What makes a good IT professional

The world of IT is large. In it there are a lot of different types of people. Some are good, some are bad, some are mediocre and some are brilliant. Although I like to think I am one of the brilliant ones I am sure that others will disagree. So what separates the good from the bad.

Everybody has different reasons to get into IT and there are too many to list so I am not going to get into it. One thing the best IT professionals have in common is a passion for their work. To them it is not work but a way of life. They eat, live and breathe IT, especially the particular facet they specialize in. To them eight hours in front of a computer is not enough. It is not just work it is a knowledge base, it is entertainment, it is relaxation, it is life! A reason for living, a thing of excitement where change is welcome and advances in technology are eagerly awaited.

But that in itself does not make a good IT professional. The one thing that I would say is most important. The only thing that leaps the dividing line from the good and the bad is the ability to solve problems. Our profession is usually a case of one problem after another that needs to be solved. This continuous problem solving, often the same problems over and over again with minor variations that are enough to make it interesting, are what gives us our zest for the industry.

However just being able to solve problems is not enough. The speed at which we can solve problems is most important. A common saying in business is that time is money. What this translates to is pressure on us to solve the problem in the smallest amount of time. Generally the bigger the problem, the less time we have to solve it and an exponential amount of pressure from the higher ups to find that solution. This means that often to find a solution we not only have to think logically but also laterally. About ninety nine percent of solutions to our problems can be found on the Internet, unless we have some new technology that is hot out of the factory, so the better we can search on the Internet the quicker we can find solutions to our problems.

That is what makes a good IT person. Not willingness, although that does play a big part in learning to become a good IT person. Not intelligence as some people can be very intelligent at some things but totally brain dead in other areas. Not perseverance as even though it will find the answer in the end it can be too late. No it is the ability to research and solve problems in the quickest amount of time. That ability can be learned or it can come naturally but it is a needed ability to make you a good IT professional.