IT Talent for the Commercial Printing Industry

By Cheryl Adams

Techno Hiring Advice

If there is a bit of advice to be had in Arnold Kahn's experience as an executive recruiter for the printing industry, it's don't fill an IT position with a totally green person. "Experience, practical real-world experience, is a must. However, hiring an inexperienced person can be OK if there is someone already aboard, another IT tech with experience who can train/teach that person."

Al Kennickell, president of Kennickell Print and Global Marketing, also cautions to "watch out for project creep. You start out with the scope of what you're doing, then someone says, 'Can we make it do this or that? And, the next day it's, 'Can we make it do this and this, too?' The project begins to grow in little steps and, pretty soon, it's twice as big as was originally stated. But you can't re-estimate the price. From that experience, we've learned to detail everything up front. We learned the hard way early on. A simple job turned into something incredibly elaborate."

Gather data, lay out expectations, write down client needs/requirements, present a clean report, on which all agree, before signing off on it, advises David Torok, president of Padgett Printing. "Behind the scenes, map out everything, so that when you're ready to go live, you can go live. Being totally prepared will help with the success rate of the project."

Mario Assadi, president of Tulip Graphics in Berkeley, CA, says to consider transitioning your desktop staff into programming, ultimately, helping them to upgrade their skill sets to do the job. "Transitioning these employees to a new career also helped our company, by bringing in additional work. Internal hiring and training is the way to go."

WHILE IT applications in the printing industry find their roots in the early '90s, their diverse applications in today's digital environment is where they are finding their true calling. And calling is exactly what customers are doing--requesting more IT-based products than ever before.

Computer programming, database management, variable data printing, Website design, Web-to-print storefronts, PURLs, hybrid workflows, fulfillment. These are increasingly hot button requests. And, more printers, turned marketing services providers, are expanding their product offerings. As they do, they need IT people--the programmers who will turn their virtual dreams into a literal reality.

IT people are highly prized employees, whose skills and capabilities are quickly becoming a treasured asset, if not necessity, for successful graphic communications providers. Employees with a print background who have strong computer skills--database and programming experience to manage mailing lists and such--are ideal candidates. Those skills are very much in demand, says Arnold Kahn, president of the PrintLink executive search agency in Rochester, NY.

IT, Print Expertise Needed

"IT positions in the printing industry are relatively new, and small- to mid-size printers are struggling to find qualified people. Most IT people have worked outside the printing industry, and printers are eager to find qualified IT candidates with printing industry experience. Some of the larger printing firms have recognized the need for IT initiatives several years ago and have a leg-up on those just becoming aware of the need now," he adds.

Starting on the ground floor is very difficult when you're starting to incorporate IT applications into a printing business. It's extremely important to define what the IT person will be required to do. Basic IT experience, or experience in another area of IT, is not necessarily a good fit with printing applications.

Before a printer brings in any IT capabilities, or before upgrading to newer ones--for example, Web-to-print, JDF and automated workflows--the company must define the jobs and describe the requirements.

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