Hiring IT Staff You

Can Count On

There are all sorts of obstacles involved in managing a business, and technology is often to blame. Operational issues, faulty processes, communication errors, data breaches – it seems like there is always another tech-related fire to put out.

One of the best ways to keep your business technology running smoothly is to hire competent IT staff. Whether you choose to hire in-house or outsource to an IT staffing company, you can’t skimp on quality when it comes to technical employees. 

How do you know that you’ve hired the staff that is most competent to deal with technological issues, whether it’s an outage or a data breach? Even if you aren’t the most tech-savvy individual yourself, there are some key traits to look for in your IT staff. Here are some ways to hire IT staff that you can truly count on in any given situation.

The Cost Of Capable IT

Before you determine how to hire IT staff, you need to consider how much you’re willing to spend. The last thing that you want to do is interview a bunch of IT professionals only to realize you don’t have enough budget to make those hires. Come up with an amount you’re comfortable spending on new IT hires before you start examining which individuals to hire for your IT staff.

Here are some average salaries for common positions to help you understand how much hiring IT staff might cost you:

• Help desk technician: $46,000 per year

• Network administrator: $69,400 per year

• IT manager: $88,960 per year

• IT project manager: $93,370 per year

• System engineer: $104,400 per year

You might be wondering – do you really need to hire all of these roles to be successful? The answer widely depends on your company size and IT infrastructure requirements. 

For example, a help desk technician has a much different skill set than an IT manager. If you’re simply looking for someone to resolve support issues and keep technology functioning at a basic level, you’re probably fine hiring a general help desk technician. But if you’re looking for someone to build an IT strategy or oversee new tech implementations, you’ll need an IT manager with several years of experience (at a minimum). 

It’s easy to see how large corporations end up spending millions very quickly when it comes to figuring out how to hire IT staff. There are many different skill sets required to complete a full-service technology department, from networking to cloud computing to project management. 

Tip: Remember, you don’t need to hire IT staff in-house to be successful. One way to avoid hiring and training expenses is to outsource your IT department. Whether you need extra hands on deck for a temporary IT project or you’re looking for long-term support, consider hiring interim IT staff to reduce costs and ensure you have constant access to technology experts. 

Questions to Ask When Hiring an IT Professional 

Do you know exactly what to look for when hiring an IT person? 

If you don’t understand the world of IT, you may not know the best questions to ask to vet candidates. Here are some questions to ask that can help you identify the right fit for your company:

• How well do you work with others?

• What will you work on when you’re not “putting out fires?”

• Are you available after-hours and on weekends?

• What industry certifications do you have?

• Can you describe what IT infrastructure that you have either set up or supported in the past?

Once you find a candidate who shows potential, you can get into some more technical and specific questions to make sure they’re a good fit. Ask the candidate to assess your existing information systems and identify weaknesses or opportunities for improvement. Asking this question will help you determine whether an individual is technically proficient enough to notice blind spots that other IT candidates did not. 

If your business handles sensitive information or consumer data, you should also quiz IT candidates on their knowledge of data protection. The IT professionals that you work with need to be on top of the latest data storage and security best practices. Ask what tactics they will use to protect your intellectual property and sensitive information.

Alleviate Your IT Staffing Concerns With SugarShot 

It goes without saying that you have a massive pool of IT professionals out there to choose from. But finding people with the perfect blend of certifications, skills, availability and integrity is far from easy. You may spend endless hours trying to weed through candidates, and trial-and-error is an expensive hiring strategy. It doesn’t make sense to pay a cushy salary to someone who won’t go the extra mile to protect your company, or is going to surf social media instead of addressing important technical support issues.

At SugarShot, we understand that every company has unique IT needs – and you don’t have the time or energy to spend on hiring. That’s why we offer flexible both temporary IT staffing and long-term staff support to augment your team’s capacity. 

You can rely on SugarShot’s IT staffing for any situation, including:

• Covering IT staff on leave

• Filling short-term roles

• Hiring a project lead

• Managing office expansion or relocation

Whether you have immediate help desk needs, or a long-term consulting position to fill, contact us today to find out how we can help!