The number of tech jobs around the country has been steadily increasing for most of 2021, with the total number of job postings surpassing 365,000 in May. We haven’t seen those kinds of numbers since September 2019. And it’s not just in the traditional tech hubs like New York and San Francisco. We’re seeing impressive numbers in places like Austin, Milwaukee, and Raleigh.

At Averity, we’re seeing an increase across the board from tech companies in search of top-level talent. There are tons of companies out there looking for Back-End Engineers, and barely enough job-seekers to keep up with demand. The three most popular roles that companies are hiring for are Python Engineers, Golang Engineers, and Node.JS Engineers. There are more Python Engineers than Go and Node Engineers combined, but the demand still greatly outweighs the supply of talented Back-End Engineers.

Below are some of the other areas of expertise where there’s a tremendous amount of growth:

Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, and Data Engineers. Companies know the value of data. Moving forward, companies that exploit every potential facet of their data will come out on top. By extracting the true meaning of data, Data Scientists help companies maximize their performance. Data Scientists need to have a combination of excellent technical skills, business acumen, and effective communication skills to ensure they can convey their findings to non-technical stakeholders. The skills employers are looking for most include knowledge of Python and its accompanying ML packages and the ability to apply machine learning models using a variety of techniques. They want a minimum of a master’s degree in a quantitative or STEM field, experience with deep learning, and knowledge of such tools as Tensorflow, Keras, and PyTorch.

Data Engineers create an organization’s overall data infrastructure, with the primary function of building data pipelines and data warehouses. They collect the data, clean it, validate it, and prepare it in a format all other stakeholders can easily use. You probably know the term ETL — Extract, Transform, Load — and this accurately describes what Data Engineers do with the data. The skills employers are looking for most in Data Engineers include familiarity with multiple languages used to build data pipelines (Java, Scala, Python), multi-cloud experience (AWS, GCP) and knowledge of building data warehouses (RedShift, Snowflake, BigQuery). A degree in computer science is very desirable, and experience with big data and tools such as Spark can set you apart from the crowd.

A bridge between Data Scientists and Data Engineers, Machine Learning Engineers have skillsets that overlap with each. They take the data from the pipelines created by Data Engineers and feed it into the models built by Data Scientists. Their goal is to create automation between the extraction and implementation to improve scalability. The skills employers are looking for most include fundamental software engineering skills (especially in data engineering), knowledge of languages like Python, experience with big data processing tools like Spark, and familiarity with cloud platforms like AWS and GCP.

DevOps. DevOps is a mindset and a culture that was adapted to speed software to a production environment. The hottest technologies in DevOps are microservices like Kubernetes. Service mesh tools like Istio, which help you map and understand the health of your containers, are also more and more in demand. Lastly, IaC tools such as Terraform are critical because they can tie in all your infrastructure and are cloud agnostic. That’s important as more and more companies run hybrid cloud models.

SRE. Traditional SRE — site reliability engineering — diverges a bit from DevOps. A lot of the technologies remain the same, but the purpose of SRE is reliability, scalability, and observability. The ability to code is becoming integral in SRE roles. Go and Python are what we are seeing at the top of the food chain. Other technologies that come into play are monitoring tools like Helm that help you define, upgrade, and install your K8s clusters. Solutions engineering is becoming a bigger part of SRE because it’s less about owning the infrastructure and more about uptime, maintenance, and upgrades to ensure everything is running smoothly.

DevSecOps. There’s a reason why spending on global cybersecurity is expected to skyrocket to more than $60 billion in 2021. Since vulnerabilities can pop up in a system at any time, DevSecOps is a way for DevOps teams to have a security liaison who understands systems, how they talk to each other, and the threat surface that exists. The three top skills companies look for include experience securing a cloud presence, an ability to run and scan for vulnerabilities after each deployment, and experience securing microservices using tools like Twistlock.

