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  Computer User Support Specialists
Summary  |  Description  |  Requirements  |  Salaries  |  Employment  |  Articles  |  Community
  Careers / Computer User Support Specialists  
     
 
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Reviews
There are 27 reviews of this career.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
4 stars
 
Date:
 October 21, 2008
  The number one tip I would give anyone considering this as a career is to start as early as possible. Nothing makes up for experiance in the work place. I would recommend this career to anyone who enjoys helping people, and solving problems. If I had to do it all over again I for sure would. I may do a couple of things differently to move my career along faster, but I am happy with where I am now. The biggest pro from being a support technician is the immense satisfaction you get when you solve the problem no one else could. It is also very satisfying when one of your ideas for better support saves the company you work for a lot of money. The one thing that you should know about this career is that it requires a lot of self teaching. Many computer support personel expect a ton of training in the field, but until your into a specific system it is a on the job training. College degrees are important, but the actual training and learning comes when your in the field.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
5 stars
 
Date:
 March 13, 2008
  My career as a Computer Support Specialist is something I would never trade. Every day I get to help new people / customers and add to my own knowledgebase. Whether I am trying to solve a new problem, or I am teaching other people how to solve a problem, its a very rewarding job day to day. And the pay is nice too!!
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Author:
   Anonymous  
4 stars
 
Date:
 October 06, 2007
  This career is for the detail-oriented person who likes to write documentation. You have to get along with a lot of different kinds of people, and learn how to prioritize your tasks.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
4.5 stars
 
Date:
 July 14, 2007
  There is a lot of downtime and little management to respond to, at least with my particular position. I would definitely recommend this to anyone still in college.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
4 stars
 
Date:
 June 04, 2007
  The job can get stressful at times because you have to communicate solutions to computer users who may not be very skilled. But for the most part it is a rewarding career.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
4 stars
 
Date:
 June 04, 2007
  If you are not good at writing code or a geek i must say then this is the best support job that can fetch you good money as well as nice environment. I work currently in the Asia pacific region, and have experience over 7 years in the industry and have seen that this job though doesnt have any day to day activities assigned, but once in a while you will have to work under lot of pressure.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
4.5 stars
 
Date:
 May 25, 2007
  Computer support is a 24x7 job. One should opt for this career only if he/she has a zeal for getting things done at any cost. The specialist is generally called upon when there is a breakdown which obviously must be fixed within the minimum time frame. Yes, having gained a considerable experience in this field, I would definitely recommend this career option. You get to learn lots of things along the way. You deal with lots of people using high end machines, normal desktops and complex systems. It is also about team work and better human understanding and relations. Most of the issues are fixed easily if you can understand what the user has at the back of his mind. At the end of the day you are a satisfied human!
Yes, I love my job and I will continue to re-do this as many times possible.
The pros are that you become more technically skilled day by day. You learn working under pressure and deliver results. You meet like minded and skilled professionals which gives confidence to stand among peers. The only con is you need to ready all the time to face the music!
They should know that this is real fun and is not a mere 10 to 5 desk job. You won’t feel a sense of stagnation or stranded in the middle of the sea type of situation. Give them some mugs of coffee and they would love to work and fix a problem at any time of the day/night.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
3 stars
 
Date:
 May 08, 2007
  Pros: -good stable salary ~$50000/yr+ starting -with health/insurance benefits -requirements usually only BA/BSc degree + experience -Mon-Fri 9-5 hours, usually, depending on sector -can have Union benefits, depending on sector/employer -busy environment, work with a variety of people, technology products -good promotion prospects/upward mobility -good experience for resume -skills easily can be ported to other areas/industries Cons: -can be very technical -requires knowledge of hardware, software, operating systems, etc -upkeep of technical knowledge may require periodic certifications -subject to cyclical business cycles, and/or local area demand. -bad management; depending on industry/sector, management may negatively affect job health.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
3.5 stars
 
Date:
 April 25, 2007
  The schooling was fun. But the work force is way different from what you expect. You need to find a company that will keep you busy and help advance your knowledge.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
0.5 stars
 
Date:
 March 26, 2007
  I provide customer technical support for a large internet service provider. This is an awful profession. On the one hand, ignorant customers invariably blame problems on the isp, even if the problem is their router, their email client, their dying copy of windows, etc. On the other hand, if the problem is actually the fault of the isp, my options are extremely limited. Hence, it is very difficult to satisfy the customer, and I deal with angry, confused people all day long. This job combines the worst aspects of retail with the grimness of being employed by a poorly-organized jumbo corporation. My "favorite" part of the job is that my daily bathroom time is recorded by management, and I am frequently criticized for using 3.5 minutes of bathroom time per day. Like me, you may find yourself with no other viable job options. If so, at least you will get insurance and some paid vacation. But aside from these modest benefits, the job is demoralizing in the extreme.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
4 stars
 
Date:
 March 21, 2007
  This is a great job field to get if the company you get hired under cares and understands that, you being a specialist, you actually know what you're talking about and the news scare story their heard last night will be taken care of without their knowledge. If you get into a company that treats you as a number and people waste all of your time with gossip and scare news they've heard, it can be hell. Just depends on how much you enjoy this work and the environment you're in.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
2.5 stars
 
