Recently, Beacon Technologies attended the Madison College Virtual IT Career Fair, where students interested in software development, networking, cybersecurity, systems administration and help desk were able to gather information about IT careers and internships. Many students attending the fair had similar questions, which presented an excellent opportunity to compile those frequently asked questions and share our common responses.
Question: What is Beacon Technologies?
Answer: Ask anyone at Beacon this question and we all have our own unique way to spin it, but our brief description on our website describes us well:
Beacon Technologies is a boutique IT staffing and IT consulting firm headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Our consultants can be found serving clients in Madison, Milwaukee, Green Bay, the Fox Cities and throughout the state. As a 25-year-old business, we have a proven method of hiring the best people, which is evident by the vast experience our long, tenured team brings to the table.
Question: What advice would you give on resumes?
Answer: Make sure to add technologies and tech stacks you are working with and incorporate those into the bullet points as well for the projects you have worked on. Be sure to add any projects that you have done as part of our degree program (and include the tech stacks used within those) and explain what your role was in the project or team. This will add credibility to your resume. And, as always, don’t forget to proofread your finished work or better yet, have someone else read it over.
Question: What certificates would you recommend pursuing?
Answer: On the infrastructure side, Cisco certifications are a good route to take. On the networking side, certifications with CCN, CCNP, CCNA, A+ are helpful. On the software side, we typically don’t see new grads obtaining a lot of certifications related to software. Down the road, AWS and Azure certifications are something that a lot of clients are looking for in our candidates.
Question: Where should we find internships?
Answer: We recommend looking at the large companies and organizations around Madison. Attending as many career fairs as possible and networking with many people will open doors. Beacon Technologies doesn’t offer internships as we work with employers around Wisconsin and the United States to find talented individuals with some prior on the job experience. We would love to help you with your search when your internship is completed!
Question: What do job prospects look like?
Answer: On the infrastructure side, if you have no professional work experience, a help desk type of role will be a great way to break into IT or desktop support. On the software side, prospects are very bright!
Question: How long is the waiting process to hear if I obtained a position or not?
Answer: It really will vary greatly from client to client, but generally up to two weeks.
Question: What would I need to provide to start the process?
Answer: Resume, cover letter, and a good personality. We will have you run through a technical screen with someone from our team to determine your technical expertise as well.
Question: What kind of positions or job titles are desired the most?
Answer: Positions involved in development, web, UI, full stack, open source, AWS, and security.
Question: Should I inform you of other jobs I am looking for outside of Beacon if I work with you?
Yes. We would never want to get into a situation where we submit you to a client for a position that another company has already submitted you for or that you have applied directly to. It will also help us to understand where you are in your search and can be helpful in getting you interviewed more quickly if needed in some time sensitive situations. We also have a lot of solid relationships with companies. Chances are good we may be able to use those relationships to your advantage. The bottom line is to be forthright with recruiters.
Hopefully these answers to our most heard questions have been beneficial. If you still have unanswered questions, feel free to reach out to us at recruiting@beacontechinc.com.