Who's Growing in Technology?

What Tech Hubs are Rising to the top?

What are the current hot spots for startups? The top 20 places to launch a tech startup are found all over the world according to The Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2017. The US was able to solidify five of the top ten spots in this report. It is no surprise that Silicon Valley is number one on the list. Silicon Valley has an average of 14,000 startups that are active right now in the tech sector, with an average of 45 days to hire talent. New York came in second on the list with an average of 7,000 active startups. In New York the average time to hire is half that of Silicon Valley, 24.

Boston came in fifth in the world with 3,500 active startups. Boston is known for its high density of talent in the engineering and science areas but struggles with a global reach. Coming in at number nine is Los Angeles. It is home to around 4,000 tech startups. L.A. was named the Top Digital City in America. Here they have a strong number of startups and talent in engineering but they suffer with bringing in new talent, startup experience and their market reach.

Last, but not least, coming in at number ten is Seattle. It Is home to more than 2,300 tech startups. Seattle has some of the best technical talent and has one of the highest marks for technology experience. I am sure there are a lot of other places in the world and throughout the US we can think of as emerging technology hubs. If you are looking to launch a startup or you are looking to begin a career in the tech industry, you make take a moment and read the report cited above to see what location works best for you.

What is Trending in Tech & Where?

California’s Trending Tech         NYC's Trending Tech
àArtificial Intelligence                                   àArtificial Intelligence
à Machine learning & Deep learning             àVirtual Reality 
àRobotics                                                        àFintech 
àIoT                                                                àIoT
àFintech                                                          àAugmented Reality

*Catch us next month when we dive into what it takes to launch a startup.

  

Holding Strong, Always Pushing Forward

     

       Way to go New York Product and Marketing team! The latest reviews on Quora for Quest Groups. If you are looking the best experience with knowledgeable recruiters look no further! We are here for you. We work with the hottest emerging companies, and an elite candidate pool. 

Written Feb 9

I worked with Red at Quest to find a new job. She had wonderful energy and worked very quickly to help me seal the deal at my new company. Job hunting is incredibly stressful but Red helped ease the stress. She’s incredibly knowledgeable, reliable, and enthusiastic. I would 100% recommend her!

Written Feb 8

★★★★★

I had a great experience with Red Guerri! She was prompt getting back to me, understood the position she was sourcing, was continually checking in and providing advice and information. Before interviews she would wish me luck via email. That doesn’t happen too often in my experience. And, best of all, I got the dream job. Really a wonderful experience and a genuinely nice presence. Appreciate all her help.

Written Mar 21

Working with Amy over at Quest Group was great. She reached out to me via LinkedIn and we connected shortly after. I had interviews that same week and a new job a couple weeks later. I highly recommend these folks especially in comparison to the myriad of other agencies I’ve worked with over the years.

Oh Boy.......

2016 was a great year. We went through many challenges and changes, remaining opportunistic the whole way. What a better way to end the year than with a little bundle of joy! Jeff has been with Quest Groups for two years and has excelled in the Product and Marketing division in California. Earlier this year Jeff and his wife Katie found out they were expecting their first child. Wanting to be surprised by the gender of their child they decided to wait until the baby was here. We are proud to announce that Jeff and Katie had a little boy named Simon on Dec. 30^th 2016. Simon weighed in at 9lbs 9oz and is the sweetest little man. Congratulations Jeff and Katie! Welcome to the world Simon! See you soon.  

What is the Next Move?

Recruiting has become one of a company’s hardest things to do. In this day in age finding quality employees can be frustrating and oftentimes difficult. Some blame it on the skills gap and others blame it on too many people applying for one position, making the hiring manager's job more difficult. We have looked at the work force these days and how outsourcing the recruiting can benefit your company.

A couple of decades ago jobs were posted for a position and applicants were required to know a certain set of skills. If a company was hiring for a marketing position the person would need to know commercial and print advertising, audience factors and how to run advertising campaigns. Today we see every role in an organization becoming more cross functional. Currently hiring for a marketing role, a person would need to know digital marketing, social media, all types of advertising, analytics, campaign management, along with inbound and outbound marketing, data collection and knowledge of the industry they are applying for. With all the new requirements coming into the marketplace it becomes more difficult to find the right set of skills for the job.

Once the application field has been narrowed down to the right set of skills, there are still factors that need to be considered. Is this person a good fit for the company/startup? Do they follow the same vision, culture and growth that the company fosters? Are they going to be here long term? Taking all of this into consideration, while weeding out applicants, takes a significant amount of time and can be a daunting process. No one said recruiting was easy but this is where we can help to ease that burden.

