Updates & Blog

Network Development Engineer

Job Title: Network Development Engineer Duration: 6 Months Location: Remote Priority Skills: • Experience with AWS • Experience with VMWare • Windows and Linux experience (install, config, management) • Network security (AD/directories, ACLs, segmentation, etc.) • Cisco ASA and switch (config, management) Job Description: Introduction to Advisory Hybrid Operate Technology Operations. Our team is client focused and mission driven. You will work with our diverse teams of passionate professionals to help solve for some of today’s toughest technology challenges to enable or clients to achieve business growth…

Data Engineer

Job Title: Data Engineer Duration: Full Time Employee Location: Houston, TX Summary: As a Data Engineer you will develop and maintain scalable data pipelines while collaborating with analytical and business teams to improve data models. Responsibilities: Implements processes and systems to monitor data quality, ensuring production data is always accurate and available for key stakeholders and business processes that depend on it. Writes unit/integration tests, contributes to engineering wiki, and documents work. Performs data analysis required to troubleshoot data related issues and…

HVAC Service Dispatcher

Job Title: HVAC Service Dispatcher Duration: PERM Location: New York, NY Primary Job Function: Maintain the Service Technicians daily schedules and dispatch the technicians as service calls are completed. Order parts for return visits. Schedule return trips with customers when parts are in. Maintain the on call schedule for service technicians. Maintain customer database with current information. Clear and concise communications with the Service manager, employees and company customers, including keeping customers appraised as to company schedule and requested lead-times. Provide accounting with maintenance contract billing information. Make outgoing calls to schedule…

Senior Technical Sourcer

Job Title: Senior Technical Sourcer Duration: PERM Location: New York, NY Position Overview: As a Senior Sourcer on our DTC team, you’ll have one of the most exciting recruitment roles in the industry! You will build and execute sourcing strategies to identify and attract diverse and inclusive pools of top talented candidates across an extensive portfolio of new and existing products, within one of the fastest growing and most exciting areas of the company. You will take on a role as a Talent Advisor with both…

Onsite Windows Migration Tech

Job Title: Onsite Windows Migration Tech Duration: 12 months Location: Brooklyn, NY 11219 Position Overview: We are looking for someone with experience with admin experience with SCCM, not just using it to image or deploy software. The client is finishing up a Windows 10 Migration Project and getting off Windows 7. Qualifications: SCCM Windows 365 Imaging Configuration Physical as far as setting up machines and moving equipment

Emergency Relief Remote Technical Services – ERRTS

With new, global crises come unprecedented challenges to keep your business running efficiently. Many companies are attempting to face this difficulty head on by moving all employees from an on-site office to a collaborative, remote environment. As we all work together to flatten the curve, there will be additional technical support and IT infrastructure needs which weren’t required in the past. Bernard Nickels & Associates (BNA) has always been adept at offering both remote and onsite W-2 contractors based in…

My Experience Working at Bernard Nickels & Associates

The first day I came into work at BNA, I had no idea what to expect. Coming from a background as a camp counselor, I was inexperienced working in an office setting. While I was fairly confident in my abilities to do whatever was asked of me, I was slightly nervous. This was my first “real” job. However my nerves quickly subsided as I was immediately greeted with cordiality and assistance from everybody in the office, who all sought to make me feel as comfortable…

The Importance of Phone Conversation

The rapid development of technology in the last quarter century has lead the world to be come more interconnected than ever before. From the palm of your hand you can send a message to a friend across the world, or see what your favorite celebrity had for lunch. In today’s world, human interaction has been largely replaced by more convenient forms of communication; Text, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. While technology has lead to the creation of new industries and jobs,…

What Makes a Good Intern?

In order to be a good intern, you have to first acknowledge why you are there. Is it to bolster your resume? Are you doing it for the experience? Do you want to keep busy over the summer? Money? There is nothing wrong with using a good internship to boost your resume, or to make some money. Every job or internship should be used to best further your career. However, I believe the most important thing you should take to an internship is the…

How Technology Can Help You Find the Right Job

The job application process has changed rapidly over the last few years. Technology and social media have completely altered the employment landscape. In today’s ever connected world, you can search for and apply to thousands of jobs from the palm of your hand. There is a lot of information out there, so it can be easy to find yourself looking for jobs in all the wrong places. However, there are many things you can do using technology to boost your…

