While no two people are the same, there are certain aspects of Information Technology that attract certain personalities. By understanding some key points of technology and those personalities that are attracted to it you will understand:

• Why technology isn't for everyone.
• How people can tell a geek from a non-geek.
• How to work with difficult technology experts.

This blog post if based off of my personal experience as a computer expert, working with other computer experts, and working between the realms of computer experts and non-computer experts. You should not use this as the sole basis for any decision making.

Technology is rapidly changing and is becoming more and more a part of society. Its changing so fast, that if you go to a 4 year college to learn about technology, by the time you graduate, everything you learned your first year is obsolete. The usefulness of technology is accelerating and the cost benefit it provides is also increasing. What would cost $2000 three years ago now cost $600, but what cost $2000 today is about 6 times more powerful than what we had 3 years ago.

Technology is rapidly changing, requires strong problem solving skills, does not require good human interaction skills, and requires curiosity or the desire to try new things. One would think that the only thing you need then is an Analytical Thinker, but I've noticed some other traits that stand out. From my experience another key indicator is a person that was thought to of had ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) but were never diagnosed with it and it's calmed down as they've gotten older. An important part that attracts Analytical Thinkers is the ability to be Introvertic when working with technology and because computers are 100% logical (as opposed to emotional).

Bad stress can be caused by creating an influence that is contrary to the personality. For instance, some people can do the same thing over and over again, but if you ask someone who is curious and wants to learn new things to become repetitive, you will get an unhappy IT guy. Also, introverts get drained when they're around people- so the more the IT Guy has to work with the end users the more difficult it becomes for them to work with the end user. In my experience, IT Professionals have more difficulty working with one person that has 10 problems then working with 5 people that have 2 problems each. Also, Analytical thinkers need to gather accurate facts about the problem before giving a solution, so giving non-specific data with a request like "It's broke how do I fix it?" really bothers them. It still bothers me when a user will close an error message box without reading it- just because I don't think I could ever do such a thing and don't understand how other people can.

True IT Professionals are very smart and like to solve problems; but social skills isn't always their strong suit. Just keep in mind that they do not hold anything personal against you, they just rather play on the computers then talk with people. Also, if you find yourself having a lot of computer problems and the IT Guy seems stressed, don't worry about it- it's not you as an individual that is causing the stress, its the situation and sometimes just can't be avoided.