Top 10 Competencies to Look for When Recruiting for Information Technology Positions

In the hectic world of technology, the standard skill set needed to identify during information technology recruitment is ever-expanding. Maintaining your computer systems, securing your data, and translating the needs of non-technical staff into high-tech processes means hiring top-notch IT professionals who set the bar high for themselves. Hiring the best team IT experts for your team delivers long-term value and will help keep your company flowing smoothly. IT professionals provide the kind of infrastructure and tools every organization needs in order to operate efficiently and effectively. 

Here are the top 10 competencies to look for when recruiting for Information Technology positions: 

Technical Skills

It’s crucial to look for the proper technical skills in a potential hire, you want someone who knows what they are doing. If you write a great job post detailing the skills required, then you can screen applicant resumes for the prerequisite skills before interviewing a more select group of candidates. For IT job openings, the details the candidate provides in their resume will make or break whether or not they progress through the selection process. Stand-out candidates will deliver a resume to land the interview that includes a strong summary of their accomplishments, experience, and education – matching your hiring criteria.

Communication and Listening 

The best IT recruits have remarkable communication and listening skills. You can typically get a sense of this in an interview. Having good communication in any sort of work environment is important, especially for IT specialists. They talk to customers and coworkers, listen to them about technical issues they may have run into, and retain that information to go fix the problem at hand. See how well they translate a subject of complex technical jargon into a conversation to be understood by non-technical team members.

Creative Problem Solving 

Not all problems can be solved with the same tactics or techniques. Often, an IT specialist will not know from the start how to solve the task at hand. This is because problems can have countless causes with a multitude of potential solutions. Finding recruits that can think outside of the box to solve problems, can be extremely valuable to a team. 

Teamwork

Hiring good candidates that fit in well with the preexisting team, is key to developing a happy and healthy work environment. Be sure to look for objectivity and openness to others’ views and ideas as well as someone who gives and welcomes feedback in a positive way. Hire the recruits that you believe will always put the team’s success first. 

Professionalism

Hiring employees that are professional in a workplace with colleagues and superiors is a crucial competency to look for in recruits. This can come in the form of having the patience to hear others out even if they don’t personally agree or being able to react well under pressure and stress. These qualities will help build mutual respect within your team members. 

Attention to detail

In the complex world of technology, IT positions need to be filled with hires that notice the smallest details. Those are the candidates that will produce the most quality work for your company. 

Time Management

Although quality work is essential to success, so is providing it in a timely manner. Look for qualities in your recruits that show they can manage their time well and will be capable of using their time effectively and efficiently. 

Adaptability

As stated earlier, technology is constantly and rapidly changing. IT employees need to be able to adapt to unfamiliar situations, where they may have to change their approach to a problem differently. This can also be exhibited in the first few weeks of hiring someone new, where they will have to adapt to a new work environment and build relationships with their team members.

Motivation

You want to hire someone who is eager to learn and grow their technical skillset every day. Even if they have yet to fully grasp the day-to-day tasks of the position, the candidates that are motivated to master new skills can give you an idea of the kind of employee you are hiring. Motivated team members are more likely to provide their services when expected and accurately.

Dependability

Overall, hiring new IT employees that you can depend on is necessary for your company’s success. You want a team of people you know who will keep their commitments, do not shy away from taking on new responsibilities, complete their tasks on time, and will respond to management direction. 

Behavioral Interview Questions Generator

To help you find recruits that possess the competencies you are looking for in your candidates, try out Amtec’s Behavioral Interview Questions Generator. It’s a great tool to help you develop quality questions to ask candidates in an interview. Based on their responses, you can get great insight to determine if they have the competencies you are looking for in your employees.

How Does It Work?

 It allows you to select up to ten competencies from a list of eighty-four, and then Ametec emails you a behavioral interview question set for each competency you selected. Unlike traditional interview questions, behavioural interview questions get to the heart of determining which candidate is the best new hire. This hiring tool helps to provide insights for making a more confident hiring decision with a higher potential outcome for your company. In addition to the question, it will include suggestions on how to score your candidates based on their answers. The Behavioral Interview Question Generator can be the tool that helps you create your dream team.