8 Tips for Filling Your IT Job Opening with a Qualified Candidate

Many people refer to IT as the backbone of an efficient and successful company.

Not many jobs require to put out as many fires on the homefront than an IT Technician.

That’s why you need to make sure you’re hiring the right ones for your open IT positions.

Unfortunately, savvy candidates don’t just arrive on your doorstep. You have to take the initiative and set yourself up for finding the right fit for your team.

Here are 8 tips you should consider the next time you’re looking to fill an IT position, or any position for that matter, with the right job candidate.

1. Social Media is Your Friend

We live in a time where social avenues and online job postings are more available to us than ever before.

Use that to your advantage and shout your job vacancy to the masses!

Regardless of what sites your business has an account for, you can see a piling of applicants within a few hours of posting the position.

Building your brand online will help this by giving interested applicants a look at what it’s like to be in the shoes of your employees for a day.

This also allows your business’s network to help spread the word to people they may see as a good fit.

2. Interviewing is a Sales Meeting

If you’ve interviewed someone then you know it’s as much about selling the interviewee on your company as it is about them selling you on why they’re a good fit.

Optimize the interviews that you set up by providing a time-efficient and friendly interview that will leave the applicant wanting more.

Everyone gets nervous during an interview, the perfect fit may be sitting right in front of you just too timid to properly explain what makes them your ideal candidate.

That makes it your job to be friendly and dive into what skills and certifications they have to be the IT technician-savior of your company for years to come.

Find out more on selling your company and it’s benefits to set your brand apart from the others.

3. Be Thorough with Job Descriptions

Is there anything worse than being excited about an open job position, then having it be NOTHING like the job description said it would be? Didn’t think so.

Don’t get caught on the other side of that by improperly explaining the skills and expectations that your company has for it’s IT guys and girls.

Your clever wording on the job description may trick them into coming aboard, but it won’t trick them into staying.

Clarify your job descriptions, write an engaging introduction into the workplace, and be transparent on the skills needed for the position.

You can’t expect to find a certified CISSP if that was never included in the requirements for the job.

4. Bring the Job to the People!

Not seeing the appropriate level of experience apply for your open position?

Do you have an expectation of the perfect candidate that current applicants haven’t filled? Then take the initiative and go find them yourself!

Job boards such as Indeed and Glassdoor give their site users the ability to post their resumes online.

That gives you permission to comb through resumes and reach out to those that fill out all of your requirements.

Don’t let pride talk you into thinking you’re too good a company to go searching for people. If NFL teams have to still search for top-tier talent to join their company, so do you.

5. Circle Back with Former Candidates

Did you have a few candidates last time around that was just barely edged out by the one you ended up hiring? Perfect, make them your first call.

The best type of candidates are those you already have a rapport with. They’ll find that valuable as well, so don’t be afraid to reach out.

Be transparent with why you see them as a good fit and where you see them headed in your company’s future, should you give them the position.

Set the expectation of what the application and interview steps are with them from the get-go.

Regardless of whether it differs from your typical process or they need to be put through the wringer all over again. Setting those steps out will help build a smooth process.

6. Monitor Your Company Page on Job Boards

Whether you were previously aware or not, current and previous employees have been posting about their experiences at your company.

Online job boards such as Glassdoor and Indeed.com offer applicants an insight into what it’s like to work at your company, and the reviews can vary.

The best action you can take is to claim your company’s page on all available sites.

While you won’t be able to delete negative reviews, you can respond and represent your branding on those comments.

Being that this is one of the first things applicants do these days, you’ll want to provide a positive first impression.

7. Use Your In-House Connections

The best way to expedite the interview process is by posting internally first thing.

You may have had an employee with interest in IT from the get-go, just waiting for their opportunity to seize an open position.

Also, if none of your current workers have the experience, they may have a friend or relative that does.

Having an immediate connection to the applicants you bring in can help reveal why they’d be such a great fit for your IT team.

8. Make Sure They Have Certification

The software and technical procedures that your company’s IT team uses could be specified with a certain area of expertise.

If that’s the case, you’ll want to list certification of those procedures as a requirement on your job description.

For example, if your company uses Cisco software and products for it’s IT, you’ll want to make sure they have their CCNA or CCNP.

Ask your IT team for the certifications they’d deem necessary for your company’s needs.

Land the IT Job Candidate You Need

Hopefully, these tips will help you consider all the ways you can come about finding the perfect job candidate for your open IT position.

Be sure to keep up with all the latest trends to stay up-to-date with what your company can provide for applicants that others can’t.

Best of luck in the recruiting process, stay true to yourself and let your company’s brand do the talking for you!