Tag: Customer Service Page 6 of 8

What your customer wants from you

On May 3, 2013

When people call customer service, what are they looking for? What forces them to pick up the phone, send an email, post a tweet or complain to Facebook? Before calling for support, people will usually try to fix the problem themselves. Barring the confidence to do so, they’ll find a workaround or at the very least cope with the problem.

When people finally make the choice to call for support, what are they’re looking for is happiness. They want to return to the happier state they were in before they had a problem. They want to continue working, continue playing, they want to continue doing what they want to do.

Calling for support means they’re unhappy and as a support person, your job is to make them happy. A return to happiness is your priority and mission when offering support whether it be technical or not.

No one likes calling support and needing service. In a perfect day, no one would have to call for support because nothing would break and everything would work perfectly. In nearly a decade of support, I have yet to see this day. Let me know if you find it.

Now that your customer has called for support, what are they looking for?

What your customer wants from you

When a person needs customer service or technical support, there are a couple of things the person is looking for. Some of them are obvious but others are implied. Being a well-rounded technician involves understanding and embodying each of these to a certain degree.

Confidence

Confidence is important because a person who needs help is having trouble. If the person who assists them doesn’t have the confidence they can solve the problem, the customer may lose faith in their abilities.

Projecting confidence, even fake confidence gives your customer the sense that you are there to take care of them and their needs. You are there to help them out and make everything OK again.

If you aren’t confident you can solve the problem, act like it. Even if you don’t have an answer, you know how to get the answer.

Expertise

Customers need your skills, knowledge and abilities to accomplish what they cannot. They seek expertise.

Acting in confidence will put the customer at ease, having the expertise to solve the problem seals the deal and solves the customer’s problem.

Every problem is different so the expertise needed to solve them is constantly changing. Sometimes it is a knowledge of a technical problem and it’s fix. Other times the expertise is knowing where to look to find the answer.

They wouldn’t be calling if they could do it themselves. Everyone has a job to do and your job is to help to solve your customer’s problems.

Understanding

Many times, a customer is frustrated or angry. Showing immediate understanding will calm them and turn their frustration into appreciation. They know they’re in good hands and you are there to help them. Put your customer at ease.

Talk to them, sometimes they’ll need to vent and get out all of the ill will and frustration they’ve built up dealing with this problem. Let them. Sometimes you need to be the whipping boy to get to the root of the problem you’re there to solve.

Your customer already has a problem, then have to navigate the gauntlet of the modern day phone tree or help desk routing maze. They have a problem and it’s been compounded by frustration so they’re ready to scream and you’re the first face they see.

Working IT support is like wearing a target on your chest. You’re the object of aggression and the free-floating hostility will be directed at you.

Understanding is more than just consoling the customer. Understand is also the knowledge you’re more than just a technician. You’re also a counselor, whipping boy and messenger.

Communication

Communication is what makes or breaks nearly all customer interactions. Customers need to be kept up to date with the progress of their problem. And technicians need to get feedback from the customer.

Communication is always two-way and when it breaks down, it delays solving the problem. Many times waiting for information in order to continue will hold up the work from being completed.

Customers are rarely aware of the progress and processes which go on behind the scenes. Keeping them up to date will remind them you are working on their problem and if there is a delay, communicating to them the reason behind it will make it easier to handle.

Communicating with your customer is key to keeping a good working relationship with them.

Creativity

Creativity is a valuable asset in problem solving. Sometimes the problem isn’t as easy as you think. Other times the obvious solution isn’t the correct one. Even if you’ve seen an identical problem and solved it, the next time could be a different solution. Problems can be as complex as the systems they occur in.

Creativity is not just thinking outside the established procedures but looking for alternate solutions. Many times a problem arises that has many possible solutions. Looking at all the possible solutions and not discounting any outright will increase your flexibility in being able to solve whatever problems may arise.

