Technical Support

"I changed career choices multiple times. After taking an Introduction to Computers class and finding that I really enjoyed it, I took more classes and decided on this as a career choice."

I’ve been in the information technology field for a very long time. In the 1980’s there weren’t very many women in the field (...more on career ins & outs). I see that changing now because in the company I work for, there are equal numbers of men and women in my department. In college, I took an introductory class in computers and decided that information technology was a good career choice for me. I earned a BS and MS in Computer Science (…more on education) and have been working in the field ever since. Many community colleges offer AAS degrees and certificate programs that would give you the chance to see which IT specialty is right for you. You really need to diversify and get skills that will translate from one area of IT to another.

I’ve held many different positions but I really like technical support (…detailed description). I find it rewarding to help customers with their problems. You have to ask a lot of questions and be able to analyze the software code to see if you can find the problem. It is very satisfying when you finally ‘solve the case,’ and figure out the true cause of the problem. One of the biggest challenges of technical support is being on-call over holidays, weekends, and in the evenings—especially when the customers are in different countries and time zones. My work is constantly changing. I enjoy learning new technology. I get bored easily if my work starts becoming redundant.