How to hire a desktop support lead

How to hire a desktop support lead, step by step

Here's a step-by-step desktop support lead hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a desktop support lead job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new desktop support lead
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a desktop support lead, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect desktop support lead also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   Here's a comparison of desktop support lead salaries for various roles:

   Type of Desktop Support Lead	Description	Hourly rate
   Desktop Support Lead	Computer support specialists provide help and advice to people and organizations using computer software or equipment. Some, called computer network support specialists, support information technology (IT) employees within their organization... Show more	$16-33
   Technical Support Advisor	A technical support advisor specializes in assisting customers, mainly through diagnosing and solving issues using their product and service expertise. In most companies, they communicate with clients through calls or correspondence... Show more	$38-67
   Desktop Engineer	A desktop engineer is responsible for monitoring the efficiency and performance of computer systems across the organization to deliver high-performance on business operations and client specifications. Desktop engineers resolve computer desktop issues, including navigation and security complications that create delays in the operational process... Show more	$37-65

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Desktop Support
   • PC
   • Troubleshoot
   • Technical Support
   • VPN
   • Remedy
   • SCCM
   • Citrix
   • SharePoint
   • Network Printers
   • Software Issues
   • SLA
   • Encryption
   • Mobile Device Management

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage incoming tasks and incidents in remedy and troubleshooting.
   • Utilize problem solving skills to troubleshoot hardware & software issues, printers, WI-FI & mobile devices.
   • Support a wide array of network technologies including administrating vmware environments, citrix applications and support field user VPN connectivity.
   • Deploy and install VOIP phones.
   • Install and configure Cisco VOIP.
   • Resolve network connectivity issues including VPN and Citirx.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your desktop support lead job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A desktop support lead salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, desktop support leads' average salary in nebraska is 47% less than in hawaii.
   • Seniority. Entry-level desktop support leads earn 50% less than senior-level desktop support leads.
   • Certifications. A desktop support lead with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a desktop support lead's salary.

   Average desktop support lead salary

   $49,669yearly

   $23.88 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level desktop support lead salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

4. Writing a desktop support lead job description

   A desktop support lead job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a desktop support lead job description:

   Desktop support lead job description example

   The Career Potential
   
   Ortho Clinical Diagnostics is committed to improving and saving lives with diagnostics. To do this we hire people who share this dream and are ready for new adventures. As a valued team member, you will carve your own career path and be part of building this company stronger and better than ever before. There is no limit to the experiences, opportunities and new directions you will have access to here at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics. More importantly, you will be driving the surge of a whole new direction in important medicine. That's something we can all take pride in as we take this journey together.
   
   Ortho is known in the industry as a leader in customer service and support. Deeply understanding and exceeding the needs of our clinical lab, hospital and blood bank customers is what we do. It's who we are. If you join Ortho, no matter what your role, you will be expected to keep that Customer Excellence focus in your work.
   The Opportunity
   
   As the company continues to grow, we are seeking a Desktop Support Lead. Under general supervision, provides technical support and advice in the department that managers and monitors systems and infrastructure operations and analyzes problems or malfunctions to ensure timely resolution. Assists in the coordination of corrective actions with Systems Engineering as appropriate. Documents problems and their resolution. Ensures the operational integrity of all changes to the operational environment. This position is located in Memphis, TN.
   
   The Responsibilities
   Follow standard operating, ticketing procedures and work instructions to image, update and resolve computer and software application issues for new and existing employees.Help maintain equipment inventory, including processing RMAs and ordering new equipment.Monitor, update and maintain tickets in defined ticketing system. Respond to tickets, contact users, and plan workload. Update, track and escalate the ticket to appropriate levels/group for resolution as required. Sign-off closed tickets with the user to include follow up specifically to the end user.Provide routine software and hardware troubleshooting support to employees to resolve common IT problems.Support access to corporate network/wireless and applications both on the network as well as over VPN.Performs other work-related duties as assigned.
   
   The Individual
   2-3 years hands on experience troubleshooting PC, printers, and mobile devices.MS OS Certification a plus.Active Directory knowledge.Basic Networking Skills.Aware of Pharma or Med Device compliance.Knowledge of ServiceNow ticketing system.Ability to think and work independently, coordinate with team members, and escalate as required to perform all tasks.Excellent written and oral communication skills in local language and English.Strong interpersonal and customer service skills.Software application use and installation experience.Must have the ability to resolve technical issues under pressure.Experience building, maintaining and fixing Windows 10 systems and PC hardware.Experience managing inventory.Ability to pull data from multiple IT solutions for the purpose of reporting or to highlight issues.
   
   Key Working Relationships:
   
   Internal: All local GIS resourses in country and is encouraged to build relationships with other global Deskside support technitians.
   External: All subcontracted facilitiy suport teams in the region.
   
   EOE/AA Disability/Veteran
   
   #LI

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5. Post your job

   To find desktop support leads for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any desktop support leads they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level desktop support leads with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your desktop support lead job on Zippia to find and recruit desktop support lead candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with desktop support lead candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview desktop support lead candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new desktop support lead

   Once you've found the desktop support lead candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new desktop support lead first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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