Hiring the ideal help desk analyst is not a simple exercise. Technical skills must be matched by an innate ability to deal with people in highly stressful situations. Take the time to identify this seemingly disparate skill set to minimize staff turnover and maximize the team's effectiveness.

The Perfect Staffing Conundrum

Most IT roles are relatively easy to fill. Managers must match the skill set to the anticipated business need, then oversee the new employee's performance to ensure they remain sufficiently skilled to deliver.

Help desk analysts present a much more complex recruitment challenge for two reasons:

• Exposure. They are much more visible to end-users than developers, project managers, and virtually all other IT resources.
• Psychology. Unlike other IT staff, help desk analysts are often called upon to calm down agitated end users while they work to resolve their technical issues.

Analysts with strong technical skills must have the softer...