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This is really a sore topic for me since I am a corporate technician. I have insulted many a MCSE, CNE, MCP and A+.
On my job I have to deal with people face to face and also on the phones. I even train the new guys here. First thing I say is take the A+ and file it. They don't understand then I say that you will learn much more than that 2 wek course. a week later they say I was right. The people on the phones call and say that they are any of these and I innediately cast doubt and ask a stupid question. Alot don't get it and will look for a while. I am not by far saying that I know more but from working on the same problems over and over I have gotten good at fixing things.
It really makes me laugh when I see these people and how I can play with them.
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Some things are best left unsaid.
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I used to work with a guy at a helpdesk who thought he was the S... He just finished getting his MCSE, but yet he had no clue of how to even unlock an NT account. He got fired and in turn got himself an Administrator job at Kennedy Space Center - no exactly the type of guy I would want touching any computers that in any way shape or form may be interconnected with the roman candle I would be sitting on top of if I were an astronaut!
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"Light is faster than sound .. Maybe that explains why some people appear bright until we hear them speak."
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My last coworker was so lazy that they promoted him.
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I think every place has its village idiots (well, some more than others). Most of the computer techs around here, instead of saving the customers money (business and public), they like to spend it. I mean, when a computer gets a windows exception error, Page fault or whatnot, instead of making a safe assumption that it's either WINDOWS or the BIOS memory settings, just whip in a new mainboard. Heck, whip in a new harddrive, modem, sound, video, memory, cpu and even a floppy! Maybe that'll fix it! Okay, 8 or so hours later, I'll come in the next morning with all the original hardware, narrow it down to a bad video driver. I'll update it, and you'll have wasted 8+ hours.
I love these people.
Man, when I do "Market Research," (going incognito into your department and asking you some questions that a fart-vapor-paper tech would know), you'd be very suprised at how many "Grossly-certified-fresh-outta-college-so-I-have-a-big-head," techs will fudge on the simplest questions.
jazzisdn
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"Uhh, I think it's broken," says the Tech. In reply, I say, "Well, that bright blue spark might have done it, but the screwdriver through the board trick really screwed it!"
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I applied for a position in a school department. The job required a BS in Computer Science. I didn't have that, but have tons of practical experience.
Well, during a technology exposition at the high school, I met the Technology Instructor. This guy was supposed to have all the answers and have it all under control.
While talking to the guy, he said he was having problem getting to one of their servers and for the life of him couldn't finy ANY reason why.
Turns out, I solved it for him in 2 minutes. He had the wrong IP address for his gateway!
By the way, I didn't get the job because I wasn't qualified!
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Is it me? I don't have any of these problems. I work for myself and get my pick and choose of customers. Because I have to part of their teams in order to properly understand their problems, my cutomers are my coworkers.
The result? All of my customers treat me like gold. The truth is that there is only one customer a year I cut loose and even those I could get along with if I had to.
I love my job, the people I work with and bend over backwards to make sure that things run as smoothly as possible. Even when a repair turns ugly I find everyone is patient and understanding as a rule, even if they are losing money/time whatever while it's straightened out.
Even people who are testy when I first meet them warm up pretty quick and stay good as soon as they figure out the PC tech isn't going to screw them.
It's gone so well that one of my customers offered me a position with my own department and several *****ious projects to bring to fruition.
"I'm a happy boy. Ain't it great when things are going your way - hey hey." - Beat Farmers
Noah Vail
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Hate to say it but if you tell me you are a cert red flags go way up. Seems everytime I have had to rely on a cert. Give me a Tech that hangs out on Windrivers and I will have some faith in him or her. Now I dont know much about Novell and I had a customer who had mirrored raid servers running novell and they needed to replace their HDs with larger unit and not loose anything. Sounde like a simple cloning process but I was not comfortable with the systems but told my customer I had a Novell Certed tech I could call in. This tech? had came by the shop numerous times and I had put him in our file. I called him, explained the situation and he said No Sweat. Fortunatly we had a complete back up an we were mirrored. It only took him about 30 minutes to Completely disable 8 work stations and one of the two servers. Customer Told tech to hit the road and told me I had to have the system in two hrs. I called a friend who had been working hands on with Novell for about two years. He had them finished and on line in less than two hrs. You cant beat hands on experience. I am dead cold on most certs. Real techs are not afraid to say "I Dont Know"
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If life is a bitch then what is death? I believe I will take the bitch!
