What should I expect first week of work as a Technician?

Saul Goodman

I start next week working for a contractor that works for the U.S. government. The position that I have been hired for is Computer Support/Technician. What are some things I should expect to see my first week? Also, what specific area should I brush up on? I haven't worked in the computer support field since my last job, an intern for a local computer repair shop, which was three years ago when I was in college. Any help on best preparing for this new job would be very helpful. I have confidence in this Forum. Thanks in advance, Saul.

cisco_trooper

make sure you can troubleshoot failed LAN connections

Tip: Check the cable first....

empc4000xl

Your 1st week will be all admin functions and meeting the crew. I would'nt even try to get my hands in anything. I work with a lot of govt contractors and the new people always are just there meting people and not really getting invloved with 2 much. THen after you have been there for a 2 weeks, you should expect to get invloved with smaller projects while you are getting intergrated into the team. Also at this time they will be showing you how they do stuff there way.

Tyrant1919

Yeah, you’ll be in a watch and learn mode for awhile getting used to how things are done there. Here’s a few things I've learned doing Help Desk for the Air Force in my time……

Have the user reboot if it's something that maybe off the wall. I’ve ‘solved’ many issues just from having the user reboot.

For the most part, do not trust what the user says. I’m not saying ignore what they’re saying. Let me just give you an example of what I’ve been through at least a hundred times for real.

Me - “Customer Support this is Airman Winters Speaking How may I help you?”
User - “<insert some weird problem explanation here, and how much of a high priority it is>”
“Ok, did you reboot?”
“Yes”
“Ok, can you do it for me right now over the phone just to make sure?”
“I guess, hold on give me a minute”
-wait a minute-
“Can I have you login again?”
“Sure, one sec.”
<user logs in>
“Wow, I guess it just decided to work now that I have you on the phone, thanks!”

Summary of conversation: Customer said they rebooted, but really didn’t. We’re running windows machines, reboots are crucial to system stability :^).

If there’s no network connectivity, start from the cable and go from there. Make sure the cable is plugged in. Check the other end of the cable too if it’s plugged into a wall jack or an accessible switch. Verify there are ‘blinkies’ (Link lights) on the NIC. See what you can ping or not ping, loopback, Default GW, DNS etc… the customer may be notifying you of a small network outage.

You will know real quick if somebody can’t get their e-mail through outlook.

Trust your instincts, sound confident over the phone.

I’m rambling a bit, you know what you’re doin’ prolly, just relax the first month or so and slowly get acquainted with your new environment.

Mrock4

Tyrant speaks the harsh truth. A large majority of issues are solved by rebooting. I can't count the amount of times a user swore up and down they checked everything..only to find the Ethernet cable a good foot away from the port..

I've been called to fix power outages..they figure "hey, our computers are down..they should be able to fix it"....

I also have replaced a lot of RJ-45 connectors, because of users beating the crap out of them (laptops). I've replaced probably 30 RJ-11's on the same phone..

One Desktop PC wouldn't boot..the user swore they checked to see if it was plugged in. It wasn't.

Oh, and most importantly..to build off what Tyrant said..every user will think their problem is the highest of priority, but 99% of the time, they'll use "I need to get work done" line, when what they really mean is "I can't access Youtube..". I wish I was kidding. After a while on the job, and getting to know people, you'll see the same. I'm not saying that there should be an "acceptable" downtime of the network, or an individual user..but someone accessing their myspace vs. a user who can't make an important phone call should be prioritized accordingly.

Most of all..expect to learn a lot. I hated my support role at the time, but looking back, I learned a huge amount about troubleshooting, and customer service skills.

Tyrant1919

It's not all bad though. You'll actually find some users that will actually work very well with you over the phone, or even through e-mail. I prefered the users that would just send an e-mail to our helpdesk box. I actually tried to do those ones faster because I hated answering phones. Helpdesk is the best place to start for any future IT position I feel.

ally_uk

Ive spent 2 years working as a First Line Support technician and a further 2 years working as a I.T Technician.

First line support is easy it's all about detective work asking the user a sensible set of questions without being patronizing to gather background information.

I.e when did the problem occur? when was the computer last serviced? etc,

Your more than likely deal with networking troubleshooting at a basic level so it's always a bonus to know how a few concepts work and learn about basic networking troubleshooting using the CLI or command line if you use windows.

I remember vividly about working on a helpdesk once your colleagues realize you fix pcs's expect a queue of them dumping off there personal equipment on your desk expecting a free repair I got it all the time!

I got fed up with people expecting you know everything and being about to resolve issues that you haven't been trained on.

My Current Job as a I.T technician see's me working for a charity we basically take in old refurbished hardware and i'm the monkey who services it for reuse.

Macs , 486's , Sparcs, Amstrads, Acorns you name it ive tinkered with since ive been here lol

I'd say to be a good technician having good diagnostic skills is a must i'd say learn the socket types of processors that always comes in handy!

Also don't rely on quick fixes do your research into the problem and learn the correct troubleshooting steps to resolve a issue once you have the resolution try it out and always ensure that you document your new found knowledge as you never know when it can come in handy.

I'd also say keep a open mind regarding technology and be prepared for change! I came from a windows background so imagine me entering this new positions which had a heavy orientation towards open source technologies after all we are a chairty and keeping the cost down server and network wise with open source is essential.

My inital response was Linux wtf is Linux?

After 2 years tinkering with Debian and tinkering with concepts in my spare time i.e Samba, LDAP i have to say that it is now my preferred choice of O/S much less hassle than bindows lol.


Good luck in your role and enjoy it! even during those hair tearing moments!

famosbrown

Are you doing Desktop Technician work, or will you be working with production servers too? I wouldn't reboot servers so quickly if there are problems there...especially production ones...it may come back later in the middle of the night, no monitors or alerts setup to let you know the issue occurred again, and now you have lost money for the compnay. If it is time sensitive and you are sure the reboot will cure it, I would try to gather as much infor first before doing a reboot, so you can research offline and possibly resolve the issue during a maintenance window or something...just throwing some ideas out there. I just get a weird itch when I hear that reboot solves problems...nothing personal, but I've been bit once by giving up on solving an issue and thinking a reboot solved it...still got a bitter taste although it was a couple of years ago .