Why You Shouldn’t Stop Your Job Search During the Summer

Conventional Wisdom holds job seekers should wait until the fall to begin their job search. It is commonly assumed summer is a bad time to search for jobs, as companies often work at a slower pace due to more vacations and nice weather. Due to the relaxed nature of businesses during the summer, people are often discouraged from searching for jobs in fear it might be an exercise in futility. Contrary to popular belief companies do not cut back on…

Job Search Advice For College Grads

Looking for a job after college produces a special kind of anxiety for many soon to be grads. For some, graduation is an exciting new beginning and the official start of adulthood. However, for many others it can be a time of great uncertainty and anxiety. We’ve all been told “college is the best 4 years of your life”. The thought of the best years of life being over with (at 22) does not exactly elicit much excitement for many…

Does Loyalty Pay?

Once upon a time it was not considered smart to be moving from job to job each year but in this market, it may actually be beneficial to get a taste of different jobs to broaden a skill set to remain relevant to employers. It is critical to remain aware and knowledgeable about the current tech trends and changes that are happening in the industry. A recent study even shows that most tech professionals consider their average tenure at any…

How to Blend Your On- and Off-Line Personalities

We’ve all always heard that your first impression is the one that counts. You have to be prepared to be “your best self” when you are meeting someone important for the first time – whether it’s a potential employer, a date, or a potential customer. However, have you ever thought about your real first impression? What is the first thing you do when you hear someone’s name for the first time? You look them up online. Often, this is before…

New Job = New Opportunity

Have you recently started a new position at a new company? Or even a new role within your current company? If so, you will know that starting a new job is definitely a rollercoaster ride—especially in the IT world where we are all changing jobs so frequently. It takes a lot of motivation and energy to be able to handle the inevitable highs and lows that will arise as you get acclimated with your new team and company. However, there…

Conquering the Pre-Job Search

Luckily for job seekers, especially in the IT and tech sectors, unemployment rates continue to be at their lowest rates in years. This means that potential employers have more competition between themselves to attract and hire the candidates with the right skills. However, even though there may plenty of jobs to go around, switching jobs, or starting a new career path takes careful planning and patience. Before you get started on the job search and begin interviewing, there are some…

The Eternal Struggle: Happiness vs. Money

With the job market in constant fluctuation, there is not always the promise of having a steady job or income. What is even more rare, is having the luxury of being able to be choosy between various jobs. It is not a typical situation to have your pick – but when you do, what do you chose? The job that has the office environment that caters to your personality and needs, or the job that comes with the big bucks.…

Take Your Job Search Mobile

We are all so busy these days – between work, social commitments and family life, it is often hard for job seekers to take time to sit down and spend hours in front of job boards and Linked In searching for new employment. Luckily, with the rise of mobile devices and more apps, there has been a recent influx of apps to help people with their job hunt on-the-go! Below are just a few of the most popular apps that…

What Makes an IT Leader?

In any industry and in any company, there are leaders needed in all capacities. There are qualifications and qualities that leaders must embody and posses in order to maintain that title. However, in the IT industry because technology is the driver, there is a slightly different group of qualifications that is required of these leaders. Most of the IT world is broken out into two sectors – development and operations. Whether its applications support or infrastructure engineering, IT leaders must…

What Millennial Techies Need to Know

It’s that time of year again – many Millennials have just finished getting their degrees and are looking to enter the workforce. This is especially true for the large amounts of 20-somethings that flock to the IT industry in NYC. As these young professionals look to enter the job market in this unique nad expanding industry, there are important things for them to keep in mind that those that have traveled this path before them, have learned along the way.…

How Will IT Survive the Digital Revolution?

As new digital products and services like wearable’s and cloud technologies evolve and come to the forefront of business’ functionality, many IT service providers and companies worry about where their place will be in world where it would appear companies will be able to take care of their own needs. While yes, many companies could theoretically run their own IT strategies with these new self-sufficient technologies, what we forget is that IT practices infiltrate across all pillars of the organization…

Is the company culture right for you?

