Here are some idea for how to approach negotiating your salary.

1. Just ask: It’s okay to get an offer letter and say something like, “I’m very excited about this opportunity and hope we can have a conversation about salary to reach a number that feels fair to all parties. Can we discuss over the phone?” Opening the door in a respectful way is the first step. A business might even see that as an enthusiastic, go-getter mentally and feel more committed to their decision to hire you based on your ambition and clarity and feel comfortable raising the salary amount in order to solidify your best work with their company.
2. Have your reasons ready: Make sure that when the conversation happens, you can point to both the specific salary and reasons why you think it’s deserved. If it’s market trends, rare experience and certifications, or years of industry expertise, make sure that you have the data ready to discuss.
3. Discuss other forms of compensation: If their salary is firm, ask about other options. Can they cover your cell phone and internet costs for working from? Can they give you a stipend for childcare or other benefits can help you justify and offset a lower-than-expected salary?

Salary negotiations don’t have to be respectful – just make sure that you’re professional and flexible, and it’s likely that you can find a number that works for everyone.

Looking for a promotion? A pay raise? Get in touch so we can help you find the next position in your IT career.

The post The Professional Way to Negotiate Your Salary appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

One of the most important skills to perfect to get a promotion, however, is organizational IQ. Organizational IQ means understanding your role in the bigger picture of your company and knowing how all the pieces of the organization work together. If you want a more prominent position, it’s important to be able to interact with people at all levels of the business. So many IT roles require a lot of unbroken concentration and heads-down work that it’s easy to forget the business significance of being able to work across departments and engage personably with people beyond just the responsibilities of your job.

Networking with coworkers isn’t always the first thing you think of when you make a list of tech skills or important IT abilities, but it’s a huge part of being recognized for more senior roles or leadership positions. How can you improve your organizational IQ and make your company take notice of you?

The easiest way to strengthen this skill is to identify ways you can connect with more people in or your organization. It’s okay to start small; join a fitness class at your onsite gym, host a programming class during the lunch hour, or RSVP yes to the after-work outing. The best ways to connect in meaningful ways are by being involved with things that you can get excited about.

Looking for your next promotion? Let us help you move up the ladder. Get in touch with us today so we can help you find the best fit for your skills and get you excited about the organization you work for.

The post Improve This 1 IT Skill to Get that Promotion appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

What IT Certifications are Most in Demand?

Once you have decided the direction of your technology career, ie: networking, security, cloud, software development, then choose the professional certification that matches your experience level. Examples of highly desired IT discipline-based certifications are listed below:

CGEIT – Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT

PMP – Project Management Professional PMP

CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional

Today’s Trends & Employer Needs

When our IT recruiting team is speaking to employers that are searching for contract or permanent IT professionals, here’s what’s on their shortlist of desired certifications:

Networking: Cisco CCNP – Cisco Certified Networking Professional

Cloud: AWS Certified – Amazon Web Services Certified

Security: CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional

You’re Credentialed, Now What?

Technical staffing companies and IT recruiters are searching for candidates just like you! You should make it easy for them to find you with these three simple steps:

Step 1: Update your LinkedIn profile.

When adding your credentials, write out the entire certification name and use the acronym. Example: CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional.
If the vendor supplies a certification icon, make sure you use it on your LinkedIn Profile, business cards, email signature, and company biography.

Step 2: Update your skills section in LinkedIn.

This is how information technology recruiters search for candidates with your certifications.

Step 3: Leverage LinkedIn for your career search.

By nurturing, building and leveraging your LinkedIn network on a continual basis, it’s much easier to reach out to them for career advice or job search help when you need it because they are already engaging with you. Learn more in our “Keys to Leveraging Your LinkedIn Network,” article.

           
Chart Your Next Career Move

Don’t wait for an opportunity to find you, reach out today to the experienced information technology recruiters at Open Systems, Inc. Our IT recruiters are well connected and informed on the latest placement opportunities and are continually looking for certified IT professionals like you. Connect with one of our IT staffing specialists today.

The post Do IT Certifications Make it Easier To Find Employment? appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

At Open Systems (OSI), our company differentiator is our recruiting methodology and efficient process. With over 20 years experience in recruiting, our senior recruiting advisors are integrated members of the industries they place in.

We help our clients get top talent faster through our proven process, here’s why clients and candidates win when partnering with us.

OSI Certified 5-Step Recruitment Process

With OSI as your technical recruiting agency, we have a proven method of finding top talent faster, we will only present to your organization 100 percent vetted candidates.
Our candidate validation includes:

1. Skill evaluation
2. Reference checks
3. Right to represent
4. Negotiated salary rate
5. Social profile verification

A Human Approach With a Technical Twist

We continually recruit top talent in the fields of information technology, engineering, and technical/technician. Our electrical, IT and technical recruiters are integrated and involved in these fields and the industries that demand top talent.