Cloud computing.According to a recent survey, companies are allocating close to a third of their tech budget to cloud computing. As more and more companies adopt a “cloud-first” strategy where they analyze which workloads they should move online, they need cloud computing experts to advise them whether it makes more sense to use a public cloud, private cloud, or a hybrid that combines them both. They also work on cloud-native applications, meaning they are developed and run completely in the cloud.

When you decide to quit your job, you’re probably going to have some second thoughts. And so will your employer.

After the initial shock of your imminent departure wears off, your current bosses may realize that you’re a valuable part of the team. They might decide that they don’t have the time or resources to conduct a search, or that in the current economic climate it will be very difficult to replace you.

Whatever the reason, they’re likely to come up with what’s known as a counteroffer — a package designed to entice you to stay. They may make you an offer of better compensation (a salary increase or stock options), increased benefits (such as more vacation time) or more flexibility (letting you work from home a certain number of days a week). A promotion, a title change, or increased responsibility might be on the table. It can run the gamut — anything that they can think of to get you to stay, even for a short time.

At this point, you might be feeling pretty good about the place. You might romanticize your time there, remembering the good times and wondering whether the reasons you gave notice were the right ones. You start to second guess your reasons for leaving in the first place.

At Averity, we’ve seen this scenario play out frequently. We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s never a good idea to accept the counteroffer. Here are some of the major reasons why:

It won’t solve your problems with the job. There was a reason you decided to leave, remember? Chances are it wasn’t just about the salary. You didn’t see a chance for a promotion, or your skills weren’t being used, or your input didn’t seem to be valued. Most of all, you probably didn’t think the job was taking your career where you thought it should go. All those things are going to creep up again.

You’re likely to leave anyway. Study after study comes up with the same results: Employees who accept counteroffers don’t stick around for long. LinkedIn reports that 80% of those who accept a counteroffer are looking for a job after three months. They’re not just absentmindedly scrolling through job posts — they’re sending out resumes or working with a recruiter. About half of those who take a counteroffer end up departing within a year.

You won’t be seen as loyal. Because you announced your intention to leave, your employer will question whether you’re in it for the long haul. (Harvard Business Review reports that 80% of executives say that employees who accept a counteroffer have a diminished reputation in the company.) Your supervisors think of you as disloyal. Colleagues look at you differently. Giving your notice, even if you change your mind, forever alters your work environment. If any budget cuts happen in the future, you’re likely to be on the block sooner than others. Also, if an opportunity arises for an interesting project that everyone wants to work on, you will likely be the last to be considered, since you will be seen as a “flight risk”.

You won’t move up the ladder. If you felt that your career was stalled before, wait until you take that counteroffer. Since they wonder whether you’ll leave in six months or a year, your supervisors aren’t going to consider you for a promotion. Here’s a good exercise: Think about the highest possible position you can realistically reach at your current company. Then consider the jobs you’re qualified for at other companies. If these put you farther along your career path, you’re making the right decision to leave.

So what should you do if you get a counteroffer? Be friendly, but firm. Thank your employer profusely, but explain that you’re ready to move on. Resist the urge to offer any critiques of your team or your supervisor, even if you’re asked to do so. And don’t badmouth the company with coworkers. Things like that have a way of getting back to the boss.

Leaving a company won’t necessarily reflect poorly on you, but 84% of HR executives say that leaving on bad terms will adversely affect your career. There’s a chance that you’ll work at this company again in the future, or that you’ll work alongside some of the same colleagues elsewhere. At the very least you’ll want to reach out to someone as a reference. Do the best you can to not burn bridges.

It’s never an easy choice to leave your current employer and move on to a job at a new firm. But once you make that difficult decision, stick to it. At the end of the day you’ll find yourself happier and have fewer regrets.

We’ve all heard it so many times that we assume it must be true: Hiring slows down in June, July, and August. Stacks of resumes sit around unread. Interviews are few and far between. Follow-up emails get the dreaded “out of office” reply. It’s so bad out there that you shouldn’t even bother.

