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Information Technology (IT) Job Descriptions

As more of our lifestyle, commerce, and communication occurs in an online digital space, IT jobs command a crucial position in almost every company or organisation.

IT jobs require individuals with specialist skills gained through qualified training programmes or on-the-job experience as professionals develop or pivot their careers. Due to high demand, there is a shortage of such individuals, making recruitment a challenge.

For your business to remain competitive and fully operational, you need to attract the right applicants. A job description template is a great starting point for developing a job ad that will attract suitable candidates.

Here we offer a series of IT job descriptions to help you catch the attention of and hire IT professionals.

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What Do IT Professionals Do?

Your IT job descriptions detail the IT functions and how they fit into your technical support and project management frameworks. To meet your business goals, it is crucial to build IT teams that have the IT skills and technical knowledge to handle everything from basic tasks to asset management and complex network virtualisation.

Depending on the company type, size, industry, technology solutions, and task management requirements, the typical responsibilities of technical specialists might include:

  • Computer systems, computer networks, and IT troubleshooting
  • Technical support & resolving business problems
  • Monitoring system performance and software components
  • Hardware management and repair
  • Designing and introducing new technologies and computers
  • Software installation
  • Continued personal professional development
  • Security threats management/cybersecurity
  • Developing and implementing high-level strategies for growth
  • Data collection, analysis, and reporting
  • Coordinating IT projects across the organisation

IT Role

The duties of the IT department are completed by IT specialists in roles titled as:

  • Systems Engineering Managers
  • Business Analysts
  • Project Managers
  • Development Teams
  • Network Engineer
  • Hardware Technician
  • Desk Support/Desk Technicians
  • IT Technician

IT Responsibilities And Duties

IT duties are the must-do and high-priority responsibilities of the role. These are the job aspects that you will likely govern the individual’s performance on, and as you can imagine, providing technical support and installing new equipment or software will probably be top of the list.

Important IT technician responsibilities and the tasks of an IT position might include:

  • Updating computer systems and networks
  • Maintaining working knowledge of technical problems, software issues, and computer science
  • Learning new hardware and software skills
  • Meeting face-to-face with clients or senior executives
  • Training new employees on how to maintain computer systems
  • Researching further information about prospective new software and hardware
  • Security threats management and repair
  • Coordinating actions of separate teams dealing with IT projects
  • Provide technical support and solve problems
  • Maintain extensive technical infrastructure, systems, and networks
  • Oversee software development
  • Install new hardware
  • Software installation
  • Replacing damaged hardware and software components
  • Manage the IT team (IT Manager) or IT teams (IT Director)

These duties are pretty generic, but you can make the job’s duties more engaging and meaningful by saying how the responsibility should be accomplished. For example, ‘Provide technical support as the first point of contact for the office manager by leveraging your in-depth knowledge of computer equipment and software engineering.

IT Skills

Whether you are a small or large business, IT skills are in high demand, and it is essential to hire candidates with technical experience and hands-on experience.

To ensure your IT professionals can complete their IT duties and keep customers happy, IT staff need hard and soft skills that include:

  • Active listening skills
  • Project management skills
  • Data analysis
  • Knowledge of best practices, including network security
  • Problem-solving abilities
  • Conflict resolution
  • Multitasking
  • Risk analysis
  • Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
  • Effective decision making
  • An aptitude for solving technical problems
  • Excellent verbal communication skills
  • Time management skills
  • Team-working
  • Analytical skills
  • Numeracy
  • Independence
  • Adaptable
  • Leadership
  • Strategic thinking

IT Qualifications And Education

The qualifications and education depend on the role and level of seniority. Large companies may employ an individual for a key role in a specialist area dealing with one system. Whereas smaller companies may need an individual with broader technical knowledge to provide support for many computer systems:

  • A Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Systems, Web Development, Business Administration, or a related field
  • Previous experience in Agile Project Management
  • Expert knowledge of the Windows or Linux operating systems
  • Previous experience working with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or MySQL

Required IT Experience And IT Training

If candidates are making a career change, ensure they have completed a relevant HND or Degree in Computer Science to quantify their experience and training.

Information Technology Job Description FAQs

Here we answer your questions on IT technician and support roles and job descriptions.

WHAT ARE THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AN IT SPECIALIST?

An IT person may be responsible for setting up secure remote access for remote employees, resolving hardware issues, providing technical assistance, and updating or installing new software.

WHAT ARE THE IT ROLES?

IT job titles include physical and wireless networks engineer, IT project manager, systems and networks engineering manager, network engineer, technical support staff, help desk analyst, network administrators, Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert, VMWare Certified Professional, and Network Architects.

WHAT ARE THE SKILLS EXPECTED OF AN IT SPECIALIST?

