The Secret To Filling An Open IT Position The Right Way

Filling That Position Is An IT Manager's Most Important Job
Filling That Position Is An IT Manager’s Most Important Job

When you were just a worker-bee you didn’t have to worry about things like hiring people – you just had to worry about hanging on to the job that you had. Now that you are an IT manager, you’re going to have to start getting comfortable with your new role as someone who has to find people to fill open spots. Got any suggestions on how to do this correctly?

Step 1: Define The Job’s Requirements

Although the ultimate goal of the hiring process is to find the right person for the job, you don’t start out with people. Instead you need to start with the job.

You’re going to have to sit down and take the time to lay out the job’s requirements. You won’t be able to even start the process of looking for someone to perform the job until after you make sure that you have a good understanding of just exactly what you are going to want them to be doing for you.

There are five different characteristics of a job description that you are going to have to document:

 

  • Primary responsibilities

 

 

  • Background needed

 

 

  • Personal characteristics

 

 

  • Organizational culture

 

 

  • Managerial style

 

Primary Responsibilities

In this part of a job description, you are going to want to identify the tasks that are involved in performing the job. Just as importantly, you may need to identify what tasks are not part of the job!

Background Needed

In your opinion, what kind of background is needed in order to successfully perform this type of job? Required background can include such things as college degrees, previous work experience, etc.

Personal Characteristics

This is where you start to really define what kind of person is going to be needed in order to perform this kind of job. One of the most important questions that you are going to have to specify for the job is if you need an extrovert or an introvert to fill the roll. Good people skills are not always needed if there is not a lot of contact with others required.

Organizational Culture

Every job exists within the company that created it. Every company has a different sense of corporate culture. Aspects of this culture that will impact the job can include things like how much teamwork is used to accomplish projects, how much conformity to company policies is required, and how rewards are handed out.

Management Style

In the end, how you manage will play a role in the type of person who will be best suited to fill this position. We all have different management styles and depending on our style, different types of workers will better suited to working for us.

What All Of This Means For You

One of the most critical jobs that an IT Leader has is hiring new workers to fill positions within the company. Before you can start the process of interviewing candidates, you need to first take the time to define the job’s requirements.

When defining an IT job’s requirements, you need to take into account a number of different factors. These include job responsibilities, background needed, personal characteristics, organizational culture, and your own management style.

Yes, this may seem like a lot of work to do up front when you have an open position on your team that you are trying to fill; however, the work is worth it. Knowing what job you are trying to fill is the key to finding the right person to do the work.

– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World IT Management Skills™

Question For You: How important do you think educational background is when you are trying to fill a position?

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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

How would you like to end up spending the next year in court and costing your company many millions of dollars? Not a good way to manage your IT Leader career, eh? Too many of us risk doing this whenever we try to fill an IT position without first clearly defining what the job is…