16 Questions to Consider When Hiring an IT Director

Hiring an internal IT person might seem like an easy task but it's not as simple as it might seem. What is required of an IT person today is much more expansive than what was required 20 years ago. Identifying the hard skills needed for your business IT, areas of specialization, criteria for measuring success, etc. are much different, and naturally far more technical, than any other function within your organization. Before you embark on the journey, consider these questions before considering if an internal IT person is the right path for your business:

1. What tasks will you require of this person?

2. How do you know these are the right tasks for your organization?

3. How are you determining budget for this role?

4. How do you know the budget is aligned with the needs of your business IT environment?

5. What skill set will you require this person to have?

6. How do you know they are the right skills for your business environment?

7. Do you need a focus on servers? Networks? 365? Google? Desktop support? User support?

8. What experience level does your business need

9. Do you want more of a junior or mid-level person? If yes, what happens when they face challenges beyond their skill set?

10. Or should you hire a senior person? If yes, how will you ensure that all the lower level, mundane tasks are being done?

11. What if this person leaves abruptly?

12. How will knowledge transfer over?

13. What is your stop-gap plan?

14. How will you measure success with this person and your IT?

15. How will you verify things are getting done?

16. What level of transparency do you expect and what assurance do you have that you'll get it?