After you get the interview and then the offer, not all your work is quite done yet. One of the most important parts of the process that job applicants often look over is analyzing the potential company’s culture. Everyone should strive to work somewhere were they are both inspired and appreciated by their superiors and coworkers, but also somewhere where they can thrive and do the same! Accepting a job somewhere that doesn’t have an office culture that meshes well…

Avoiding Job Search Burnout

Not only can interviewing for potential jobs be a lengthy process, but it is a tiring one, too. Even though we have come out of the recession and there are increasingly more jobs available, particularly in the IT field, any job hunt has its share of ups and downs and is an emotional rollercoaster. Between being out of work for an extended amount of time and the reality of rejection, it is no wonder people get easily discouraged as the…

Make Over Your IT Resume

Regardless of where you currently are in your IT career—be it contracted work, full-time work, traveling between cities—it is always important to keep your resume up-to-date and especially focused on your career goals. Even if you take some time to work admin positions, or build up your experience acquiring new certifications, it is important to showcase all of your experiences on you resume in the most effective ways. When you are applying for new and different positions, potential employers not…

Future-Proof Your IT Career

Regardless of industry, many companies have mapped out their goals for next 3, 5 and 10 years. Along with these goals they detail how they expect to reach those goals and what they will need to get there – including what technologies they anticipate needing. As the technology field continues to grow at this rapid rate with new devices and programs coming to market seemingly all the time, it is no surprise that the IT field will continue to add…

Top-Paying IT Certifications for 2015

Each year, as the industry changes, the types of personnel that employers and IT companies, especially in NYC, are looking for change. As technology advances and new systems emerge, the certifications that are required for employees to properly maintain and operate them evolve, too. A recent study released by CIO.com and CompTIA investigates the coming trends for the IT workforce fro 2015. It specifically shows the most valuable certifications (in terms of salary) to have in 2015. Below, we have…

IT Trends in 2015

While the IT industry has been experiencing a “boom” the last decade or so, there are particular advances and developments that IT executives see taking over in 2015. Whether it is a management software analytics tools, many recent surveys are indicating these trends that will take the IT world, especially in NYC by storm before 2015 comes to a close. What does this mean for the IT job market? Skills will need to be sharper than ever, new certifications will…

Finding the Work-Life Balance

With the evolution of technology over the last two decades, work and workers are now seemingly accessible around-the-clock. The problem is that this constant connectivity has created an imbalance in the relationship between work and personal time. A recent study by the Harvard Business Review reported that 94% of people surveyed work at least 50 hours a week, with half working over 65 hours. While many employers may be happy that their employees are so dedicated and committed to their…

Where to Start 2015

As you gear up for 2015 and you start to consider the various job possibilities for the coming year, you may reflect as to what industries you did or did not enjoy working within in 2014. Perhaps you found a new passion in retail IT but decided that financial services IT was definitely not for you. Maybe you found the software used in engineering firms very intriguing and inspiring. Whatever niches you have found for yourself, it is important to…

New Year, New Job

With the year coming to an end, many of us are thinking about resolutions and goals for 2015. As a consultant or contractor, this oftentimes includes scoping out and planning for upcoming jobs that you may be interested in in the coming year. Maybe there was an industry you didn’t enjoy too much in 2014 and there is a new one in which you have not yet worked – what better time to start fresh than with the turn of…

Make the Most of Your IT Temp Work

It used to be that contracted and temp work in NYC was most popular around the holidays, with extra team positions needed or admin positions filled in absences of permanent workers. However, with the ever-changing workforces and economy, contracted work has made its way into the permanent infrastructure of many companies. Businesses have come to the realization that they can accomplish their goals using temporary employees when necessary, instead of wasting resources on permanent positions and use staffing firms like…

Is This The Job For Me?

Finally! The interview went well, the job description fits just what you are looking for. It seems as though you may have found the perfect job. And now, the offer phone call has come – you could not be more pleased. Not so fast though… Even though this may seem like the perfect IT job that your staffing firm has found for you, it is so important to make sure that this job is actually a perfect fit for you.…

Sell Yourself to Employers

In the early 2000s it may have been easy to nail down any IT job by simply submitting your resume to potential employers. Maybe you even added a cover letter, too. However, in this day, getting your dream IT job is a little more difficult than in the past. It definitely takes more to convince potential employers that you are just what they are looking for. These IT companies, specifically in NYC are inundated with resumes that staffing firms pass…

How To Keep Busy Between IT Jobs

In the IT and other tech fields it is not uncommon for professionals to have gaps in their resumes between jobs. Moving from one job to the next is typical, even expected as an IT professional; however, potential employers and the staffing firms they use to sift through potential candidates are going to be extremely curious as to what you do in this time between jobs. While this time off is expected here and there, they do want to see…

Is IT Consulting the Job for You?

