Are You Hiring the Right MSP Technical Talent?

Successful Recruiting

In order to get the talent you need to offer expertise, you need to make a recruiting effort to attract qualified technical people to your business. These days, recruiting skills can mean the difference between growth or decline in the company's bottom line. Only businesses poised for growth will be able to hire qualified talent in the near future.

First, you must decide what skill level you need. You can start by crafting a profile of your ideal candidate based on future company needs. One of the ways to screen out candidates that don’t meet the level of proficiency that you require is to have them solve simple problems to evaluate their focus on efficiency. Companies dealing with high level technology such as databases and search engines will recruit skilled engineers, who can pick and choose the jobs they want.

While some employers like to use LinkedIn as a recruiting tool, it can lead to too much spam in your email box. It's best to guard against hiring an inexperienced or annoying recruiter that may create a risk of hurting your brand's reputation. By starting with your network of positive followers from advisors to investors then gradually expanding, you will maximize your hiring efforts.

Tech Expertise vs. Beginners

If your MSP business only hires beginners for tech support, then you’ll likely run into a variety of customer complaints. Beginners are both people who haven’t worked for a tech firm before and those who don't have a sense of proper friendly communication. Regardless of how knowledgeable about tech an individual is, they still need to use basic communication skills in order to satisfy customers.

Another sign of a beginner is someone who tries to show off how much tech jargon they know. It's actually more advantageous for tech support people to restrain themselves from spewing too much tech jargon too often, especially to managers who are not interested in developing a tech-savvy image.

Ideal employees are those with several certifications, years in an accredited school, and plenty of experience with credible firms. The more tech pros you can hire from the pool of seasoned experts, the more your company will be able to solve technical issues quickly, which helps reputation and customer retention.

Even more important than technical knowledge is professional attitude. The last thing you want is an employee who responds immaturely to a customer complaint. You need people who can represent your company professionally and provide friendly service. Sometimes, a friendly attitude is all it takes to resolve a customer conflict. Additionally, you need people who understand your company vision and business goals.

Conclusion

If you want to run a top-quality MSP business, you need to care about the technical professionals you hire. If you’re not prepared to deal with the current drought across America for qualified tech support experts, then your company may be destined to fail. Pay close attention to skill level on the road that lies ahead and how you can market your services accordingly.

About the Author

Jennifer Holmes is President of MIS Solutions and a Georgia native who, after graduating from Georgia Tech, became an accomplished research virologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. In 2000, Jennifer hung up her lab coat to join husband Lliam at

MIS Solutions as President.

In the past 16 years, she has led the MIS Solutions team to become the leaders in Metro Atlanta IT Support. MIS Solutions, Inc. is on a mission to provide managed IT services to Atlanta businesses to help them grow and support their businesses. MIS Solutions provides a wide range of IT services to Atlanta based businesses and, combined with Jennifer’s passion of sharing effective business strategies with her clients, they are able to deliver the best business solutions for each client’s unique environment and needs.

In 2013, Jennifer’s leadership and marketing skills won her the title of Spokesperson for the nationally acclaimed Technology Marketing Toolkit, an industry group of over 550 top U.S. She is a graduate of the Leadership Gwinnett program and has acted on the boards of the National Association of Women Business Owners’ Atlanta chapter, Gwinnett Great Days of Service, the Buford/North Gwinnett Rotary Club and the Gwinnett Chamber’s Technology Board.