At Abby Kelley Foster Charter School in Worcester, Massachusetts, even the candidates for IT jobs have to take a test.

Gabriel Beltran, the school’s IT director, was looking for a data manager. Following interview calls, he gave candidates two files: one with names and email addresses, another with grades and homeroom assignments. Then he presented them with a merged report that he wanted them to recreate. Beltran looked on as they went to work.

“I decided to include the test, because I don’t want to hire somebody and then find out a month or two months later that they didn’t really have the skill,” Beltran told IT Brew, adding that he let interviewees use whatever tools they prefer to create that merged document.

Get creative.—BH

Will AI change humanity forever, or is it just another tool for IT pros to get stuff done?

Some version of that question has swirled around the tech industry for years, often driven by lofty promises. But as AI matures, IT pros and customers are looking beyond the hype at the technology’s limits and how it’s deployed.

The overall consensus: AI will continue to impact the industry—even if that impact isn’t as earth-shattering as you might believe.

We recently sat down with Doug Hughes, CEO of edtech platform Codio, to discuss how AI is perceived and its effectiveness as a tool.

Newsletter improvement.—EH

Ransomware victims may feel like they missed the early warning signs: a malware download here, a social-engineering call there.

But if you didn’t see a red-flag signal during a scan of the network, you’re not alone: Almost 7,500 organizations around the world were hit by ransomware last year—and there are lots of ways into even the most hardened systems.

During a recent IT Brew event, an attendee asked: “What do early signs of intrusion actually look like in practice? What are the signals that teams most commonly miss before it escalates?”

What am I missing?—BH

CollabWORK connects you to the hidden job market through IT Brew and other trusted channels. Browse roles curated specifically for this community by clicking through to the job board.

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