As one of the leading IT Recruiters in the nation we work on dozens of Networking Engineering and Systems Engineering positions every year. In the past 12 months our IT Recruiters have seen an influx of network related resumes coming in as companies made cuts and have changed their hiring strategies.

Here are two hiring patterns we have witnessed from our clients:

1. Jack of all trades have come back into style. At one point we saw many hiring managers deciding to split up roles and bring on highly specialized people with the hopes to decrease downtime. Now with headcount reductions the jack of all trades engineer has come back into style. Over a 5 year period one client went from one engineer doing it all to having one network engineer, one systems administrator and one person dedicated directly to Citrix, only to revert back to the one man army as IT budgets have been cut.

2. Security is never going away. This is something we said 15 years ago as several on our staff came from prior corporate technology careers; security is only going to grow. As one recruiter here said, “the first time I ever installed a Cisco Pix when they first came out it had me thinking as the Internet grows and the world becomes more connected security is only going to get more complicated and more important”. 

Where you once had to have your network engineer buddy install your home WIFI router, they can now be installed by just about anyone. But in the corporate world our clients have a higher demand for those with a solid security background than we have seen in 15 years. In terms of security they are looking for someone that knows how to manage patches, virus protection strategies, web monitoring, firewall configurations and monitoring, high security remote access and internal auditing.

In the next 5 years if you’re sitting on a CISSP with a decent background in network and systems security – the future is bright.

One question our technology recruiters hear often is: If I have been out of work for a while, how do I bridge that gap?

In this competitive market everyone is looking for the best of the best because they know that now is the chance to get them. We had one hiring manager look at a great candidate and say “He has been out of work for 6 months, why hasn’t he finished his MCSE?” A reasonable rebuttal is that he was out of work so spending money on exams was not an option. While this was a good question, there are also many hiring managers that can care less about certifications. These hiring managers are only concerned about your experience and how great of a logical thinker you are.

This is just a single example of what you may be able to do to bridge that gap on your resume while also showing someone you have the desire to still be successful in the technology sector.

Here are some ideas to bridge the gap on your resume while also showing IT Recruiters and Hiring Managers your drive and motivation:

1.     Start or finish any certifications that will add value to your background. If you are light on money you can always pick up the books which are often $50-$60 each so you can study. This all comes down to giving someone a story during an interview so when the question comes up “What have you done over the last 6 months?” you can give a great answer. You can say, “Well I bought all of the course work books to complete my certifications and have been studying them so once I become employed again I can sit the exams.”

2.    Consulting and side work is one of the most common bridges and it is often the most acceptable. In the technology world hiring managers want to know you have been on top of things and not off on the sideline collecting dust. Showing them that you are still working with technology day in and day out reminds them you’re not off the wagon.

3.    Going back to college to work on a degree you started many years ago or deciding to get a graduate degree.  We still see many technology professionals without degrees and for the most part many of them are not needed for the work that they do but in a highly competitive market it can set you apart. A hiring manager could be looking at ten great resumes with only three of them having degrees. This could put you at the bottom of the pile when it comes to second interviews if you are one of the candidates without a degree. Once again, having a story to tell will give you a boost as you can show a potential employer that you have decided to continue your education with the downtime you have had.

We always say when you’re trying to deal with a tough question at least have a story to tell or an explanation. Often the worst thing you can do is say nothing. It will be easier to overcome the issue if you have a good story to tell to bridge those long gaps of unemployment on your resume. If that story involves anything to do with making you a smarter, more productive career-minded individual then you can overcome those issues with great success.