I know I’m not alone in this, because there are so many IT Helpdesk jobs out there, but there are certain aspects to this job that are not only irritating but also just like “what the….”. You get the rest. For some people this job is a dream come true, and to others maybe it’s just something they were good at whether they like it or not. Either way there are still times that the “grass is always greener on the other side” saying comes to mind.

While this job is my dream come true there are parts of it that still, and probably always will, just blow my mind. It is hard for me to understand how in 2023 there are people who have no concept of what a computer is or how to use one. Now there are certain situations that I can understand. One of the things I hear that probably irks me the most is when someone calls their computer a “modem”, or when I ask them for the computer name (because the company I work for puts labels on them with their name) and they give me the brand name from their monitor. The company I work for doesn’t buy Acer or LG computers. I can almost understand the modem thing, because some of the computers we supply are the Thin Clients and can be roughly a similar size and shape as some modems. 

Now you may be thinking, “take it easy Mister, maybe they’ve just never had a computer!”, and that may be true. However these people (in my case anyway) have been through years of schooling. How do you go through school these days without at least working knowledge of a computer? For a little insight, the people that I work with specifically are all CNA’s and Nurses. When I was a CNA the place I worked at was still completely on paper. They would not do any charting on a computer at all, so I really only had to be on a computer when I was doing training and checking my work email. Most places though are doing everything on a computer. 

Maybe I am being a bit harsh though. I can’t expect everyone to know everything about computers just because I’ve been hands on with them since I was a small child. I feel like I’ve been very fortunate in that my father started teaching me early, and when he would work on a computer for a friend sometimes I would do the work and he would pay me for it. Maybe I was spoiled in that way, but that is one of the things I enjoy about my job. When people don’t know something about computers and/or need help with something I have the opportunity to teach them something they didn’t know.

It is moments like that when I feel really good about my job (outside of getting to do things that I love to do). For anyone who doesn’t know, IT Helpdesk is a very “customer” oriented job. In my case I assist other people who work for this company, but a lot of IT Helpdesk jobs are assisting actual customers with their purchased products. This has been my only IT job so I can’t really say as to which one I would prefer, but I hope to keep this job for a while. At least until I can either learn a new trade (in a similar field) or find a better paying one in the same position. For now though I am getting some experience under my belt. 

I do love my job though. I get to take computers apart to fix others, re-image computers if they need it, and assist people with other computer issues remotely. There has been very little travel involved so far, but maybe in the near future I’ll get to do some more. For now I’m just going to ride the wave and see where it takes me while I hopefully have fun and teach some people along the way.