Problem solving can mean seeing the big picture and the tiny details all at once. In complex systems, sometimes a solution for one problem may cause another. It’s a balancing act to find the best solution to all of the problems.

Empathy

It is one thing to understand you’re customer’s needs and to be understanding of their pain. It’s another level to be empathetic.

Empathy is being aware of the customer’s feelings and feeling those same feelings. Put yourself in the place of your customer. How are they feeling? Understand why they’re upset or frustrated or stressed. When you understand where they are coming from, it will alter how you work with them and will lead to a more peaceful solution.

Everyone wants to be understood and wants to know their problems are important. Even when they may seem like a small annoyance to you, your customer may view this as the end of the world. Instead of clicking a setting in a preferences menu, the customer views this as having to translate one foreign language to another, in Braille.

You never know what your customer’s stress level, their past experiences with IT, or how their day is going. But when you imagine yourself in their place, you can project that deeper understand and empathy to them.

They’ll know you’re there to help and you truly understand where they are coming from and the help they need.

Honesty

Customers are looking for honesty. Don’t lie to your customers. It will break the bond of trust you’re worked so hard to establish with them. Breaking that trust destroys their confidence in you.

Even if you can’t be completely honest with a customer, be as honest as you can be. The biggest thing to remember is the world is very small and things have a way of making it back to the customer.

Don’t tell them one thing, then turn around and tell their co-worker or manager something completely different. They’ll compare notes and will know you’ve told them different things. Then they’ll ask why you did so.

Don’t put yourself in that position. Don’t undermine the trust you’ve built with your customers. It’s the most valuable trait of all.

Solutions

All of the previous traits are all leading to one final need. Your customer needs solutions. They need a fixes to problems. They need you to help them.

If you’re unable to help, all the empathy and confidence in the world won’t make you a successful technician. Fixing problems is what the profession is all about. If you’re unable to fix problems, then find another line of work because you won’t last long.

Without a solution, you’ve failed your customer. Even if the solution is one the customer doesn’t want to hear. There are times due to policy, licensing or deadlines that a satisfactory solution cannot be reached.

These are the times when you’ll need to use all your skills to make the customer understand why you can’t do what they want you to do. There are a variety of reasons you can’t get what they want done and very often it has to do with time. The customer’s perception of your time is very different than where your time goes.

It often seems as if customers assume their support people are sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for their call. When in reality, the support staff is always busy. There is always something breaking somewhere. And even on the rare times when there are no fires to be put out, there are projects.

There are also maintenance and administrative tasks which mostly happen out of view of the customers. This is how it should be, but it contributes to the assumption of how the support person’s time is spent.

Wrap up

Striving to embody and practice all of these traits will make you a more well-rounded technician and a great customer service agent. When your customer calls for help, they’re looking for a solution to their problem and many people can provide that.

It takes more than just rote memorization to be successful. It takes projecting the confidence to do the job. It takes expertise to get the work done. Understanding what the customer needs and empathetic towards them will build trust.

Communication will make or break any support call. Creativity and flexibility will keep all options open and make finding new solutions more possible.

And of course, finding solutions is what the profession is all about. Your job is to fix problems. You’re a chief problem fixer. Without the solutions to problems, nothing else matters.

Offer One Choice

By Carl

On May 2, 2013

In Observations

When customers ask for advice or recommendations they are looking for one answer. Often times, I know of a couple of options and will try to narrow them down to get a better idea what my customer is really looking for.

I often struggle to make a single recommendation. Customers want one answer to their question. One single recommendation to act on.

Offering a buffet of choices can be very overwhelming to someone who doesn’t know what they’re looking for. Even if they do, there are a many options for everything. Offering up 5 good options is overkill and will lead to feeling overwhelmed and not choosing anything.

Just looking at anti-malware and anti-virus options is absolutely confounding. They all offer the same thing. They have different prices and different perks. But in the end, most people want a simple option. And if it’s free, that’s even better.

If I know of a good free option, I will recommend it and only offer paid options if they ask if there is anything better or anything else I would recommend. Most people who are asking for basic recommendations aren’t going to spend the money on a solution even if they should.

For the people who are looking for more sophisticated recommendations, I will choose an option or two and will do my best to tell them what I know about the products and which I would go with in their situation.

Recommending the unknown

My biggest rule in recommendations is I try not to recommend anything I’ve never used. If I don’t have any direct experience in something, I will draw from my knowledge to make an educated recommendation but clearly say I have not used it and don’t have any direct experience with it.

I don’t want to lead people astray. I don’t want to recommend a product that might now work well for them. Every time a customer asks, I try to find the very best product to fit their needs based on my experience.

General or Specific

There is a balance that needs to be struck between making a general recommendation and asking enough questions to tailor the best solution to the customer.

People often ask about “what computer should I buy?” and that is the hardest question I have to answer. There are so many needs people have and everyone has different needs and requirements of a computer. What the customer really wants to know can be determined in a few follow-up questions.

“Should I buy a Mac or a PC?”

I love this question because it means the person is open to the idea of buying a Mac or at least has heard enough about them they’re interested in buying one.

This is when I try to ask what they’re looking for in a computer. On one hand, I know a Mac will give them less trouble down the road. And on the other, I don’t want them to spend a lot of money on a machine they don’t really need.

There are some fields where the industry standard software is Windows-only such as scientific research and technical drawing. I would never recommend a Mac to people who I know will be better served by Windows.

Buying a computer is a huge cost and a big decision. I don’t want to say Buy A Mac, when all they need is a simple netbook for email and web browsing.

Making a good recommendation is all about what the customer is going to use it for. Finding the right tool for the job is the real question the customer is coming to you to find out.

“Should I buy a Dell or HP?”

This is a harder question. These people are squarely in the Windows world for one reason or another. They want to buy a PC. But who do they buy it from? I hate this question in a way because I often feel there is no right answer.

The Windows market is a commodity market. Buying on price is the only real decision to make. How much the customer wants to spend and what they’re looking to do with the computer.

Do they need a lot of RAM of a fast graphics card? Do they need a huge hard drive for storage or are they looking for small, light and portable because they travel all the time? The ideal computer for a graphic designer and a writer are very different.

When people are looking for a computer, they generally know whether they want a laptop or a desktop. From there, price is the only decision. How much do they want to spend and how much computer do they need? Then look for what manufacturer offers the best sales and support.

“What about tablets?”

iPads are popular and many people have one or know someone who has one. They want to know if they should buy one or not. Similarly, many times they may not want to spend the money on an iPad but they ask about Android or Windows tablets.

The first question is should they buy one. The biggest question to ask if what would they use it for and would they use it. Tablets are fun and sexy and look cool. But they do no good if they’re sitting around in a closet or a shelf. E-book readers like the Kindle or Nook also fall into this class.

For tablets, I always recommend iPads because I have a lot of experience with them and I feel they offer the best experience in terms of applications and manufacturer support. I’ve used a number of Android tablets and while they are much more affordable, they have their own issues.

There is also the ongoing issue of what version of Android the tablet is running since Android devices rarely, if ever, see operating system updates. The owner of a shiny new Android tablet may find there are very few applications that support the particular screen size and version of Android they’re running.

My biggest problem in recommending Android products is the fragmentation in the market. What this means is there are so many different versions of the operating system out, and they look and behave different it’s hard to get a consistent experience. I don’t want to tell a customer to buy an underpowered tablet that will be a constant source of irritation to use.

If I am going to recommend a product for someone to buy, I want to try to steer them in the right direction and I always tell people go and try out the device they want to buy if possible.

Wirecutter

I have found Wirecutter as the premier source of news and reviews about a whole range of technology products. Their reviews are second to none. They are extremely in-depth in their coverage and will cover the good, bad and the ugly about the products they cover in each category.

They’ll offer more than once option in many categories along with prices and places to buy them. It’s become indispensable for recommending products I don’t know as much about. They constantly update their picks for their various categories so their information isn’t stale. They’ll post a warning if the product is about to see an update or if the information is old and being researched.

Buy Nothing?

Sometimes the right decision is not to buy anything, or wait until a new version is available with a particular feature the customer needs. In some cases, buying an older model or refurbished model can save the customer money and still offer them exactly what they need.

For example, if the customer lives in an area without 4G cellular service, a more expensive device offering 4G may not be the best solution. Similarly, if a customer has a large library of Android applications, an Android tablet may make the best sense since they’re committed to the platform.

Each customer is different and there is no solution that fits everyone.

Why I care about what I do

By Carl

On May 1, 2013

In Observations

I have a deep technical background and the soul of a tinkerer. I need to understand not just that things work but how and why they work. I want to know even more why they aren’t working and what I can do to make them work again.

Just as I am dedicated to technical excellence, I remember to put people first. I am here to serve the people, my customers. The machines are my tools. The people are my customers. I care about the customers. I am here to support them.

Caring

I work in the technical support industry. The problem with the name is it sounds like we’re here to support the computers and other technology. Instead, we should be focused on supporting the people using that technology. I care about the people using that the technology and their experiences and relationship with that technology.

Why do I care?

I care because I love technology. I have seen how it can be a magnificent tool to accomplish things that simply weren’t possible when I was a kid. I see the impact of technology and the marvels it can bring into our lives.

I care because I want everyone else to have access to, and understand how technology can help them. I want those same tools to be available to everyone and the knowledge to use those tools.

I want to share what I know and I want to help. I want to share the joy I feel in harnessing the awesome power of the Digital Age. I remember a time before computers, before the Internet and cellular telephones.

I bridge the divide between those who knew a world without these marvels and those who will never live without them. I want to be an ally in the fight to use technology, not be victimized by it.

Resources

There are plenty of resources out there focused on how to fix technical problems. How-To Geek and Technibble are two excellent starting points.

However, there are far fewer resources for customer service and talking about how we interact with people and how we are meant to serve the people and not the machines.

Technical Support is Customer Service.

Read that again and think about it. Technical Support Is Customer Service.

I am here to serve my customers. I am here to make their lives with computers and technology easier. I am here to keep them working and to get them back to work when something stands in their way.

My Role

It is my job to serve them. I am here to make their work as smooth and painless as possible. I get their computer up and running as quickly as possible.

It is my job to bring the same joy I find in technology as an enabler to them. It is my job to get them working again and get the technology out of their way.

I have spent a large part of my life learning, understanding and sharing what I know about technology. Not everyone has that luxury. Everyone has a different job to do and it’s important to remember people who are not technically savvy have other skills those of us with technical prowess lack.

Throughout my career, I have worked with amazing writers, thinkers and designers. I have worked alongside scientists fighting to cure cancer. I have served blue-collar workers in a manufacturing plant. I worked briefly in the financial industry and supported a high volume call center.

I have worked in city, state and national government environments. I have worked in multi-national companies employing hundreds of thousand of people and I have worked where I was one of eight employees.

I have worked with amazing people in all facets of industry and life. Their technical skills ran the gamut from writing software on punch cards in the 1960s to interns fresh out of high school and knew nearly nothing about computers.

It didn’t matter how technical they were, everyone has their own skills. Every single one of them brought something special to the table. Everyone has their own expertise, interests and skills.

In this wealth of diversity, I’ve started to get an understanding of how people use technology and how I can help them use it better.

Role of Technology

Technology is a tool. Computers, tablets, phones, copiers, printers, scanners and every other box of plastic and metal is a tool. Technology is a tool. It is there to enable people to create great things.

They are not meant to be in the way. They’re not meant to be a hindrance. They’re not meant to stand in the way of fulfilling dreams and desires.

Computers are there to do as we ask them to do.

But just as people get sick, computers break.

Computer and the human body have a lot in common. They are both complex systems which require everything to work in harmony for the system to work as well as it possibly can.

Having a headache, upset stomach or a sore back hinders your work, storage space, memory and heat can hamper a computer from running at optimal efficiency.

This where I come in and why I do what I do.

Serve the Customer, Not the Machine

By Carl

On April 18, 2013

In Observations

The focus of the technical support industry is to keep focused on the machines breaking down and mechanical systems needing to be repaired. Technical Support is about far more than supporting technology. The biggest part of Technical Support is Customer Service.

The entire profession exists because people use technology as a tool to carry out work and when those tools break down they need to be repaired. The more important part of the job is not just repairing the tools but to serve the people who use those tools.

The term user gets thrown around a lot and it is often seen as a derogatory term. The people you serve are not just users of the technology you are there to support. Wrong.

These people are your customers. They are who you are there to serve and delight. These customers are who you work for and it is your job to keep them working smoothly. It can be easy to forget but they are not technicians. They may not be computer savvy. They are there to do another job. It is not their job to repair computers. They do other things which you may know nothing about.

Their skills are different from yours but by no means any less valuable.

In technical support you serve the customer, not the machine. This idea is so often overlooked when it comes to technical support and it gives those who work in the profession a bad reputation.

Service the customer has many parts and being a well-rounded technician means practicing them all.

Serving The Customer

As a support technician, you are there to serve the customer. Your job is to help the person having trouble get back to work. Sometimes this means installing or upgrading software. Other times it may be a quick question and answer session.

In the profession, there is a primary focus on repairing the computer problem, which is important because it’s keeping the person from working. In keeping the machine up and running there is so much more to the job than simply repairing and maintaining the tools.

Serving the customer is a lot more than simply maintaining and repairing the tools they need to do their job. Working in technical support also requires playing the role of Hero, Villain, Counselor, Sherpa Guide and Messenger. Working in the field will require playing all of these roles at one time.

Listen and Understand

When someone is having technical problems, they are frustrated. They need to get back to work and something is preventing them from working. They may be angry, frustrated, apathetic, frantic or all the above. Arriving at someone’s desk who is mid-meltdown can make you the target for some hostility. Don’t take it personally, they’re having a bad day and you’re either there to be the Hero or the Villain.

The first step is understanding. Many times the problem reported is either too vague to understand properly or is not the real problem. Your first job is to understand what problem needs to be solved.

Empathy

No matter what state you find your customer in, you’ve arrived to help and show some empathy. If they’re mad, listen to them vent. They may need to get it out of their system before they can calm down and work with you.

If they’re getting pressure from their manager because they’re not able to work, that may also come down on you. Be understanding. You’re the whipping boy here. You’re the messenger who gets shot not for anything you’ve done, only in that you’ve arrived to help.

Stay calm. Speak calmly and work to a place of understanding and apologize for the problems. Then do your best to resolve them.

Communication

Communication is just as vital as listening. Ask questions and express your sincere desire to help get them back to work as quickly as possible. You’re here to play the hero. This is where you start.

Ask questions and understand the problem. Often times, having the person show the issue can save you time. You may find yourself going in circles which may only serve to anger your customer more due to the lack of clear communication. The customer may not know how to tell you what the problem is. Demonstrating leaves far less room for misdiagnosis.

Once you know what the problem is and are can resolve it, get to it. Explain to them what the problem is and what you’re doing to fix it. Your customer wants to know you’re there to take care of them.

If you can’t fix their problem immediately, communicate clearly what the next step is going to be. Do you need to take the computer to work on? Will you offer a loaner machine? Do you need to get another team involved? Communicate that. Make sure they know what the next step being taken is and when it is going to take place. If you don’t have exact information, don’t lie or guess but give them the best estimate you have and promise to follow-up once you have more information. Then make sure you follow-up.

Remember, your customer is unable to work. They want to get back to work. They want the problems fixed. Make sure you are keeping your customer informed and in the loop on communications. In the absence of information, people tend to assume the worst. Don’t allow that to happen by providing updates.

Set Expectations

This is where setting expectations can mean the difference between an angry phone call and a satisfied customer. Make sure you explain what will need to be done and how long it will take. If you say you will need an hour and the repair takes 3 that’s not good if you don’t communicate that back to your customer.

Make sure you are setting the proper expectation. Give yourself extra time. Always estimate more time because your customer will be delighted if the hour-long repair only took you 15 minutes. They will be happy and marvel at your skill. If your one hour repair stretches into its second or third hour, you will not have a happy customer.

That being said, expectations are difficult to manage because sometimes things aren’t always as they seem and what looks like a simple fix may result in a far more complicated issue.

Be Honest

Be honest with your customer. If you don’t know how long a repair will take, say so. Tell them you’ll need to get the machine back to your desk or shop and start looking into it. Then you will let them know once you have a realistic estimate for them. If you don’t know, don’t be afraid to say so. Dont’ sound clueless or say I don’t know and leave it at that. Explain you can’t give them an estimate because it could be one of many things and you will update them once you find out.

It’s always important to remember you are taking time out of the workdays of your customer. You didn’t ask to work on their computer but for some reason you are there, and you are standing between them and getting back to work.

Technical Skill

The second half of technical support is supporting the technology. I’ve focused on customer service because I feel it is so often overlooked. The profession could not exist without repairing the tools of the technical trade. Or in this day and age, the tools everyone needs to do their jobs.

Doctors of Technology

Working in Technical Support is similar to being a doctor making house calls. Each day, you never know what ailments the collection of machinery in your office or client base might throw at you. Waking up to the unknown and the challenge that awaits you is equal parts frustration and fun.

Working in IT, you’re a doctor of technology. Complex systems break down just like the human body does. When our stomachs hurt or head aches, we can’t think clearly or double over in pain. Computers have the same problems when they run out or memory or hard drive space.

Repairing the human body involves feeding it and keeping it well rested. The same goes for computers. To keep them running at top efficiency it involves some maintenance.

Knowledge

Use the technology you support. Learn where things are. I can navigate my way around Windows and Mac OS X in my sleep. Knowing where common settings are will keep you from having to lookup the basics, sometimes in front of your customer, and will speed your repairs.

Know what you’re doing. It may seems silly but I’ve worked in places where the knowledge of the other technicians was not much higher than the people we were meant to be supporting. Know your way around what you do. It will save you time and effort and make you a better technician.

Resources

That being said, technology moves very fast. Everything you know will once day be obsolete. Knowing where to find the answer to questions and problems is key. Knowing how to search is vital to doing the job. I don’t mean typing Google.com into a browser and keying in any old words. Anyone can do that.

Know how to form a good search query. Search for the error message. Start on vendor’s web sites or popular support forums or communities. Working smarter will replace working harder. There are still days when you’ll be 15 pages deep in the search results, digging through obscure forums until you eventually strike gold and after reading 100 “I’m having the problem too” posts, you’ll find your solution.

The answer to any problem is out there. With the Internet, every solution is within reach if you’re persistent enough to find it.

Documentation

Now that you have that solution, put it somewhere you can find it again later. I guarantee that weird one-in-a-lifetime issue you swear you’ll never see again, will occur again in 6 months. Have a system of documentation. Many larger organizations have a wiki setup for their technicians to contribute to and update.

If there’s something like that where you are, contribute to it, as it will pay off when you’re kicking yourself months later for not writing down how you fixed that killer bug.

If you don’t have anything in place, create something. Start a wiki. Keep a text file. Open Microsoft Word and start making a list. It doesn’t have to be a fancy system. It just had to be reliable and something easy enough you’ll want to use again and again.

Your documentation is your external brain. You can’t possibly remember everything you see and everything you fix. Put it somewhere.

