Recruitment strategies for DoD information technology managers

Abstract

Information technology (IT) continues to rapidly change in an unpredictable manner. DoD's success in responding to its mission, given a sure reduction in resources, will be determined largely by how well it leverages information technologies. DoD IT professionals must provide guidance and leadership in the use of IT as a leveraging tool. DoD has not defined the roles for, or desired characteristics of, its IT professional or work force. Without these definitions, appropriate selections of people into IT positions will be even more difficult. Some HRO programs, initiated to deal with reductions of personnel, have biased the selection of federal government job candidates so that it is difficult to select the best suited, and sometimes even a qualified, candidate. This is particularly troublesome because of the breadth, speed and unpredictable nature of change within IT technologies. This thesis suggests methods for dealing with issues that improve the likelihood of selecting the best candidate for an IT position. It also describes desired characteristics of an IT professional that should be the focus of recruiting efforts and provides recommended interview questions and a skills checklist for use in the recruiting process. It identifies methods for improving recruitment results using today's rules and also suggests ways to change the existing system to get more consistent results when matching candidates with IT professional positions