Characteristics of an effective IT professional

Patience, patience and more patience - IT
can be stressful, fun, challenging and a
whole lot of other things! Having an
overflowing supply of patience – with users,
with other techs, with software, with
hardware, with vendors, with bosses and
with self is of major value!
Ability to adapt quickly to change is another
ingredient that I believe is essential. IT
needs, tools and equipment is constantly
changing – and keeping up with it can be a
challenge. Those that can adapt quickly shrug
off the discarded work of the past in favor of
attacking the new, without seeing the past
work as being futile or a “waste” of time.
A positive outlook is a must have for an
effective IT professional. Change and “issues”
of all kinds crop up daily in the IT world – so
having a positive attitude brings about
stability in self and the environment – things
are just better.
The effective IT professional is not a 9 to 5
person - IT functions often require that work
be done “off” hours. The most miserable IT
person I ever worked with really just wanted
a job to go to between 9 -5. Needless to say,
he didn't work out!
A love for challenge rounds out my top 5
characteristics of an effective IT person. IT is
NOT easy street — it is NOT narrowly defined
— it can be multi-disciplined, requiring
knowledge way beyond the technical. IT is
NOT for everyone — good thing — if it was,
everyone would be doing it whether they
posses these characteristics or not!