As we push closer to 2014, IT departments 
represent the foundation of American business
and perform a very significant role in operational
success throughout the economy.
Due to the importance surrounding business efficiency,
is has become increasingly critical for business leaders
to focus more resources within information technology.
Part of this process is establishing a successful IT department.
Modern business is different than ever before, primarily because
customer expectations are higher.
A service or product needs to be provided quicker in modern day society,
and company leaders have to understand this and adapt their infrastructure accordingly.
This naturally puts greater demands on IT. The more processes to maintain and assess,
the more pressure an IT department will face. Employees on an IT team need
to be adequately trained to handle and uphold multifaceted tasks here in late 2013,
and it’s important for an IT manager or CIO to hire the right man or woman for the job.
Below I list crucial areas of focus when it comes to hiring an IT professional.
1. Test for creativity.
A nice icebreaker for an IT interview is to start off by gauging creativity.
Currently, innovation and adaptability are inherently important,
and testing it right away will also put the interviewee at ease.
As a CIO or decision maker, consider sitting the person down and
handing them a blank sheet of paper. Ask them to draw the meaning of “network”,
illustrating how they would contribute in their prospective role.
Modern IT is so complicated and intertwined with business operations
that it’s important for prospective employees to understand the
direct impact that IT has on business goals and the economy it works within.
Bottom line: It’s better to have a creative employee.
This step in the hiring process should not make or break
a candidate’s chances, but it’s still vital in determining an ideal fit.
2. Determine practical ability.
Many modern IT applicants are fresh out of college and hold a bachelor’s degree,
most often with a major in computer science. A degree is without a doubt a substantial
step toward a prolific career in IT, but for someone hiring, there needs to be more clarity.
As leadership, you need to determine first what their wealth of knowledge encompasses
when it comes to your department needs. Second, you need to figure out if the applicant
has any practical experience within the specific scope of your IT sector. If they
have batch processing skills from an associate position at their university,
and you are an IT manager of a bank, they could have usable talent.
Bottom line: Even if a person has a degree in an applicable discipline, practical
experience relating to your department’s specific needs is the treasure.
Depending on the department, this step in the process can make or break a hire.
3. Compare personality.
Oftentimes, as IT is so task oriented, personality evaluation gets thrown
on the backburner in favor of practical skills during the hiring process.
While this is expected to a certain degree, personality is often underrated.
In the contemporary data management and networking world,
collaboration amongst employees has transitioned from desirable to mandatory.
Co-workers need to communicate more effectively to keep up with society’s demands.
Businesses and consumers are clamoring for better results, at increased speeds.
This requires IT teams to work together. In the past, the systems administrator only did
systems administrator tasks. Today, whoever is there and ready needs to do it.
Cross training and lateral involvement across an IT department
increases efficiency. These increased needs make personality a bigger factor in the hiring process.
Bottom line: Personality is a key component to the success of late 2013 IT,
and it’s important for you as a leader to assess a candidate’s personality up front.
It’s up to you and your judgment to examine how the candidate’s personality matches
up with the others in your office, and how that combination will assist in achieving department goals.
An IT department is the main ingredient of an adaptable business. Part of building
a fundamentally sound IT team that has the ability to perform multidisciplinary
tasks is improving the hiring process.
Having better tools makes any project easier.
Author Bio
This is a guest article provided by Adam Kinsey writes
for Silicus about software development.