Web hosting is still a relatively new market and its concept remains unknown to many. Walk down any street and ask a few people what web hosting means and you'll receive a variety of unsure answers. Because of that alone, you can imagine that the pool of web-host-worthy applicants to a tech job is small. Some believe that there will be a shortage of tech skilled workers in the next ten years, but I don't see it this way. Imagine the children growing up in the now flourishing Web 3.0 world. They grew up watching movies on a laptop in their room, they'll never know anything else. Netflix. Vonage. iPods. I am sure many of these children will choose to go into the IT field. Everything that we have grown accustomed to, or were forced to change, will be completely natural and inspiring for them.
As for the present time in the hosting field, our collective results vary. Many entry-level employees at web hosting companies may only have call center backgrounds. Some of them may have websites of their own but were never sure of how web hosting really worked. Depending on how fast they learn and their initiative, these new "apprentices" can eventually be leaders and loyal members of your team.
How many of your own employees previously worked in the hosting industry and how many are currently under apprenticeship? If you can say that everyone in your staff has hosting experience, your cherry picking may cause you to miss out on bright team players.
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Still it's not that hard to learn the ropes of web hosting, there are a lot of free great resources out there.
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www.mobiletechzone.blogspot.com
1. Bridge the gap between individuals with a Microsoft skill set and those who have hosting knowledge.
2. Give hosters an additional tool for identifying good talent.
Hosting because it is relatively new is a unique business and it takes a unique breed who can perform in that environment.
In regards to the intern approach I somewhat agree. I started working for a web hosting company in '98 just prior to graduating college. At the time I worked in support and never really imagined that I would make a career in the hosting industry. However, I always wanted to learn and spent a lot of time(Even during my off days) helping and learning from the System Engineers and Administrators.
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/win2003...