IT Manager Shares Insight About Using Staffing Services
. . . and More.

An interview with Mario Gervasi, Bluedot Services

Exclusive to I.T. Journal:

    Listening to the people who deal with consulting and staffing services and, more importantly, manage their own staff and the assigned consultants is paramount to success for any IT staffing and Consulting company. In this interview, you'll read the "straight from the gut" answers to questions.

What experiences with staffing agencies would you like to share?

    "Well, there's some real turn offs. Like sending non-qualified personnel without proper screening. Or not responding to the urgency of situations. Some have standardized responses rather than listening to my needs and finding the right people. If you don't ask the right questions, the pool you're pulling from might not be the pool you need to draw from.

    "On the other hand, for a relationship to work, staffing companies need to know how to draw out the specific need of a customer; any particular specialty or skill set."

How about insights and experiences with IT professionals?

    "Well, today they need to be more than a computer person. They used to be thrown into a glass enclosed bunker. They can't be sheltered anymore and they have to have communication skills."

Any tips about interviewing?

    "When interviewing, know exactly what you are looking for. And, you have to have a tech background in order to distinguish between similar tech qualities. If you don't have a tech background, get somebody who does to do the interview. Also, don't judge them by how many buzzwords they throw back at you."

How about tips for IT consultants?

    "They need to develop their skill sets based on today's technology. Be progressive. Never stop learning. Also, your skills need to be broad. If you're a specialist, you have to know your specialty inside and out. If you want to be considered an expert, get involved with user groups, hold office in trade organizations, write articles."

Are there any "Rules of Thumb" for managing IT people?

    "No. Throw out the book. Manage them differently because technical people are different. Tech people are driven by solutions to tech problems. It's not something you can teach. It's within. It bugs them to death if they can't come up with the solution . . . they just can't push it aside. You need to be conscious of that and let them work through their process to troubleshoot those issues. Most technical people are only focused on what's right in front of them. Good managers need to recognize that and be the eyes that look around to spot any trains heading at them. Also, never move into their area of specialty to tell them how to do something. That's a classic blunder. You'll lose their respect."

What trends do you see; what do you see happening in the future?

    "Technology is exploding across all mediums; telecom, internet, cellular, and on and on. It's outstripping the supply of support people and it's going to get worse. People are not being properly trained to handle those jobs. What college is training their CS majors in LAN/WAN technolo-gies? How about CNEs and MCSEs? Schools need to redesign their curriculum: Networking, GUI development, etc. COBOL? Who cares! "I guess you can see where my passion lies. We've got to get the word out that this is the future and change what we're teaching to prepare kids for the next millennium. Hey, it's here. And, availability of jobs is great, it pays very, very well and the job security-like no other career can guarantee you."

Thanks, Mario.