Anybody work in an IT help desk position? How stressful is it?

by DanTheMan 18 Replies latest jw friends

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  DanTheMan

  My boss is encouraging me to apply for a help desk position that has recently opened up at my place of work. It would involve taking inbound calls from both customers and coworkers regarding our software products (I work for a textbook publisher, many of the books we publish come bundled with various CD-Roms).

  The job would be a significant pay increase from what I make now, which is the primary incentive. However, the position is at a different location from where I currently work, and would likely triple my commute time. But my primary concern is the stress level - I imagine that software support is very demanding and stressful, as call after call is problems, problems, problems, from people who are at their wits end and are ready to strangle you for making such a bad product.

  I can deal with some stress, but I wonder if such a position would be beyond what I can handle. Any feedback or experiences would be welcome. Thanks!
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  sens

  Dan My Man .... I pity You...

  I was in tech support agesssss ago....

  here are some tips...

  if they say they cant see a font...tell em..turn your monitor on...

  if they say "i cant dial up"...ask them if they have plugged in the modem & / or phone line..

  if they say they cant configure outlook express without your help...send em to hotmail
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  sens

  oh also...

  we use to have this one guy call like every second day...

  he was indian...we use to call him paki stan...

  he would say ''why cd no play'' in this really bad accent...

  and i would say well u dont have to run the disk everytime you want to run the program and he was like ''why cd no play'' so everytime he called one of us would have to run him thru the entire installation...again, and again....and again...
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  DanTheMan

  So I take it that you don't give Tech Support a thumbs-up?

  Anybody else? Valis, Simon, I thought you guys had some experience in this kind of stuff.
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  Blueblades

  Hi Dan! I'm involved in trouble shooting analog and digital hearing aids.We have a software called 'fitting assistant',it helps us resolve many issues right in the office.All we have to do is toggle back and forth,what is the issue,go to fitting assistant and it clarifies the solution!

  Maybe you can have a software that does the same trouble shooting for you as you get the complaint you toggle to the trouble shooting assistant and can resolve the problem that way.Btw. we have to do this while the person is sitting right in front of us,not on the phone.

  This help does take away any uncertainty when addressing the problem.Of cause we already have the trouble shooting knowledge,the fitting assistant just confirms it for us and is much faster.

  Blueblades
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  Simon

  Part of my role, while primarily working on projects, does involved some support.

  Thankfully, it's 3rd line support so I don't have to deal with 'the great unwashed' too much. FOr anyone who doesn't know the terminology:

  1st line support: take calls directly. Normally have cheat sheets to help field the most common problems / questions

  2nd line support: do the actual fixing when it's something non on the list

  3rd line support: 2nd line come to us when they don't know what it is. We problem solve or discuss issues with the vendor (eg. Microsoft)

  If I was on 1st or 2nd, I would have killed someone by now. Even a lot of the questions we get passed from 2nd line (and also developers who we support) are things that they really should know and not have to ask if they were just half competent to do the job they are getting paid for.

  Support is a very frustrating occupation and I am not cut out for it (I can get away with being unsociable because I have deep kick-ass technical skills). Sometimes you just have to count to ten ... and then keep on counting.
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  drwtsn32

  I'm with Simon... I couldn't handle doing tier 1 or tier 2 support. But it might not be a bad move career wise. A significant raise in pay is hard to turn down, plus you might be able to move to more advanced support later. Good luck!
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  iiz2cool

  "Regular" computer users aren't idiots. They are "regular" people. They marry, have children, drive cars, mow the lawn, discharge automatic weapons on the firing range; all the "regular" activities that "regular" people engage in. No one (so far) has suggested that they be eliminated from the gene pool by preventing them from marrying each other; we teach them, instead, to use discretion in developing personal relationships. We don't prohibit them from having children (we teach them about safe sex). We remind them that they could die while driving 130mph on mountain roads, they could lose a foot pulling a lawn mower up a steep hill, they could really hurt somebody if they don't keep their Uzis pointed down range.

  Prevention begins with education. Face it, users who understand computing basics don't drag MSOFFICE into the TEMP folder or stick their vanilla wafers in drive A: to keep the mouse from nibbling on them. They don't use their CD-ROM tray to hold their coffee cups.

  Educated users are AFRAID to drag folders around. They are terrified by the possibility that, some day, they will unthinkingly insert foreign objects in their machine or give their keyboard a refreshing drink from their Super Slurpy.

  Education is the key to prevention and fear is the beginning of education.

  What they don't know CAN hurt them.

  So, the next time a user complains that an application magically disappeared when he accidentally pressed ALT-F4, simply explain, in a sympathetic voice, that it's okay - the first time. The little man in the keyboard allows ONE free mistake. After that, steel jaws will grip his hands while tiny razors begin removing his fingers.

  A little education of your users can save you alot of stress.

  Walter
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  DanTheMan

  hmmm...interesting responses. This would definitely be a 1st line support position, with greater possibilities down the road. And I fully anticipate that it would be a very aggravating job. But I think that I could eventually work in a second or third tier support position, with a little training and experience.

  I think I will at least apply for it. About $8k more per year than what I make now, and a chance to get out of my current workplace without changing employers (as you may or may not know I've had some pretty embarrassing social blunders at my workplace in the past year). I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for your input guys!
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  StinkyPantz

  StinkyDrawz did that position. He loved it.