5 Reasons I Hate Technical Support Jobs
Working in the field of technical support is something I hopped into after college. I recieved a degree in web design but it seems most entry level technology positions are based on providing technical support. Now after working in the field a few years, it has driven me to the point I want nothing to do with the office/cubicle world. Actually, I want something that is as far from it as possible.
Why? Well here are a few reasons I absolutely hate working in the technical support field:
1. It’s Always Your Fault
It seems like no matter what the problem may be, it is always the “IT Guys” fault. If a hard drive crashes or a monitor stops working, people immediately feel the need to point fingers. They will then ride you until you have them back up and running. It creates a great deal of stress when it happens over, and over, and over again on a daily basis. I have learned to ignore this but it still gets me down from time to time.
2. Every Incident is a Priority
When users are not busy pointing fingers, their busy preaching about how their issue should be the main concern and nothing else is nearly as important. This is one of the things I hate the most about my mundane office job. What really makes it difficult is when you have a handful of people all telling you they need their issue resolved first and your left trying to prioritize it all. It ends up creating chaos in my head and then nothing gets done. So please people, just be patient and your issues will be resolved.
3. People Ask Questions About Personal Computers
This is another thing that just pisses me off. People will come over to my desk and either ask me some questions about a computer problem at home, or literally drop off their personal computer. Now I have no problem helping others out, but do you have to do it while I am at work. It is hard enough keeping up with all the problems and projects I need to get done. Throwing personal problems on top of it all just overwhelms me to the point that I do not even want to get up and come to the office in the morning.
4. It’s Very Repetitive
At first, I used to enjoy the repetitivness of working technical support. It made it an easy job because I always had to resolve similiar issues. Having worked in the field for a few years now, I can honestly say it now drives me insane. I cannot handle doing the same things over and over on a day to day basis. I believe Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Well I also believe that doing the same thing over and over will eventually lead you to insanity. I know this because I am a few weeks away from going insane myself…
5. People Ignore You Until They Need You
This is something that makes my job boring, non-rewarding, and makes me straight up hate it. It seems people really do not care much for the IT department unless something goes wrong. They will walk right by my cubicle without even muttering a simple hello. Unless of course, a problem arises. Then a thousand people show up thinking they need to remind me of a system outage that I already knew about and am in the process of trying to fix it.
Conclusion.
Do not get me wrong, their have been a lot of nice people I have met that treated me very well. It is just those few that can really put a damper on your day. And when it starts happening on a daily basis, it really puts a damper on your job as a whole and eventually your life.
Anyone else work in the IT field? Or dislike their job for various reasons? I would love to hear about it.
Like This Post? Help Me Travel The WorldPopularity: 42% [?]
Well, I know in my former department people hated your job too! They were always complaining about IT problems and the long waits and delays with the support line, but wouldn’t think that since all of them are constantly calling IT for help with minor issues it obviously slows everything down.
Personally, I loved calling tech support. I was able to take a nap while I was on hold and then would have some awesome conversations with the person on the other end because I wasn’t demanding and accepted responsibility when it was my fault. In fact, out of 30-40 calls for myself or the work area (mostly for myself forgetting one of my millions of passwords) I only blamed IT once and it was their fault for losing my e-mail during a transition from Lotus Notes to Outlook. I was without e-mail for about a week but other than that one incident I took responsibility and didn’t yell or anything.
I know I’m the exception though, as even the IT people would tell me horror stories about other callers.
Start an IT tech support firm and outsource everything to India, Justin?
April 9th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
yeah i know how you feel i used to do the same sort of thing it done my head in good luck to you lol
April 9th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
“It is hard enough keeping up with all the problems and projects I need to get done. Throwing personal problems on top of it all just overwhelms me”
Uhhhhhhh, where do you write this blog again? Lol. Or are those “projects” such things as SEO and social marketing, hehe.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Spot on - great post! Now all I need to do is forward this to all the muppets that think tech support is a piss-easy job where you get to sit on your butt all day and do nothing.
I’m a web developer but have to provide support to both colleagues and clients and find that anything/everything even remotely IT connected gets dumped on me and if it doesn’t get sorted ASAP no questions asked, it’s all my fault. Clients don’t understand that sometimes we have to wait on 3rd party companies, and like you said.. everything is a priority.
Of course, don’t even get me started on how people treat female tech support, because I’d be here all day!
Sucks to be us I guess
April 10th, 2008 at 3:32 am
HaHa Jeremy, this is true. I do use some of my time to write this blog, only because getting fired wouldn’t bother me
PS. Did you ever figure out the header you were f*cking with for a week straight?
April 10th, 2008 at 10:09 am
[…] already started answering this questions with my post titled “5 Reasons I Hate Technical Support Jobs.” But I also tried to get a little more in depth. I think my main reason for not liking the […]
May 13th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Justin - if you can handle those 5 reasons and avoid going postal, I see a very bright career path ahead for you.
Just get some ITIL-related certs and begin the climb up the greasy pole away from tech support’s bleeding edge.
Being able to describe, define and defend all these control and change management structures to the great unwashed stakeholders who are paying for it will be a skill much in demand (and very portable internationally too).
Ya think I’m kidding?
Good luck in whatever you decide.
mark mcclure
japan
May 16th, 2008 at 6:10 am