Comment Tech support for Morons Vs Tech Support for techie (Score 1) 421
I work in support at an embedded technology company and have worked in a number of support positions over the last few years. I'd just like to point out the huge difference between tech support for Joe user and tech support for other techies.
For a while I was working at a major east coast university supporting their Human Resources Database. This software was used by several thousand users across campus, most of whom were barely computer literate, and it didn't help matters that the management at the University forced the programmers to relase the software before it was ready.
I spent most of my time answering the same 10-12 questions over and over again to the same 15% of the users. Needless to say, I didn't stay there long.
I now work with engineers on various projects involving embedded computers. I get to chat with folks from NASA to Joe hobbyist about everything from embedded color frame grabbers to the latest in car MP3 players. The main difference is now I have creative people who have creative problems. I enjoy dealing with challenges that require more brain power than the crap I was dealing with before.
Certainly as more people get involved in technology tech support is going to get harder (esp. if companies refuse to invest the money and effort involved to train people correctly). But to lump all tech support into one cubbyhole is a mistake-- Some of us are good at it and enjoy it ;-)
For a while I was working at a major east coast university supporting their Human Resources Database. This software was used by several thousand users across campus, most of whom were barely computer literate, and it didn't help matters that the management at the University forced the programmers to relase the software before it was ready.
I spent most of my time answering the same 10-12 questions over and over again to the same 15% of the users. Needless to say, I didn't stay there long.
I now work with engineers on various projects involving embedded computers. I get to chat with folks from NASA to Joe hobbyist about everything from embedded color frame grabbers to the latest in car MP3 players. The main difference is now I have creative people who have creative problems. I enjoy dealing with challenges that require more brain power than the crap I was dealing with before.
Certainly as more people get involved in technology tech support is going to get harder (esp. if companies refuse to invest the money and effort involved to train people correctly). But to lump all tech support into one cubbyhole is a mistake-- Some of us are good at it and enjoy it
