IT professionals possess same skills as IT executives

5/17/2010 9:31 AM

IT professionals share the same skills as IT executives, meanwhile the best IT managers rarely become particularly effective executives, according to Network World. Successful executives excel at analyzing their own performance and finding areas to improve along with possessing remarkable memories.

For IT managers, the most important traits are those common among managers in all fields, including prioritizing and flexibility. The report cites Work Your Strengths: A Scientific Process to Identify Your Skills and Match Them to the Best Career for You - a book by NFI Research CEO Chuck Martin - which surveyed 171 IT workers to identify the most common traits among workers in the three positions.

Martin recommends that companies should avoid hiring IT professionals as managers without understanding that the best developer or programmer won't necessarily make an ideal manager. Similarly, promoting skilled managers to executive-level positions is not an ideal scenario unless the manager has the skills required.

With the United States Department of Labor reporting that IT is one of the fastest growing job markets, Martin's advice is especially useful to companies that expect to promote from within. Identifying these characteristics in new employees, even at the entry level, can bode well for the organization down the road.

About SetFocus

In business since 1997, SetFocus is the global leader in selecting, training, placing, and supporting Microsoft professionals worldwide. Through strategic relationships, SetFocus develops programs that directly source skilled professionals to meet the immediate hiring needs of its partners. A Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Learning Solutions, SetFocus utilizes a unique combination of services to help organizations grow allowing them to meet marketplace opportunities with speed and agility. SetFocus has won semi-finalist awards for both the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year as well as the New Jersey Family Business of the Year. It is currently ranked on Inc. 5,000 fastest growing companies in America. For more information, SetFocus can be reached at +1-886-91-TRAIN and through its website, SetFocus.