Hiring the dot-gone

by Julekha Dash

July 19, 2001 —

Not very long ago, prized IT workers were besieged by calls and e-mails from recruiters and hiring managers and had their pick of job offers.

Now, as layoffs escalate, some technologists say they're lucky to have recruiters even return their phone calls.

Companies that are still aggressively hiring IT workers have more candidates to pick from than they did a year ago. But choosing from the pool of former dot-com workers can be tough. Work habits at traditional companies differ greatly from those at the often undisciplined dot-com start-ups.

Computerworld asked two recruiters Michael Zinn from Michael D. Zinn & Associates Inc. in Princeton, N.J., and Shawn Galloway from Generation I.T. Inc. in Houston to give their advice about how to hire in this ever-changing job market.

What are the best sources for finding laid-off workers?

Galloway: Going to the companies and asking them for a list. There's really a lot of ways to do it. Lots of [recruiters] are going to tech fairs nowadays. A lot of companies offer outplacement services. Some organizations [offering job-hunting assistance] have meetings once a month where you can network and share resources.

How do you select the right person for your company?

Galloway: Before we submit anybody [to our clients], we interview everybody and do reference checks. You just have to talk to co-workers. Just do as much as you can on background checks. You go through a lot of questions and answers. If you're a traditional company [where] workers wear suits and ties, you ask them if they've been used to that. If the position you are looking [to fill]\ is real team-oriented, you [ask them] if they are used to working by themselves.

Zinn: You have to determine who you are in terms of your [company] culture. Dot-com workers are good at branding, are entrepreneurial. A lot are tech-savvy and innovators.

As a manager, you want to hire someone who is going to stay with you even if the market comes back. You have to determine whether they can work in an environment that is more structured but can retain the technology savvy they got through the dot-com world. Former dot-com workers are in a perfect position to create Web-based applications. [Look for] someone who has been in the Fortune 500 world and a dot-com.

For employers, what should you look for on a r

Computerworld