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Employer Quotes

The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Information Technology (IT)

They are talking about this topic: General Skills

 

The quotes below are about this issue:
Consultation skills are essential for IT professionals since they must work directly with clients to assess and resolve technical issues in an efficient, professional manner. They must be able to clearly communicate technical ideas to stakeholders who may have less technological knowledge, and they must be able to effectively manage conflict.

Employer Quote Region
"The customer service skills—that's a big part of our entry-level positions—we place them in our help desks and that kind of molds them into our company. So, we want to make sure that they have those abilities, but we've struggled finding well-rounded applications." Central
"One of the areas where we're doing a lot of hiring within my group right now is around business analysts, project managers, and architects. So, those are labels for individuals whose full-time job is to interact with the business and draw out their requirements and then create a solution design. I think, many times, in the schools, they do a lot of teamwork within teams. But I think students need to be asked to actually help define the problem set that they're trying to solve. Often, the business doesn't even really know what they want. They need someone to help them and collaborate with them to define what that need is—not just to create the solution but to design that solution." Metro
"IT does interface with a lot of different aspects of the business. So, those management and relationship skills become ever more important because we are negotiating. We are service providers on a daily basis. Technical skills are so important because we have to translate to enabling technologies. But, if you cannot present yourself in a professional manner, you don't even get in the door to begin with." Metro
"Why does IT exist? To help the business achieve its goals and to serve its customers. That's the focus that we continue to try and push to our IT. They talk that way, but a lot of times you end up with a technologist who wants to tell the client how they should do it. Really, this is where the consultation piece comes in: 'How can I help you achieve your goals?'" Metro
"I absolutely agree with the comment about business acumen, and having some of the softer skills. Particularly with what's happening in the industry and as we move towards as-a-service platform and as-a-service software. Those skills are becoming more and more important. I want to emphasize that the technical skills do not go away, but the nature of the job is changing. So, you need the technical skills for the evaluation, but perhaps you need less of them. Equally important, if not more important, are the soft skills around better management and negotiation. Leadership and management competencies are all the more important going forward." Metro
"A lot of times, soft skills are short. An employee might be very talented technically, but when it comes to communication skills and teamwork—we're all in the service industry these days—so, just being able to communicate and talk and work with people is important. And I think there's an opportunity to improve in that area." Metro
"It's really true that technology people are asked to bring skill sets to the table that most operations people are not. For instance, not only do they have to be technically competent in the programming languages, they have to be consultants. They have to be strong communicators." Metro
"These people are constantly being put in front of the customer and sometimes the customer is even an external customer—not within the business. And so—this is going back to the critical thinking skills and communication skills—we can no longer be little technicians that just sit in the cubicles and do our jobs." Metro
"I think another employer mentioned the word 'consultative.' That's incredibly important in today's world. I think it's important for individuals to come in and be able to understand that their role in the environment is to help, and to look for ways to really show value. So, when I'm looking for someone to fill a job, I do like to see that they've been a consultant in the past because that brings a particular way of doing things to the table." Metro
"They need to be able to think on their feet. They need to be able to be collaborative, consultative, and be able to communicate effectively with those business partners. We're asking them not just to be tech support. We're also asking them to be consultants, and how do you train on that? That's something that they have to come with." Metro
"It's trying to find that person that's got those technical skills. And, now, coupling it with the ability to have a conversation with a business partner, especially because of the way we operate." Metro
"It's becoming incredibly important to find that magical mix of someone that can speak to our business partners in the language that they understand and then be able to come back and talk to our technical folks in the technical language that they are accustomed to. So, it really is becoming an important shift." Metro
"And so what we see, especially in the two-year programs, is that they are heavy in the technical skills. They are fine sitting down in front of a router, but if you put them in front of a client to explain something they are completely lost." Metro
"Even from the entry-level hires, communication and consultative skills are lacking. And they don't gain it by going into a job necessarily. And I think the smaller the company is, the better shot they have if they are well-rounded because they have to engage with other business people." Metro
"We need graduates with the ability to speak and feel comfortable in an interview. Because in our environment, the day you start working you are client-facing. You are now serving clients. So, if someone cannot go through an interview and be confident in their skill sets, we can't put them in front of our clients. So, just the soft skills. We are very limited in the colleges that we can recruit from because not a lot of colleges have programs that give their students the technical skills and also help them with general communication skills." Metro
"In the scheme of things, people generally fail at the job, and it's competencies such as strategic relationships and communication skills that are missing. It's not that they don't know the technical piece." Metro
"We look for customer service skills because that's what we do. We support the entire organization. They are our customers, all the different departments. We need people who can work with them as if they're customers, and treat them that way. Some are really good at that, and some who have been here a long time still struggle with that." Northeast
"It's very important. We're a customer-driven business. We're in consulting, so our developers have to work with customers every day." Northeast
"You need to communicate and work with customers. And those are different kinds of skills than something they might learn specifically in a technical program." Northeast
"Those soft skills are key to being able to work with other people. It's not just the technical part of it." Northwest
"Employer: Technical skills are key. But we've had people—I think one in particular—who scored a total zero on our technical test. Total failure, but she did so well on the customer service side that we hired her anyway, and she's still an outstanding employee to this day. So, it depends on the circumstances, but technical skills are going to bring you the top. Again, technical schools should be helping students practice being able to answer questions on the fly in the interview. They should be ready, just like in real life. Because when the customer calls, you can't make up an answer, you know?

