, large and small. Technology support is still in high demand in the Legal Marketplace as firms have a high volume of very sophisticated users with complex document requirements. Add to that the Technology demands for Litigation and Electronic discovery growing daily.
So needless to say, if you were once a System Engineer in a law firm you may find it hard to find a similar role. Capitalize on your law firm technology strengths and move into different technology areas within the law firm market and get ready for the next shift.
-Chris
Posted in Legal Technology News | Leave a commentWelcome to ESP’s new site & blog!
In celebration of our 15th year, ESP’s getting ready to launch a number of exciting new things, including this blog. We’ve revamped our website with a new look, new staff bios, new resources, and easier navigation! We’re also improving our communications with our clients and candidates by launching e-newsletters soon. While we’re excited about all that’s happening, we’re most excited about this: after 15 years of Legal Technology staffing, we’re still looking out for the best interests of our clients and candidates, and placing people first.
Posted in ESP news | Leave a comment
