The Shortest Tech Support Career Advice Ever

All you need to develop a successful career in the IT and Tech Support industry is an interest in technology and the confidence to search out, record and retain the little details that make computers do what we want them to do.

You don't need certification, you don't need a degree. You just need to be confident in your ability to find information and harness it.

Further education: Codeacademy.com

If you've been on the "Support" side of things for a while and want to start edging into the "coding" side of things, check out Codeacademy - It's a rather nifty "interactive tutorial" site that will get you nicely grounded in string-oriented coding with JavaScript. In keeping with the times, it also provides scores, badges, and other things to boast about on FaceBook and other social media sites.

I've been very "results oriented" in my coding experience - only soaking up as much knowledge as I need to get a specific task done for a specific project. This site has helped shore up the basic concepts of programming, which will make it easier for me to create my own projects.

Two thumbs up.

The new gig: Hitting the ground running

Starting a new job means getting an idea of what the work environment will be. While some companies take the time to provide an orientation period, in many cases once you're in, you're moving. If you have the time to do so (say, the weekend before you begin your new job), try the following:

Spend some time getting familiar with the area around your new place of work: This will give you an idea of the environment, possible places to go for lunch, where to go when you're almost out of gas, and other useful bits of data.

Spend an hour or so checking your favorite online map site for alternate routes to and from your new gig - where do you go if the freeway is at a standstill? Can you get from here to there on surface streets alone?

Get an idea of the size of the company. A company with 120 employees "supports" differently than a larger, more spread out company.  The kind of support you provide (ie: sterling) should not change, but the manner in which you provide that support might be different.  Do they have a system in place to log requests or is it a more informal "can you help me with this?" environment?

Learn the location of the restrooms, fire exits, break rooms and vending machines. This information will help keep you sane when it's time to get up and walk away for a moment.

Read over any information your company provides in regard to internet usage. This is a big one especially as some companies are beginning to crack down on the use of streaming media sources like YouTube and Pandora. Find out what's OK and not OK to do at work before you try learning the hard way.

Learn people's names as quickly as you can. Start with your immediate supervisor and coworkers, then work your way out from there to the other teams and support people.  Always learn the names of the admins, secretaries and receptionists. They're the ones who really run things.

The more you know about where you're working, the easier it will be to work there!

Seek Free Knowledge

There are always a few - a few - moments of relative quiet in the day of a tech support rep. If you have access to the internet, why not use it to track down additional information you can put to use?

Try running a search for free (your area of interest here) tutorial - most of the results you will encounter will provide at least a basic education in the field, programming language or program you're interested in, which can justify your adding it to your skills and experiences list mentioned in Monday's post... which can lead to improving your options and opportunities moving forward.

On top of all that - it's free knowledge, which is always a good thing.

Starting Out: The Contract Gig

It can be challenging to get into the Tech Support industry - although there are plenty of postings for job openings, there are also plenty of applicants for those openings.

One alternate way to get experience in Tech Support is to work short term "contract" assignments.  Many companies need IT personnel for their internal "Help Desk" or Technical Support for their customers on a temporary basis. Even more companies use contract employees to fill the need for more bodies on a seasonal basis, or to "try out" new employees before committing to full-time employment.

If you're starting out as a tech, do a few searches for "technical staffing" on the search engine of your choice. The odds are good you will find at least two agencies in your area who provide temporary employment (also known as "contract").  Call, email and make appointments with the understanding that you're just starting out.

If you're an experienced tech and currently "between jobs", a contract agency can help you fill the gaps between full time employment. Some techs simply go from contract gig to contract gig, as it allows them flexibility and the ability to decide when and where they work.

Working with agencies can make job-hunting easier: the agencies are paid by the companies who are looking for help, so they're motivated to help you get work!