Question: So, it's that combination of both having the technical ability and the people skills?

Employer: The skills to figure out how you're going to respond when you don't know the answer."
Northwest
"If the schools could teach work ethics and ethics in general. Get them to focus on how the company works, so that everything isn't 'me, me, me.' What's important to the company and what's important to the customer? Those skills are very important." Northwest
"You also have to be part politician. There's a lot of neat software out there, and the perception is that you buy it, you install it, you turn it on, and away you go. And we all know it doesn't work that way. So, you have to have the finesse to be able to explain that to other people. Again, we're back to people skills. The stuff just doesn't plug-and-play. There's a lot of work to set it up, and you have to do some other things." Northwest
"I think communication is very important. What we sometimes see is that end user who really doesn't understand the background and what's going on. They just need it to work. Then, you've got someone that understands the background and knows what's going on behind the scenes, but communicating that in a way that they meet in the middle instead of misunderstanding. So, it's learning how to work with different end users. In our company, we have some end users who want to know the details: 'Tell me how to do this step-by-step.' But the person right next to them says, 'Don't want to know—just fix it and make it work.' So, it's having the skills to understand when you share information and when you just fix it." Northwest
"I think it would be good to focus on the ability to provide support to people. Across all these positions, the entry-level staff, whether it's fixing the printer or whatever, having that skill to provide support—and to have a skill set that nobody else does without getting cocky about it—is really important. No matter what job you have in our group, you're helping other people. And I think that probably applies to everybody here. You got a job to help other people in a support role, and that's the key." Northwest
"It's back to the people skills. You have to be able to relate to those people who don't know anything about using the computer at all, or anything technology-related." Northwest
"Question: So, they've got to prove themselves in the interview process?

Employer: Yeah. Especially as service providers because every experience any of our employees have with a customer is very critical to us. Because if that experience isn't positive, that's very bad for our business.

Question: So, the customer service side is really important to some of you guys?

Employer: In our company, it's a smaller company—but with the scale of the other employer's company as well—every person in the building has to interact and to have the ability to resolve conflict."
Northwest
"The other employer said you have to be part politician. I agree. You're not going to go poke fun and ridicule the customer. You have to know when to say, 'I understand. It happens to everybody all the time. It's no big deal. We'll get it fixed.' Even if, inside, you're saying, 'Oh, man.'" Northwest
"Many times we have to deal with the managers and their equivalents. So, they have to be able to speak and interact on that level. It's much easier for a kid to text you than it is for them to have face-to-face conversations. So, I find those communication skills are lacking in some of the two-year graduates. They have the technical side, but not the interaction and business side. Some people have a knack for it and some people don't. You have to be able to explain to your customer what the issue is and what you need to do to resolve it. That's just part of the job." Southwest
"In the technical—maybe the two-year—program, they have fairly good breadth on the technical focus. But the business or social skills—how to interact with a customer—they lack some of those basic things." Southwest
"We need someone to go out, and if they're working with a customer on a high-end network, they need to be able to work on the equipment, and they need to have consultative skills as well. So, they have to be able to work with the customers." Southwest
"Our people are the face of our company when we're out there dealing with customers. That's who our customers see and remember." Southwest
"I think when you're working with a customer and their network is down or something isn't working, you can't always send someone who is just out of a two-year program to deal with an angry customer. Those are skills that we need." Southwest
"Our people have to be able to install and maintain. And when there are issues, they need to take care of them. It takes going to different sites, meeting those customers, and knowing each of them and their needs." Southwest