Question regarding job expectations

StevenK246

Hello everyone!

I just registered this account after a year of lurking on the forums. It’s been very informative so far!

I thought I’d post here to ask a silly question stemming from my lack of experience, anxiety, and ongoing study of the 70-680 “Configuring Windows 7” exam. I’ve never had a job, so I honestly don’t know what to expect.

My question is, when troubleshooting, do technicians often have to look up information that they might have forgotten? Is that something to be expected, or do we need a rock solid understanding of all concepts pertaining to these exams? I feel like I can pass the exams, but I'm more concerned of whether the information will all stick, it's not something I apply to everyday life just yet.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

LeBroke

Google is like 95% of what I do.

Well, it's an exaggeration, but the only difference between an end-user and a technician is that the latter is a little better at looking up the information he needs.

For example, an end-user might search "computer won't start," while a technician will search "Intel S1200BTL boot fail 3TB drive."

You are expected to have a solid understanding of what you do (i.e. an MCSA that doesn't know how to add users to AD is, well.. what), but you aren't expected to know every single little thing, neither here, nor on the exam. Unless you're taking a Cisco exam, that is.

Jon_Cisco

One would hope that your first job provides you a little training and eases you into support. However there are many posts on here about people that are just expected to figure it out. I have never read a post about a tech that was not allowed to look things up on the internet. Possibly in classified environments you might run into something like that.

I agree with LeBroke. The real value is having an understanding of what you are dealing with so that you can better research the answer.

Russell77

An Engineer knows everything about something. A technician knows something about everything. As a technician your most important skill is to problem solve. You will have resources to draw from. The more background knowledge you have the faster you will be at getting something to work. There is no substitute for experience so just go find a job have a positive outlook and try to be helpful in any way you can. Study on your own what you don't understand.

Good Luck

Archon

Turn it off and on again, if that doesn't fix it Google is your friend

IIIMaster

You should know the scope of your at the job. Now lets say this issue or question is in scope then you should know it. If not check the internal documentation for the technology. If that is a no go check google. If google does not help ask your senior, last resort. The key about this is finding the solution in a timely manner if you are working with a customer.

anhtran35

Google.

StevenK246

Thank you for all the replies! Makes it easier going in knowing what to expect.

Kai123

Google is very helpful.

Netgear powerlight flashing red and green? Fax Machine over ISDN? DSLAM and CMTS? How far can you bend a Optical Fiber Cable? etc etc

Great learning tool. If your going out to look for an answer its going to stick once you figure it out on your own.

RHEL

Here's how it works for me... 5.5 years in an enterprise UNIX environment, I couldn't tell you half of the flags required for many commands I use fairly regularly. I constantly have to read through documentation and the Googles.

Experience teaches you how to react in situations and builds a base understanding of how things work. I may not remember the exact flags for a tcpdump command I need to perform, but I understand why and when to use it and what information I intend to extract from it. That's where knowledge is and experience is key.

darkerosxx

RHEL wrote: »

Here's how it works for me... 5.5 years in an enterprise UNIX environment, I couldn't tell you half of the flags required for many commands I use fairly regularly. I constantly have to read through documentation and the Googles.

Experience teaches you how to react in situations and builds a base understanding of how things work. I may not remember the exact flags for a tcpdump command I need to perform, but I understand why and when to use it and what information I intend to extract from it. That's where knowledge is and experience is key.

This... experience and study go a long way on helping you understand how to do your job better. Even if you can't remember the keystrokes for implementation, as long as you know what's possible and have a path for getting it done, it's a win.

Now, if you're in a situation where your job requires you to know what's possible and get it done without looking it up, that's something I think interviews weed people out for.

overthetop

I am not saying I never looked up anything but I prefer to ask experienced individuals surrounding me in the office. I figure after 6months the questions should be minimal. Take into consideration it is more than one way to do something, if you apply this or that the internet/book way and the organization uses a different way lets say governed by the government or SOP or Release Notes or Directives or STIG or Policy and you do what you got from the internet, you could risk bringing down the network and loosing your job. Then the next person who replaces you will know what not to do..