Interview process and information gained
Informational interviews are defined as a process in the field of career planning which is used by many organizations during the hiring process. It is generally a type of informal communication between two or more people and in which interviewer asks numbers of the question to the individual regarding the job for the post IT officer (Atefi, Abdullah, & Wong, 2016). The main purpose of this report is to conduct the informational interview for the job of IT officer and highlights the strengths and weakness of individuals. We have conducted this interview to hire students and experience experts for the post of IT officer and it is a very useful process to collect the more experienced person because they have the capability to control the numbers of tasks at a time.
This interview was conducted in Australia and the name of organization is XYZ that provide many technical services to their consumers and there are main two people selected for the IT officers whose name are A and B. In XYZ organization there are only a few technical officers to analyse and control the IT related problems or issues due to which this organization cannot handle numbers of tasks at a time (Chan, & Anteby, 2016). The main role of these persons is to resolve the problems and issues faced by customers and share their knowledge to improve the performance of the organization. We have chosen these people for the post of IT support because both are from a technical background and they have completed their bachelor degree in the stream of IT. The first step of any selection process is screen test and analysis of their knowledge with the help of an aptitude and technical test the interviewer selected both A and B. The human resources team collected their data from various employment-oriented services and communicate with them and gather information and knowledge regarding the job. It is observed that each interview took around 30 to 40 minutes because there are two selection rounds such as HR process and technical process (Cosgrove, 2016).
There are various kinds of questions asked during the informal conversions which are described below:
- What is the role of IT support engineer in the field of information technology?
- If any problem occurs in computer networks then how you will resolve?
Answer of A: The main role of an IT support officer is to maintain and control the computer networks and analysis the advanced computer devices. The IT officer provides a platform to resolve any kind of technical faults and also provide prevention steps to improve the performance of the system (Eftimiades, 2017).
Role of IT officer and their responsibilities
Answer of B: According to my opinion, the IT officer plays a significant role in an organization because they can handle the issues and challenges faced by computer or mobile devices. They have the ability to detect the faults occur in the peripheral devices and if any changes required in computer like forgot passwords, reduce virus, and emails issue then they can help to their customers (Vick, Furlong, & Lurie, 2016).
Answer of A: There are many steps to resolve the computer networks issues such as find the problem, run the antivirus and install the firewall software to detect the unwanted signals. If any software problem occurs then we can update or reinstall with authentic servers (McNabb, et al., 2015).
Answer of B: first communicate with the customer and take the detail of their computer device and check their networks or servers. If any issue faced during the optimization of networks then we can use security programmes like antivirus, cryptography and encryption methods (Hennchen, 2015).
At the time of Interview, the interviewer collected data or information from both person and they compare their knowledge and experience. Both people A and B have basic knowledge of computer networks such as WAN, LAN, routers, switches and firewall software. Most of the organization hires the IT support engineers to control the computer networks devices and I communicated with some of IT officers and take their advice by which I can learn more things about information technology (Ledikwe, et al., 2014).
There are many information’s gained from individuals like their background details, experience, and practical knowledge in the field of IT (Van, et al., 2017). The main similarities of these people are that they are from IT background and they know about the concept of computer networks by which they can resolve the issues of customers. But the main weakness of A is that he doesn’t have any practical knowledge due to which organization required to provide proper training and programmes. There are few differences between both experts such as A has completed their graduation with 80% but the B has completed with around 70% and A worked on many projects during their graduation (Poremski, Whitley, & Latimer, 2016).
Yes I was surprised by one of the occupational information which is that they are from an engineering background but they are very good in the field of management. If you have completed graduation in IT field and you have entrepreneurship and management skills then you can increase your values in the market (Lumsden, & Goode, 2018). IT support officer communicate with many customers for which if he has good management skill then he can handle any kind of complex situation. On another hand, both employees published many research papers in the field of computer networks and also worked on more than 10 projects which were very surprised for me (Sodik, & Nzilibili, 2017).
Benefits of informational interviews for career planning
Yes, the all relevant information about IT officer has increased my interest in the field of information technology because I am also from an engineering background but I don’t know about the computer networks. With the help of this informational interview, I gathered knowledge about computer networks and their issues and they have given answers to all technical questions with a proper explanation (Oliver, 2017).
The main information gathered from both individuals is that they have technical skills in the stream of information technology and they should be flexible. I have many skills or experiences which suits this occupation information for example, theoretical knowledge about computer networks and devices, I have worked on many IT projects by which I can control and maintain the problems of computer servers, and I have also completed my internship in the WAN, LAN, and wireless networks (Meulenbroek, & Turkstra, 2016). With the help of all these skills, people can understand and control the various kinds of problems faced in computer systems and other peripheral devices.