Outsourcing recruiting for a company can help management to focus on other things and to not stress over the number of applicants they must look through. Hiring managers can then look at only qualified resumes with people that are the right fit for their organization, cutting the hiring process in half. We specialize in finding people in all verticals with the specific skill set for any position. Once we know what a company is looking for and the culture of that firm, we do all the leg work. We find the qualified candidates and only send the applicants that we feel would be the best fit for that firm. Utilizing an outside recruiting source will not only save time and money, it will insure the success of the company for years to come.

Realizing today that recruiting is one of the hardest things to do in this market, a company should consider outsourcing this need. There are a lot of things that go into the recruiting process and it can be intimidating. Take the stress off yourself and your hiring manager and let us do the work for you. As a recruiting firm, our only concern is the success of all parties involved (companies and candidates). Visit us at www.questgroups.com and let us help your business scale rapidly. 

The Top 100 and How You Inspired It

As some of you may know, last week Quest Groups was honored to be named as one of Idaho’s top 100 privately held firms. All of this would not have been possible without the companies, employees and candidates we work with. We enjoy working with the top emerging and established companies in the SF Bay Area, New York and Texas. Being able to work with the top talent in the nation is great and allows us to be the recruiting back bones of these companies. Our employees are some of the top recruiters in the nation and we are very proud to have them on our team. Thank you all for the hard work, dedication and for choosing to use our company. We owe this award to all of you! 

Employee Retention from a Recruiting Prospective

            Employee retention is an important key to success in your business. Turnover is costly and disruptive. The cost of replacing an employee can often be significant.  The time and money needed to recruit and hire a replacement employee is only part of the headache. You need to consider training as well as the cost of other employees making up the work load or the work not getting done at all.  All of these costs can combine and average out to the annual salary of the employee that left.

   Quest Groups is able to assess and find talented individuals that that will help your business grow.  Our professional recruiting teams take the time to find the right fit and experience to meet your needs. This goes beyond the bullet points and delves in to the factors that we know will make a new hire successful.  This article gives some different tips for employee retention that we know will help out greatly when recruiting and hiring an employee.

• ·         Making sure you find the right employee for the job.  As recruiters we listen to the needs of your emerging company.  We take the time to find the right person for the job.  Not only making sure they have the skills needed to perform but also that they will be a great cultural fit for your organization.
• ·         Making the sky the limit. We are not talking about money here. Yes you need to pay an employee fairly but there is more to it than that.  We are talking about growth. Your employees want to be successful and in order to do this they need to be able to grow personally as well as professionally within the company. People spend a lot of time at work, so to foster an employee’s desire for success, we always need to be challenging them in new ways.
• ·         Buy-in. This is so important to retaining an employee. If an employee does not buy into what you are selling or what the company stands for, they will not last long. When interviewing make sure it is someone that is passionate about what they do and what your company does.
• ·         Compassion for employees. Showing employees that you care about them as an individual, not just a skill set for the company. “Bringing them into the family of the startup…” and letting them know this is not just a job, this is a career. This will make them feel appreciated and vested in the company and your valued employees will stay around.  
• ·         The ability for an employee to speak their mind freely. There should always be an open door policy in every organization. Employees like to feel engaged and that their opinions really matter. Making sure the lines of communication are always open allows this type of interaction. Employees like to know how they are doing and how the company is doing as well as what they can improve on.
• ·         Understanding Expectations. Making sure you have a clear job description with your recruiter is curtail to getting the right employee for the position. Expectations on skill set and the culture of the company need to be very well-defined. When we talk to candidates we can assess how well of a fit they will be for your developing company.

Here at Quest Groups we work with the top talent in the United States. We work with the newest up-and-coming businesses and make finding the right employee a breeze for those who work with us. Finding the right employee as well as maintaining the employees you have is an important part of growing your business. These tips will help guide you in your employee pursuit and retention process. 

Four Years and Flying High

In the last week we have celebrated two recruiter’s workaversaries. M.J. and Ryan Jester have been with Quest Groups for four years. Between the two of them they have pumped over $21.5 million dollars into the US economy. M.J. and Ryan have set up over 6,200 interviews with emerging companies in the last four years. They have had the opportunity to watch Quest Groups grow and they have personally and professionally grown with us. Thank you guys for all of your hard work and dedication to this company. You guys are awesome!