On ThE JOB
What Employers Want

WEll-ROunDED EmPlOyEEs
“an employee must understand how technology fits
into the client’s business. Technology is a tool, not
Inside
the answer,” says business owner adam blumberg,
whose Houston-based company, Truistic solutions,
provides IT support and managed IT services. “our
job is to understand business and know where the
technology can add revenue and lower costs. our
employees need to have good technical knowledge
and know how to adapt technical services to the
IT
business’s needs.”
cOmmunicATiOn sKills information Technology is
matt Trost, an Information Technology teacher and
web administrator, agrees that IT professionals
fAsT-PAcED AnD inTEnsE.
should have more than technical knowledge
to be successful. Trost writes for the business
professionals of america web page and
communicates regularly with clients. “professionals T
hose who walk a mile in Robin Hughes’s aid department’s database. “I test the software
shoes might find themselves power walking. so that if problems arise in the office, I know
Hughes works in the fast-paced world of how to fix it,” says Falbey. He adds that having
have to be extremely well-rounded,” he says. television news as the art director at KHOU- a strong background in math and science has
“strong writing and communication skills are a TV in Houston. She never knows what will be helped him think logically and work efficiently.
must for what I do on a daily basis.” waiting for her when she enters the building
each morning. Entrepreneurial spirit
PROBlEm-sOlvinG “The first thing I do is check the ‘discrepancy IT is a good field for people who want to be
cathy nordt’s Houston-based company, i.focus report’ for the late newscast and address entrepreneurs. Kevin Grace admits he was
corp., is a recruiting firm for technical professionals problems if they pertain to me,” says Hughes. already a computer fanatic when he entered
serving mainly small to mid-size companies. Hughes leads a staff of five graphic artists an IT class at his school a few years ago. Now
“workers have to think like a businessperson who provide graphic and animation resources the ambitious 19-year-old owns his own
instead of a techie,” nordt advises. “employers for at least five newscasts, the daily morning networking business called Mithrilcorp
want really talented people who can provide entertainment show Great Day Houston, and in the Burleson area.
solutions to a problem using technology.” the website www.khou.com. “My day is usually hectic,” Grace says.
being able to interact with business and industry “We also create promos for creative services, “We develop software, fill feature requests,
is vital. “IT is a people business and personal skills sales, public service announcements, and and do network troubleshooting.” When
are very important,” says nordt. signage,” she says. The workload can be systems go down
demanding. “We can have up to 15 requests at any of his 1,000
ExPERiEncE in a day with short deadlines, so we typically clients’ offices,
Toni flores, an Information Technology teacher in jump through hoops to get announcements on Grace and his
the mcallen Independent school district, directs the air,” Hughes says. employees are there
a program that allows students to receive college Because of the continuous changes in to fix the problems.
credit while working part time for local companies. technology, Hughes says future graphic artists Grace learned his problem-
students assist corporations by setting up pcs, must be well rounded. She advises students solving skills at Burleson High
installing software, and reformatting computers. to “bring more to the table. Study it all: print, School’s Cisco Academy. There he
“This really allows students to get a taste of what moving video, real time and 3-D rendering, learned about wireless technology
it’s like in the world of IT,” flores says. “students and web. Explore and experiment to make and how networks operate. He used
who go through this program are able to grow yourself more marketable.” the knowledge to start his company
professionally and accept greater responsibility Hughes’s job is typical of the intense daily while he was still in school.
quicker than others. employers want to see that. duties in Information Technology. Many IT “With the help of our instructor,
They value those qualities in IT professionals.” professionals work long hours solving complex we were able to submit bids to
blumberg adds that security will be a big issue in technical problems. companies in the tech industry and,
the next five to ten years. “many industries will be fortunately, they gave us jobs,” he
saving more data and processing more materials, Debugging software says. He plans to give back to the
so companies will need employees who are fully Sean Falbey, a business systems analyst with community by offering students
experienced in security software and hardware the University of Texas Health Science Center internships so they can see what it
protocol,” he says. in Houston, spends part of his time working would be like to step into an
the bugs out of annual updates to the financial IT career.
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