So, you’re on the hunt for a new IT support technician for your business. You know that your business needs to expand, and in order to do so, you need to hire a new person or two for your staff.
The only problem? Finding IT support advice, specifically dealing with hiring new employees, can be difficult.
The good news is, we can help!
In this article, we’ll give you 14 tips that you can use when hiring a new IT support technician. We’ll also tell you how you can keep your current employees happier, reducing your turnover rate in the process.
Now then, let’s get started!
1. Know What Skillset You Need to Hire
If you’re looking to hire a new IT technician for your IT support company, you most likely have a specific issue in mind that you need to address.
Whether it’s hardware malfunctions, software programming, or just general IT support, you know what your needs as a company are at the given moment.
With that in mind, it’s important to note that not all IT technicians are the same. Some specialize in particular areas or have experience working on certain IT tasks.
So, before you start hunting for candidates, you first need to figure out where your problem areas are. Doing so will allow you to figure out what skillset you need your new IT technician to have, allowing you to begin your search with a particular direction to head in.
2. Hunt for That Specific Skillset
Once you know what your needs are, and what skillset you’re looking for, you can then began searching for IT technicians that fill that skillset.
At first, hunting for that skillset and that skillset only may seem like a bad idea. But if you or someone else on your staff are experts in other areas, you can do some in-house training to bring your new IT technician up to speed.
Hunting for IT technicians with a specific skill set will also help you dwindle down your candidate list faster. On top of that, this will ensure that you make the right hire for your current needs.
3. Don’t Underestimate the Importance of a Good Fit
Let’s be honest, not everyone on your staff is going to be the best of friends. But, for the most part, your team should click well and everyone should gel together somewhat nicely.
If you’re currently happy with the overall chemistry amongst your staff, the last thing that you want to do is to ruin it by bringing on someone new. That’s why you need to make sure that you don’t underestimate the importance of a good fit when making a new hire.
So, how do you make sure you hire someone who not only has the right skill set but the right personality, too? Well, we recommend that you have one or two upper management or senior-level employees with you during the interview process.
Doing so will allow you to get multiple voices involved in the vetting process, including voices from the people who know your team the best. That way you can increase your chances of bringing someone on board that your existing staff will mesh well with right out of the gate.
4. Understand What Potential Hires Expect From You
There are a lot of ways that you can set a new hire up for failure.
One of the biggest and most common of those ways is to not understand what is that they expect from your business as an employee.
Unfortunately, this does require a bit of honesty on behalf of your potential candidates, which is out of your hands. But if you can get people to open up and be honest about their wants, needs, and expectations during the vetting process, you can set everyone up for success.
The best way to do this is to ask hard questions.
Ask potential candidates what they want out of this job and what it is they’re looking for out of this opportunity longterm. The answers, whether they’re good or bad, will make it that much easier to decide if they’re the right person for the position or not.
5. Communicate Your Expectations for Potential Hires Clearly
As the old saying goes, communication is a two-way street. And perhaps the fastest way to get potential candidates to open up and be honest with you during interviews is to be honest with them first.
As soon as you think you’ve found someone that might be worth hiring, go ahead and start explaining to them what your expectations are for them in this role. Explain what issues you currently have, how you expect them to contribute to solving those issues, as well as any major goals that you may have for the team.
This type of communication can help your potential candidates understand what it is you’re looking for, making it easier for them to decide if they can do the job or not.
Also, it also encourages them to be honest during this process as well, which is what you want in this particular situation.
6. Have a Thorough Vetting Process
We get it.
You want to make a hire and you want to make it as quick as possible. After all, who has an endless amount of time to invest in searching for new employees who may or may not work out in the long run?
While a quick hire isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is important that you have a thorough vetting process before making a decision.
Things like multiple interviews, with multiple candidates, are a great way to make sure you’re making the right decision for you and your team.
A pro tip? Try to do multiple interviews with each candidate that you think has a chance to get the job.
Have an introductory interview where you discuss your basic wants and needs from the position. Then, if you get good vibes from that interview, have a second interview that is a bit more personal and less about IT support.