But it’s just not true. Hiring doesn’t necessarily come to a screeching halt in the summer — especially this summer. This year the tech market is hotter than a sweltering July afternoon, and now is the time to take advantage of it.

It’s true that for many companies the biggest recruitment drives come in the spring (when they snap up recent graduates) and fall (when they make sure they are fully staffed for the holidays). January and February are usually the busiest months because managers finally get a budget for new hires.

But when it comes to tech jobs, these rules don’t apply. When companies need to fill a position in fields like software engineering, data science and engineering, or DevOps and security, they need it to happen now. Nobody’s going to delay a crucial hire until after the first of the year.

All the data I’ve seen backs this up. According to a recent report, the number of tech jobs has increased steadily every month so far in 2021. There are currently 47,700 more jobs than at the beginning of the year. Companies are competing with each other to fill many positions, leading to a steady rise in salaries.

We’re seeing those stats reflected here at Averity, where our team is fielding more calls than ever before from employers looking to fill tech positions. We’ve found ourselves hiring new recruiters to meet this increased demand. It’s the type of boom that we haven’t seen in a long time.

What kinds of positions are currently open? We’ve seen everything from entry-level data engineers and full-stack engineers to directors and senior directors of entire software development or marketing analytics teams. Industries range from technology to media, finance, healthcare, and beyond. You can check out our job board for a look at the positions that are currently available.

I’m mentioning all this to make the point that there are no slow periods for tech professionals. There are plenty of jobs out there at the moment, so there’s no reason not to start your job search now. Here are a few things that you should keep in the back of your mind as you begin the process:

Hit the ground running. In times like this when talent is at a premium, you have to strike while the iron is hot. As soon as you are sure you’re in the market for a new job, reach out to a recruiter who specializes in your field. Update your LinkedIn profile to reflect your most recent job and to refresh your mind about what you accomplished previously. (You’d be surprised how many people completely blank about their last job.) Perfect your elevator pitch so you know what you’re going to say when someone asks: “Why are you the right person for this position?”

Cast a wider net. Having their entire workforce working remotely over the past year convinced many companies that they could be more flexible about when employees come into the office. Some tech giants — including Twitter, Spotify, and Square — even announced that their employees can keep working from home forever. That’s especially good news for job applicants who don’t live on the coasts. Employers are much more open to hiring people who live in other parts of the country. We’ve been assisting them in finding the top-tier talent they’re looking for.

Full-time isn’t the only option. Not sure about going back to the office full-time? There are a good number of contract-to-hire positions available, especially in the summer when permanent staffers take time off for vacations. If the job or the company ends up not being a good fit, nobody raises an eyebrow if you decide to leave once your contract expires.

And one more point: Interviewing has never been easier. When you’re working remotely, you don’t need to slip under your desk, hide in the stairwell, find an empty conference room, or talk in cryptic language because you’re worried that someone can overhear you when you’re talking with a recruiter. No need to sneak out on your lunch hour or take a sick day. And when you need to go in for an interview, no one will think twice if you take a vacation day at this time of year.

Everybody believes the myth that summer is a terrible time to look for a job, so the number of applications go way down. Hiring managers have more time to actually read your resume. Interviews are often more relaxed. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the fact there are fewer people competing for the job that’s perfect for you.

Experts called it “the biggest world-from-home experiment in history.” At one point, about a third of the world’s population — and nearly as big a chunk of the workforce — was under strict stay-at-home orders because of COVID-19. They were, in a way, all participants in one massive study about remote work.

The data has been rolling in since then. One of the most interesting findings is that 72 percent of knowledge workers — programmers, engineers, designers, and others whose job is to think for a living — would prefer a more flexible work environment moving forward. Only 12 percent want to be in the office full-time.