OSI also uses multiple solutions based on technology, job boards, and artificial intelligence to reach a wide range of candidates in various career levels and industries. Here are a few of the technologies we employ:

1. Resume Parsing
2. Cognitive Computing
3. Artificial  Intelligence (AI)
4. Social Recruiting
5. Handshake (aka Human Intelligence)

Partners for Growth

With OSI as your company’s technical recruiting agency, you will be able to quickly scale your business operations to meet hiring demands, whether it be for staff augmentation, contingent workers or hard to find, permanent placement for top talent.

When OSI manages your recruitment, you can focus on the business needs that help your company grow. We focus on specific areas and industries to ensure each of our clients receives expert advice.

Are you ready to learn how OSI can help your company hire better talent faster? Then reach out to one of our experienced recruiters.

The post How Open Systems Will Help Hire Better Talent Faster appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

The best ways to advance your IT career are to add value, offer solutions, enhance your skills and network.

Add Value

Your value comes from being a reliable and top contributor. You can increase your value by volunteering for projects that focus on increasing revenue or reduce costs within your organization.

Often IT professionals are the ‘unseen’ hero. Unfortunately, this trait is not rewarded in many corporate cultures. It’s important to be seen and heard by others.

There’s a balancing act of being seen and not being boastful. One option is offering to present a project summary or outcomes assessment to the company or stakeholders on a project you participated in or led.

Focus on Solutions

IT professionals are problem solvers. Pair problems with potential solutions when addressing your team or supervisor.

Avoid being perceived as someone always talking about problems and obstacles. Try focusing on what the desired outcome of the solution is, such as better user experience, faster payment processing or increased sales.

Enhance your Skills

Technical requirements of an IT professional are always evolving. To advance your career, it’s soft skills that will get you promoted into a management role. Communication skills, business acumen, and empathy are the skills that will separate you from artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic replacement.

Enhancing your soft skills is a lifelong pursuit. Practice listening to others and then asking questions to ensure you understand the meaning, intent, and emotion of what is being said. Work to understand your entire business, not just the function of the IT department. And above all else, express empathy. People want to be surrounded by people they like and that understand them.

Networking – Especially When You Have a Job!

Professional recruiters, like Open Systems, see this scenario often. You get the job of your dreams and then you drop off the face of the earth.
Networking with your peers, mentors, and former colleagues is actually easier when you are not looking for a job.

Also, keep your LinkedIn profile updated, continue to reach out to new contacts and connect with Open Systems.

Moving Forward

Often in order to advance your IT career, you need to move onto a new company. This is when the experts at Open Systems can guide you to your next IT role. We have IT job opportunities in a variety of industries and at all career levels. Contact us today to learn more.

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IT Outsourcing: Common Mistakes You Need to Know

Outsourcing the Wrong Services, Instead of the Right Ones

Before an organization seeks out an IT provider to outsource a portion of its environment or services, they should complete an internal assessment to determine if the areas defined for outsourcing are appropriate. Will outsourcing this service really improve the performance or create a better user experience?

The New Latest, Greatest Service Offering May Not Be the Best Solution

If an organization makes their outsourcing decisions based on the latest and greatest and not what is best for the organization, the results that are achieved may not align with what the organization actually needs. Thus, it is best to avoid the lure of the newest, greatest technology. Instead, choose a technology suite and provider that suits your organization.

Musical Chairs: Not Addressing Foundational Problems, Just Changing Players

When organizations start to experience problems with their outsourcing agreements, many decide to simply change providers. While this can seem like a simple solution to the problem it usually doesn’t change much other than the address on invoices. Before companies switch providers, they should do an honest intake of the issues that they are experiencing and examine if a change in provider would actually resolve them. In the majority of cases, the issues and problems are foundational. Thus, these issues are best addressed internally and in cooperation with the current service provider.

Not Properly Evaluating the Level of Service

A business must ensure that the outsource provider is capable of providing the level of service required to support their organization. This includes being able to serve all office locations as well as being able to respond within the required time. If a provider is not capable of providing the appropriate level of service issues can occur. For example, the loss of productivity can be detrimental.  Ensure that there are target service level agreements (SLAs) in place. These SLAs guarantee that the provider is contractually bound to protect against this productivity loss.

Moving Forward

Utilizing IT outsourcing can be a considerable advantage to a business. However, there are several common mistakes that can occur when implementing IT outsourcing. Though, with proper planning and execution, common outsourcing mistakes can be prevented. The best way to ensure proper planning and implementation is to turn to a proven solutions provider. At Open Systems, we help large and small businesses as they implement business solutions to drive results. Contact us today to learn more!

