The Complete IT Recruitment Survival Guide – The Definitive Handbook for IT Recruitment Consultants, Resourcers and HR Professionals by Ayub Shaikh

Author:Ayub Shaikh [Shaikh, Ayub]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Matador
Published: 2012-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

What We Should See on Their CVs

Key Skills and Characteristics

The Technical Guru

Technology, technology, technology! This point is non-negotiable, simply not up for discussion. TAs will need, by definition, to have a very strong technical background. As in the case of IT Directors, they will also have had exposure to a myriad of different IT environments throughout their career. However, a TA’s CV should be bursting with clear evidence of actual hands-on experience when it comes to moulding and developing a diverse range of environments and technologies too.

A wise geek (can’t remember who) once reminded me that any IT system is similar to a dirt track. In the early days, when it’s all brand new, the road seems smooth and fairly even; and you can drive along without too many problems. But a hundred users and managers later, all adding their own mistakes, ideas and errors eventually form dangerous grooves over time. These grooves are so intrinsic to the architecture they eventually become a part of it. The TA needs to know whether or not to keep ‘shovelling’ grit into the grooves, or to simply start afresh and re-surface the whole path.

The IT Director’s Technical Advisor

Technical Architects must be very comfortable in taking up the role of advisor to the IT Director. In today’s recruitment environment, IT Directors who stem from a heavily technical background are often hard to find. It’s not that they are rare, but if a company does manage to track down this valuable commodity (or you find one for them) be assured that they must be willing to pay over the odds to procure them. Moreover, IT Directors are brought on primarily to be the individual focused on ensuring that the IT strategy is aligned with the long-term needs of the business (explained thoroughly in the chapter on Recruiting IT Directors on page 119). So when IT Directors are not the technical geniuses we would love them to be in an ideal world, they often rely heavily on their trusty Technical Architect to guide them along in their decision making process, and to help them map a solution that meets the human needs of the organisation.

Woven into the grand design of most IT Directors’ strategies is the subtle yet lingering influence of a really good TA. For in reality there is no one more suited to deliver counsel on matters relating to the new ‘bleeding edge’ stuff that’s just emerging from the research labs which might be worth looking at, or those technologies which are just over the horizon that might reward your organisation with that vital nanosecond lead over that of your rival.

However, there are often tensions in this relationship too. An IT Director is always concerned about cost and future-proofing with regards the investments that are going to be making. They are forever replaying risk analysis scenarios in their mind; whilst the TA paints vivid pictures of ‘what could be’ if we went with this latest thing. Technical Architects must occasionally be able to offer

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