At this point, with almost half of the country at least partly vaccinated, business leaders seem to think that the experiment is officially over. Banking giant Goldman Sachs is bringing 20,000 employees back into its gleaming towers in New York, San Francisco, and Dallas this month. JPMorgan Chase will follow suit in July. They acknowledge some pushback — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon was perhaps a little too honest when he said: “People don’t like commuting, but so what?” — but say that preserving the corporate culture is most important.

At the other end of the spectrum you’ll find tech companies like Twitter, Spotify, and Square who say employees can keep working from home forever. Amazon and Microsoft won’t be bringing employees back until October, and Facebook now says its staffers won’t return until after the first of the year. (“I think we have a responsibility not only to adhere to the public health guidelines, but to be slower than others in bringing people back simply because we can,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith.) Google actually walked back its previously announced policy, giving employees more leeway to work from home.

And most of us are somewhere in the middle, wondering whether we should bring employees back into the office, what the best timing would be, and what it would even look like. We’re in a sort of corporate limbo.

If you are racing to get your people back in the office, here are a couple of things to consider:

Finding the best applicants. The most qualified person for the job doesn’t necessarily live within a couple of subway stops of your office. Your competition is casting a wider net, and so should you. At the one-year mark of the pandemic, Averity is busier than we’ve ever been. We are hiring new recruiters to meet this increased demand, and we have fully embraced the remote culture now employing top tier people from all over the country that we never would have been able to work with prior. No disrespect to the tech person in New York City, but it’s great to talk to candidates with different skills, backgrounds, and personalities.

Sparking more creativity. There’s a strong belief that remote work saps our creativity because we can’t bounce ideas off each other at in-person brainstorming sessions. Our teams are definitely feeling the strain. A recent study found that one in four employees report that working from home has made them feel less creative. Trouble is, there’s not a lot of data to back this up. But there is research showing that remote teams have some advantages. Teams that are more diverse, including from a wider geographic region, are more innovative.

Ramping up productivity. If you think that your team’s productivity suffered during the pandemic, think again. After an initial dip right after the start of the pandemic, productivity skyrocketed. There’s a very interesting study that showed when employees opted into a work-from-home program, their productivity increased by 13 percent. When they later were given the choice to continue to work from home or go back to the office, those who stayed at home showed an additional 22 percent in productivity.

Retaining more women. It’s not a secret that Covid-19 has hit women harder. Data shows that 400,000 more women than men have left their jobs since the beginning of the pandemic, mostly because of the need for things like childcare. This means a decade of gains made by women in the workforce was completely erased by the second month of the pandemic. Maintaining a flexible work-from-home policy is one of the easiest ways to keep women of all levels from leaving your companies.

There are plenty of good reasons to invite your team back to the office. Onboarding has been hit and miss during the pandemic. Employees reported that collaboration has suffered, as has a sense of camaraderie. But remember that all of us transitioning to work from home was uncharted territory a year ago, but so is getting back to normal today. It’s going to take a lot of trial and error before we get it right.

In the first two parts of “Win the Offer,” we discussed the importance of research and preparation, both for the job search and the interview. Putting in that effort ahead of time will increase your chances of success. But no matter how prepared you are, it’s how you do at “game time” that counts. Here are the most important steps you need to take to nail the interview (and post-interview), so you can move up from a name on a resume to the person they most want to hire.

Five minutes after a job applicant walks in the door, more than a quarter of interviewers have already made a decision about whether they’re the right candidate for the job. By the time 15 minutes have passed, more than half have made up their minds.

They aren’t sizing up your qualifications. If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve already convinced them that you have the right skill set for the job. They know all about your experience, your background, and your education. So what are they looking for, and how do they know that they’ve found it in just a few minutes?

They are sizing up whether you are a good fit for their organization. They’re looking for what’s not on your resume, things like how you approach solving problems and how well you work on a team. They’re the kinds of qualities that are hard to put into words, but “you know it when you see it.”

