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A recent study by a recruitment agency has suggested that to get ahead in IT, one must possess good people skills, it has emerged.

The survey, taken out by employment agency Hays, found that out of the 120 IT directors who were polled, 94 per cent strongly believed that interpersonal abilities were central to a role in IT support.

Hays noted that the skill was particularly desired by company directors as computing caused many less technologically-adept workers to lack the understanding of problems and how to fix them, with the ability to explain these by IT support workers seen as vitally important to employee education.

James Lloyd Townshend said: "You need a proven track record and be up to date with the direction of technology, but you need to think strategically, give clear direction and engage with people."

A feature for the Earth Times noted that many people found themselves confused by Microsoft Vista, with the new set-up demanding users learn the new ways to do simple tasks such as shutting down their PCs.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent)