I know I’m not one for posting my proper status update on a regular basis, and while I generally hold off for major things that are worth sharing ( as opposed to ‘had a great burger today, yum! #pointless’ ), I will also admit that I have been holding my breath on this one for a while. Because historical reasons. For the few who read this site that have grammatical minds, I am wholly aware that was not a proper sentence, but also if you’re just now taking issue with things of that nature welcome to the party, you are late. I mentioned recently that I was on the job market again, but the update I have been holding off on is that yesterday I started a new job. For the sake of keeping things separate I will refrain from mentioning employer specifics, but for the curious what I can share is that I have gone back to doing what people probably think of being my field the most. I started as an IS Technician at a local corporate office for a national company. I will be doing much of what I have done before; remote support, troubleshooting, computer repair, end-user service and training.
When I interviewed a couple of weeks ago, the first real skill-relevant question I was asked in the course of the discussion was what my philosophy on escalating a ticket was. We had already discussed my previous experience with help desk environments, though I did clarify that at the time our staff was so small there was no true reason to designate separate support levels, but I understood the reasoning behind it. However, it is my philosophy that escalating a ticket should be a sort of last resort, and really only in very specific circumstances. Just because the issue is something that I haven’t been able to personally resolve doesn’t mean that my coworkers haven’t encountered it before, and it is very possible that simply asking them about the issue can provide a very quick fix, or point me in the right direction of one, and if that is the case then not only have I learned something new, but I’ve also solved the customer’s problem without having to add a delay in service for what is ultimately a two minute fix. It also prevents adding to my coworker’s workload for something so simple. Ticket escalation should really only be necessary when the solution is so specialized that it requires access permissions that I do not have, and never simply because I do not want to take the time to learn how to fix a problem.
The interviewer said that they thought that was a very good answer.
While the rest of the interview went very well, I was fairly confident that my answer to that question is what got me the job. My technical experience is a little behind the curve because of the environments that I have been exposed to in the past, and I will admit that my continued education has been lacking for a multitude of reasons that I am likely to correct in very short order. Despite my technical gaps, which the interviewer also had acknowledged, they offered me the position.
It is nice to be back in a technical environment where my direct coworkers understand the complexities of information technology and systems, and also be with a company whose technology department is properly equipped to deal with the size of the job they are faced with. While there are of course bumps in every job, and I am not so naive to assume that I will never encounter a rough day, this is a nice change of pace from some of my previous environments, and considering the turn-around time from my previous job to this one, I’m feeling very optimistic about my situation for the first time in a while.
Besides, a glass half full of Scotch is always a good reason ( and way ) to celebrate.
— Vid