What does IT look like?
■ It depends on where in the IT spectrum you are located. If you are trying to go for an entry level position then the job is going to be taking care of basic tasks and problems that end users encounter. This will include phone support, remote access and administration to the users desktop environment, and talking through or demonstrating a solution for the end user. Other tasks can include manual tasks like changing backup tapes, monitoring performance issues for errors/alerts, doing manual IT labor like data/telephone cable drops (ethernet/PBX), setting up of hardware, software installs and updates, building computers/servers, etc. Generally speaking a lot of corporate offices (major banks or businesses with thousands of employees) contract out a lot of the manual labor and simple high-volume stuff (like relocating a department/branch location/office to another); this is what I did a lot of before I was placed at a specific bank by a reputable contract company.
Is IT work hard or simple?
■IT work is generally brain intensive, so depending on the difficulty of the task is partially dependent on the critical thinking and troubleshooting skills of the person attempting the task. For instance, on one of the contract jobs I did years ago we were hired in (about 40 techs) to facilitate a software upgrade over roughly 400 PCs. Being one of my first contract jobs I listened intently early off, but found that I knew more than most of the techs around me. I was answering questions for people who had more certifications than myself, but had little actual applied knowledge of the topics. I found my communication skills and ability to instruct people on what to do and where to go were just as beneficial as knowing what I was doing on the technical side. This is one of those caveats of contracting I had mentioned earlier, with work experience being very important and sometimes more important that the certifications one holds. Bottom line; it's all about how you can apply the knowledge you have to the task.
What would the main complaint and/or trouble on units that customers experience?
■ One of the first things to remember about IT is that your customers work for the same company you do. Your coworkers; accounting, production, executive staff, IT, programming, operations, etc. departments of your company are the people you are going to be taking care of. Communication is generally the biggest issue to come up as some people can communicate great, and in turn can communicate their problems great, while others will be extremely vague and uncaring, wanting only for their problem to be fixed, you to leave them alone and them to be back working again. As for the technical problems they are generally dealing with a piece of failed hardware, software problems or out of date versions, equipment replacements and basic troubleshooting of devices.
Will the job train me and show me what to do?
No and yes.
■ No: There is a level of expertise that you should (I want to put must) have in order to facilitate your own success within IT and that expertise is on basic desktop computing. The A+ will affirm an understanding over the raw basics, but knowing how to use and understand what all the features are and how they function on a desktop PC is a must. You are not going to run into a lot of advanced technologies (RAID, specialty PCI devices, hardware etc.) on an average end users PC, but you may encounter those type of things on other peoples PCs within the programming, IT, web and technology focused departments. You will have to know and understand these technologies as you move into the server realm.
■ Yes: When it comes to specific training on enterprise level software and hardware(Symantec, McAfee, VMWare, Cisco, Citrix, IBM, HP, Avaya, Linux OS's, etc.) there is generally some introduction and overview into their functionality as well as possible courses that the company will provide on maintenance and administration, but it's never a sure thing. Sometimes the larger system appliances (SANs, Blade Servers, Blade Switches, IP Phone Routing Backbones and Appliances, etc.) are handled under service contract and the most you need to do is pick up a phone can call a support person to handle the troubleshooting. On the job training is something that is not like going to a classroom and reading a book; it's much more looking over a superior's shoulder and taking notes, asking questions of programmers and those that understand a company's data flow, Googling until you find a solution, and immersing yourself in the technologies that your company employs to better understand a computer/appliance's function and purpose.
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