Date:
 March 08, 2007
  While money can be good in technology-related careers, be aware that this isn't always the case. It's very easy to get pigeon-holed into a bottom-rung technical support career, and sometimes difficult to rise any higher. If you can find well-paying jobs, they frequently involve long hours and high stress. If you can handle pressure, tight deadlines and long hours, you can make a great deal of money. It can be difficult, however, to balance a life with friends and family outside of work with your career.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
0 stars
 
Date:
 February 12, 2007
  Tips or advice:

-Be prepared to be patient because many customers are just not technically inclined.
-Many customers are in a hurry and want a ten minute process done in five minutes.
-You will find yourself asking the same questions repeatedly - get used to it.
-Get used to hearing people talk over speakerphones, or with industry machine running in the background, or people who are 200 feet away from the system you are trying to troubleshoot.
-Get used to customers blaming you or your company's software when it is them who are actually not using the software correctly.

RECOMMENDATION: Avoid this career where possible; it tends to be a dead-end unless you can work your way up to management, but that just means a different set of pressures which you pass down to your Team Leaders, which gets transferred to the agents. From personal experience, working over the telephones has given me tinnitus (ringing in the ears).

I would NOT choose this career again. If I had no choice, I would get a position like email or chat support.

Pros: Depending on the company, the benefits may be decent.

Cons: It's all about the numbers, so you can expect to take a lot of calls because management has designed the system to have you wait as little as possible between calls. Potential hearing issues. Poor managers who are enforcing company policy. Working with other agents who shouldn't be doing the job - you end up cleaning up their messes when the customer calls back.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
4 stars
 
Date:
 February 06, 2007
  Try to listen to the person who is describing his or her problem with their system. Always assure them it is not their fault(even if it is) and then explain to them that everyone makes that mistake, and say that it is like the 3rd one you have worked on this week then explain how it happen and so they wont do it again.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
5 stars
 
Date:
 February 05, 2007
  You must love learning. You must be curious, intuitive, and creative. You must become energized by helping people. The very best computer support specialists have to be experts at everything. They know how to do their own jobs and the jobs of everyone else around them. There are a lot of reasons to take a computer support job, good and bad. Some people take the job to get a foot into the door of a desired company. Some people get shoved into this job because they're good at it. Maybe their friends and family ask them for help with computers. Maybe they hate programming and don't know what else to do. Those people are all easy to discern-- they're the disgruntled techs on the other side of the desk or the other end of the phone who sound like they'd rather be doing ANYTHING but helping you.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
3.5 stars
 
Date:
 January 31, 2007
  I am a technical writer and software trainer. The work is a great for someone who wants to find a way to transition from public school teaching to private industry. The work can sometimes be monotonous (training on the same software over and over), but if you enjoy presenting material and you like problem-solving (as you are sometimes reviewing the software and seeing how usable it is for people), then this is a great career. One negative is that you may be looked down upon by the more 'technical' staff, as you are not as technical as they. However, you are an important link between the developers and the users.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
3.5 stars
 
Date:
 January 20, 2007
  IT is a competitive industry to break into, not everyone that graduates with a computer major goes into the industry. You have to really like what you studied, because in the first few years the career will not be very financially rewarding. Even after a few years in your career, you will still need to study more to advance into a more rewarding salary and job position.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
2.5 stars
 
Date:
 January 19, 2007
  If you like people constantly asking you for help, this is the position for you. Long hours may be expected, as it is hard to actually do a 9-5 as you can't tell people "well, it's almost 5, sorry I can't help you."
It is rewarding however once you get the thank you's but sometimes they don't come and you don't feel as good. Another good thing is that you get to know everyone in your company as they have to come to you for their computer help.
Also, a con is the pay. Depending on the company, you are highly underpaid. Expect between $35-45 k a year for your first couple of years.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
3.5 stars
 
Date:
 January 19, 2007
  I do provide technical support for security software. If you like a challenge and talking to different people this is the career for you. You get to help new people everyday and you will never feel bored. Technology is ever changing and new issues always arise keeping you on your toes. The best part is the satisfaction of troubleshooting an issue and being able to help your clients. The stress comes in because often times you may not be properly staffed so you do not have enough people to help you and then customers will be stressed and upset with you. If you have patience and tact you can turn the situation around and get the most upset customers thanking you when the call is over.
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Author:
   Anonymous  
3.5 stars
 
Date:
 January 19, 2007
  I do provide technical support for security software. If you like a challenge and talking to different people this is the career for you. You get to help new people everyday and you will never feel bored. Technology is ever changing and new issues always arise keeping you on your toes. The best part is the satisfaction of troubleshooting an issue and being able to help your clients. The stress comes in because often times you may not be properly staffed so you do not have enough people to help you and then customers will be stressed and upset with you. If you have patience and tact you can turn the situation around and get the most upset customers thanking you when the call is over.
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