Henning helps solve technology puzzles

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Jocelyn Henning makes technology make sense.

“Not really behind-the-scenes stuff,” explained Henning, a support specialist in litigation technology at the Wisconsin Department of Justice. “People ask me about their phones and their tablets, and I say, ‘I’m not techy in that way.’ My whole life doesn’t revolve around tech. There’s still the IT department for that.

“But the use and how to best use it for their day-to-day work – I’ve always been somebody people go to when they’re having user issues with software. It just comes naturally to me. If I see a program can do something, I start poking around and find the neat tools that might be hiding and then teach that.”

It’s an interest she first explored through her husband, a server-and-network type of IT guy, who helped Henning understand that not everyone has her inherent understanding of software.

It took years for Henning to pursue her talent professionally.

In fact, even though she got an associate’s technical degree as a legal assistant, she worked as a receptionist, a paralegal and office manager at small firms before leaving the profession to take care of her son. When she went back to school, Henning joined a non-profit group, working with an agency that handled special-needs adoptions.

But, by 2008, she was ready for a change. So, she applied for a legal secretary position in the civil litigation unit at the Department of Justice.

It took a few years for Henning to go for anything related to technology. And, even then, it took three applications to get the job.

But, she said, it was well worth the wait.

“I enjoy going to somebody’s office, fixing their problem and helping them move forward with the work they’re doing,” said Henning.

Since joining the legal-services division, she has worked on everything from e-discovery to bringing case-management software into the litigation unit.

“That’s my favorite part of the job – the problem-solving. And I like to be able to show them different tricks with the software. Somebody is frustrated, and I can come in, and I’ll say you know there’s an easier way to do this or hey there’s this awesome tool you can use to do that and they’ll say, ‘I didn’t even know that existed.”