Let us say you want to build a home. You will have to plan in order to ensure that quality materials are used to build your home. Your primary end-result is to have your home last a long time with only minor issues to handle. Plan carefully.

Now let us compare your home building to finding and keeping IT employees. Both tasks can be a headache, especially if you are not familiar with what you need OR if what you want IS what you need. Either way, you want the end-result to be to your advantage: quality IT employees to stay with your company long term, which will save you money from having to constantly re-hire people.

When seeking IT employees, don't set barriers such as: a) how long a person has been out of work or b) their credit history if you're not dealing directly with cash (not that they would steal from you). Background/Criminal checks would be more accurate and a better way to gauge if an employee will fit into your company's environment. Both of these barriers not only hurt the potential employee, but can hurt your business if the potential employee can provide what you need. Credit history and how long a person has been out of work are severely decreasing your chances of finding employees - especially in this economy. Many people have financial problems at some point in their lives. Count your blessings if you have never been out of work for a long time.

Now let us get to planning, researching, analyzing, and writing an IT job description. You're probably thinking, "Who has time for this?" Well, if you want quality IT people, and to make a good hiring decision, taking a few days to plan, research and analyze before writing a job description will lead to one of your greatest investments. See the steps/tips below:

I.PLANNING & RESEARCH
1.Write a summary of your business and goals
2.Write brief details of what you want your new hire(s) to accomplish
3.Seek out IT consultants - not an IT recruiter at this point
4.If necessary, seek out an IT recruiter after you have finalized all details or post
the job on a job board

II.ANALYZE
1.After your IT consultant has assessed your needs:
a.ask questions if you're unsure of the IT terminology
b.ask if your needs require more than one IT career field, and which ones (job
titles)
This part is important so that you can increase your chances of finding
qualified candidates. Example: If you have a need for server setup and
maintenance, a website designed for your business, and you need
someone to assist your customers with questions regarding your
product/service, you will need multiple employees. It would be to your
disadvantage to hire a website designer and expect him/her to design your
website and perform system administration duties - their skill sets are not
the same ordinarily and results will not be the same.
c.ask your IT consultant about salary ranges or visit the salary.com to search
for the job titles in order to be more accurate in the salary you set. If your
employees are eligible for food stamps or even close to it while working for
you, expect them to leave as soon as a better offer presents itself.
Remember, your goal is to keep your IT employee(s) long term.

III.WRITE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY JOB DESCRIPTION
Include the following in your IT job description:

--Job Duration
Self-Explanatory
--Preferred Years of Experience
Be careful with this one. Think realistically upon reviewing resumes. What if
someone only has one year of experience, but has worked more hours using your
requirements on a larger scale than the person who has 3 - 5 years of
experience?
--Education Level
Do not choose employees based solely on certifications. You would be smart to consider experience as opposed to certifications. Many people have a
photographic memory, but can't even turn a computer on or install necessary
drivers from a disk.
--Salary Range
Important to do some research so that the pay fits the job description. Check out
http://salary.com for more details.
--Types of technology you require (programming languages, operating systems,
software applications, etc.)
--Relocation Info
Mention if you will or will not pay for relocation. Do not assume that people who live
elsewhere will not pay for their own moving expenses.
--Travel Info
Do not forget to mention if your new position requires travel. A great deal of people
do not like to travel.
--Security Clearance info
--Summary of IT Job Description (700 words or less)
If written correctly, you can say a lot with a minimum amount of words.



About the Author
Regina Stevens, Founder of Information Technology Job Seekers - Atlanta (http://itjsatlanta.com) and owner of Keep It Simple Websites (http://keepitsimplewebsites.com). If you would like to send comments, email her with the name of the article and where you found the article to articles[@]itjsatlanta.com. NOTE: Take out the brackets before sending the email or it will not be delivered.