How to hire a technical support officer

How to hire a technical support officer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step technical support officer hiring guide:

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

Post a technical support officer job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a technical support officer, 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 technical support officer 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.

   This list presents technical support officer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Technical Support Officer	Description	Hourly rate
   Technical Support Officer	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	$21-57
   Support Analyst	The role of support analysts is to resolve problems with hardware, computer programs, and peripherals. They may focus on a particular aspect of the information technology (IT) department or give technical support to end-users... Show more	$24-54
   Software Support Technician	A software support technician is responsible for resolving software application issues, diagnosing related system failures, and writing resolution reports for reference. Software support technicians must be highly-familiarized with the system's infrastructure and interface to immediately diagnose malfunctions and identify maintenance techniques to prevent the reoccurrence of downtimes and delays... Show more	$26-54

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Computer System
   • Troubleshoot
   • Desktop Support
   • Remote Support
   • Printers
   • Routers
   • PC
   • Technical Issues
   • Database
   • Internet Connectivity
   • Helpdesk Support
   • SQL Server
   • Windows XP

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead technical operations for an innovative workforce virtualization movement, including initial design and improvement of technical systems and processes.
   • Use and maintain ticket system using OTRS service to answer and troubleshoot customers problems.
   • Support the networking environment for enterprise class storage solutions in conjunction with a proprietary Unix base operating system.
   • Provide on-site installation involving travel and maintenance of UNIX predictive dialing systems for telemarketing centers and subsequent training of new users.
   • Provide troubleshooting and support for servers, workstations, remote access, printers and peripherals in client/server/database relate applications.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, technical support officers' average salary in oklahoma is 50% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level technical support officers earn 63% less than senior-level technical support officers.
   • Certifications. A technical support officer 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 technical support officer's salary.

   Average technical support officer salary

   $73,941yearly

   $35.55 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level technical support officer salary

   $45,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 22, 2025

4. Writing a technical support officer job description

   A good technical support officer job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a technical support officer job description:

   Technical support officer job description example

   Planate Management Group (PMG) is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and Orlando, Florida USA with a technical support center in South East Asia and East Africa, that provides program management and facilities engineering services worldwide. Planate is a small business provider of planning, design, infrastructure management, technical consulting, engineering, and construction management services in support of the US Department of Defense (DOD) and its Service (Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps) missions, along with other US federal agencies, all over the world.
   
   The IT Support is responsible for the day-to-day computer operations, printers, access doors, and mobile devices of the company.
   
   Salary: Our salary range for this position is based on the market data, $18 to $25 per hour (the offer depends on the experience).
   Key responsibilities:
   
   + Manage the deployed company client computers/laptops and mobile devices
   
   + Manage hardware and software tools
   
   + Administer SharePoint, Email, and Web servers
   
   + Perform hardware performance analysis for services downtime prevention and risk management
   
   + Conduct physical inventory of IT hardware and software assets
   
   + Attend to users' complaints and perform troubleshooting Level 2 support
   
   + Assist Systems and Network administrator
   
   + Collaborate with colleagues to meet departmental and company goals/objective
   
   + Controls repeated complaints in the same segment and plan for improvement program
   
   + Assist in server and network maintenance
   
   + Perform quarterly maintenance at remote branches
   
   + Perform other responsibilities associated with this position as may be appropriate.
   
   Qualifications To be successful in the role:
   
   + Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, IT, or Engineering
   
   + At least 5to 10years of extensive experience as an IT Support Specialist
   
   + Familiar with NIST compliance and CMMC, advantage
   
   + Competent in the following:
   
   + Windows Server and Azure
   
   + Windows XP/ Vista /7 /8, 10 Professional, and MAC
   
   + Active Directory, VPN, DHCP, DNS, TCP/IP
   
   + Outlook, SharePoint and OneDrive
   
   + Microsoft Office / Office 365.
   
   + IOS, Android, and Satellite mobile support
   
   + AutoCAD and Engineering Software familiarization is a plus.
   
   + Must have brief knowledge in networking, domain, active directory, and security policy
   
   + Advance understanding of LAN/VAN/VPN
   
   + Advance troubleshooting skills on laptops, computers, and mobile devices
   
   + Must lawfully reside in the United States and be eligible for employment (Planate does not sponsor visas or work permits)
   
   Planate Management Group is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
   
   Why Planate?
   
   Joining the Planate team opens you to an experience working for a Global company where you are among a team that is considered a premier trusted partner for planning, design, engineering, asset management, and professional service solutions anytime, anywhere. We Take Care of Our Own; Personally, and Professionally, Up and Down The Line.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right technical support officer for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your technical support officer job on Zippia to find and recruit technical support officer 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 technical support officer 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   If your interviews with technical support officer applicants aren't enough to make a decision, you should also consider including a test project. These are often the best, most straightforward, and least bias-prone ways of determining who will likely succeed in the role. If you don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • 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 technical support officer

   Once you've decided on a perfect technical support officer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   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.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new technical support officer. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

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.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a technical support officer?