Certification - July 2008 - (Page 28)

INTERFACE Waident Technology Solutions: IT Knowledge Takes Back Seat to People Skills DEANNA HARTLEY Candidates who decide to interview at Chicagobased Waident Technology Solutions often return scratching their heads. Contrary to what they expect to encounter during an interview at an IT company, they are not bombarded with technology-related questions; in fact, technology barely is discussed. “When I write a job description, I [list] the technology [requirements], but what I’m looking to hire for is people skills,” said John Ahlberg, president of Waident Technology Solutions. Based in the Chicagoland area, Waident’s five-member staff provides IT support to companies across the United States. and Active Directory if it’s on the server end; Microsoft Office if it’s on the desktop; and SonicWall or Cisco routers and switches if it’s on the networking side. Mere proficiency in a program won’t suffice, though. “It’s great that you know Microsoft Office,” Ahlberg said. “It’s more important how you’ve actually helped people with it. Have you actually looked at Office to see what kind of business value the tool can bring to the company?” Ahlberg’s perfect hire is a person with business and people skills who is passionate about technology, but may not necessarily have a technology degree. That allows him to teach the candidate the technology instead of having to hone people skills. “It’s easy to throw technology at the technology,” Ahlberg said. “If somebody calls and says, ‘My BlackBerry doesn’t sync,’ you can do an online search that will tell you exactly what you need to do to fix it.” It’s much harder to teach an expert on cell phones how to interact with people. Strategic Hiring Process Ahlberg said the most strategic proficiency his IT professionals must boast is people skills; the technical skills are almost secondary because, even though their work involves dealing with technology, they work with end users on a daily basis. He reiterates the importance of soft skills — skills that are hard to effectively capture on a resume — in the hiring process. “[I tend] to hire someone who has business and people skills, someone who can communicate, someone who actually understands what responsiveness means and [knows] how to call somebody and say, ‘OK, what’s your problem? I’m here to help,’” Ahlberg said. Even if a problem takes several days to fix, he can rest easy knowing his employees are communicating with end users rather than ignoring them. What differentiates the recruiting process at Waident is that Ahlberg makes it a point to look past an individual’s resume and focus on the person’s talent. So for instance, if a potential employee doesn’t know SonicWall, even though it may appear on the list of job requirements, but he or she understands how Cisco-related technology works, Ahlberg will try to determine in the interview process how one set of skills or expertise can translate to other areas. Some of the technical capabilities he looks for in a candidate include familiarity in Exchange, Cram, SharePoint It would be a first if Waident Technology Solutions hired someone fresh out of college. “If I created a job description and listed all the technologies that we work on, I’m never going to be able to hire anyone because nobody knows all that,” Ahlberg said. Considering Education, Certiﬁcation and Experience Although the educational background and relevant certifications are important in the evaluation of a potential hire, Ahlberg doesn’t gauge one versus the other. “The value of the education is the experience and what you learned from it,” he said. Earning a degree in technology is not a prerequisite. Ahlberg validates his theory based on what he has observed over the years: Headhunters often are less successful when they ignore a candidate’s transferable skills. 28 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE July 2008 http://www.waident.com/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification - July 2008

Certification - July 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data System Virtual Village Tech Careers Dear Techie Academic Connection Look Ahead Troubleshooting Testing Your Foot in the Door: Certification at the Entry Level Analyzing the Societal Effects of YouTube Interface Spread the Knowledge: Becoming an IT Trainer Inside Certification Ad Index What We Like Endtag

Certification - July 2008

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