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Employer Quotes

The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Financial Services

They are talking about this topic: Occupation-Specific Skills

 

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The quotes below are about this issue:
New hires are often lacking proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, particularly Access and Excel, which employers are seeking.

Employer Quote Region
"Employer: I think we bring on people that initially have fairly good analytical and problem-solving skills. We can teach them the technical skills that are unique to the jobs that they perform. But what surprises me is that they lack what we think of as standard tools: basic Excel and Access database type skills. We really don't have the time or the...we're just not staffed to provide that kind of training. So, we would hope it would be more second nature than what it is.

Interviewer: So, second nature meaning the spreadsheet?

Employer: Yeah. I've got a toolkit and we give it to you—whether it's MS Office or something else—and you should just know how to apply those tools in your everyday problem-solving work. In our business, as much as we'd like to think that we have really upgraded our technology, a lot of the core accounting engines are mainframes and everybody's bolted on Windows front-ends to them. But when you get data out of that mainframe system, it's in a raw text format—unless you're in a real large organization that has departments that takes the data and they build reports for people. A lot of times, we'll ask people to build reports that provide this oversight, reconciliation. It would be great to be able to say, 'I can give you this data in a flat text format, but can you convert it and put it in a format that is useable for you? In a way that lets you do the problem-solving work that you need to do?' It can be as simple as even if you have to send a letter out to somebody. They're lost when they go into Word. When they go into Excel, they know basic formulas to do pivot tables or to be able to take it and move it into Access and do analysis. That's just lost..."		 Central
"If there was something in this basic computer skill [lost in translation] certification that ensured you these people know basic applications and that they can function with them, that'd be helpful. One thing I'd also like to mention is older workers; we don't just hire entry-level. In fact, we really try to hire baby boomers and all kinds of people. One of the things that when you're retooling those folks, boy, it's those basic computer skills that they are just clueless on." Central
"I think what you can see if you have two to three new hires is that the one who has really good technology skills and knows how to use software can really leverage that. It's just a huge head-start against the other people that you've hired. And it really is underestimated because these employees, I mean, they spend 10-12 hours a day in front of a computer screen, so that's really their tool. There's very little paper left in our office. It's all in front of a computer screen and working on their computer." Metro
"Employer 1: I had a note here about Mac versus PC, and I know my kids are all over the Macs. Even in their school district, they're pushing the iPads for the high school students. They do all of their work on iPads. But, from what I've heard here today, I wonder if that's...I mean, the accounting business runs on PC. Don't let anyone fool you. You cannot possibly not know the PC is our field. We don't have one Mac in our office and we probably won't for a very long time.

Employer 2: Same with us.

Employer 1: And I'm thinking about the students and our most recent hires and whether these kids grew up on Mac? Maybe one of them grew up on Mac and so she's having a bit more difficulty than the one who grew up on the PC? Because that employee is really leveraging the technology because he really understands it. So, I'm just throwing it out there because it's an interesting problem that's potentially solvable.

Employer 2: It's true. I would have never thought of that. We don't have any Macs either.

Interviewer: So, the expectation of students in this industry is that, if you're on a Mac, you better get on a PC fairly quickly because you're going to use it every day?

Employer 1: Well, I think part of it, too, is with the iPads and the other things. It's almost like you've got to be fluent in two worlds. You've got to have fluency. The realities of the business platform are true, but the other part of it—learning the two worlds—that's a tough battle to fight."		 Metro
"I have an employee who took a couple of classes at college, but that's about it. In order for her to succeed, I definitely need her to have at least a two-year accounting degree. So, she's kind of an accounting specialist and A/P clerk. And where she's lacking is in her computer skills. So, it's an interesting continuum, this IT, computer, Microsoft programming...I mean, you kind of need to know more than that Microsoft is a package of software. She doesn't understand—when I explain something—why it works that way. So, maybe we need a higher level of thinking about Microsoft, too, for accountants. That's what I need her to do...and critical thinking and the ability to follow instructions. I need a two-year accountant to be able to do these things. There are a bunch of IT things I need her to be able to do, so I can focus on other things. So, it's a huge continuum on lots of stuff." Metro
"They usually have Macs, so they don't have Word and Excel, and things like that. What we noticed this year is more schools trying to get their students certified—Microsoft Office Certified—which is helpful." Metro
"Employer: I went to college, and I think my first computer class was actually my senior year of college. We assume that these students all were born with a computer and that they all know how to use Word and Excel, but they don't. Most of them do not know how to use those programs, yet that's what we use in the office a lot. I mean, it's required. So, we spend a lot of time trying to get them up-to-speed on Excel and Word. And it wasn't until this year that we realized, 'Oh, my gosh! They don't take any classes in those because they're all using Macs!' Mac doesn't use Word and Excel. It uses different things, and yet our financials are done in Excel. And there's the linking and pivot tables and all that kind of stuff. And we just assume they know it because all of the college students are so computer-savvy, but they don't know it.

Interviewer: Did you find the lack of basic computer skills missing in all your hires or a lot of hires?

Employer: I would say it's a lot of them."		 Metro
"Employer 1: I agree that we didn't realize that they didn't know how to use Excel. I mean, technically, they know what accounting is and all that. But I guess we didn't know they wouldn't know Excel because we tend to think, 'They've been using computers since they were born, so what do you mean they don't know how to use Excel?'

Employer 2: And maybe that is something for the K-12 to teach? Or maybe that's a high school thing, actually."		 Metro