Small rant, and advice.

I'm sure every company has them, even multiples of them. The IT person, or group of people that do not look up answers on their own. Asking for help is one thing, but when you don't even bother to look up the answer to something that you work with just about every day, that really says something about your technical ability, or work ethic, or both. I'm all for down time, I have had work days where I surf the web just about all day, but I'm also the person that will stay up until 2am to fix a problem.

I have seen many people complain about not getting raises, or promotions, but they are the same people that say they can't work on the new product because they didn't get training on it first. Yes, we all want to get sent off to training before we use something new, but if you're the type of person that doesn't have enough drive to at least learn the basics of something on your own, then you're destined for a mediocre career.

Now, there is a fine line between doing something on your own, and knowing when to ask for help. I actually have a problem with asking others for help, I want to find the answer on my own, I don't ever want it to look like I don't know what I'm doing. I know that's a problem, and I have learned to ask for help sooner than later, because it's also very bad when you try to do everything on your own, because one person can not know it all.

So, look up the answers first, don't be afraid to ask for help when you've exhausted your resources, and get use to not getting training.

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Comments

Plantwiz

I hear what you are saying...

and I'm going to play devil's advocate for a moment:

How do you propose someone acquire information if they don't seek it out? Isn't asking questions of others a means of seeking out information? Have we moved into an era where ONLY 'GOOGLE' is the way to ask a question first and then we may ask a human (or coworker)?

Believe me, I hear you and understand that feeling of constantly fielding questions from co-workers who never seem to offer any help when you are troubleshooting, but are the first ones to ask you (what seems like) everytime they are faced with a new challenge.

The only person you can control is yourself. If you don't play like a team member, you are the only one who looks like a schmuck. Best option may be to seek out an alternative or depending on how your team is set up, present to your supervisor that you perhaps take the lead on training the rest of the team because you are eager to learn the newer technologies and perhaps you can implement the protocol for troubleshooting 'x' and 'y'...i.e. create a training book for your group.

You are in a very volatile position...one that may erupt with new opportunities or one that may erupt and show you as the 'problem' in the system and the employee who is unwilling to help the 'team'.

Hang in there for now...either make it better for you, or make plans to find a new environment...that little petty stuff will eat away at you if you let it.

Akaricloud

I definitely see what you're getting at, but you need to realize that a good team communicates more than just the minimum required. In my company/position I'm the go to person when any of our techs don't know something and I'm more than happy to show them through almost anything. Not only does this expand their knowledge but I often times learn a lot myself in the process. Who do you think is getting replaced first, the person that everyone turns to for answers or the one that tells everyone to go look it up themselves?

You're right that people who can't figure things out themselves won't make it very far but that doesn't mean that asking peers should be thrown out of the equation. Often times it's easier, quicker, and causes no down time for them.

DigitalZeroOne

@Plantwiz

This is one of those "You need to be there" moments...I'm talking about someone that has been working with a product for at least 2 years, and has full admin rights. This person prefers to watch movies instead of learning. I'm not talking about some new comer to IT, I'm talking about someone that has been in it for awhile.

I actually enjoy helping people, and even though this frustrates me from time to time, it's a very small blip on my map. I actually have an example...and it's true. We both have access to some server information, this person has been using it for at least 2 years, he asks me if a server is down, but he has the program running on his screen, he just does not change the view to see if the server is down.

Plantwiz

So......

what exactly would you like me or any other member to tell you?

I've expressed that I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt. So, I don't need specifics, because likely there are many regular posting members here who can empathize with you. That stated, what do you want from us? I gave you some recommendations from experience that has worked. Short of saying 'suck it up' or 'put up or shut up' you're options are to take the higher road and bring your co-worker(s) along with you to make the team stronger. Attempt to get yourself elevated into a team leader/supervisor role, or move out and find another pasture (and likely run into the same thing you currently have but you'll be the 'new' guy/gal.

I'm pretty confident you'll see something like this in just about any company that employs more than 2 employees. I cannot think of a company I have worked for where there has been 100% of the team on the ball. Best I've seen is 80-90% of the team rocks, and there is always someone we carry. Until that person messes up to get fired...you're stuck with them.

Making that employee look bad (by your doing, not their own) is not the best road to take IMNSHO, however, you may wish to give it a try. When it backfires, you will be facing a more challenging road to look for employement rather than that individual looking for employement.

Up to you how you wish to handle this. Make them look bad. Or make yourself look better by being the better person and helping out. When that doesn't satisfy you, then it may be time to move out, but you'll be doing so on your own terms. I can almost guarantee that if you work hard to make the other employee look stupid...you will lose the battle.

Which is why I recommend, you seek a higher road. Create a training book with a flow-chart. Or simply take the person under your wing and ask them to troubleshoot a situation with you and ask them what tools they have access to to solve that problem.

DigitalZeroOne

REMOVED UNNECESSARY QUOTED REPLY FROM PREVIOUS POST

You're trying to be too much of a Psychologist on this issue, my post was a rant about a senior tech that does not want to look up answers, and advice for people to try and resolve their own issues, while still knowing that they may need to ask for help when appropriate. I'm definitely not trying to make my co-worker look bad, in fact, I help him every time he asks. Maybe my post sounded much worse than my actual situation...I'm not losing sleep over this issue.

prtech

If they're asking you for help regarding the exact same thing that you've helped them with numerous times already, then I would be pissed. Otherwise, I actually prefer if someone asked for help first than trying to do something they don't know on their own. It's annoying when a tech has broken something because they thought they could do it on their own.