Didn't want to go totally off the rails in the certs thread, so I thought I'd share some rationale on why I don't have them, and that actually edged me out against the competition in getting my job.
Long story short, being a for-hire service technician sucks. There's virtually no volume, and the cases you get mostly involve shot hard drives. Given our testing process and past experience, if I even have to break out the DFT disk (drive fitness test for anybody that doesn't speak IT ABC soup), I'm already pretty sure it's going to fail.
Occasionally, though, I do get some stuff that's funny in a cosmic sort of way. Such as a motherboard with a bad SATA controller that I RMA'd, only to get a replacement that doesn't even POST. (Protip: stay away from ECS Elitegroup. Far, far away- I've finally found a motherboard manufacturer that's worse than Biostar, and their support sucks donkey balls)
Don't be a tech.
Become an "analyst" or "consultant".
Go into networking. There is money there, and security.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 28, 2013, 11:03:24 AM
Go into networking. There is money there, and security.
That's one thing I'm cross-training in, for that reason. Of course, it was hilarious the first time I had to run cable for the warehouse. Severe acrophobic + 28-foot extension ladder = hilarity.
We're actually trying to position ourselves for more networking and surveillance service calls, but the few Languishites who've been to Cumberland County can tell you, marketing any of that newfangled "telephone" stuff here is a chore.
Join the Navy.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on July 30, 2013, 07:41:27 AM
Join the Navy.
Never pass a physical. My shooting hand's fucked up.
SearchProtect, PC Fix Speed, and Comcast's lovely ConstantGuard (have they stopped using that system-wrecking piece of crap yet?), all on one machine. And of course, my boss is only just now starting to realize that I'm actually stronger on manual infection removal than he is. Today's GEM quote: "I don't use msconfig- nothing shows up there." :wacko:
Another installment from Nick Burns, Your Company's Computer Guy.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on July 24, 2013, 11:13:56 PM
Didn't want to go totally off the rails in the certs thread, so I thought I'd share some rationale on why I don't have them, and that actually edged me out against the competition in getting my job.
How so?
Yes, it's boring.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 15, 2013, 01:30:59 AM
How so?
I personally wouldn't mind carrying a couple of certs, but the boss feels they're a racket and tend towards too narrow a curriculum for the kind of stuff we run into.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on August 15, 2013, 08:03:16 AM
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on August 15, 2013, 01:30:59 AM
How so?
I personally wouldn't mind carrying a couple of certs, but the boss feels they're a racket and tend towards too narrow a curriculum for the kind of stuff we run into.
They are a racket as has been stated. But the Caligas and Eds of the world enforce the racket, so you may as well start spending your money on them.
:frusty:
Quote from: DontSayBanana on July 30, 2013, 07:25:45 PM
Never pass a physical. My shooting hand's fucked up.
Doesn't matter. Being a Navy IT looked like it was just as boring as being a civilian tech/IT guy anyway. Only real difference is their clothes were all the same and their office moved (assuming they were even on a boat instead of just on a base somewhere). They also probably get paid less than you.
Quote from: Caliga on August 15, 2013, 09:12:05 AM
:frusty:
Your BBQ sauce is made from teh tears of children who went without Christmas because their parents needed an A+ cert.
4-hour service call: $400
New laser printer: $100
Discovering that service calls aren't really worth it for most printers available in the retail market: priceless.
True. Laser printers are trash compared to maybe 10-15 years ago.
Quote from: DontSayBanana on August 15, 2013, 08:03:16 AM
I personally wouldn't mind carrying a couple of certs, but the boss feels they're a racket and tend towards too narrow a curriculum for the kind of stuff we run into.
I wish my industry felt that way. Maybe then I wouldn't be moving back in with my parents in November.
THE IDEAL CANDIDATE POSSESSES A CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINER CERTIFICATION EVEN THOUGH WE DONT EXAMINE FRAUD AT ALL HERE
More and more I see jobs requring management experience too. There is no management requirement in the job description, but the list of prereqs will want anywhere from 1-2 or even 4-5 years of management. WTF.
Quote from: Darth Wagtaros on September 16, 2013, 06:51:44 AM
More and more I see jobs requring management experience too. There is no management requirement in the job description, but the list of prereqs will want anywhere from 1-2 or even 4-5 years of management. WTF.
That's a catch-all phrase for "working and playing well with others" on all levels, that's all.
Got a call from a lady today wanting to digitize books with a handheld scanner. Sure, fine. Pretty sound idea.
...with a handheld barcode scanner. She wanted to know if we could reprogram a barcode scanner to digitize books. It was all I could do to keep my voice level while I explained several times in different ways that it just wasn't that kind of scanner she was looking at.
Sigh.
You could. :hmm:
Quote from: Grey Fox on October 17, 2013, 06:01:48 AM
You could. :hmm:
Theoretically. I
could do it, but it would involve wiping the firmware on the barcode scanner, which is a BITCH, and replacing it with custom software to replace the decoders, which is worse. Especially since Metrologic barcode scanners use proprietary communications. Even then, the scan would be really, really shitty, because barcode scanners don't actually need that high a resolution to detect the pitched areas of a barcode. Think Sierra point-and-click adventures graphics, and you'd be on the right track.
Bottom line, repurposing a $40 barcode scanner is way more work than it's worth when you could spend $100 and get a decent optical scanner wand.
It's like the guys who call complaining that our Bluetooth scanners don't work with iPhones. You
could spend $500 to get a little midget barcode scanner that will mate with an iPhone, or you could just spend $50 and mate a normal one to a cheapo Android tablet. Or even better, mate it to a BlackBerry.
Being a tech exposes you to lots of fun new people
"IS THIS WHERE AH GO FER 'PUTER CLASSES!?"
"Er...this is a medical school. Maybe try UTSA?"
"THIS IS THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, RIGHT?"
"...."
I'll have to thank the operator for giving that dude my number.