Doing this will not only give you multiple chances to talk to someone before hiring them but will allow you to get to know all candidates better. That way you increase your chances of hiring the right person for the job on your first try.
7. Know Where to Look for Potential Employees
Before you can start doing interviews, you first need to find people to interview, right?
This is often the hardest part of your search, as it can seem like the right person for your team just isn’t out there.
If this is the case for you and your business, odds are you aren’t looking in the right area for talent.
Unfortunately, each area of the world is a bit different. That means that the best way to find local talent in your area isn’t the same as the best way to find local talent in other areas.
You’re going to need to try a few different techniques, tracking which avenues yield the best results. Be sure to document your findings, too, so you can use them again later when it’s time to expand again.
8. Hold Routine Industry Events to Attract New Talent
One of the best ways to find IT support technicians in your area is to hold IT events at your office on a routine basis.
Not only is this a great way to find new talent, but it’s also an awesome (and fun!) excuse to communicate with customers, clients, and other people involved in your field.
Not sure what kind of event you should have? Don’t worry, something as simple as free breakfast or lunch a few times a year is more than enough to draw people to your office.
9. Offer Referral Programs to Existing Employees
If you’re looking for creative ways to attract and find new employees, don’t look past your current employees for help.
Odds are most of them know other people who also work in the industry, and a few of their friends may be looking to continue their careers elsewhere.
This can be great, as you’ll be bringing someone on who already has a relationship with at least one of your team members. With that being said, it can poorly, as you can upset your current employee if things don’t work out.
10. Improve Your Brand’s Online Presence
Thanks to the internet, you don’t have to rely on face-to-face meetings or personal connections to find new talent.
Using popular job posting sites, you can easily find talent in your area without having to do too much legwork to locate them.
With this in mind, having a strong online presence is an absolute must for any business today. Not only does it help you find potential customers and clients, but it makes it easier to attract talent to your business.
11. Consider Promoting From Within
If you’re looking for IT technicians, odds are you have quite a few of them already on your staff. And if you need someone new to focus on a particular area, you might be better off promoting from within to fill that need.
Sure, you may need to send someone on your team back to school to learn a new skill. But this is the kind of thing that your employees want and love, helping you create an awesome working environment by doing it.
Also, you may find it easier to replace someone on your team and promote them to a new position then to hire for that new position. Again, even with the training, this is often the easier (and better) route to go with things.
12. Offer Great Benefits and a Strong Salary
Perhaps the best way to attract new talent, and to keep your current staff members happy, is to offer great benefits and a strong salary.
After all, financial rewards are one the best way to show your employees that you appreciate them and their hard work.
At a quick glance, you might not think that your business can compete with some of the larger corporations and their benefits packages. But by being a smaller company, you have the ability to offer unique benefits that other, larger companies just can’t.
So, find ways to make your business attractive, but again, don’t underestimate the value of a good payment structure.
13. Maintain a Positive Working Environment
We can’t stress enough have important taking care of your team members and keeping them happy truly is. By doing so, you help to create a positive working environment that people enjoy and thrive in.
On the contrary, not doing so will create a working environment that people hate driving to every morning, which isn’t what you want.
There are quite a few things that you can do to make your working environment more attractive to potential employees.
From taking advantage of natural light to wall color choices to offering healthy snacks, you don’t have to break the bank to create a space people love coming to every day.
14. Create an Efficient Office Layout
Another great way to enhance the overall vibe in your office is to create an efficient and warm office layout.
From utilizing open spaces to having a designated break area, there are tons of things you can do to make your office one people enjoy working in.
People coming in for interviews will absolutely notice that your office is one that looks like it would be nice to work in. That, combined with keeping your employees happy, will help you attract quality talent whenever it’s time to make a hire.
IT Support Advice for Hiring New Technicians
Well, there you have it! Those are 14 tips and tricks that you can use to hire new IT technicians for your business!
As you can see, IT support advice invoking the hiring of new talent is pretty straight forward. Simply take care of your team members, and take your time searching, and you’ll get the results you’re looking for.
Looking for more ways to grow your business the right way? Check out our blog!
