technical skills Archives - Club Freelance Neo WP UK

Use our template to create a compelling and comprehensive Technical expert job description to attract top talent.

The technical expert is generally a specialist who not only assists and controls but also informs and advises. He or she can particularly be involved in a project as a whole or in part. Here is everything you need to know about the technical expert job, the skills, education and training, career and salary expectations.

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Technical expert: the job

Definition of the technical architecture

Always in accordance with the client’s strategy, the technical experts must analyze the company’s needs to implement the best possible solution to improve the business process. To do so, they will have to carry out internal audits to analyze the existing tools and possibly replace them with more efficient solutions.

They will then have to adapt the products in place to perfectly match the company’s structure. This phase will enable the solutions put in place to be tested to adapt them as much as possible to the company’s needs.

Training of the team

This phase is essential as it consists of training future users about the new product. The expert will assist in the deployment of the new products in order to provide maximum support to the new users.

Monitor and test the implemented tools

The technical expert must set up permanent tests to check the correct functioning of the elements that he/she has installed. In the event of a malfunction, it is important to be able to intervene quickly by analyzing and understanding the cause of the breakdown. As a problem can happen quickly, it is crucial to implement solutions to solve the problem.

Solving complex situations

The expert will have to explore all kinds of dysfunctions and propose a procedure to solve these complex problems. Of course, this procedure will have to be deployed in the company so that everyone can access it.

Also read our article about Project Management, roles, skills and career paths

Required skills of the Technical expert

Technical skills

The technical expert must have an excellent command of the technical solutions that fall within his or her field of competence. But it is also valuable to have a more general knowledge of properly technical solutions, such as a good understanding of one’s client’s field of activity.

Knowledge of English

Good knowledge of English is also important for understanding software documentation. In fact, much software is translated into English. The technical expert can attend training sessions in English on certain tools.

Listening, curiosity, rigor

The expert must be able to listen to the customers to respond as much as possible to their needs. Then, curiosity is essential to constantly seek new technical developments. Moreover, rigor seems indispensable. Indeed, to remain competitive, they must thoroughly assess the company’s needs to respond to them as best they can.

Self-education and versatility

The technical expert is a constantly evolving profession. In fact, always on the lookout for new technologies, the technical expert is in constant training to remain competitive. Versatility is also predominant in this profession. The expert must solve technical problems and train future users of the tools in-house.

Be a good teacher

Finally, he or she must be a good teacher in order to train future users of the tools that he or she will have put in place within the company. This training is provided both internally and externally.

You might also find our article on IT infrastructure: components, professional profile, and best practices interesting.

Context

Internally, the technical expert is in contact with the technical consultants, the support manager, the designers, and developers, and the product managers. Externally, he/she works with service providers, the client, the IT department, and suppliers. They are also in constant contact with future users.

Careers and Salary

Before working as a technical expert, it is preferable to have at least three years of experience in professions such as design and development engineer or IT project manager.
It will be possible for the technical expert to progress to the professions of business engineer, project manager, or technical director.

The average daily rate will be between €550 and €700.

Training and education

It is possible to become a technical expert after obtaining a Bac+2 (DUT or IUT) but also with a Bac+5 (Engineering school, Master). It is then possible to train in a more specialized field. Finally, a doctorate may also lead to technical expert job.

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Undoubtedly, it can be difficult for hiring companies to assess the technical skills of highly specialized IT candidates. Especially when recruitment duties fall more heavily on the HR or Purchasing functions rather than on the more tech-savvy IT managers.

That is even if you consider yourself to be an industry insider who knows all the ins and out of your company’s market. As a hiring specialist, you probably do not have the level of detail needed to assess a candidate’s skill in any of the technical areas of expertise currently most in demand.

But that does not mean you are helpless. Not at all. Here is a series of steps that will help you identify top tech performers regardless of their specialty.

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Assess the Technical Skills of IT Candidates

Start with the CV

The first step in the process of recruiting any candidate is CV analysis. Beyond providing an overall idea of a candidate’s profile and trajectory, a careful look at a CV also offers an opportunity to start filtering early on and be more efficient.

Tips on indicators to look for

Look at these indicators to get a first impression of an expert’s technical skills:

Real-world experience: someone who has worked on actual AWS migration projects, as opposed to someone with just an educational background, will have a deeper knowledge of this technology stack and related AWS tools (CodeDeploy, CodeBuild, CodePipeline…)

The level of that experience. Of course, a consultant with 25 years of experience and major projects on their back will be more skilled than a more junior profile
Specific training and certifications on given technologies. Yes. Education is still important. Not as a substitute of experience, but as a complement that demonstrates a candidate’s professional and career-oriented attitude and validates the depth of their expertise.
The level of detail with which a candidate lists all skills and technologies. A truly experienced IT professional will have no problem specifying what programming languages, stacks and platforms. They dominate and to what level. Whereas someone with not as much experience will opt for more general and vague terminology.

Community involvement

Moreover, not all tech and IT professionals get involved with their community and attend events. Being an active member of the community is not a prerequisite for being good at one’s job. But it sure helps.

If you spot a candidate who attends trade conferences, shares their expertise on forums, or leads workshops on their area of expertise, chances are they are the kind of committed and driven professional you are looking for. Then, positive signs here include having an active GitHub profile, which allows users to share original code and have an open debate a variety of issues.

Ask the right interview questions

The interview is the next step. Asking the proper questions about the skills covered in the CV and the job offer will allow you to get a more precise idea of the candidate’s level of expertise.
Do not hesitate to ask for more detail on the candidate’s past experiences, to alternate open-ended questions and very concrete ones, and to propose hypothetical scenarios. Take the time to prepare your questions in advance.

If your level of understanding of the candidate’s area of expertise is very limited, do not hesitate to be accompanied by someone who can help you prepare and conduct the technical part of the interview.

For more advice, particularly on how to approach interviews with independent contractors, you can check out our article on the 5 key questions to ask a tech or IT freelancer.

Put the skills to the test

Nothing beats an old-fashioned test when it comes to demonstrating certain skills. It is very common for companies to have their IT candidates take task-specific practical tests, both to assess their technical capabilities and other parameters such as essential soft skills and cultural fit.

Again, you can enlist the help of a tech-savvy colleague to design the test and interpreted. It is standard practice to develop a range of tests covering the most common positions, but you will need to do some extra work for areas of expertise that are not so ubiquitous or if the candidate needs to fulfil very specific project specifications. Working with an industry-specialized recruiter can also give you an edge here.

Check the references

Last step: checking a candidate’s references. As it is the case with any other position, this process takes time but is essential to avoid mistakes. Especially when you do not know too much about the skills you are vetting.

Compare the answers that the candidate provided during the interview to what former employers have to say. Ask these employers about the depth of the candidate’s knowledge, as well as their role within the project and overall performance. Here you also have a chance to corroborate your first impressions of the candidates cultural fit and their soft skills.

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