By: Sheryl Nance-Nash
Web exclusive

Can’t find the techies you need to keep your business humming during the holiday season? You have plenty of company. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, some 350,000 information technology jobs are languishing for lack of warm bodies to fill them. For many entrepreneurs, the easiest solution is using a temporary technical agency. If you’re a computer novice, you need to know how to play the game, or you could end up spending a lot of money on the wrong type of technical workers. Here, a crash course in securing the help you need.

Educate yourself. Before you contact any agencies, make sure you know the kind of work you need performed, how many people it might take to do it, and how long you might need such services. If you’re unsure, consult with the more tech-savvy folks you have on staff, business colleagues, friends, or advisors for their insights. You might also find it helpful to look at the Website of Aquent, a Boston-based technical placement agency. Aquent’s skill and price guide outlines the type of skills that are required for certain positions and how much you might expect to pay for that talent. While many an agency can offer you the services of a project manager to figure this out for you, why spend the dough if you don’t have to?

Shop around. When you’re in a hurry to hire temps, you might give a placement firm an incentive to take advantage of you.”It’s important to find an agency before you need one,” advises Peter Laughter, president of Staffway.com, a temporary staff specialist in New York City. You want a reputable company, but not necessarily the biggest names in the business. “Large, national firms that work with the Fortune 500 may not be best for you. They may just see you as a small fry,” says Laughter. The best place to find techies is through an agency that concentrates on that market, says Laughter: “Think specialized.” If you’re not sure where to begin your search, the best first stop is your network. But if your colleagues are as new to the technical world as you, check out the Website for the the American Staffing Association, the industry trade group in Alexandria, Va., where you can search by region and specialty. You can take some comfort in knowing that the association’s members must abide by a code of ethics.

Kick the tires. Finding an agency you want to work with for a long time should be your goal when you begin a search for tech temps. Don’t be shy about asking what type of skills their employees have, whether the agency trains them in IT, how it finds and screens recruits, how quickly it can respond to your needs, how long the agency has been in business, and who its clients are. Then, ask for references. “It’s best to get names of companies that have used them in the past, who no longer have a relationship with them,” says Laughter. “You might get more honest answers.”

Protect your assets. Make sure you ask what kind of insurance coverage an agency has, recommends Roger King, chief executive officer of Sausalito, Ca.-based TechSearch. Ask for a copy of their policy for your lawyer to review. If they don’t have errors and omissions insurance, and, say, a programmer makes a mistake that causes financial damage to a client, you could be held liable. Or, if a contractor hurts himself and the agency doesn’t have liability insurance, you could find yourself with some big bills to pay.

Make sure the price is right. “Ask them how they calculate their margin,” advises King. “A fair mark up is about 33% of the agency’s cost.” For example, if an agency says the talent will cost $50 an hour, plus $10 for the agency’s expenses, and they hand you a bill for $75-80, that’s reasonable, adds King.

Screen carefully. Desperate as you may be for help, you can’t afford a mistake, especially if temps will interact with your clients. Since IT folks are known for jumping to the highest bidder, find out whether the candidate can commit to the job for the specified time period. The agency may be able to administer some sort of skills test or have them fill out a questionnaire that will help you evaluate their knowledge. “You’ll also want to know how long the person has been contracting. It can make a difference if contracting is a way of life, or whether the person is in between full time jobs,” says King. Whatever you do, don’t commit to a candidate you haven’t met. Attitude, personality, ability to work with a team are attributes you might not get a sense about until a face-to-face meeting. Be sure to request references.

Step on it. When an agency presents you with candidates, realize that you need to move at Internet speed. “If you take too long, you’ll come up short. You’ll frustrate yourself and the recruiters,” says Bob Misdom, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the StaffTech agency in Alpharetta, Georgia. With the continued labor shortage, tech temps are hot. “Often employers ask for this long laundry list of skills that no one person can have,” says Jana Plesums, a tech evangelist (yes, this is really her title) with Aquent Partners. “You must prioritize what skills matter most.”