Ten signs you might not be the right fit for a support technician job
Ten signs you might not be the right fit for a support technician job: The support engineer role is ideal for some people and may not be suitable for others. You can use this list to regulate which camp.
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1: You don’t respect other technicians
Start by examining your attitude towards support engineers. Do you treat the techs with respect or assume they’re all flip chart-reading idiots if you have to call your ISP or other service providers? If you don’t respect the role of assistive technology, no matter how well a particular technology works, you probably shouldn’t because you don’t value yourself or what you do.
2: They only see work as a stepping stone
How do you see the task of technical support? Is it an finish in the situation or just a treading stone to something “better”? Unfortunately, in many organizations, the support engineer position is considered the lowest rung on the IT ladder, an entry-level position that people should fill with little or no experience.
3: You are interested in technology but not society
If your primary concern is that you enjoy playing with computers, support technology may not be the best career choice. In many organizations, technology spends as much, if not more, time-solving user-perceived problems than actual technical problems. On the other hand, if you love helping people first, enjoy solving problems, have endless patience, and have technical talents, a job as a support engineer could make you very happy.
4: You’re not motivated to keep up with tech trends
Of course, #3 doesn’t mean that interest and talent for technology aren’t mandatory requirements for the Support Engineer position. Without a solid independent interest in technology, the field of support technology is unlikely to be a successful career choice. To be a practical support engineer, you need to keep updated with the latest technologies. It means that to stay competitive, you need to devote some of your time and resources to stay up to date.
5: You don’t care what business you support
Support technicians are active in businesses, from schools to hospitals, chemical plants, and casinos. The fundamental functions and roles of technology are the same or similar in each of these industries; in my skill, the technologies that stand out are those that take the time to learn about the initiatives they support.
6: You’re not good at handling stress
Another critical factor is reacting to tight deadlines, highly stressed employees, and angry managers. Suppose you can’t stay calm and think logically and clearly to figure out why that presentation that’s due in exactly seven minutes isn’t printing or how to recover that boss file that an assistant accidentally deleted. In that case, you’re probably going to have a career that brings a lot of stress and misery. In such circumstances, technicians must demonstrate that they recognize the urgency of finding a quick fix without panicking users while treating a potentially abusive user with respect and professionalism.
7: You need recognition and praise
Being a support engineer often means being invisible until something goes wrong. Ironically, if you proactively support users, you’ll get less attention than if you back off to but the daylight.
Primary in my career, a VP took me aside, and optional, I occasionally crashed the network server to justify my existence by heroically restoring it overnight. You might get lucky and run into some weird users who appreciate never having who thanks you for your great work, but positive feedback like this is usually the only solution. ‘Exception. If you need frequent approvals to feel confident and satisfied with your performance, becoming a support engineer might not be the best vocation choice.
8: You lack a bit of patience
Do you consider yourself a patient person? Dealing with some users requires a lot of patience and composure. Some users will always make the same mistakes that they expect you to fix. Others need hours of one-on-one tutoring to complete even the most basic computer tasks. Meeting the needs of these users requires patience, composure, and empathy.
9: You are a little fragile when it comes to solving problems
The IT problem-solving process requires a systematic and logical methodology, with occasional nudges when logic fails. Although there is no “right” way to determine the cause of a problem, thinking is essential for the support technician profession.
10: You are shy, asocial, or awkward in your communication
If your communication skills aren’t excellent, or if you have good skills but prefer to hide behind your keyboard all day, a career as a support engineer will leave you and your users miserable. In most organizations, enabling technology is the face of IT. It means that communicating effectively with all types of users, regardless of their technical skills or position within the organization, is paramount.
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