Motivating factors play a primary role in any worker’s performance. When choosing a career in IT, some do it for the money, some for the enjoyment and satisfaction. Others like solving complex problems. Regardless of why, there’s one constant that every successful IT person has: Passion. Here are the top three reasons hiring managers care more about passion than credentials:
1. Technical expertise enables a worker, but it’s passion that drives someone. A professional who has a passionate drive about their occupation will do whatever it takes to be successful, to perform at their peak, and to learn the most about their job. Generally, someone with a CCNP has a higher degree of knowledge than another with a CCNA – but the person who has the CCNA will learn the CCNP position, and their drive will help them learn more comprehensively.
2. Passion finds a way around objects and challenges that frustrate expertise. This same drive motivates a worker to excel personally, not just professionally. This brings an automatic increase in perseverance, training, and discipline. People who enjoy their job are also more likely to acquire new information that, while it may not relate directly to the job, nonetheless increases performance.
3. Passion brings something to the table that technical expertise and credentials simply don’t. Having a “burned out” employee with any amount of expertise is still a disgruntled employee. Having a fire glowing inside of a candidate for what they do isn’t a “soft skill,” it’s a necessity. Passion is what will make a candidate acquire skills and knowledge when it’s not required, and what keeps a candidate up late working when the rest of the office is gone. Passion is what distinguishes an ordinary candidate for a growth driver.