Drawn to IT APRIL 18, 2005 (COMPUTERWORLD) - Diana Robinson decided to make a career change in June 2001, just as the economy and the tech field started to collapse. Still, Robinson, 36, believed that the move was right. "I had this concept in my mind that I was more of a soft-skills person, but I realized I wanted to solve problems," Robinson explains, adding that she had always tooled around with computers. So Robinson quit her job managing a bookstore, moved in with her mother and started to take certification courses. She took PC maintenance, repair and networking, and she earned CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications. She then took a Windows 2000 administration class and became a Microsoft Certified Professional. She started looking for a job in late 2001 with the help of Atlantic Associates Inc., a Boston-based firm that specializes in IT staffing and consulting. Robinson took several temporary entry-level positions at Boston-based Partners HealthCare System Inc. as a way to break into the market. "These are opportunities to get some experience and prove yourself," says Atlantic Associates President Jack Harrington. "A lot of our people have started out as desktop support and moved their way up." That's what happened to Robinson. Partners hired her full time in April 2004 as an NT Engineer 1.