Category: Techtoday
The words "technical support" elicits the same response as the words Richard Nixon, recession, and Windows Vista. Criticisms against technical support, whether commercial or internal (within a company), is not often fair, but almost always true. Having spent a huge amount of time early in my career providing technical support for a variety of consumer electronics, computers, and operating systems (including Windows 98SE and Samsung's first line of Digimax cameras), I would rather go swimming in Siberia then make a phone call to tech support.
To be fair, however, I found my years manning the lines infinitely educational despite the psychological scars inflicted by calls from hippies who don't know how to use a touchpad and old ladies who believe their e-mail is being hacked because her neighbor knows the latest gossip on her. Without the experience supporting printers like Canon or Epson, Latitudes, Inspirons, Dimensions, early Windows XP drivers, and the infamous Blasterworm virus, I probably would've never migrated to Linux completely. It was torture talking to people especially since I'm generally introverted, but once you start summoning the courage to instruct a customer to flash the BIOS of their motherboard or wipe out their hard drive, you realize you do learn something from technical support.
It's not about the Training
It's easy to dismiss the "technical support representatives" from India, Manila, or down in Latin America. In most cases, you absolutely believe he's clueless ("I have a problem with my MAC address not my Apple MAC, you moron!") and he/she probably is. Training for hardware, software, and consumer electronics is never enough and companies will never invest millions just to get them to understand IPV6 or VPI/VCI settings. I'm sympathetic towards tech support guys. I do know that even if they don't know anything on their first call, they learn on the job just like they would in any other job or industry. Against their will, tech support people start learning about clicking hard drives and memory dumps. It's even easier today with everyone owning a computer and pirated software available everywhere. Believe me, twelve years ago people were not as technical as they are today - in 1999 or 1998, people would have never figured out iOS or Android updates, much less use touchscreens. People used to say "UBS port" back then. This increase in tech IQ is both a boon and a bane for would-be tech support reps. Boon because they are immediately equipped with a higher aptitude for techstuff as compared to a decade ago, bane because their customers are equally as adept in understanding things like Java, Flash, and runtime errors and are knowledgeable enough to scream to them about it.
As any developer would proudly tell you, they learn programming and markup on their own, not through long hours of lectures. It's the same when you start off as a tech support representative. It definitely helps if you're already knowledgeable but you're definitely going to encounter some new issue while talking to some guy in Wisconsin or Adelaide.
It's not about the race. There are good and bad reps anywhere you call. Screencap from "Mumbai Calling."
Epical Boasting
Read an article in PCworld.com, CNET, Arstechnica, or Wired and 90% of the time you're going to read a comment from a guy who proudly lauds his technical skills and explains how he resolved X and Y without batting an eyelash. He would recommend how to set up the greatest desktop in the world or optimize the most clunky server setup ever made which he had built with his bare hands and paperclips in his basement. Now, I wonder how he would do if he was sent to troubleshoot a non-functioning XBOX controller and Kinect sensor or even a basic headless server with a hysterical network administrator over the phone.
It's easy to boast about your technical skills until you try it with someone else's technical issues. Technical support is a tough job with half-crazed Luddites and adults with anger management issues threatening everything from lawsuits to tearing you a new one. To be honest, it's not even a career for many. I will tell you, however, that even 6 months of problem solving over the phone will reward you with additional appreciation for technology, real technical experience, and surprisingly useful traits like patience and mental alertness.
So for those who regularly toot their own horn online and find yourself unemployed, test yourself and find out just how good you are in a tech support job.
Safe and Stress-free technical support
Do you think you're too good to get paid for being technical support? Ready to go pro bono? There are many sites and communities where you can share your knowledge and receive gratitude from Mr. Anonymous. The good thing about a safe, online environment is that you can contribute to stuff you already know, rather than being forced a problem down your throat by a consumer/customer. I'm partial to Linux communities and help with desktop and hardware issues when I come across something I feel like I can solve. You can also visit manufacturer's websites or independent forums discussing Dell and Lenovo laptops, Google Nexus tablets, and Apple products.
If you want to get paid, you can apply at online freelance services like Odesk, Elance, or Freelancer.com. Again, you get to choose what you want to work on and get paid a bit while you're at it too. It doesn't shout "expert!" on your resume but you do get valuable work experience and apply what you've learned.
Tech support is like anything other job - it can be fun and frustrating. Screencap from "Outsourced."
Consumer Tech Boom = Tech support increase
Most products today are so easy to use that you don't need to RTFM (read the f*cking manual) and no one bothers anyway. The downside is that there are plenty of people out there that think they know a lot despite having zero knowledge at all. A guy in my department is considered the go-to person for every computer problem that comes up - the problem is all he really knows is XML and doesn't even know the difference between FTP and SAMBA. He hies off to each person, pretends he knows the answer, and then ducks to his desk to Google it, feeling like he's the God of Dance.
There will always be demand for technical support though I'm pretty sure it's going to get smaller in the near future and companies like Apple will put their "Geniuses" to pasture (where they hopefully will get shot). These days, companies still invest in personnel ready to receive some training (some training courses running up to three weeks) and somewhat reasonable pay. You can try applying for technical support for services and products like:
- consumer desktops and laptops
- broadband support
- smartphone support
- software (accounting, back-office, etc.)
- sales
The nice thing about becoming technical support is you do get some training. The quality of training varies from product to product and the instructor can be the difference between learning a new skill and resigning after a week. In the end, you can still put the training session on your resume even if you stuck around for less than a year.
The Truth
Technical support is a necessary evil. It's not a glamorous job. But if you're stuck in a rut in this horribly merciless economy, go try your hand at technical support even if you believe you aren't "technical enough". The truth is (and tech graduates who paid thousands of dollars would gainsay this) everyone has adequate technical skills to be technical support. Mostly, you need character to survive the somewhat stressful work more than guru-level skills. I once sat down next to a tech support rep in Buffalo, New York for three hours, listening him swear furiously every few minutes during and after his call. He was very good at his job and was an angel to his customers, but was going bald and losing his teeth from grinding them all the time. When I run training for technical support, I tell my class that it's not for everyone, but if you stick around long enough, you might end up actually liking it.
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