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Choosing a Replacement

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by that geeky guy

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This Is a first for me, I have built a nice stable LAN, my users are all generally happy, I get very few newbie questions. In general a dream gig. but know it's time for me to move on (wet eyes of sadness). After all my hard work I don't want somehack tecky comming in and messing things up. I am looking for a dicussionon selecting a replacement, and a source for pre-employment tests. After all running a mixed Win Nt4 and Win2k lan is not always a cake walk. Any thoughts? Cheers

7 replies

by lordinfidel

99% of the time, no matter who you choose as your replacement, they are going to run things there way.

Everyone always finds faults with the netwks that they run into.

I know that when I leave, the next guy who comes in will run things their way, disregarding most if not all of the procedures that I put in place.

All you can do is try to pick someone that is technically proficient. If you have the 2 week notice going on, see if they can come in while you are still there so you can show them where everything is.

I guess, that is probably the most important thing, if they are shown procedures that are in place now, they are probably more apt to follow them then if they are left to their own devices.

by that geeky guy

I agree I fully expect that who ever replaces me will institute changes to established procedures.

after all isnt that how we as techies put our stamp on the LAN. The interview process is to see if the potential hire's personality works in the office but where can I find screnning tests to check the candidates technical proficiency?

by lordinfidel

Most(actually all) of the jobs that I have landed have been thru referrals/friends.

So the question of my competency never came up.

But when I need(ed) to hire someone, and I was unable to find someone in my contacts first. You can usually gauge someone's proficiency by what they talk about.

You can usually tell if someone is talking smack or if they truly understand what they are talking about.

If your not convinced, set up a test for them. Have them do some simple tasks, ask them about their backup strategies and how they implement them.

If they ask you alot of questions about where things are and how you are set up now, that is usually a good sign. But if they just sit there and let you talk and they can't contribute to the conversation then they are probably not the one.

Ask them to describe a deployment they were on or some project they did. Everyone in IT worth their weight in salt has done some sort of cool project that they like to talk about.

by that geeky guy

Thanks i agree, Fortunatly I will not be alone in the selection process. The candidate will probabley (sorry for the spelling) face a pannel were I only nned to worry about his/her technical skills.

have a good day.

by rich in pa

"...I have built a nice stable LAN, my users are all generally happy, I get very few newbie questions."

When are you quiting?

Where do you work? ;)

by bharri2

A lot of the certification sites (Brainbench, Brainbuzz, Freeskills, Hackology, etc. as well as Techrepublic discussions) contain a multitude of questions/answers/how-to's, etc. that should be of help in deciding what to ask potential replacements.
It's commendable that you want to ensure your present employer selects a technically proficient, as well as good with people-skills replacement.

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