The Fundamental Techie

IT Personality Traits That May Surprise You

It’s a buyer’s market when it comes to top IT talent. As enterprise technology has quickly occupied a larger and larger piece of the organizational asset pie, the technology recruiting scene has become more and more competitive.

IT Personality Traits That May Surprise You

It’s a buyer’s market when it comes to top IT talent. As enterprise technology has quickly occupied a larger and larger piece of the organizational asset pie, the technology recruiting scene has become more and more competitive. The Society for Human Resource Management released survey results last year that confirmed what we already know: the high tech sector is finding it significantly harder to find the qualified workers they need. 

Busting the IT Personality Myth

The stereotype of the typical techie might include a presumed agelessness beyond 25, basement domiciles, skateboards and bicycles as preferred transportation, and an anti-establishment attitude – all tolerated because of the quiet genius operating within the big brain.

In reality, however, the most successful technology professionals actually compare much more consistently with mature, sophisticated and sometimes even extroverted professions!

Are you a musician or do you write music? Well then – you’re already a techie at heart. Writing music requires the same mindset as writing code. Each musical note is the equivalent of an individual data point. This intersection of technology and music is hardly news! (We’ve already mused about what a symphony and big data have in common, in Michael Askin’s article, A Symphony of Big Data.)

How about mathematicians? OK – mathematicians probably share the same geeky reputation as techies, but they also share an analytical disposition, focused on solving problems – and surprisingly – working with others (not alone in a cubicle) to solve those problems. Most significantly, they share a passion for solving other people’s problems, and this is anything but detached or anti-establishment.

Think a techie isn’t a good businessman? Think again, and think deeply. Techies do. By far, the most important qualities that technology professionals bring to the table, which makes them so invaluable, are critical thinking, strategic and consultative competencies.  You can’t solve a business problem with technology until you know the big picture and can fully understand the complexities and the risk involved with any solution.

Guess who else technology professionals compare to? Policemen, firemen, and doctors – all people whose focus is on saving others. Techies like to save businesses with their creative solutions – but must have the self-assurance to know they can get the job done, and of course, work with a team toward a specific outcome.

With this enlightened understanding of the intricacies, and the complexity of the tech mind, we begin to understand not just the value of the individual technology mind, but the ever-increasing dependence on enterprise technology in driving business.

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