For some people, being a full-time, steady employee is what works for them. They enjoy the consistency and reliability of a full-time job in a particular industry. However, there are some “employees” that tire of this monotony and begin to consider a career as a consultant. They crave the flexibility and comfort of dictating your own schedule and workload. Even better, NYC companies in high-skill industries such as IT, engineering, finance and healthcare are creating hybrid workforces of employees and…

Virtual Volunteers

Being in the IT world, it is not uncommon for professionals to hop from job to job as their services are needed. These jobs can vary by project scope and industry. One month you may be working for a financial services firm IT department and the next, a healthcare provider. The great thing about being in IT is that professionals are always needs in a variety of ways to maintain and fix all-things-technical. However, if you are between jobs…

What’s YOUR brand?

As we all know, the NYC job market is more competitive than ever with qualified candidates often struggling to secure even entry-level jobs. In a couple of our past articles we have written about tactics on how to succeed at securing a job. However, one of the most important things any job seeker can do is to differentiate yourself from the competition by creating a personal brand. But wait – before you get started we must make it clear…

Tricky Interview Questions

It’s the age-old question – what tricky interview questions will they ask me on this interview? It’s inevitable – every time you go on an interview there will be at least one out-of-the-box conceptual question that will catch you completely off-guard. Here’s your first hint: that is part of their tactic. When interviewers spring an unexpected question or discussion on you, part of what they are looking for is how quickly and smoothly you can think on your feet, drawing…

What’s first: job or experience?

Does this sound familiar: Ideal job. Needs 3-5 years experience. But you only have 2? Thought so. Not to worry – you are not alone. How many times have we all been in this position – seeing our dream job but not having the right amount of experience. But, we ask, how are we ever supposed to get this job, if no one will ever take that chance on me to get the experience? It is a vicious circle that…

Career Crossroads

When you were growing up, probably in kindergarten, you had dreams of becoming something along the lines of a firefighter or astronaut or superhero of sorts. As you progressed through childhood and adolescence, maybe these dreams shifted to be a teacher, or lawyer or doctor – perhaps something a bit more reasonable, yet still with a goal of having fun or helping others. However, when the reality of life hit you around age 18 and things like bills became a…

Power of a First Impression

Credit: http://www.insightwalk.com[/caption] No matter how many times we are told to get to know something or someone before we form an opinion, our first judgment is typically formed within the first 30 seconds of interaction. This could not be more true than when meeting someone for the first time – especially in the workplace in NYC. Of course, your past IT experience and references are an important and necessary part in getting a job, but those things are what convinced…

The Power of Networks

The Power of Networks : Research shows that success isn’t just a matter of hard work, talent, and success — it also depends on your relationships. Read More: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-your-network-shapes-your-health-happiness-and-success-2014-4 #BNA #whoyouknow #relationships #jobs #networking

IT Resume Tips: Should an IT Resume Be More Than One Page?

As the owner of a credible IT staffing and recruitment agency in NYC, I feel it’s safe to say I’ve seen a few resumes. It has always amazed me how long some technical applicants’ resumes are. I’ve seen some resumes that were as long as 20 pages. It felt like I was reading Tolstoy’s War & Peace but not nearly as interesting. As a prelude to this post, I think showing Webster’s Dictionary definition of the word résumé will help…

Are you an Owl or a Lark? The Answer Can Help You As a Recruiter

This great question was asked of me when I first started out in the work world. Twenty two years old and right out of college I was working my first job at a staffing and recruitment firm doing business development and recruiting. One morning while drinking my coffee and getting ready to start the day, my sales manager comes up to me and asked, “Brad, are you a lark or an owl?” I was a little confused by his question…

Bernard Nickels & Associates (BNA) Launches New Website with Enhanced Employer and Candidate Features

NEW YORK CITY, June 23, 2014 – Bernard Nickels & Associates, a trusted national staffing and recruitment firm headquartered in NYC, has just launched their new website www.bnastaffing.com with enhanced employer and candidate features. BNA places great people into great temporary and permanent jobs throughout the US. The firm’s service areas include: Information Technology, Accounting/Finance, Office Support, Legal Support, Human Resources, Engineering and Creative Services. The new site has been optimized to provide enhanced job search tools for employers and candidates…