Certification Magazine - November 2007 - (Page 33)

adoption of that solution. Technology is our specialization, but our role is solving business problems. When we work for a client, we want to have a clear picture of what success looks like from a business point of view, then bring the right solution to bear with the right process changes, training and adoption in order to make it work.” New-hire candidates for the IT Solutions division are vetted through a rigorous multi-tiered recruitment process, Neff said. With the organization’s emphasis on character, that consideration comes before all the others in this progression. “That’s the first screen. No. 1 is going to be whether they have the personality type and communications skills to fit into our organization — it doesn’t matter what their experience is if they can’t fit into the teams we have,” he said. “We have a recruiting staff that assesses the person in terms of communication skills, attitude and how they think and operate. We’re a team-based organization, and in order to do what we do, there’s a lot of communication with the customer. It’s really important that everybody can communicate effectively in writing and verbally. “Obviously, it’s very difficult to interview for integrity, but we look hard at anything that might signal the integrity of an individual. For example, if we have someone who’s trying to fake their way through something they don’t know, that would eliminate them rapidly on the basis that they’re trying to trick us.” After applicants clear the character part of this process, the spotlight turns to their technical skills and practical knowledge. To get past the hiring gatekeepers, all candidates have to have at least five years of credible experience and a four-year degree (although not necessarily one in a technical field). Neff said the company judges applicants’ skills based on their importance to the needs of the business. To assess their familiarity with germane technologies, candidates go through technical interviews with experienced employees from Aquent IT Solutions. “They go through this technical interviewing process and evaluate the person’s capabilities,” he said. “That gets reported back to the recruiting manager, and we then evaluate whether they move forward in the recruiting process based on how they fit our needs. We’re very interested in what they can do in a practical sense. We talk about how they solve problems and communicate their focus. It’s amazing how many people can build applications that function but aren’t all that well thought-out. We want to go beyond that — we want to know that they can produce solutions that have proper error-handling and maintainable code. Practical experience is a huge weight in our hiring process. “In my group, we do salaried hires, so in my part of the company, virtually everyone is long term. We’re not just looking at the immediate problem we’re trying to solve but how we supplement our organization with the right mix of skills and experience.” Although certifications show a certain level of knowledge and commitment in a particular realm of technology, they don’t necessarily play a large part in determining whether someone gets hired or promoted at Aquent IT Solutions. “Certifications are useful in that they signal a certain level of rigor on the part of the candidate, that they’re willing to go through the process and get a certification,” Neff said. “A certification by itself doesn’t tell you they can operate in the practical world. They tell you [certificants] have a certain level of academic knowledge about the subject and that they’re capable of passing exams. We have to go further in evaluating them to see if they have practical experience with applying the technology and if they have good judgment about the trade-offs they have to make in the real world.” That said, many employees in the group have gone through IT credentialing programs at the behest of the company or through their own volition, Neff said. “We have gone through various stages where certifications are important to us,” he said. “Usually, we promote them when there’s some specific business driver, like when we try to build a relationship with a technology partner, and they require certain certifications to get access to the level of training we want. In those situations, where you need to have, say, four people with a certification, then we pay for training and the exams. We have a standing policy that if someone is seeking a certification in alignment with our business, then we’ll pay for their exam at any point.” INTERFACE continued on page 39 November 2007 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE 33

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification Magazine - November 2007

Certification Magazine - November 2007 Contents Editor's Letter Data Stream Tech Careers Academic Connection Dear Techie Virtual Village Certification Outside Technology Inside Certification The Webmaster: Online Everyman Interface Time Tips: How to Fit Certification into Your Schedule Ad Index Endtag

Certification Magazine - November 2007

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