The good news is that once you get to the interview stage, you have an idea of what they’re looking for in a candidate. Now it’s your job to show them that they’ve found it in you. Here are some things you should keep in mind:

Set the right tone early on. You want to be upbeat and personable. If the meeting is in the office, step forward and greet everyone individually. If it’s on Zoom, leaning forward a bit as you speak to each person has the same effect. Be especially aware of how you present yourself on a video call. Make sure that you’re well lighted and are dressed appropriately for the office. Examine your workstation and your immediate surroundings and get rid of anything that makes you seem less professional.

Establish a rapport. If you read my last installment of “Win the Offer,” you have already done some research on the people who are interviewing you using LinkedIn or other resources. Now’s the time to put that information to use. If you discover that you previously worked at the same company, or that you have focused on similar projects, don’t hesitate to bring it up. These kinds of commonalities show that you already speak the same language.

Differentiate yourself. Companies are looking for new hires who check a lot of boxes: They want someone with teamwork and collaborative skills, someone who is great at time management and is a good communicator. As you talk about your own experience, give examples that also show how you work equally well on your own and as part of a team. And make sure to ask thoughtful questions along the lines of: “What challenges did your team face during the pandemic?” or “Do you think any of the changes you made during the pandemic will be permanent?” This shows you’d be the type of employee who is invested in the company and its success.

Look to the future. Don’t only ask questions about what the job is now. Show a real interest in where the team is headed. What sorts of projects are on the horizon? What is the job going to look like on day 30, day 60 or day 180?

Give a strong closing statement. Just like a lawyer wrapping up a case, you want to reiterate your main points. After making it clear that you are excited about the chance to join their team, bring up one or two of their current projects that you’d enjoy tackling. This shows that you’re already thinking about the ways you can contribute to the team. It’s this kind of enthusiasm that people don’t forget.

Don’t forget the post-interview. The process isn’t over when you walk out the door. It’s good to send a thank-you note, but even better is to keep the conversation going. Ask a follow-up question about some aspect of the job, or bring up a potential solution to an issue that came up during the interview. Make it clear you’re serious about the job and you’re more likely to be the top pick.

If you need a refresher on what to do before you start job hunting or how to prepare for your interviews, check out my two previous installments of “Win the Offer.” And be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss other great advice!

In the first part of “Win the Offer,” I shared some insights on the importance of preparation and laying the groundwork before you even begin the job search. The same rules apply when you’ve been selected for an interview. Interviews are arguably the most important part of winning the offer, so you need to put in the effort to match.

First off, if you’ve made it to the interview stage in your application process, take a moment to congratulate yourself. You’ve succeeded in standing out from the faceless resume pile. That means the company sees something in you, and they want to know more. But don’t get too comfortable yet. There’s still a long road ahead.

Without a doubt, the single most important task you can do to stand out from your competition and win that job offer is pre-interview preparation. If you aren’t prepared when you sit down for your interview, plan on doing a lot of interviewing.

It cannot be stressed enough that interviewing is a two-way street. You need to determine if you’re interested in working for the company you applied for, just as much as they are trying to determine their interest in you. They are going to want to know how enthusiastic you are about working there. Show them that you know them well and the work they do, and they’ll see you as knowledgeable and prepared. Anything else is an unforced error.

Hopefully you already know them from your experience in the industry or else you familiarized yourself with them when Averity submitted you. Now it’s time to do a deep dive. At a minimum, spend time getting to know the following sources:

• Company website: This is the top resource for learning how the company wants to present itself. Pay attention not just to the words, but also make note of how they organize the information, so you can see where your role fits in the bigger picture.

• News articles and press releases: You can be sure that the company’s latest developments are going to be on the interviewers’ minds, so you should be prepared to discuss it if the topic arises. Read both articles and the company’s own releases, so you can get the outsider and the insider perspective.

• Company blogs: Many companies have blogs on their site, but these days they can also appear on sites like Medium or LinkedIn. The best offer insights you won’t get anywhere else.

