Dear Bob ... I have been working in IT for about 5 years now. Currently I am the most qualified candidate for a full time position that is going to be offered. We are currently very understaffed for the work load we have to accomplish daily. I have been working constantly with little compensation for the over time I put forth. The problem is, my boss isn't making his best effort to resolve our staffing issues. I Dear Bob …I have been working in IT for about 5 years now. Currently I am the most qualified candidate for a full time position that is going to be offered. We are currently very understaffed for the work load we have to accomplish daily. I have been working constantly with little compensation for the over time I put forth. The problem is, my boss isn’t making his best effort to resolve our staffing issues. I have been told that on top of the six months we have been working understaffed, it could be another six months before the position is filled. I also don’t want to “rock the boat” and pester my boss to fix our staffing issues. What can I do to help speed the hiring process along?– Getting tired Dear Tired …The short version is, nothing. From where you sit there simply isn’t any productive course of action you can take to accelerate matters. I’d give long odds your boss wants to post and fill the position even more than you want it posted and filled by you. Work isn’t getting done, and bosses look bad when that happens; he almost certainly knows everyone is stretched too thin and he’ll end up holding the bag if it falls apart.Is he not making his best effort? Don’t be too sure. In most companies, adding new positions is a highly political process. It involves selling, consensus building, and knowing how to apply enough pressure to keep things moving forward withou applying so much that everyone gets tired of you and stops listening altogether. Which leads to the question of your best course of action. If you like the company you work for, think you’re working for a fundamentally good manager, and have the patience and energy to wait it out, do what you can to make yourself the best and most obvious candidate for the position when it does open up. If, on the other hand, you’re at wits end and are close to snapping, you have two choices.The first is to simply back off your effort to something more sustainable. It might take you out of the running, or at least out of being the clear lead contender, but sanity is worth more than career advancement, at least to most of us. The second choice (of course) is to find another opportunity in the company, or a different company to work for.Do what’s best for you. – Bob Technology Industry