Tag: technician

Why most computer technicians are all over the place.

Paul
Miniature Computer Technicians

Too many things and to few technicians

This is really the most common problem.   If you haven’t been watching there seems to be a labor shortage, that means most jobs aren’t getting filled even in the really tech related market.  I can pretty much say with some certainty, businesses are going to be picky who they hire and why they will not hire others.   They might have a goal, or want to fill a position with the best possible candidate.   I am sure most of the businesses are trying to fill the positions but people have thought long and hard and wanting to be appreciated.   This is going to not stop the labor shortages anytime soon.   You can expect that the shortage to last for some time in the future as people rethink what they want to do and how to get that dream job.   It will make it harder on the technology industry also because they will always be short handed until this levels off and the work load gets back to normal.

Most technicians are probably ADD(Attention Deficient Disorder)

Yes, you’ve probably guessed right.   We tend to be more all over the place due to to have the attention span that is normal with working on computer.   There are some that are way better at hiding it or maybe they don’t have it in the first place, but I’m willing to bet at least half do have some form of this disorder.   It’s got to be because it’s why we got into the computer field.   We enjoy seeing what might be around the  corner or what will a customer bring into a computer repair shop.   That’s something we have a lot of experience with is seeing how broken the system is due to inexperience people.

Most technicians have high level of intelligence


This could be bad or good depending on how you see it but I’ve found this to be true with most technicians.  If you seen the Big Bang Theory and seen how Sheldon reacts that is kind of what a technician might do.   Technicians sometimes don’t have those filters you would expect them to do have but they are very friendly.   I am sure if you think about Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory, you might see some of what I am talk about.

Technician’s are not socials sometimes

It might not seem like but sometimes I tend to stay around people they know or maybe even be around people that know about computers.  I know myself, I rarely go to events that isn’t interesting.   If it interests me we can talk about it for days but if it isn’t that interesting, I would probably fall asleep.   This is where computers for me at least brought me into the field of being a technician.

I know this is a short post but I thought maybe some of you would like to know what a technician might be or how he might react.  Do you have suggestions on why a technician might be all over the place or even why he acts the way he does.   Why Not leave a comment and tell your story or tell me what you know.

Some advice for new computer technicians

Paul

Computer network technician training offered in Vancouver

We can’t do this alone!

This is the most important idea that you should understand. Most computer technicians think that they have to do it alone when it comes to problem solving an issue.  It is because  no one can ever know how to fix every possible problems that may arise.   Those are the times we should ask question and ask for help from other technicians.   This will help you even more than you might imagine because some other technician might know how to solve the issue or problem that you are having.    We might never really understand what someone else might know.   This also includes customers, because what one customer might not know another one might.

Research is everything

Sometimes even other technicians might not know what is causing the problem.  So use everything at your fingertips.   Don’t underestimate the power of word search in Google, Bing, and Yahoo.  It isn’t like one search engine is better than another.  Each search engine has some information that some others might not have.  Don’t just use one but should always use all of them.   Sometimes one search engine will not have the answers, so I will always go and check out two or more search engines for a possible fix for the issues.

You will have angry customers!

No one tells you this but no matter how nice or good you are, you’ll have those angry customers. You should be prepared to deal with them. I say this with some experience, no matter what you’ll do for a customer there will always be those who know nothing about computers and then get mad at you for some reason or another. You’ll need to learn to be patient with an angry customer. Learn to come up with ways to alleviate the stress or anger from the customer. My go to phrase when a customer is angry or stressed is “Here’s what I can do for you . . . “.   If you tell the customer that you can do something for the customer even if it is something small, it helps with making the customer feel like they are being heard.   Also learn to active listen to the customer and make sure you hear what they say by repeating back to them the problems they are having.   Also sometimes the customer is going to just need to vent and be angry.  Technicians should learn to just be there for the customers.

Computers will break!

This is the next thing you will learn being a technician, that no matter how careful you are going to be with a computer, You’ll break a system just by doing something you’ve done a billion times.   If it can be broken, it will be broken.  Murphy just likes to make people’s life harder, and we will always have those days.   I can say with certainty that no one will ever be perfect at solving problems or fixing the issues.   I’ve seen motherboards break or CMOS fail at the most unusual times.  So you should be prepared to always apologize to the customers or say your sorry and make it right, even if it’s not your fault.   Sometimes customers will want to feel like they are important to you and that helps keeps the customers coming back.

No technical jargon

No matter how much you know or think you know, keep the technical jargon to a minimum with customers.   Most of them aren’t even going to know what you are talking about if you don’t relate the problem to the customer.  I can remember several times when I heard someone tell a customers about a command or hardware and the customers eyes just glaze over because they just don’t understand.   Only tell the customer what they need to know, if it’s a customer error, teach the customer and try to prevent them from creating the problem again.

I’ve been in the computer world a long time and I am sure the old and new a like will agree that these are some valuable tips for those who might be interested in being a technician.  Nothing I’ve said here will stop angry customers but it might help.   What’s some things you’ve learned to help with customers not getting angry or make the customer happy?  I’d love to here what helped you with customers and I am sure others will too.