• Company stock: Pay attention to highs and lows. This isn’t just for curiosity about stock options. You’ll get the market’s interpretation of the company’s performance, and it can be a helpful hint about sentiment inside the company too.

Be sure to research the person interviewing you as well. Knowing a little bit about them will give you a leg up when the interview starts. Google them. Check out their LinkedIn profile. Learn something about them that will impress them. Showing interest in someone as a person never hurt anybody. Besides, maybe you went to school together and didn’t even know it.

If you are interviewing for a development or engineering position or sitting for a technical interview, read up on the company’s tech blogs. These are written by the engineering team and make a good window into the issues most important to them right now. Likewise, familiarize yourself with any Stack Overflow posts and your interviewers’ GitHub profile.

Always show up to an interview prepared with questions to ask. It shows that you are interested, and the level of questions you ask shows your intelligence.

Be mindful, though. Be sure not to ask a question that’s already been answered. And know which questions to ask which people. Don’t ask the HR manager questions about tech, and don’t ask the VP of engineering about the company’s PTO policy or 401(k) matching. At best, they won’t know the answer; at worst, you may sound like your priorities are in the wrong place.

The interview is your opportunity to shine. Take the time to prepare beforehand. Do the research, know who you are talking to, and have intelligent questions ready. Make sure to put in the effort it deserves, and you’ll stand out from the rest of the pack.

Looking for a new job is a major event for most of us. It can change your life for the better, but it’s an adventure where the outcome is never certain. Having helped thousands of candidates land jobs they love, I’ve learned a few tips to help job seekers on their personal journeys. In this three-part series “Win the Offer,” I will share some of that advice. In this first part, I will focus on what you need to know before you start the job hunt.

No great adventure has ever succeeded without the right preparation. Too often we jump right into the job search process without thinking. But that is not a job search strategy. If you want to find the job of your dreams and win the offer, you need to lay the groundwork.

In ancient Greece, when a hero was preparing to set off on a great adventure, they would first visit the Oracle at Delphi so they could learn their future. When they got there, what they found was a message engraved over the entrance: “Know Yourself!” That was the real secret that these adventurers came to learn. When you truly “know yourself” you can make your own future happen.

I offer the same advice to anyone who wants to be the “hero” of their own job search adventure. Before you start looking for a job, get to “know yourself.” Reflect on what it is you expect to get out of your next career step. Start by asking yourself a few questions:

You may already know the reason you want a change in your work situation, but it could also be a vague sense of dissatisfaction or desire for a change of scenery. The thing is, if you don’t know what you want or what you’re trying to fix, you risk walking into the same situation all over again. If you feel stagnant, what’s the cause? Money? Lack of advancement? Not learning any new skills? Try to get to the bottom of it. Why do you feel the way you do? What changes would fix it and make you happier? And taking a step back, are you on the path you want to be? If not, how can you get back on track?

Trust me, this question will come up. Whoever is looking to hire wants to know that you are enthusiastic about the position and not just interviewing out of boredom or testing the waters. You need to have a genuine reason, other than “I just feel like it” or “It’s time for a change.” Identify what is driving you, then apply that to your career journey.

Every candidate needs to have a 30-second blurb about themselves rehearsed and ready to go. When someone says to you, “Tell me about yourself,” do you know yourself well enough to answer? This is how most hiring managers typically begin an interview. That means it’s an amazing opportunity to frame the conversation and how you present yourself, if you’re prepared. You should know:

• What is something they *can’t* discover by reading your resume or LinkedIn page?

Your current position is naturally the freshest in your mind, but all your experiences are fair game for discussion. When the time comes to revise your resume, don’t limit it to updating your current duties. Make adjustments to your past experience to emphasize how you’ve developed and used the skills you need for the positions you’re applying for now.

