IT Support: What is the cost of hiring?

What is IT Support?

IT Support provides technical assistance to your employees or customers to help them use technology successfully. They may also help maintain and update the company’s internal hardware, software and network architecture.

Why hire IT Support?

IT Support helps keep your business active by resolving technical issues, maintaining systems and assisting users with hardware, software and network tools. Their work improves productivity, reduces downtime and ensures employees can focus on core responsibilities without tech disruptions. 

Your business might benefit if it’s experiencing frequent system issues, slow response times for support tickets or growing technology needs across teams.

Contributions of great IT Support:

• Faster resolution of technical issues to reduce operational downtime
• Proper configuration and maintenance of systems to support daily workflows
• Increased employee efficiency through direct tech guidance and training

Defining your hiring needs for IT Support

As you decide how to hire IT Support, defining your hiring needs helps guide the selection process. Identify the type of employment, which could be full-time, part-time or freelance, depending on the volume of support requests and your available IT resources.

It’s also helpful to clarify the responsibilities for your support function to determine if a generalist or more specialized title is a better fit. You can also compare different job titles to find the right match for your business needs. Common job titles include IT Technician or IT Specialist. 

What are the types of IT Support?

IT Support roles can vary based on your company’s technical environment, user base and product offering. Understanding these types can help you target the right candidates:

• Help Desk Clerk: This role provides hardware and software support for customers.
• Desktop Support Specialist: These specialists are focused on technical issues and troubleshooting.
• Technical Support Specialist: This role helps customers resolve complex technical problems with your company’s products.

When writing your IT Support job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on IT Support jobs, according to Indeed data:

• IT support
• IT
• Information technology
• Help desk
• IT help desk
• Desktop support
• Technical support

Want more hiring insights for your IT Support? Sign in or create your free Indeed account.

Where to find IT Support

Candidates for IT Support positions can be found through tech-focused job boards, IT training programs, community colleges and professional associations. Attending technology meetups, participating in online tech communities or partnering with schools that offer IT certifications can help broaden your candidate pool.

To find the right IT Support candidate for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Internal promotions: Open the job to employees in other departments to increase employee retention.
• Professional networking: Send your IT Support job description to your professional contacts and ask them to share it with their networks.
• Employee referrals: Invite your employees to share the IT Support position with people they think might be interested in the role through employee referral programs.
• Social media: Post the job opening on your company’s social media profiles to raise awareness.
• Post your job online: Try posting your IT Support job on Indeed to find and attract quality candidates.

Skills to look for in an IT Support role

A successful IT Support candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training or education:

• Ability to communicate clearly and explain technical issues in simple, user-friendly language
• Active listening skills to understand user problems and tailor solutions appropriately
• Analytical thinking to identify the root cause of technical issues and recommend fixes
• Familiarity with business systems, standard software applications and networking tools
• Time management skills to prioritize multiple support tickets or service requests
• Attention to detail when configuring devices, reviewing logs or following troubleshooting procedures

Writing an IT Support job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular job seeker search terms and hiring insights for IT Support, you’re ready to write a job description. 

A strong IT Support job description usually includes a clear description of the position, a list of duties and an explanation of the skills that help a candidate succeed in the job. You can also attract applicants by providing information about the company, your company culture and the perks of the role.

Ready to get started? See our full guide for writing IT Support job descriptions.

Interviewing IT Support candidates

Strong candidates for IT Support positions will be confident answering questions about:

• Communicating with employees or customers who have limited technical expertise
• Strategies for resolving challenging or unfamiliar technical issues
• Managing multiple support requests at the same time
• Remaining calm and customer-focused in high-pressure support interactions
• Learning about new technologies to improve support quality