Your technical support specialist is your problem solver, your first responder, your tech paramedic on the job ready to fix what gets broken, and help maintain what needs to keep running. The responsibilities and duties of a tech support specialist vary, depending on the size of the company and how specialized they are. Finding a worthy candidate for this position can be quite the task but understanding hiring options, what to look for, and necessary skills, will improve the hiring process.
As the internet grew and dependence on digital systems increased, the demand for our systems to operate incessantly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week also increased. In the early days of the internet, if your site was down, it was not a big deal. Only a select few were online and online sales or engagement were not yet deemed as necessary and valuable as they are in 2020. Today, having your site down for a day might mean a significant loss of revenue and reputability.
Most small, medium-sized, and large organizations and startups use computer systems. All of these computer systems have to be updated, maintained and fixed when something goes wrong. Many companies will hire an in-house tech support specialist and others choose to hire an independent contractor. An in house tech support might be in charge of your own company’s computer software and also serve as customer support.
Many times the work is on-call or shift work, as problems with a system can arise at any time of the day or night. Tech support specialists are the specialized mechanics of technical, hardware, and software issues. They possess a toolbox of technical skills and knowledge that comes in handy when problems arise with connectivity, software, or any number of other issues.
Like filling any other position in a fast-growing company, finding the right candidate takes time and effort. So one of the challenges of hiring for this position is knowing that you are finding an applicant that possesses the necessary technical and soft skills to meet your company’s needs.
The hiring world has seen its fair share of changes. When it comes to hiring tech support or other important tech roles, companies have found that using third party assistance to find the third candidate is not only effective but time-efficient. Using a third party for your company hiring does not mean you’re less involved in the hiring. On the contrary, it allows you to be more involved without spending the hours in searching for possible qualified candidates. So these are two valuable options for companies to use when getting a third party to help with hiring:
The twenty-first century’s tech support specialist is a versatile, organized, and highly analytical systems expert that understands both software and hardware inside and out. According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were approximately 863,100 tech support jobs in 2018. They work in a wide breadth of industries including financial institutions, hotels, retailing chains, schools, local government offices, and, of course, tech companies of varying sizes. Because the job requires a lot of troubleshooting, a good tech support specialist needs to be a good problem solver. An efficient and qualified tech support specialist will be:
A tech support specialist has many responsibilities. These may differ from day to day, depending on your company. A typical day of the tech support specialist might involve the following tasks:
Someone who is the tech support specialist for their company needs to possess deep knowledge of a wide variety of software and hardware, as well as a technical understanding of how systems and networks operate. Their technical skills typically include:
Soft Skills to Look For in Your Tech Support Specialist
In addition to the list of technical skills you want your tech support specialist to have, there are several soft skills that are necessary for the job. Soft skills refer to unquantifiable skills that are an asset for any company but are not always easy to spot, as they are not the kind of things that go on paper.
These soft skills include:
There is any number of questions one can ask when finding a person for this role. Many times, it will depend on what the tech support specialists role will be in your company and whether they’ll be working with other employees or for customers. It’ll also depend on whether you need them to be highly specialized in a particular type of system or need them to be more well-rounded.
Here are a couple of sample questions we gathered that might be useful:
You want your job description to communicate or convey your company ethos. You might even have it state your company mission and the top priorities that you’re looking for in a candidate. Also, include any specific systems or hardware that your company uses, and that will be needed by your tech support, whether it is a specific kind of software, hardware, etc.
Also include:
Job Title: Highly Qualified Tech Support Specialist
Seniority Level:
Years of Experience:
Location:
Employment Type:
Salary Expectations:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a computer support specialist can expect to make around $53, 470 a year or around $25.70/hour.
Whether you are a tech company or not, you’re likely using some kind of computer system or network to keep your operation running. There is likely some kind of software, hardware, and office-wide secure network. Finding the right candidate for your tech support specialist role means finding someone with the flexibility and technical skills required to fix and maintain all of it.
CodersLink can help you find good candidates for your company. Have questions about the hiring process or how a staffing agency can help you? Let us know.
