Qualities you should look for in a good IT person
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly wasn’t just a great western, it was words to live by. It’s applicable to nearly half the current state of the technology industry and the resulting frustration of separating the chaff from the wheat when identifying a good IT person. So what does make a good IT person, exactly? Lots of things. Fortunately, there are a few basic softskills every proficient IT person should have. zbrella highlights five basic softskills to look for in a good IT person so you can avoid the bad and the ugly.
Signs You Found Yourself a Good IT Person
They Like Tech
You’d be surprised how many people get into the tech industry just because they can fix a broken hyperlink. Just because someone might be good with tech doesn’t mean they’d actually make a good IT person. For some people, tech is just a hobby. When tech is just a hobby, it shows in a person’s work, the amount of time and dedication they put into that work, and how they treat you and your own technology problems. And while sussing out the wannabes from the real thing might take some time and practice, it’s generally easy to tell who wants to be there versus who has to be there. Easiest rule of thumb when hiring a good IT person: make sure they like what they do.
They’re Knowledgeable
A good IT person, hands-down, will know their industry inside and out. And they will know more than just one IT area. If your IT person’s primary expertise is something specific, they should be the leading Encyclopedia in that area. However, they shouldn’t develop tunnel-vision, either. A good IT person will walk a fine line between nuanced and well-read in technology. That can be admittedly hard to find in just one person, but it can be done.
They Speak Techie and Non-Techie
What’s the point of being knowledgeable if you can’t understand a word that’s coming out of your techie’s mouth? A good IT person can speak technical jargon and translate what it all means back into English. This is especially important if you’re running a business and kind of need to know what the heck your techie is saying. Knowing key features of the technology you’re running, such as its benefits, disadvantages, learning-curve, security threats, and more are all integral to your financial decisions. Technology is a major investment, and not knowing what your IT person is saying is never a good thing.
They’re Adaptable
Here’s what that means: a good IT person knows when to break routine. Most times, your IT person will have a set way of communicating with you. This is typically via email or phone. However, due to the nature of being a techie, a lot of the time IT people will stick to a routine, even when they clearly need to escalate or expedite matters. In other words, if you typically communicate with your IT person through email, it’s important that they know when to pick up the phone to resolve an issue in half the time.
Sometimes, a meeting between you and your IT person is required to move forward. A good IT person will know exactly when this step needs to be taken and have no qualms about prompting the meet-up. Adaptable techies should always know the most appropriate means of communication, whether that be through email, phone, or in-person. If they only offer you one way of doing something, they’re not a good IT person.
They’re a Team Player
This is a particularly overlooked quality because people assume IT people operate independently. While this can be true for a lot of people, a good IT person knows when to defer to help. Whether your IT person is working within a larger company or are a single practitioner, a good IT person knows when they’re drowning under work. Sometimes there trivial technical problems might need to be offloaded onto their team to tackle bigger issues. Sometimes they might just need outside perspective. Whatever the case may be, if your IT person is not a team player, expect a lot of delays, excuses, and a poorer quality of work.
For zbrella Technology Consulting, I’m Christopher Clark, goodnight and good luck!
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