When it comes to hiring helpdesk staff, there’s no doubt that using the services of an IT staff focussed recruitment agency can save you time, money and energy. Recruiters will usually have a network to fall back on, established marketing channels with followers and some insider information to help them with their mission.

But when it comes down to making the final decision as to whether to hire somebody or not, it’s down to the hiring company to complete. You’ll obviously be looking for somebody who will ideally raise the standards of customer care or at least maintain what you’ve already achieved with your team. The hiree will also need to be somebody who is a great asset to the team and there’s a few other points you should be looking for too.

As you go through the hiring process, remember that by bringing in the right people for the right job, it’s possible to keep costs down. Attrition can be expensive, training costs a lot these days and it can be costly to have staff who don’t deliver the right level of care and expertise to your customers.

Take it from us, we’ve had a fair bit of experience in the field of hiring helpdesk staff and we want to share our knowledge to help make the decision an easier one with less doubt. Here are our tips for hiring helpdesk staff that we’ve collected over years of practice:

• We look out for people who bring passion, interest and enthusiasm to any job interview. These are likely to be self-motivated people who are going to contribute value to any workplace. Ideally, they’ll be more of the serving type of personality than a leader, so that they will be happy in that role.
• The less training you need to deliver to any hire, the better. It will cost you less. Compare the training levels of your candidates and their ability to fulfil your SLA objectives both for technical ability and the soft skills of customer care. Seek those with at least two years’ experience in the same industry, who come with references.
• Role playing. Try a few situations and see how the candidate handles the challenge.
• Make it clear as to what is expected of the person who fills the role. Detail what a typical day would be like for a help desk role holder. You don’t want anybody joining the team to then be surprised about what’s involved and about what they will need to do.
• It’s easier to teach technical and proficiency than it is to change attitude. If you spot something you don’t like, then sometimes it’s really not worth taking the risk.
• Candidates need to know what you’ve committed to when it comes to the customer service delivery of your organisation. Choose somebody who is a good listener and a good problem solver. Be wary of the highly technical ‘know it alls’ as they could well talk down to your callers.
• If you don’t already have one, create a documented process for hiring new help desk staff. It will make it easier in the long run, and you’ll have clear measurement on who exactly you’re looking for in this role.

These tips should help with your process of hiring help desk staff. We’re here to help find you candidates and usually have potential candidates that we can reach out to.