For my individual expansion, I will require flexibility and reliability where I can share my experience and gather knowledge regarding information technology. I will require a platform where I can learn new things about computer systems and improve my technical skills that can help in the growth of an organization. As an IT officer, I will give my best and resolve the challenges or issues faced by customers.
Conclusion
This report is completely based on the role of IT support officer in an organization and researcher also conducted an interview for the post of IT officer. In which there are two experts that are selected for the position of IT officer and interviewer asked numbers of questions to gather relevant information. Therefore, in the field of computer science an IT officer maintain and control the computer networks related issues and improve the performance of user’s peripheral devices.
In relation to career planning, informational interviews have a substantial role as it helps the interviews to determine the skill sets and the USPs of interviewees. Further, those skills, USPs and other qualities of interviewees are matched with the requirements of a particular institute for which interviews are being designed. In relation to this, I consider interpersonal skills and the personality of an individual plays a crucial role. Apart from this, communication is another important factor for an individual to engage with other individuals. In this scenario, MBTI i.e. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator model will be used in order to determine the psychological preferences of different people. This model is a type of subjective questionnaire and determines views of a particular number of people in relation to their views to make decisions. This model is also helping to analyze whether the focus of individuals is linked with extroversion or introversion along with analyzing the way used by different people in terms of consuming information, the method used for making decisions and their perceptions to deal with the world (Chan, & Anteby, 2016). ISFJ is a defender and they have effective analytical abilities which play an essential role in terms of the development of social relationships in terms of generation of new ideas.
Psychometric testing and analysis
Communication skills, negotiation, management, and problem-solving techniques play a vital role in the recruitment process in IT. This helps the recruiter to analyze the abilities of interviewees to perform the tasks. Apart from this, psychometric testing also helps the interviewers to determine the characteristics and cognitive abilities of individuals with respect to the roles and responsibilities. This also helps in analyzing strengths and weaknesses. This test helps the interviewers to understand an individual’s behavior and other qualities.
I use this test in the hiring process in order to reduce the chances of flaws in previous steps of the recruitment process and this test is capable enough to determine all the attributes in an individual which are necessary to determine for the appointment of candidates. Along with this test, I also believe that communication skills also help me to analyze the suitability of candidates with the roles. In the IT industry, major issues arise due to the failure of system, cyber attacks and malware attacks and to manage these issues, appropriate problem-solving approaches needs to be practiced which is part of my skills.
I personally feel that my skills, traits, and behavior are quite similar to the ISJ personality, thus, I consider my model as ISJ. Apart from this, I used to analyze the situation twice before reaching to a judgment and I follow this principle both in practice as well as in professional life. Apart from this, I also follow ethics while taking any decision and according to my ethics, a decision taken should fulfill the expectations of the largest number of people (Meulenbroek, & Turkstra, 2016). An individual’s personal behavior also plays a vital role in the decision-making process because an introvert person takes decision mainly on the basis of his own thinking while extrovert analyses all factors which may affect the expected outcomes before taking any decision.
The style of my decision making also helps me to critically evaluate employees’ performance for the whole year and with regards to this, appraisals are being done. These skills help me to do fair appraisals which fulfill the expectations of individuals to a certain level. Apart from this, it also helps me to deal with real-world issues along with dealing with the diverse situations.
Along with the efficient knowledge of information technology, one should also execute their functionalities with appropriate ethics and principles. These ethics include honesty, integrity, loyalty, and fair behavior. I practice all these qualities in my personal as well as professional life and it also helps me to ensure success in career.
Importance of communication skills and problem-solving techniques in IT
This helps the professionals to treat all employees in a fair and adequate manner and the information within the organizational system (Oliver, 2017). It has been observed that people with ethics are more effective in comparison to the people who execute with unethical principles. Ethics are the primary elements for attaining success in the long run and thus, it leads to the attainment of sustainable growth and development (Poremski, Whitley, & Latimer, 2016).
Conclusion
Every person in the organization with different qualities and traits play a vital role in terms of accomplishment of tasks. In relevance to this, it is the duty of interviewer to determine the character of individuals along with analyzing their qualities to assign tasks to them. Apart from this, ethics also plays a vital role in an individual’s career and it also helps to choose an adequate way of enhancing organizational performance along with the objective of making the right decisions. Ethics, principles and the traits are the true reflections of my leadership style and this has helped me to guide my subordinates along with attracting individuals to boost up the organizational performance.
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