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The workshop at my last job was a wide open room with benches running along the walls. We had a guy who was a reasonably competent tech, but he answered every incoming call on his speakerphone. And I mean EVERY call. He absolutley would not use the handset, even for very personal calls. He had to speak loudly to be heard, and would talk about about anything. Strange dude.
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I understand all the bashing on Certs (paper techs). I am what some of you would call a paper tech. I am an MCP (not a boot camp, but 10 months schooling and $9000) but I have about 2 years hands on hardware experience in addition to being a journeyman electrician with 12 years experience. I will be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn and I know that "labs" in a classroom do not substitute for real world experience. However after the classes I have taken I know of some "techs" with lots of experience whose answer to most software problems is "reinstall windows" and don't know a thing about TCP/IP and subnetting. It can go both ways and just because a guy is Certified doesn't always make him an idiot. I respect a guy who knows what he is doing, but we all have to start out learning somehow, and some of us chose school before our first computer job. Give us a little time, we'll learn! Thanks for sharing your wisdom with me guys (and gals).
PS- To all "paper techs": Lose the chip on your shoulder and let's learn from the ones who have been doing it for a while.
Mark
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How did this turn into a MCSE bashing... I just got my MCSE, and I don't claim to know everything. Any ways....
We got a dude at work that is constantly passing gas and picking his nose. What is wrong with these people??!
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I have worked with the "paper techs" before and even worked for one once, but not all certified technicians are "paper techs".
I have A+, and 2 MCP's (NT Workstation & Server). I also have the experience to back it up though. Problem is though, most companies see the certs as experience. You have to show them to get your foot in the door. They become a "necessary evil".
As for the worst co-worker, it was the "paper tech" that I worked for. He had certs all over his wall and was an administrator for a small (100+ employees) business. He was always talking about how much he new about Windows and how long he had been working with it. Turns out his certs were for programming and were over 8 years old.
One glaring problem I remember was when he couldn't figure out why no one could she shared drives on the network (NT), "I put a $ behind the name to denote a shared folder." It was only my first week on the job when I told him the $ denotes a hidden folder, not a share. (I didn't even have my MCPs yet). https://forums.windrivers.com/
He didn't like the fact I made him look like an idiot in front of the rest of his crew, (not my intention, he just had a fragile ego I guess) so he didn't talk to me much for the rest of the contract.
Sometimes being a contractor has it's benefits. When the boss is an idiot, request a new assingment. https://forums.windrivers.com/
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I keep hitting Escape...Why am I still here??
[This message has been edited by jvalliere (edited October 04, 2000).]
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Got a new guy to support our branch offices. Just out of the Marines with all this high tech experience with maintaining computers and networks. Here are just a few of the many questions he asks me daily: How do you make a directory in dos? What is that black box on the data card? (Pentium II processor on the motherboard), He tried to make changes on the server, and when it told him he was unauthorized, he decided to “treat it as a power failure” and pulled the plug on the server. Found out he is related to some manager at one of the branches.
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Is working on MCSE and personally cannot stand these people who just do enough to pass a test. I work for a government agency and even here I have to perform on my knowledge at an every day basis. I studied and took practice tests alot, but learned the most when I was forced to implement an NT network. You guys are right, a cert can give you the edge on getting the lastest and greatest job, but companies will hopefully start asking what their knowledge is instead of just a piece of paper.
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Seems like every tech job I have had in the last few years has some guy/gal who think that they are god's gift to a tech shop, but when it comes down to it they don't listen to advice or seek help and I end up cleaning up their messes. This happen to anyone else?
