Success Happy

Mention any two traits to be successful as an IT-Professional?

Public Comments

1. I have worked with ITs with many different personalities. Think about it, ITs have a strange power over the rest of a work group; they have a knowledge and ability to either make work simple and effcient or tedious and difficult. The best ITs I've worked with have been patient, good communication skills and enjoyed interacting with people. This is important for several reasons: 1) If the IT dislikes working with people, or has a disagreeable personality, personnel will avoid asking that IT for help--sometimes to the extent that they try fixing the problem themselves. Sometimes this results in the personnel breaking the equipment or complicating the problem. I have seen this occur many times before. Conversly, if the IT likes working with people, personnel will be more willing to allow the IT to help them--and may even ask the IT to explain to them how to fix the problem. Also, the IT should be able to probe a personnel working with the machine in question to gather information important to solve the problem. 2) The IT should be patient. This is important for 2 reasons. 1. Sometimes, technical problems arrise from someone's mistake or ignorance. Many people, afterall, are not as techically saavy as ITs and make silly mistakes--even if the IT has explained the issue to them before. 2. Sometimes a complicated problem requires patience to solve. An easily frustrated IT may give up too easily. 3. The IT should have the patience to explain the problem to the personnel. This is important because a) it may prevent future problems and b) if the problem is simple enought, the personnel may be able to attempt fixing it in the future (saving both parties time). 3) The IT should have good communication skills. Related to the above, the IT should be able to communicate with the personnel to diagnose problems and communicate the problem to the personnel both preventing future problems and, possibly, allowing the personnel to fix the problem themselves. Traits that may correspond with the above are: 1) IT enjoy working with people: Higher Extroversion, Higher Agreeableness, Positive Affect 2) IT should be patient: Low neuroticism, Lower anxiety, High Agreeableness, Positive Affect 3) The IT should have good communication skills: High Extroversion, Higher agreeableness, positive affect. Also, the IT should be both perceptive of people (i.e., can recognize when something isn't making sense) and should be able to communicate ideas in a simplistic manner--(i.e., they should be able to explain complex concepts in simplistic terms and have an understanding of what technical knowledge the common person has).