Wanted: A Techno-ninja with Cosmic Aspirations

(Also known as an IT Engineer Resident℠)

WHO WE ARE

Entara is a new kind of IT Managed Services Company. We’re built from the ground up to provide the strategic vision, platforms, processes and people to travel with our clients on the path to their best IT future. We partner with mid-sized Chicago organizations to make technology work brilliantly for our clients.

We launched in 2001, as the niche firm YJT Solutions (You Just Trade) helping to solve some of the IT challenges of Chicago’s most intense trading environments. Because of our success working in the financial industry, we branched out to serve other industries over a decade ago.

In 2018, we rebranded to entara because our company has grown and evolved far beyond its original roots. We are doubling down on making investments in our future to better serve our clients. We are evaluating new toolsets, selecting and integrating the best ones for our future-facing IT Service Management platform, entaraWorks. We are hiring tomorrow’s leaders, giving them the opportunity to grow beyond what they ever imagined.

We’ve been formally recognized as one of Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in both 2017 and 2018. Although we’re ranked among MSPmentor’s Top 200 global IT managed services providers, our customers are generally local to the Chicagoland area. Our sole focus is excellence. If you are fond of the phrase “close enough,” please don’t apply for this job. Our success is built on developing exceptional relationships with fellow co-workers and clients alike, as we collaboratively chart our best paths forward to the future.

EMBARK ON THE JOURNEY

We invite you to join entara and start your journey as an IT Engineer Resident. This fast-tracked, rotational development program is where many entaraCorps began their career progression into both technical and even some non-technical positions that influence our clients lives on a daily basis.

At entara, we believe in “always learning” employees—engineers at all levels who value personal advancement and want to escalate up the skills ladder. We do our best to make that happen. You won’t find yourself on the hamster wheel at entara; we don’t waste time fixing the same issues over and over—we seek to move ourselves and our clients, beyond into the future of technological advances.

There are no “McJobs” at entara. Our senior engineers are required to teach and mentor residents, not just supervise them. As a resident, you’ll be responsible for solving a wide variety of network and systems issues for entara’s clients. When you need support, it’s immediately available. You’ll be learning by doing.

We call this first-year experience a “residency” because it’s an opportunity to enhance your skills with hands-on experience solving problems for businesses of all shapes and sizes. You’ll be using a variety of IT tools and products. You’ll deal with services for client accounts but also be exposed to customized IT systems and networks.

A residency at entara isn’t limited to technology. Our success is built on relationships with co-workers, end-users, clients and their clients and employees. Because we’re a small firm, with a philosophy of teamwork and transparency, you’ll also learn how the business operates.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING

(Otherwise known as the fine print, the list of job tasks and responsibilities.)

IT Engineer Residents are primarily responsible for providing first-level support entara’s clients with network and systems support issues, often as the first point of contact. Residents are also exposed to monitoring and management tools that help proactively address problems before they become service tickets. You will be supported and mentored by next-level engineers.  

• Carry Out Operations
  • Accept cases from the support queue
  • Know when to fold ‘em—understand when and how to escalate an issue
  • Document all tasks in ITSM platform
  • Exceed SLA guarantees to entara’s clients
  • Communicate progress on problems, as well as resolution
  • Assist clients with support, both onsite and remotely
• Employ Technology
  • Complete new computer setups
  • Configure network printers
  • Fix virus/malware issues
  • Troubleshoot and configure basic backups; perform simple file restores
  • Resolve computer application and operating system issues
    • Install, configure, and troubleshoot
    • Verify network connectivity, both wired and wireless
    • Provide mobile device support, including Apple, Android, and Windows devices
  • Manage end-user email experience
    • Master Exchange and Office365
    • Troubleshoot bounce-backs, SPAM, and transmission issues
    • Configure webmail
  • Manage user profiles
    • Navigate Active Directory and Exchange to perform password resets, move/add/change requests, file permission adjustments, and distribution list creation

WHO YOU ARE: REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• You have a minimum of one year experience as an outside support resource, or two years working as internal support. You either have a Bachelor’s degree or you’re actively working toward completion of one. You will obtain an applicable certification (such as MCP) within your first six months at entara. CompTIA and Cisco certifications are a definite plus.
• You’re getting to be the grease monkey of the IT environment. You have a firm understanding of desktop hardware and operating systems, and can use hardware diagnostic tools to address operating systems issues. You have a solid understanding of standard employee productivity suites—Microsoft Office/Outlook, and you fully understand mobile device configurations and support.
• You have a basic understanding of networking principles, including:
  • • Client-server networking, switching, and the Alphabet Soup of TCP/IP—DNS, WINS, DHCP, routing and internet.
    • CAT5/CAT6 wiring, including wireless security and client configuration, and network firewall and security technology.
    • Entry-level knowledge of Active Directory, with the ability to perform basic user-account administration tasks.
• You know that maintenance tasks, consistently carried out, are essential to smooth server operations.
• You’re capable of monitoring and trouble-shooting backup software, reviewing hardware monitoring tools, and trouble-shooting the fundamentals.
• When the baby gets sick, you know what to do. You have corporate anti-virus software experience (preferably Symantec Endpoint Protection), as well as experience removing viruses and spyware.
• You’re available to work nights and weekends in a rotation, while getting days off. Yes, there will be weekend and night shifts— entara provides local, live coverage 24/7 just like a hospital does.  We believe we’ve found the best compromise between delivering round-the-clock service and still creating a learning atmosphere where residents get a taste of everything—day and night—and aren’t “stuck” in a single, static shift. These hours might initially seem like an adjustment, but our residents tell us that they learn a lot during these times that they would never learn in another “regular” job. And we make it up to you with some two-day workweeks! Also, as any doctor will tell you, the shift work doesn’t last forever.  Once you’ve proven your knowledge, you’ll be promoted to Engineer and be the person training the next class of residents. 

