Hey Noob - Write. Everything. Down.

The first thing I want to tell anyone getting into Tech Support is this:

Write. Everything. Down.

Tech Support as an industry has some of the least effective training of any industry out there.  Generally there's a week or so of "get familiar with the product" and then you're punted out into the deep end and left to fend for yourself.

Therefore: Write. Everything. Down.

Every time you learn a new diagnostic test, a new foible of the product, or come up with The Exact Right Words To Use in an email, save it somewhere. I use an online "notes" app for my boilerplate and how-tos since I can pull those up from a desktop widget (it also means I can get to it from any computer I'm on, which is useful if you're dealing with a 'sit anywhere' situation).

Writing Everything Down also means: If you can, Write It Down Where Your Coworkers Can Get To It. A common document dump, an online knowledge base, a WIKI-like editable web site: any of these can become an invaluable resource for everyone who supports the stuff you support, whether while you're working there or later when you've found something else to do.

Write. Everything. Down.

In a situation where you're in a Metrics-Obsessed-Managerial-Environment (MOME), writing down your casework also lets you provide hard numerical data for reviews, volume checks, projects and training.  If you have this stuff all written down, come Quarterly Review time. your email to your boss will take 10 minutes instead of an increasingly cranky half-hour.

Write. Everything. Down.

... Kind of like what I'm doing here.