Career
Watch
The CIO at George
Washington University
answers questions about the traits he seeks
in new hires, the value of mentors and more.
You Can’t Spell
‘Positive’ Without ‘IT’
IT employees are more upbeat about the future
than those in many other sectors of the econ-
omy, according to a survey by sta;ng firm
Randstad. Responding to questions
about the future, IT professionals
tended to be positive about things
like job security (82% said they feel
secure) and their level of loyalty and
commitment to their employers (66%
of IT professionals said they feel more loyal and com-
mitted now than they did when they started — that’s a
higher percentage than any of the other four sectors
highlighted in the survey). IT’s optimism stands out in
these sets of responses:
“Our company/organization
has a great future.”
All sectors
IT
Engineering
Healthcare
Finance and accounting
Pharma/life sciences
What qualities have you sought in
recent hires? Recently, we have been
hiring motivated, self-aware individuals
who are dedicated to the mission and
goals of the organization. Our recent
hires are motivated by what is best
for their teams, the division of IT and
the university as a whole, rather than
making decisions solely based on their
personal interests. Finally, we have
been focusing on hiring individuals who
are willing to pay their
dues in the organization,
rather than expecting
to immediately rise
to the top.
and technology and eventually sacrifice
one or the other, because one cannot
succeed in both simultaneously.
How can a lowly sysadmin get his
ideas heard? I’m not looking for
praise, and I don’t want to navigate
the politics of the organization. I
just think there are things we could
be doing better. This is a problem felt
by organizations everywhere, regard-
less of industry. At GWU,
the division of IT works
to confront it head-on
by cultivating a culture
of open communication.
I have an open-door
policy and actively invite
feedback for every initia-
tive. Additionally, we hold
quarterly “Co;ee and Conversation”
gatherings with the CIO and deputy
CIO, where employees can ask unedited
questions and drive the agenda of the
meeting. Managers are not present,
giving sta; members opportunities
to freely articulate their ideas and en-
gage in dialogue with higher levels of
the organization. A real team e;ort is
required to tap into all of an organiza-
tion’s skills, and these conversations
have proved beneficial to everyone in
the division of IT.
“Our senior management is making
the right sta;ng decisions today to get us
where we need to be in the future.”
All sectors
IT
Engineering
Finance and accounting
Healthcare
Pharma/life sciences
59%
74%
67%
64%
60%
50%
SOURCE: JUNE 2011 SURVE Y OF 3,436 ADULTS IN THE U.S.,
INCLUDING 152 IT PROFESSIONALS
FOTOLIA / IQONCEPT
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Is there real value in
having a mentor? How
do you go about find-
ing one? There is real value in having
mentors. They inspire us, discuss career
paths and help us find ways to take our
careers in the direction we choose. A
goal-oriented person always has a men-
tor in some form or another. Several
mentors have helped me get to where
I am today, and the key was choosing
trustworthy individuals with whom I
could have open, real conversations.
The most important message a mentor
taught me was that one day I would
need to choose between management
Startup Freedom vs.
Corporate Stability
What attracts IT workers to startups? Gourmet
lunches? Free massages? All the Red Bull
you can drink? In a Dice.com survey of more
than 750 tech professionals this summer, 42%
of those who said they’d like to work at a startup
cited the entrepreneurship of such an operation
as the big draw. Meanwhile, 22% cited speed and
19% mentioned freedom. But startups were the
employer of choice for less than one-third of those
polled. Many more were interested in jobs at stodgy
corporations. Of that cohort, 74% said corporate IT
would be more stable, 18% said it would be more
structured and 8% said it would be less risky.
