Career Path: Computer or Technical Support Specialist

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for Computer Support Specialists will increase steadily until at least 2020. Computer support specialists troubleshoot and resolve various computer and software issues. They may work in a help-desk environment or provide technical support in an organization's IT department. They may work in a large company and be one of several specialists or they might work in a small company or school and be the only IT person, handling all the technical problems. These specialists generally have a background in computer hardware and software, programming and network technologies. Many employers require computer support specialists to hold a bachelor's degree, though a certificate or associate's degree is sometimes sufficient.

Here are a few videos to give you an idea of what's involved in being a computer support specialist.







Not the best video production; I find the scrolling dialogue annoying and the editing is not seamless but this guy gives a fairly good overview of what his typical day is like.

This woman's desk is way too clean and tidy for a computer support specialist!

My favorite! Why? Because he starts out by telling you that if you work in IT you have to have a pretty messy work area. YES!!! I have never met an IT person who didn't have a buttload of cables, flash drives, software, and hardware laying around their office. They love their gadgets






 Qualities for a Successful Tech Support Specialist

• Respect for all users -- even when it's not reciprocated. Specialists mostly get called when things go wrong. Sometimes the problem is trivial but the user thinks it's the end of the world! Good people skills go a long way in making the user feel like their problem is important and that they're not stupid for freaking out -- even though you may be thinking that in your head . Tech Support Specialists get yelled at and freaked out on A LOT. There will be times when you save someone's data and they won't even thank you. Yeah, people can be rude. But you'll have plenty more users who will treat you like the rockstar that you actually are and appreciate your technical expertise. Treat all of them with respect. It will pay off in the long run.

ROCK IT!!!!

• Know your knowledge limitations. Realize that you don't know everything. The best techs know how to find the answer, whether it's Googling something, calling upon another, more senior tech, or jumping on a discussion forum to get your question answered. If you enjoy constantly learning new things, then this is a great career for you.

• Be a problem solver and creative thinker. Sometimes you have to be MacGyver  -- solving complex problems with the tools at hand. Sometimes just being able to isolate the problem is the hardest part of fixing it.
  

• Keep learning and applying your knowledge. Rapid change is fundamental to the IT world. Hardware, software and methodology become outdated very quickly. If you want to stay employed, you need to keep up with all the changes. Adapt your knowledge base to new situations. What worked on one problem might not be the perfect solution to another problem. Most things don't go by the book.

• Have an intrinsic interest in technology. Users need to feel that you are the technical guru so it's important for you to be excited about new technologies. And you want to be a key player when the company is making decisions about purchasing technology.

To find out more about what's needed in a career in Computer and Information Technology, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics page.

Keeping Your Hands Toasty

Just had to share my new best friends.

A former colleague from Apple turned me on to these and they truly are my new best friends! My office gets pretty cold, especially my hands. Now all I have to do is plug in my gloves and voilá...... INSTANT WARMTH!!!

And the price is right

Lots to choose from at Amazon.

Praxis

Praxis is the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practiced, embodied, or realised. In other words.....Theory is 'real' knowledge while practice is the application of that knowledge to solve problems.

In school you are learning all sorts of things (knowledge) but, if you are like me when I was in high school, you question why you have to learn it and how you'll use it in the real world. How will you apply it in your day-to-day life?

There's a group called Code for America that provides programmers and other technology people the opportunity to volunteer with local governments in building web-based tools and resources in order to make their cities run better and more efficiently.What they do changes the way governments works!

Sophia Parafina is a Fellow at Code for America. Here's why she is doing it. And she doesn't have a degree in Computer Science! Her degrees are actually in History and Geography. I'm guessing that she taught herself how to code by utilizing online resources and user forums.

So now she's using those skills to make a difference. She's applying the knowledge she's acquired to change the way government works. That is just so cool!!

Here is her blog if you're interested in some of the projects she has worked on. I particularly liked her post from September 10, 2012 titled Code for America Austin Hackathon: Buses and fun with GTFS