Phoenix Partners wishes you a Happy Holiday and great new opportunities in the New Year. We’re also delighted to share a few tips so you can hit the ground running in January.
If you’re thinking about making a career move, don’t let the holidays sideline you. There are many things you can do to prepare for the next steps in your search. Use downtime to your advantage and “resolve” to put a plan into action in the New Year. Read the rest of this entry »
First, I’d like to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to enjoy a relaxing break from the regular demands of your everyday routine. In the spirit of gratitude, I want you to know that your relationship with Phoenix Partners means a lot to me personally. So thank you!
Given the nature of this holiday, I would like to share some statistics about the power of gratitude in the workplace. Whether you’re an employer or a candidate, infusing an attitude of genuine gratitude into your work life will help others, as well as help you. Givers gain! Read the rest of this entry »
In a tight employment market, you might wonder why anyone should work with a recruiter. After all, you likely receive auto-generated emails (like Glassdoor’s “We think you’d be a good fit for…”) and calls every day.
However, if you’re a talented, experienced technical candidate, you’re not just looking for “a job.” You’re looking for the right job, with the right company and the right environment for your career growth.
Working with the right recruiter will save you time and give you valuable, actionable intelligence. It will also help you find the right fit for your next career move.
Technically speaking, independent recruiters are paid by the client company that hires them but the good ones work for YOU too. Read the rest of this entry »
What do online dating apps and job seeking have in common? Ask anyone who has ever been “ghosted” despite thinking they were a perfect match.
In both cases, there’s more to a match than what you see on the surface. Call it the dark matter that creates a condition called “fit.”
Most talented tech candidates are aware of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that store their resumes and other information about them. The assumption is that winning an interview requires solid matching of keywords in their resume with those of the job description.
That’s true, but there’s a catch. Focusing solely on matching keywords in the resume with the job description can cause many qualified applicants to miss the mark because they haven’t adequately described their background. Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome to fall, the official opening of “Conference Season.” While you might dread the chicken dinners, delayed flights, and travel malaise that can accompany association conferences, don’t overlook the many ways that conferences can help advance your career, directly or indirectly.
Many of the hiring managers who seek the assistance of Phoenix Partners to fill open positions place almost as much emphasis on soft skills as hard skills. While soft skills won’t help write the complex code the company may need, soft skills do help maintain collaboration across departments, facilitate clear communications, and allow technical professionals to engage in leadership roles, which is critical in the information age. And guess what? There’s no better place to practice your “soft skills” than networking at a conference. Read the rest of this entry »
Many candidates feel that midsummer is not the right time to find a new job. It’s true that many companies hold off on posting key positions until fall and that the hiring process can slow to a languid crawl during midsummer due to vacations. However, there are useful ways you can use summer “downtime” to pave the way to career advancement. One way is to put the “70:20:10” model to work to enhance your skill profile.
The 70:20:10 model is a proportional breakdown of how people learn effectively and was developed by Morgan McCall and the Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the 1980s. While it’s neither scientifically proven nor exact in its mix, the notion that informal learning carries the heaviest weight on the job has influenced approaches to training. Essentially, the CCL originally conducted a survey with 200 executives. The survey’s findings were that individuals obtain 70 percent of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others, and 10 percent from formal educational events. Thus, the theory has been that 90% of your professional knowledge comes from “informal” learning. The 70:20:10 rule or model revolutionized approaches to corporate training. It has also led to new ways of looking at training, with the internet giving rise to increasing proportions of both social and formal learning opportunities. Read the rest of this entry »
With summer in full swing, your idea of fun might not have anything to do with the workplace. However, numerous studies show that humor in the workplace can relieve stress, increase productivity, build trust, and when done right, help promote employees to leadership roles. No kidding!
Babies laugh 400 times a day. The average person over age 35 laughs an average of 15 times on each weekday, according to Gallup. Something tragic has happened on our way to the work world: we’ve lost our sense of humor. While humor might be tragedy plus time (according to Mark Twain), this tragedy is no laughing matter. Employee wellbeing, teamwork, productivity, and leadership hang in the balance. So, get your giggles on! Read the rest of this entry »
In addition to strong programming skills, candidates for big data jobs need varying levels of experience with cloud infrastructure. The following are some sample certification resources, as well as a graduate program focused on mining data. Read the rest of this entry »
With data being produced at a rate of 2.5 quintillion bytes per day, the skills needed to utilize and manage this data are in high demand. Today, we’re discussing ways you can enhance your skill set, as well as sought-after roles for companies working in or adjacent to big data.
Enjoy Part 2 of our “Big Data is Moneyball for Business” piece below! Read the rest of this entry »
With the advent of digital, mobile and IoT technology, people are producing data at a rate of 2.5 quintillion bytes per day. By 2020, it’s estimated that 1.7MB of data will be created every second for every person on earth. Ninety percent of data in the world has been created in the last few years. What will we do with this data, and who will do it? Read the rest of this entry »