How to Hire a VP of IT
Is your company seeking to hire a Vice President of Information Technology? Each company will approach the hiring process differently. Companies have certain skills and traits they’re seeking in a new VP of IT. Regardless of the preference of each company, the process remains the same generally. The following methods will provide you with guidance on how to hire a VP of IT.
1. Determine the best time to hire a VP of IT
Timing is crucial when considering the hiring of a new team member. Hiring too early could result in a financial stretch. However, postponing this decision could cause your business to fall behind in this area. The following are three indicators that will help you determine when to hire a VP of IT:
- You need a strategic leader to ease the workload.
- Your company needs a complete tech upgrade.
- There’s a desire to propel your company forward.
2. Let an executive search firm do the work
Hiring an executive search firm to recruit a VP of IT will save your company time and effort. Revamping your company’s LinkedIn profile and spending hours posting to tech-specific job boards isn’t necessary.
Leadership search and development firms are experienced and understand the industry. They’ll be able to find a candidate that meets your company’s requirements and purpose.
3. Communicate your need to your connections
Talk to relevant connections, and ask them to share your company’s needs with their connections. If you’re offering a great opportunity, people will naturally spread the word with their friends.
In addition to new connections, personally reach out to your network. In the day of followers and viral content, you may be surprised to learn how many potential VPs you may already know.
4. Stay updated on the industry
Startups go out of business every day, but just because the startup didn’t succeed, it doesn’t necessarily mean the team wasn’t built of high performers. Stay on the lookout for startup shutdowns, and build relationships with those who were let go.
Even if they aren’t a good fit for your company, they may run into someone on the job search who is perfect for your team. Because you took the time to show interest, they might remember to share your opportunity with others.
5. Use industry knowledge to build a job description and ideal VP of IT candidate profile
How do you decide what to pay a VP of IT? After dozens of high-level interview questions and narrowing it down to a few possible candidates, it’s time to talk salary.
There’s no set salary for a vice president of IT because multiple variables can affect this position’s pay. Factors that influence the salary of your VP of IT are candidate skills and additional compensation like stock options. It is also beneficial to determine the industry’s average salary by assessing what other companies pay their VP of IT.
You can also build your candidate profile by using industry knowledge. For example, you might want to assess how invested a candidate is in learning about the industry. A passionate candidate is ideal because it shows that they are always eager to expand their knowledge.
6. Be creative with your approach
If you’ve tried all the tactics listed above without any luck, you may need to get a bit creative. Instead of thinking about this as recruiting, think of it as marketing. How could you publish creative content to capture the attention of your perfect recruit?
Once you’ve created the content, test Facebook and LinkedIn ads to help spread the word about your job opening.
Y Scouts is a purpose-based, performance-proven leadership search and development firm focused on transforming how people and organizations connect to work that matters. When you’re ready to hire a new leader, contact Y Scouts. If you are looking for your next leadership role within a purpose-driven, performance-focused organization, please join the Y Scouts Leadership Community.
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