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Hiring Right: 10 Things Your IT Guy Needs to Know How to Do

Posted by John Saddington on Feb 18, 2010

Most typical startup ministries and churches don’t have a dedicated IT professional as part of the core makeup of the plant. Generally speaking, this hire comes much later in the growth of the ministry.

And, the senior leader is typically not the IT guy. So how do you hire right?

The range of skills is great but there are a few things that every IT man (or woman) should generally know. Here’s a list of 10 things that your official IT hire should know:

1. Manage and Fix Basic PC Issues

Does this person know how to manage a printer? Backing up files, adding hardware, and setting up computers for use? This person doesn’t have to be a whiz-hack with a knife and a motherboard but he should know how to do basic PC setups.

2. Networking

This person needs to know how to manage, setup, and maintain a basic network. Troubleshooting should come standard. This person knows what DNS stands for, how to check it, ping, trace-routes, and more.

3. System Admin

Managing how computers talk to each other is pretty much basic 101 IT stuff. File permissions, access levels, and domain controllers should be common language with this person, even if you don’t know what that means.

4. Basic Scripting

This person doesn’t need to be a coder but he/she does need to know how to throw a script together.

5. Help Desk Skills

Does this person know how to handle a help desk environment? Good with phone and email support? Yup, they should.

6. Training

This person needs to know how to not only fix issues but train others to fix issues. Your IT needs are only going to grow and become larger. Having a person who can train others is critical.

7. Network Tracing

Snooping, netmon, wireshark, network capturing tools; you don’t need to know what they are but your IT guy should. This will help fix significant issues when you need a real engineer to help.

8. Be a Good Listener

I’m training my daughter right now to be a good listener, and it’s tough! Being a good listener is everything in the IT/Web world because we need to admit that we don’t know everything (and sometimes the issue is less mechanical and more personal and relational).

9. Basic Software and Installation

This is a no-brainer.

10. A Good Backbone and Decision Maker

A good IT person will speak up and make critical decisions based on limited information. You don’t need a yuppy; you need a leader, and someone with a backbone.

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John Saddington

John is the Chief Editor @ The 8BIT Network and Senior Blog Junkie here at ChurchIT. He enjoys Triple-Tall Americanos, developing Wordpress Themes, and a few other Random Things.

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13 Responses to “Hiring Right: 10 Things Your IT Guy Needs to Know How to Do”

  1. Daniel Merchen
    Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 9:37 pm

    Interesting points, thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  2. Aaron Melton
    Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 9:40 pm

    11. Hire me if they need more networking help. :)

    Reply
  3. Bobby Shirley
    Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 11:29 pm

    This is a great article, it helps me know what I need to know for future jobs. RT

    Reply
  4. Chris Dattilo
    Friday, February 19, 2010 at 8:00 am

    I think this is a great list. I’d add two things.

    Needs to keep up-to-date on latest ministry/tech/nonprofit options which are often free or low-cost to nonprofits and are able to maximize their use. In other words, if they are coming out of the corporate world, forget about many of the high-priced, resource heavy, IT dependent solutions that the big boys use. (e.g. Google Apps Nonprofit Edition – free)

    Read ChurchIT.com and network with others who do:)

    Reply
    • John Saddington
      Friday, February 19, 2010 at 8:07 am

      hey chris! haven’t seen you around these parts…!
      :)

      thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
    • Yohan Perera
      Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 2:08 am

      I agree with you… A real IT guy is alerted to best alternatives in the rise. 2 thumbs up for your comment!

      Reply
  5. Yohan Perera
    Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 2:05 am

    You are extremely correct. Unfortunately I am ok with all the requirements accept for scripting. Again unfortunately I have seen ministries and churches making the mistake of hiring people with the title “IT Manager” but lacking even the basic skills mentioned here.

    Reply

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