| IT consultant skills vary widely. The successful | | | | If you are used to dealing with enterprising users |
| ones will have the traits that help them deal with | | | | that are a lot more sophisticated than the typical |
| their customers. | | | | small business end user. You need to be able to |
| IT Consultant Traits: Can You Manage Employees? | | | | take and check your ego at the door. |
| Even in your first year of business there is a | | | | You have to be able to put your ego on the back |
| pretty good chance that you will have to have at | | | | burner and think what is in the best interest of |
| least a few sub-contractors that you work with | | | | your client and your business. Sometimes it is |
| long before you get to the stage where you can | | | | best to just walk away. |
| hire employees. | | | | IT Consultant Traits: Are You Empathetic? |
| When that comes up, you are going to have to | | | | Can you feel your client's pain, can you |
| make hiring decisions and unfortunately what | | | | understand what they are going through so you |
| comes along with that turf too is firing decisions. | | | | can provide the best solution? Often, the best |
| So you need to be decisive enough in those areas | | | | thing to do is just listen, understand where they |
| and take swift action. | | | | are coming from and calm them down. |
| IT Consultant Traits: Are You Diplomatic? | | | | You'll need to do that a lot of times even before |
| You need to be able to teach technology to | | | | you can start treating the symptoms, working on |
| people that are often times computer phobic and | | | | the PC that keeps locking up or the network |
| not make them feel bad about that. That is really | | | | drive that keeps disappearing and figuring out the |
| important among small businesses cause in a lot | | | | cause. |
| of ways. | | | | |