You need to have a rehearsed sentence ready for every bullet point on your resume. Know what you’ve done and how to field questions on it. Just because it’s something you did a few years ago, don’t assume they won’t be interested in learning more. After all it’s your experience, and it’s part of your skill set and who you are.

The key to a successful job hunt begins with preparation. Before you send out your first application, make sure you know yourself: who you are, what you’re looking for, and what you can offer. One you have that down, you’re ready to go.

Stay tuned for the next edition of Win the Offer, where I’ll be covering pre-interview preparation. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it!

It can be a shock when a candidate turns down a job offer. After all, you wouldn’t have made the offer to someone if you didn’t think they would accept it. You put significant time and effort into interviewing this candidate. Of all the applications you received, this was the one you judged to be the best fit for your company. And now you’ve got to go back to the “drawing board.” It can leave you scratching your head, wondering “Why?”

This can be a frustrating experience. But the good news is that it can be avoided. The reasons most people turn down jobs are not mysterious. If you know what to look out for, you can usually see it coming. And you might even be able to turn a “no” into a “yes.”

Here are the REAL reasons why people turn down jobs. Keep these points in mind not just when decision time comes but throughout the interviewing and hiring process. If you understand the hurdles ahead of you, it’s a lot easier to navigate your way to the finish line.

Did you ever ask the candidate, “Do you want this job?,” “Do you really want to work here?,” or “Are you excited about the opportunity to join our team?” It’s easy to forget that interviews are a two-way process. The candidate is also using the interview to learn more about the position and decide if it’s the right fit for them.

Before you make an offer, be honest with yourself about whether the job you’re offering is one that this “perfect” candidate you’ve found is likely to want. Here are some points to take into consideration:

If you can identify any of these as potential issues during the interview process, it doesn’t mean to give up on the candidate right away. Many candidates are still undecided at this stage, so use the opportunity to sell your company and its mission, and you may win them over. Still, not every candidate is the right fit, and identifying these roadblocks early can save you a lot of wasted effort and time.

The true takeaway is this: if you understand what the challenges in getting your offer accepted are, then knowing the answers to the real questions will help. This is where a true value-added partner like Averity is critical in delivery. Averity has the expertise to help you find qualified candidates that will be just as excited about joining your team as you will be about welcoming them aboard.

Tom Brady has it easy. The last time he was looking for a job, he didn’t have to send an email to the Buccaneers’ career site with a copy of his resume attached and follow up multiple times trying to score phone screening with their HR department. Of course not — the whole idea is ridiculous. He has an agent he can lean on, who’s there to take care of him whenever “the time comes” and he’s ready for a change.

The hiring and interviewing process can be time-consuming and tolling, which requires a trusted source to aid in communication, screening, scheduling, and feedback. Brady may be one-of-a-kind, but when it comes to a career approach, he’s not alone. Not everybody is on the cusp of negotiating ten-year, $300 Million contracts, but if you’re an in-demand engineer, you have choices. You can decide to put yourself out there on your own and wade through the tidal wave of responses looking for the one or two good catches in a sea of mediocre openings. Or, you can decide to seek representation and get someone on your side to take care of the tolling process of actually landing the next step in your career.

Turning to professional help for your career is a smart first move, but there’s still a lot to decide. Not all recruiting firms are the same, or even have the same interests at heart.

That’s why it pays to know what you’re getting into. You could find yourself with A) some recruiter talking you into accepting a position that happens to be open at, say, an ecommerce company, versus B) working with an expert in your craft to properly market you to the organizations you really WANT to be a part of. Those are very different services, and it shouldn’t be hard to picture the very different paths they could set your career down.

The former is what gives recruiting a bad reputation, especially in the tech industry. Too many, candidates are widgets to be processed as quickly as possible. But there are alternatives, firms that have a commitment to service, a focus on people, and a passion for what they do. They treat people like people, and they’re there to represent your interests. They’re not just trying to get you to take the first position that comes up, they help you find the right career move for you and your future.