If your skillset doesn’t meet these requirements, you won’t be a fit for this job. Please don’t apply. If you’re working toward this skill level, we’d love to hear from you down the road as you continue to develop.

WHO YOU ARE: PERSONALITY-WISE

• Right Brain, Left Brain OS: You’re a little obsessive-compulsive when it comes to correctly implementing known solutions, but you’ve got a streak of Potter-ish ingenuity when something weird comes along. You break problems down, using a logical process of elimination to solve them. But you pay attention to intuitive inspiration.
• Persnickety: You follow complex, detailed instructions for complex, detailed tasks. Again, you avoid even thinking, “That’s good enough.”
• Bilingual in English and Tech-speak. You understand what the problem is, even when the person calling is 404, technically speaking. While they’re talking, you’re thinking technologically, assessing and solving their issue, then translating the solution into English before communicating it to the end-user. In other words, you speak the mainstream language recognized by Muggles.
• Resilience of a rubber band: You don’t snap when stretched to your limits by panicked, frustrated and/or irate users who probably tried to solve the problem themselves before calling the Service Desk and are therefore operating on their last nerve. You have the temperament of a Zen monk on a Rocky Mountain high.
• Appetite for learning: You’re always reaching for the next apple on the knowledge tree, as well as the last piece of pizza in the box. Learning is its own reward—but it also helps when you have your eye on a job in the next tier. You like working in a managed-knowledge organization that promotes from within as you gain experience.
• Persistent, but not stubborn: You’ll be damned if you’re going to give up on a problem you know you can solve, but you recognize when it’s time to escalate to a higher tier. Next time, you’ll have the solution at hand.
• You play fair. You live by all those early childhood lessons about treating people with respect, keeping your commitments, listening to the views of others, resolving conflict through negotiation, communicating clearly, and contributing to a positive team effort. You place team success above your individual interests.  

We’re serious about these qualities. If they don’t apply to you, you won’t be happy at entara and we won’t be happy with you. We’ll part ways sooner rather than later.  Let’s avoid all that discomfort by agreeing you won’t contort yourself to meet requirements that just don’t fit. You are who you are, and that’s okay.

WHAT YOU GET IN RETURN

You’ll have a direct impact on our operations, our clients, and our fellow entaraCorps members. Because of that impact, you’ll get our respect and gratitude for the role you play in making entara the best it can be.

We’ll provide you with skills, training, responsibility and opportunities to grow, both at entara and wherever your career takes you in the future. (However, we hope you’ll be successful here for a good, long time.)

We consider mentoring and participating in the continual learning of others to be absolutely essential for both you and your co-workers. You’ll benefit by developing your leadership skills—and by having a replacement ready when you’re ready to move up to another position.

We know that’s not enough.

Here are some of the employee benefits we currently offer:

• BCBS Gold-level PPO Medical Insurance, premiums paid 100% by us
• Generous and flexible Paid Time Off policy
• 401k Corporate Matching Program
• Reimbursement for approved certification tests and training, seminars, conferences and more
• Dental Insurance
• Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Healthcare Savings Account (HSA)
• Dependent Care FSA
• Tax-advantaged Commuter Benefit Plans
• Company-wide outings every three months. Recent examples include Ravinia concerts, rooftop barbecues, floating the Chicago River, bowling & bocce, laser tag, and vintage gaming at Headquarters, among other things!

And there’s more…

Free snacks and drinks, weekly lunches, and “Fridays at Four.” Combine that with the chance to work with a variety of clients in some of the most interesting industries around, solve big problems, create new pathways in managed services, and help to lead our clients and ourselves deep into the future, and entara becomes the one IT company that’s hard to beat.

And there’s even more...                                

Our spirit is what makes us different. We work hard. We play hard. We care about each other because we respect where each of us comes from and who we are. We have a more evolved notion of teamwork--solving client problems together and scouring the horizon for new ideas together. We recognize the journey we’re all on, from our clients to ourselves. We’re all at different places on that journey, and each stop requires support, knowledge and courage to move on. It’s why we bring the best tools and support to our clients. And why we treat and reward our entaraCorps the way we do.