The post Common Mistakes To Avoid When Utilizing IT Outsourcing appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

IT security teams include a CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) and other senior and junior level IT security professionals. Furthermore, when building your IT security team, it is essential to think about assembling a group of professionals who have diverse experience in all areas of IT security.

Skills Your New IT Security Team Should Bring to the Table   

IT Security is a broad discipline with multiple and varied components that complement each other. While there are many unique and niche IT security skills out there, a company can build a successful IT security team with a core group of primary IT security skills.

Just the Basics: The Core IT Security Skills

Security Architecture

Security architecture is one of the foundations of a good IT security program. A security architect must know how enterprise networks are built and function. They must be able to design security controls and gateways to protect sensitive data. A good security architect should also know a wide array of security tools and how to use them effectively.

Vulnerability Management

With most network breaches stemming from unpatched systems, having someone in charge of managing vulnerabilities and patching strategies is essential. A good vulnerability manager will have expert level knowledge about vulnerabilities as well as strong business risk acumen. They will know that not all vulnerabilities are equal and will be able to define a risk-based approach to remediation that considers the business impact.

Security Operations: The CISO and Security Operations Personnel 

Security operations is a critical component of any IT security program. A CISO must know what is going on in their networks. They must also be able to identify abnormal behavior that may be indicative of an intruder. Security operations personnel should know the signs of an attack. They should also be able to develop alerting and response procedures to counteract this activity. Security operations professionals should also have a basic incident response capability such as log collection and correlation and basic forensics analysis.

Nice to Haves: Penetration Testing and Incident Response

While essential to an IT security program, penetration testing and incident response are areas that don’t need to be in-house. While the first three critical components (security architecture, vulnerability management, and security operations) are full-time, year-round operations, penetration testing and incident response are typically point-in-time activities that (hopefully) don’t take place more than a few times a year.

Moving Forward

IT security is an integral part of running a business today. By building a well-rounded IT security team, you can enhance your current security posture and prevent future incidents.

In today’s environment, it can be very difficult to hire IT security professionals as they are in high demand. In the IT security world, there is negative unemployment with more jobs available than there are IT security professionals to fill them. It is projected that in 2019 there will be 1.5 million IT security job openings. Given this challenging hiring market, it’s best to consult a professional recruiter. At Open Systems, we are experts in the recruitment of IT security professionals. Contact us today to learn more!

The post Building Your IT Security Team? These are the Skills You Need appeared first on Open Systems Inc..

How Do Employers Feel About Inconsistent Employment?

Hiring is part of doing business. Searching for new talent takes a significant amount of time and money. This investment usually does not pay off until after the first year when the new employee has had the opportunity to learn the ropes in their position and become as productive as they can possibly be. With this in mind, employers will try to make the most practical decision when it comes to extending an employment offer. When employers see a history of rapid job changes on a candidate’s resume, they see an increased risk of the same thing happening at their company.

You Are Always on the Lookout for a Higher Salary

If an employer feels you are only interested in your bottom line, they fear you’ll be whisked away as soon as the next highest bidder comes along. With such a tight employment market, there will always be employers who poach and offer higher compensation, but a history of making repeated hops every time a bigger check comes will raise red flags.

You Can’t Commit

Employers want employees who can commit. They want workers who believe in their work and are willing to stay even when things get challenging. Also, with markets as highly competitive as they are, a non-committed employee may be more likely to take sensitive company information with them and use it elsewhere. While NDAs offer employers some protection, most cases are hard to win in court and by that point, the damage is already done.

You May Have Issues Getting Along With Others

Candidates that have changed jobs frequently can make employers wonder about their ability to work with others. Hiring managers fear candidates who possibly have interpersonal relationship issues coming into their company and causing havoc with negative attitudes. This is due to the fact that unprofessional behavior can cost considerable time and produce many headaches.

Ways for a Candidate to Negate Inconsistent Employment Experience

Above All, Be Positive 

During an interview, display appropriate body language and tone. Remain positive and always be professional. This will prevent employer’s minds from wondering toward possible negative reasons for your inconsistent employment.

Highlight Your Experience and Unique Skills

Turn your inconsistent employment into an asset. Play up the fact that having the experience of numerous employers and situations has given you the opportunity to learn and grow. Talk about the platforms and skills you have been exposed to.

Don’t Badmouth Past Employers or Co-Workers

When interviewing it’s best not to badmouth past employers or co-workers. Don’t tell stories of how colleagues or former supervisors wronged you.

Moving Forward

While inconsistent employment is becoming the norm in some industries, some still see it in a negative light. When employers see inconsistent work experience, it may give them pause before making an offer. The best way to avoid these misconceptions is to remain positive when interviewing and be professional. If you need help presenting your experience in the best light, consult a professional recruiter. They can help you craft your message to show employers how you can be a valuable asset for their organization.

The post What Inconsistent Employment Looks Like to an Employer appeared first on Open Systems Inc..