Computer science and computer hardware skills are expected along with soft skills such as excellent communication skills and multitasking.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ROLES IN A TECH STARTUP?

The key roles in a tech startup include Vice President, Key Business Stakeholders, Entrepreneurship Manager, IT Project Manager, Executive Leadership, and New Technology Officer.

HOW DO I HIRE AN IT PERSON?

Job advertising for IT will vary depending on the position and the IT skills you need. You will need to implement a recruitment strategy that encompasses advertising on general and specialist IT job boards, social media, and word-of-mouth referrals. Your information technology hiring strategy could also include having a presence at IT conferences and online with specialist IT organisations.

Crucial elements that will affect hiring success include writing an effective job description and selecting the proper IT job title. Flat fee recruitment solutions continue to deliver the best results when hiring IT professionals.

WHAT IS AN IT JOB DESCRIPTION?

An IT job description is a document that sets out the role’s duties, tasks, and skills. Putting these in black and white is crucial and will help you find the right match for a position that directly affects the successful adoption of new technology and the performance of your (or your clients’) systems and networks.

The job description should be transparent and clearly set out who you are, who you want, what they will do, and why a potential candidate might want to work for you. It helps tremendously to use language and jargon that engages your audience.

When you get all of this right and include the best words to use when writing IT job descriptions, you will get job applications from qualified candidates that closely match your ideal person profile.

HOW DO I WRITE AN IT TECHNICIAN JOB DESCRIPTION?

When writing a job description either for an IT job advert or an internal job specification you need to focus on 5 main criteria:

  1. What are the key jobs, tasks, and duties required for an IT position
  2. Consider all the job responsibilities required for an IT role
  3. What skills the person must have for the job
  4. What personality traits the person must have to work in IT
  5. Appropriate and relevant education and qualifications

These five criteria should help you build a picture of your ideal candidate. Good questions to consider that will help you write a concise IT job description that stands apart from others (essential in the current competitive job market), and attract the top talent, include:

  • What value does this role bring to your company?
  • How does the role align with your company culture, values, and mission?
  • How does this role differ from other company positions?
  • How is this role similar to other company positions?
  • What are the minimum skills and transferable skills?
  • What are examples of your information systems targets?

Suppose you are not hands-on in the IT department or highly familiar with the company’s computer hardware and software. In that case, it can help to interview one of your information technology experts or a section leader to gain a greater understanding. You can also review an IT Technician job description template to gain insights into IT technician responsibilities.

A word about jargon: The phrase ‘jargon’ has good and bad connotations, and if it isn’t carefully considered, it may deter IT candidates from applying. Ask yourself if words and phrases are company exclusive or IT industry-recognised.

Furthermore, if you are hiring for senior-level IT positions, where individuals work in more complex technical environments, you might expect candidates to have a greater vocabulary and understanding of IT terms and jargon. However, if you are hiring junior-level IT support staff who will develop their skills through on-the-job training, consider being as straightforward and transparent as possible.

WHAT IT TASKS SHOULD I INCLUDE IN A JOB DESCRIPTION?

The tasks of an IT technician are any other activities that an IT person completes on a regular or occasional basis. These are usually subsidiary tasks such as updating firmware and operating systems, running diagnostic tests, and completing company paperwork.

It is tempting to leave some of the more ‘boring’ tasks out to make your vacancy sound more attractive, but this can lead to trouble down the road as you may recruit an IT technician or IT manager that is not a perfect match. If you hire the wrong candidate, your business, team, clients, and customers may suffer. The employee might leave your company, and you are back to square one, requiring another investment in recruitment and training.

If you get to the end of the process outlined here and find that your job description is too long and concise has gone out the window, it is time to review your first draft. To bring things back into line, you should delete unnecessary phrases and fluff, remove prepositional phrases, focus on what is role critical, and refrain from putting your entire ‘about us’ page in your content.

HOW DO I ENGAGE IT CANDIDATES?

As a final note for employers and recruiters, it is crucial to remember that while a job description is about what and who you want, describing this alone will not create an inbox full of eager candidates willing to comply. A job advert must go beyond the duties, skills, education, qualifications, traits, and tasks that you want and communicate the position’s value to job seekers.

Your business should convey its employee value propositions to engage candidates, highlighting both monetary and other employee benefits. Benefits that will entice qualified job seekers to apply might include:

  • Stating the IT position’s average salary range rather than saying ‘competitive salary’
  • Focusing on work-life balance
  • Flexibility in work location and when hours are completed (work from home or hybrid office and remote)
  • Training opportunities
  • Career progression and development opportunities
  • How company values align with those of customers and employees

IT Job Description Examples And Samples

We recommend creating your Information Technology job description using one of the samples and examples below.

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