A Day in the Life of a Desktop Support Technician

by Aaron Brazell on July 18, 2005 · 4 comments

I get the question alot. “What do you do?”

I could simply say “Desktop Support” but inevitably, I get blank looks. Most of the people in my circle of influence don’t even know how to turn on a computer much less what the term “Desktop Support” means. And don’t even ask me to explain my freelancing and writing web stuff. I have to say “I make websites” which bugs the hell out of me because I know it’s so much more than that and any old 12 year old can “make websites”. But alas, I’m off topic. I can usually dress up “Desktop Support” with something a little more glamorous sounding like server administration or networks.

It’s not the glamour factor because anyone who works in this industry knows there’s nothing glamorous about I.T. But to your average old brick-laying person who comes home and watches the Speed Channel all night (hmmmm, sounds like me some nights), you have to over-sensationalize the basic to get the point across. I am God if you work for my company. I know what you are doing with your company-issued laptop, and I am taking notes. :-)

So then once the poor questioner gets the idea of what I do they want to know what it’s like. So here’s an overview of the job (a la Office Space)

7:30 AM - My day begins with a trip down I-95. Usually this is a fairly quick jaunt, but sometimes I’ll get caught in traffice. The lane I’m in will always go slower than every other lane. Finally, I’ll get a chance to get into another lane and when I do, the other lane picks up speed and I’m once again in the slowest lane. At times like these, I pick up my Nextel and hit Sean on Direct Connect. I twll him I’m in traffic. He tells me he doesn’t give a crap and threatens me with a diatribe. After a few minutes of this, my lane gets moving again.
8:00 AM - Arrive at my first site. The person I am here to see apparently doesn’t arrive until 9. So I stand at the receptionist and jabber with Janice and Charlie for awhile. Then I will find a desk and stare into space for at least a half hour. ;-) Sometime during that time, I will fire up the laptop and check email. Email is very important to me. It is not only my organization but my calendar, to-do list, etc.
9:00 AM - See my user. It seems ridiculous to go to a site for one user who can’t connect to the network. Especially when I arrive and check the LAN cable, it’s not plugged into the wall. Plug it up. Login to test. Success!
9:02 AM - Close the ticket.
9:05 AM - Jump back in the old Ford. Drive 40 miles to my office. At least it’s paid for. Mileage is paid for. Too bad I have to deal with Washington traffic.
10:15 AM - Arrive in my office. Stare blankly into space for 30 minutes.
10:45 AM - Login to the laptop and check tickets. Office 2003 upgrade? Blackberry can’t connect? Need a laptop and projector setup in a conference room for a 12:30? User locked out of account? Blah. Head to the break room and buy a Mountain Dew and Snickers Bar….
11:15 AM - Assist user in logging into account for the first time.
11:45 AM - Check Email
11:50 AM - Turn on music. Listen to Dave Matthews.
12:10 PM - Check voicemail and respond to 3 messages
1:00 PM - check tickets. Ironically, most of the same tickets are there.
1:05 PM - Change toner in a printer
1:15 PM - Fill out my TPS report
1:30 PM - Answer phone. A user calling me direct to complain that computer is slow. “Dude… you just got that computer yesterday. There’s nothing slow about it.”
2:05 PM - Check Email
2:10 PM - Help user access a shared drive
2:15 PM - Help the same user access shared drive. “Ma’am, you rebooted. When you login you need to let the login script execute fully before you have access to shared drives”
2:45 PM - Stare blankly into space
3:15 PM - Setup new computer for user
4:20 PM - Hit Sean on the Nextel again. Complain about too much work to do. :-)
4:30 PM - Map user to a printer
4:45 PM - Close several tickets by making phone calls.
5:30 PM - Head Home.