If you’re thinking of hiring IT consultants to help you with your computer needs, you’ve got a lot of choices. There are a massive number of IT consultants in the US, so how can you make sure that you hire the best ones for the job?
It’s simple: you have to know the right questions to ask IT, consultants before you hire them. In this guide, we’re going to take a look at the key questions that you can ask a consultant to find out whether or not they’d be the best choice for your business to hire.
By asking these questions you can eliminate inexperienced or unsuitable individuals and focus only on the consultants that are right for you.
Are you ready to learn more and start making better hiring decisions? Then read on!
- How many experiences Do You Have in This Area?
It’s easy to think of IT consultancy as this fairly monolithic entity, but IT consultancy contains many different subdisciplines. For instance, a consultant who has a lot of experience with network infrastructure might know next to nothing about preventing malware infections.
Before you hire anyone, you need to know that they know their stuff. If the consultant doesn’t have much experience in the job’s specific area, they aren’t going to be able to help you as much as a more experienced consultant. They may not know the causes of certain specific problems or may not be able to navigate key pain points.
You should ask where their experience was, too. Have they worked in your specific industry? Are they used to a company as large as yours or have they traditionally worked with larger/smaller businesses?
When did they last work in this specific field? If it was a while ago, have there been significant developments since?
You should try to get a good overall picture of their specific experience.
- Why Should I Hire You?
When you’ve been in job interviews, we’re sure that you’ve heard this question, too. You might think that it’s a bit of a cliche question, but the truth is, it’s a very useful question to ask.
For a start, it lets you see how passionate the consultant is about their work or if they couldn’t care less. Their answers can also show whether they’re a good fit for your business’s long-term goals.
A savvy consultant should be able to make a very good argument about why you should hire them. As we pointed out earlier, there’s a lot of competition, so consultants need to be able to make the case for hiring them instead of someone else. If they’re having a hard time justifying why you should hire them, they may not have the skills that you require.
- What Would You Do in This Situation?
You shouldn’t expect to be able to borrow a consultant’s knowledge and problem-solving abilities for free, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t pitch scenarios to a consultant and see how they would solve them.
For instance, if they are a network infrastructure consultant, toss them an issue that could arise while you’re upgrading your servers. If they specialize in business continuity, ask them how they would deal with a large-scale disaster in the area.
You can judge how much a consultant knows about a specific area by how quickly they can answer these questions, so long as you ask real questions. It’s a good way to see how much experience they have in a specific area and the issues that they’ve come across.
Don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions either. For instance, you may wish to ask whether they have faced these issues over the course of their work, or whether they’re answering the question on a theoretical basis.
- Are You Skilled In Other Types of IT?
A consultant may have a specialization but they may also be cross-trained or have experience in other areas. For instance, someone who has worked on network infrastructure may be trained to configure firewalls, too.
If you’re hiring a firm of IT consultants, such as Orbissolutionsinc.com, instead of an individual, you can ask their representative which areas they cover. Don’t be afraid to find out the full details about their skill set. You may be able to hire one consultant to perform two different duties, which could save you money in the long run.
- What Is Your Availability and How Much Do You Charge?
If you’re hiring a consultant to come in and help you on a regular basis, you need to be sure of their availability. Similarly, if you’re only hiring them for one specific reason, you’ll want to make sure that you won’t be waiting months for them to help you.
Be wary of a consultant with a completely clear schedule, however. There could be a bad reason that they are not in demand.
You should also ask them how much they charge per hour or per day. If you are hiring a consultancy firm’s services, you may pay a monthly charge, instead.
However you’re going to pay for their services, make sure that their pricing falls within your budget.
Questions to Ask IT Consultants: Solved
Hiring IT consultants is often quite expensive, so you need to make sure that you’re making the right hiring choice. These questions to ask IT consultants should make choosing between different candidates a lot easier.
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