Read

Read. Read often. I can’t stress how important reading and keeping up with the technology field is to the job. Did a large vulnerability just get discovered? Did a new Operating System just get released? Is there a big software patch coming you need to be aware of? Is there something new your clients will be interested in?

Don’t get caught off guard by big news. It will keep you up to date with what is going on and with better tools and better ways to help your customers. The industry is always changing and if you don’t change with it, you’ll be left behind.

Education and Certification

You don’t have to hold a technical degree to work in the field. I hold a degree in Creative Advertising. I have a B.S. in Communications (make of that what you will). I got into tech support because I was “good with computers” and I learned a lot quickly.

You don’t have to study computer science or be a programmer or have some fancy degree to work in IT. I have learned everything I know from experience on the job, tinkering with computers in my spare time and a general interest in how things work. I don’t have any formal training, just a natural curiosity and the patience to figure things out.

Certifications will advance your understanding and master in your chosen field. Obtaining general computer certifications like the Comptia A+ and Network+ exams not only prove you know what you’re doing to potential employers, but they help to hone your skills and set you on a path to obtaining more specialized certifications.

Once you’ve worked in IT long enough, you’ll find an area you like. Find your niche and learn all you can about it. Read and learn and get certified because it will open more doors for advancement.

Job Hunting Tips for Techs

By Carl

On March 12, 2013

In Observations

Job hunting is hard. There’s no way to sugar coat it. I’ve worked at some great places and I’ve worked at some where I knew I had made a big mistake my first week there.

There are a lot of factors to consider when looking for a job. The obvious ones are money, commute time, insurance and paid time off. However, there are many other intangibles that can make or break a job.

DOE

This stands for Depending On Experience. This is how much you will be paid. It’s very hard to consider a position that pays DOE because if the position doesn’t pay anywhere near my current rate, I am not going to consider it.

I don’t expect every ad to have an exact figure posted. But at least put up a range. It can even be a large range. Give me a $10,000-15,000 range of payment. Are you looking to pick someone up cheap for $25,000 or are you looking for a seasoned professional at $50,000?

Company Culture

The fluff on web sites doesn’t offer any real insight to how a company operates. Are they innovating or standing still? Do they care about customer service or just provide technical support? Is the company a post-collegiate experience with games and rides and endless activities? Or does the company understand that people have families, children and lives outside of the working hours and digital tethers?

Sometimes a company will represent itself well on its website and in the want ad. Sometimes you realize too late what they actually meant by the optimistic sounding words on their website. There’s no way to tell what a company’s culture is until you’re in that culture. And by then it’s too late if you’re not a good fit for it.

Where do I go from here?

When I got out of college, I followed the siren’s song of “Temp-To-Hire” every time it was sang to me. I wanted my contract gig to become something more. I wanted to be a full-time employee. Not a necessary IT worker but exempt from the company’s benefits, perks and insurance.

I wanted to move up. I still want to move up. I can’t work the same job in the same place for more than a two years without needing a change. I want to learn. I want to advance. I don’t want to keep doing the same thing I was doing eight years ago, only for a different group of people.

The problem with IT contracts and even IT companies is there is very little room for advancement. Even a lateral move to another group or division would give a much-needed break in the monotony of running tickets daily.

Seeing the same problems over and over. Fixing the same bugs over and over again. Explaining the same procedures over and over again. It gets old. It gets maddening.

Investment

When I go to work for a place, I give it my all. I become as vital to the company as I can because I am passionate about my work. I help people win their battles against technology. I am their ally in the digital age.

I commit to a company and I commit hard. I am loyal. But what does the company give back to me? Yes, I get a paycheck. That’s a requirement. But is there anything else?

Are there training opportunities? Will they reimburse certifications or other educational classes? Do they require or even encourage it? The truly good companies realize how valuable hard work and dedication is and will show the same in return. The companies who lose their best people don’t give back as much so their talent moves on.