Where have all the thinkers gone ?

In my line of business, I am constantly asked what I look for in Job interviews when I am looking for new technicians or IT engineers.
I get presented with credentials that are very impressive on paper, but can these people actually think ?

Do I want to hire people that can pay for training and sit exams or do I want some real thinkers who learn from mistakes and keep improving !

As I get asked this so many times, I thought I would put this out there, in cyber space, to see what others think.

My last candidate was an MCSE+I, a Cisco expert and Citrix. This example person had all the exams completed and even a few years of experience however, I hired a 21 year old person green to the industry
with a passion to learn. (Both of these are very typical respondents to job advertisements).

I hired this person based on the overall experience I had during the interview.

My first question was based on a simple fault in a server’s registry. I asked the highly skilled person what they would do in a certain situation and they were flustered. They did not know
what to do to further diagnose the issue.

The 21 year old said they would Google it as they only had a basic understanding. Failing this, they would look for support online in the forums. If they really got stuck they would ask me for help. Awesome answer. They had a plan and
knew how to research. The 21 year old also looked better at social networking, would be likely to join a computer user group and would soon have peers to call on in a crisis.

I then asked them both how they would solve the issue of a failed raid. As the 21 year old had no idea what a RAID was, I took the time to explain it.
The Engineer said they would contact the RAID vendor and book a support call. The 21 year old asked if there were any beeping noises, errors on the screen or error messages.
They had no idea what any of the indicators would mean but they were looking for further information and then would take that information into Google or call someone who might know the answer.

Again, a good answer. The interviews go on and on like this. Constantly I am surprised by the resourcefulness and natural technical problem solving skills some people have and others try and buy, with training and exams.
Constantly I tell prospective employees to get work experience, break a few things and then fix the problems.

I ask my prospects about the worst IT adventure they have ever had. I have heard tales of people accidently deleting data, dropping laptops and much worse. I then hear how they resolved the issue and moved on. Awesome.

Here is a great example:

Presented with a Windows XP machine that is freezing and the following event in the event log –

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: PlugPlayManager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 256
Date: 22/08/2009
Time: 1:59:54 PM
User: N/A
Computer:
Description:
Timed out sending notification of device interface change to window of "SAS window"

Some might think that this referred to SAS SCSI drive and the plug and play manager however with some research you will find that the SAS window is the "secure attention sequence" Window.

Secure attention sequence (SAS)

The Ctrl+Alt+Delete keystroke combination in Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000, which displays the Windows Security dialog box. (Note that in Windows NT the dialog box is called Windows NT Security.) Users can press this key combination to do the following:
Log on to or log off of a Windows workstation
Lock the console or unlock a locked workstation
Change their passwords
Invoke Task Manager
Shut down, log off, or restart their systems

This Event ID indicates that an application that registered to receive Plug and Play device interface notification did not respond within 30 seconds of receiving a notification event. Applications can register to receive Plug and Play device interface notifications. After they are registered, applications receive notification events when an interface of the type they were interested in has been enabled/disabled for use by applications. This timeout is logged in the system event log. This Event ID is merely a warning that the application did not respond, and it can be ignored.

So getting back to the error ... It just means it took a long time for Control+Alt+Del window to come up.

So this means that this event entry is a symptom of the issue and does not indicate the issue. As this is the only error in the eventlog we have to find another way to diagnose this issue.
If you thought SAS meant sas drive, you might have completed all kinds of hard disk diagnostics by now and not found a fault.

Doing this exercise myself I found out that very few people online know what the “SAS Window” is. I had to research it.

The staff I hire are the ones that take time to figure this out and then move onto solving the problem another way.

So do you need credentials ? Sure. It makes you stand out and float to the top of the pile but back this up with some real world experience. It helps if you have a natural flare to problem solve and it is great if you admit you are lost but know where to go for your next bit of information.

The biggest tool you have is learning how to research in a logical manner. No matter your credentials, you then become very useful.

I don't paid enough to think

My career has been built on thinking alone.

I have no 'on paper' credentials. My best is a Certificate III in Retail. Yes, that means I am qualified to count the till at the end of a day. But being able to solve problems and work hard has made for an exciting and quickly progressing career.

I am not in the IT industry

Tech peaked at 8 bits

So anyway, I have no quals, but I consider myself to be a good tech.

People seem mystified when there are problems, but in reality, there's a good dose of problem solving, researching and knowledge when it comes to fixing tech.

I look for patterns, things that don't conform or stick out. Compare with working systems, swap things around, change switches, to get a better picture of the issue.

If I can't solve it, I use the organisation's help desk, or email list to see if anyone else has any advice.

one of the more senior techs I work with doesn't have a diploma either, but he really knows his stuff, and I love working with him, if he wasn't such a busy man, I'd be ringing him all the time. He has to get qualifications now to keep his current job, as they are cracking down on qualified positions.

Apparently making long boring whiny posts is makes people valuable assets to the IT industry.

If you'd pull your head out of your arse for one minute you'd see his point.

I agree, I hired a guy who had heaps of paper credentials only to find that when it came to actually doing stuff, it was a lost cause.

We have programmer with certificates and degree's coming out his butt... and he has trouble with the most menial tasks.
We have a Logistics Management and Business Masters graduate... and he struggles to get his head around counting in stock deliveries, and couldn't use a pallet jack to save his life. Experience talks...

People Trained in both White box testing and Black box testing make some of the best IT professionals.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_box_testing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_box_testing

We're here, looking for work and getting passed over for people with peices of paper.

I cost as much as the guys in India but I live right here!

:-)

I absolutely know what you're talking about.

In my line of work the most brilliant techs we've got have not a single official qualification to their name.

Having said that, we have two very young undergrads fresh out of uni who are extremely good as well. But it does come down to how they approach technical problems.

I have absolutely no problem helping the other techs out. I've spent a while in the environment and have been lucky enough to see some quirks and work them out the other guys didn't. They key is, if you see a problem that you've never encountered before, ask someone you may have before you spend hours trying to work it out yourself.

However, sometimes you need that hours of trying to work it out first, to poke around and toggle a few switches to see what happens, that we you build up a better understanding and know what questions to ask later on. When you hop on to Google or ask someone the answer will click straight away.

The trick is to not be flustered by problems. When you have a lot of theoretical certs without having been in the real practical world much, you can find yourself making assumptions that are completely way off.

Is makes?

Too much time spent with the kids?

So give them a Fermi problem. See how they tackle it.

You want to get a technical person doing technical things as soon as they start in the job. That way you can work out how good they relly are before the trial preiod runs out. Talent stays, bullshiters walk.

I am glad I see a supportive pattern here. For those who are great at all things IT, but lack the paperwork, do not despair. There are heaps of companies like mine that want to hire the researchers and thinkers with logical technical thinking. This is a heads up for those looking for employment in the SMB space. It is a common thread in that industry and many others.

That's a big call around here, they don't call the green room the Toolshed for no reason.

I work at some schools, my position is unqualified, but the only advancement from here requires a diploma or better.

What a load of crap, experience, attitude and confidence will beat paper in a heartbeat.

plebsmacker, they are trying to make sure that everyone in a TO position has suitable qualifications, and that anyone with suitable qualifications is in a TO position.

I cannot apply for or get a TO position.

the whole system is quite rigid and being tightened up.