Finding the right people is critical when you need to fill IT customer support and help desk positions. Only someone who is knowledgeable and skilled will be capable of interacting with both your customers and your internal team.
Here are some tips for hiring the right help desk technician for your organization:
An Accurate and Specific Job Description
To attract the right candidate, you need to be specific about the job requirements such as skills, experience, and education. It’s tempting to list higher levels of experience and training, but you risk losing out on interviewing prospects who may have an adequate amount of talent yet don’t meet your exaggerated criteria.
On the other hand, lowering your standards too much may mean having too many people apply for the position. To avoid this, create a job description with requirements that are somewhere in the middle and realistic to what your organization’s actual needs are. Remember that those who come with the highest levels of experience and education will also be the ones who demand the biggest salaries.
Key Responsibilities
The following are the basic requirements of help desk technicians. Anything more that you add to your job description will be unique to the needs of your organization and be focused more on company culture.
- Provide technical assistance and support for incoming queries and issues related to software, hardware, and computer systems
- Respond to customer queries over the phone or via email
- Performing remote troubleshooting through diagnostic techniques and relevant questions
- Determining the suitable solution based on the concern and details provided by customers
- Walk the customer through the problem-solving process
- Provide specific information on IT products or services
- Record events, problems, and resolution in logs
- Follow-up and update the customer regarding status and information when needed
Education, Experience, and Training
- Bachelor’s degree (preferred) unless adequate training and experience will suffice
- Working knowledge of fundamental operations of relevant software, hardware, and other equipment
- Knowledge of relevant call tracking applications
- Experienced in customer service practices
- Trained in troubleshooting and providing help desk support
Interview Tips
When hiring the right help desk technician, pay particular attention to their communication skills. They may have all the technical education and experience but lack in communication skills. Because they will have direct contact with your customers, they need to communicate effectively to understand the problem and explain the solution whether over the phone or via email.
Help desk technicians should be customer-oriented and patient enough to deal with the most demanding customers. The right candidate must be able to prove their problem-solving skills, have attention to detail, and be a team player.
When hiring the right help desk technician for your organization, look for someone who meets the technical criteria and use your interview skills and trust your gut when it comes to determining if they have the right attitude for customer support.
TeamHeadquarters service and help desk provide your IT services team with a secure, role-managed ticketing system that includes an easy-to-use, responsive interface. The help desk technician you hire will perform at their best to provide excellent service to your customers and your internal team when they have a reliable system in place.
For a free demo of TeamHeadquarters, click here.
