How to hire Support staff.

Hiring the right personnel is one of the most critical things you can do as a Support manager. In an era of small budgets, you need all the people you can get and you need them firing on all cylinders. Otherwise, you'll spend the next six months trying to teach your new hire about your application, your processes, your business, etc. just to find out they "don't get it."

So how do you ensure you hire people that "get it?" There are several things you can do to ensure hiring success:

1. A good phone screen. I like to split up phone screens into various parts. First I explain the role and what I'm looking for in a candidate. Second, I have the candidate take me through their resume. I leave this open-ended so I can also assess their communications skills. I also look for them to explain how their past experience makes them a good fit. Third, I ask them a bunch of short answer technical questions, e.g. "What command would you use to find a string in a log file?" Any question regarding key words they put in their resume is fair game. For example, if you say you know C, you'd better know what the static key word in C means (hint: it's not the same as in C++). Finally, I give them the opportunity to ask me questions.
2. Fair questions in face-to-face interviews. I generally ask three technical questions when I interview face-to-face. These are all written/on-the-board exercises. I ask a SQL question, usually how to perform an implicit join. I ask a scripting question related to the relevant OS for the role. I also ask them to write a short program in any compiled or scripting language they're comfortable with. For example, "How would you implement a function to write a string backwards?" The idea is not to "stump" people or to show off your own knowledge, but to assess whay they know.
3. Answer your own question: "Am I able to work with this person?" This might perhaps be the most important piece of the puzzle. Even if a person has all the skills they need for the role, they'll need also need to have the right personality to get hired. You know your group's personality and culture. Never hire someone who won't fit in. You'll only end up losing them as soon as you're done training them.

The above pieces of information about a candidate should give you enough insight into their skills and their personality. You can ask more, or you can ask less. But for me, what I outlined above has become a winning formula.