Chances are you’ve been through the job-hunting process once or twice. Even if you’re not actively looking today, it’s worth examining your process so that you’re prepared when the time comes.

Ask yourself a question: When you’re ready to look for a job, what do you do first?

A: “I call you and your team. I know that within a month, I’ll have five interviews and three offers at companies that I want to work for.”

B: “I don’t really know. I apply to a bunch of jobs I see on the internet and hope they get back to me based on what I put down on a piece of paper. I’ll get bombarded by hacks on LinkedIn that call themselves ‘recruiters’ but who think I’m something I’m not because their robot engine picked up a keyword in my background. Then I finally quit looking on my own and just call a real recruiter.”

Which sounds more like you? If you answered B, think about how much that process may be holding you back. Now think about how much easier it would be with a strategy in place and with help on your side.

You know you’re good at what you do. You know your skills are in demand. You’re at the top of your game. Your time is valuable to you, so don’t waste it. You could job hunt without a strategy and send resumes to every inbox you find, and then just cross your fingers and hope for the best. Or you could be like Brady.

The best in the business are represented by professionals who understand them, who know their needs and their wants, and who get why this is important. They have someone they can lean on. You deserve someone you can lean on too.

Consider this all-too-common common scenario: you’ve identified the ideal candidate for a role you desperately need to fill. They’ve aced the interview, they have all the right skills, and you’re able to match their salary expectations. You make the offer . . . and they turn you down. What happened? There are many reasons outside your control why a potential hire might say no to a job offer — a higher offer from another company, an unexpected development in their personal life — but a lot of the time, it’s because you didn’t try to convince them why they should work for your company. You didn’t make the sale.

Convincing a potential recruit to come work for your company takes more than a salary and a job description. If they’re worth hiring, they have their pick of places to work, so it’s up to you to show them that your company is the best one for them. The tricky part is knowing what to do. How do you sell your company? And what is it that you’re really selling?

People usually frown at the word “sales.” It brings to mind snake oil, sleazy people, or hustlers that pull one over on you. However, use the word “advisor” or “consultant,” and your mindset tends to change. Your financial advisor sells you portfolio advice, but you don’t think of them as a salesperson. You trust them, because they’re an expert, and you believe they know what they’re talking about.

You should think of yourself as similarly offering helpful advice. If a candidate is interviewing for a job, it typically means they’re looking for something they’re not getting where they currently work. Obviously, they want a higher salary or more responsibility. You can take it as a given. But they also want to work at a place that feels right for them. If you can provide that, you’re giving them something they need. You both win.

All job interviews are two-way conversations. They’re trying to learn more about you just as much as you’re trying to learn about them. The candidate is depending on you for that information because you’re the expert. Advise them.

Go back to when you were hired. During your own interview you had to sell yourself. You needed to convince the hiring manager that you were worth hiring and to take a chance on someone like you. You had conviction when someone asked, “Why should I hire you?” You believed in yourself and you were able to convey what set you apart from everyone else. And it worked.

Now that you’re the hiring interviewer, the shoe is on the other foot, but the situation hasn’t really changed. This time the question is, “Why should I work here?” (Even if the candidate doesn’t come out and say it in those exact words, that’s what they really want to know.) The right answer is still the one that’s delivered with conviction. You yourself need to believe your company’s a great place to work.

You want people to work for you and work for your company. Start at the beginning: why do you actually work there? Why did you take the job in the first place? If I asked you these questions, you would answer with some conviction and start “selling” me all the great offerings your company has. If you love where you work, then persuading hires why your company is the right fit should come naturally.

Keep these two points in mind the next time you’re discussing your company during and interview, and the answers will come naturally:

Assuming a candidate already wants to work at your company is a mistake you can’t afford to make. Use the interview to sell them on your company. Enthusiasm is contagious, so win them over, and you’ll have someone as excited to work there as you are.

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