Business System Consultation Center - Our Business System ColumnVol.79 2018.01.01 Takahashi Minoru

The qualities of an in-house SE

Thank you for your interest and continued support.
This is Takahashi from the Marketing Plan Research Laboratory.


The Qualities Required for Employees in a Company’s Information Systems Department or as In-House IT Specialists
for employees to be appointed to corporate IT departments or as in-house IT engineers.
We hope this serves as a useful reference for your recruitment and HR efforts.


① Strong with numbers
Even if they cannot do bookkeeping or cost accounting, there are people who are strong with numbers.
These are people who have no aversion to (or even prefer) evaluating things numerically.
Logical thinking is essential for numerical evaluation.
Those who excel at logical thinking likely have the potential to become an in-house systems engineer.


② Strong interpersonal skills
When interacting with systems (programming languages), there is a single, definitive correct answer.
Therefore, anyone can understand the basics of a system as long as they study.
In contrast, there is no single correct answer when interacting with people.
The true value of an in-house SE is demonstrated through internal communication.
In-house SEs should be selected based on their communication skills as much as possible.


③ Possesses a certain degree of fairness
Systems are designed to ensure that all employees work on an equal footing.
It is best to keep people who think along the lines of “I like so-and-so, so…”
should be kept away from the company’s IT department.


④ Competent
Competent individuals possess both the ability to identify problems and the ability to resolve them.
The person in charge of the company’s IT should be a competent professional.
If you entrust IT to someone who is incompetent, their lack of ability will end up holding back the entire company.


⑤ Has an interest in systems
If a person possesses the qualities listed in points 1 through 4, there should be no particular issues, but
furthermore, those who have a strong interest in programming and systems themselves
is well-suited to be an in-house systems engineer.
Interest in systems is directly linked to the level of expectations placed on system engineers.
With a combination of an excellent in-house SE and an excellent systems engineer, it should be possible to build more advanced systems.


⑥ Has a big-picture perspective
"Logically, that is correct, reasonable, and cost-effective"
"So, what kind of system should we implement in our company?" are entirely separate issues,
and striking a balance between ideal and reality is a skill that requires a big-picture perspective.
An in-house SE lacking this perspective will likely insist on a system that is simply massive, cutting-edge, and packed with features.


That's all, Thank you for reading.

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