I know I've said this a thousand times before, but!
I couldn't do 1st-line support full-time; I really couldn't. You have no idea how much respect I have for those who do that kind of job, day in, day out.
The case for the prosecution
Image: AI-generated via ChatGPT from an image of myself.
User: "Ello mate, I had an email from Microsoft telling me I had to change my 365 password, but I can't change it."
Me: "OK, it'll be quicker if I change it for you."
Microsoft's Admin portal is notoriously slow to open.
User: "The thing is, I had trouble connecting to the Server...."
Me: "Hang on, that's a different problem. M365 has nothing to do with VPNs."
User: "Well, I can get onto the Server. But since that email, nothing works."
Me: "This email. What does it say in the From address? Does it say Microsoft, or is it some weird address? The thing is, you shouldn't get change address notifications. They should come here, in fact, to me."
User: "I can't find the email now. It's not in my deleted items."
Me: "I think it's a scam, someone is trying to get into your MS account. Do you want me to change your password?"
User: "The thing is, I used to log on to the old machine, but someone in the office said that's not the way to do it anymore, so I thought, that's easier, but I can't open the quotes file or the price spreadsheet."
Me: "Hang on, so your problem is you can't open a couple of files? What's this got to do with passwords and VPNs?"
User: "Well, the boss said, any problems and we're to ring you guys."
I transferred the call to our support team before I said or did something that would either get me sacked or arrested. I've cut that conversation down a lot! It lasted a good 10 minutes as I slowly lost the will to live.
Trained Monkey
Image: AI-generated via ChatGPT .
How do these people keep their jobs? It's a constant question I ask myself. Back in the good old days, you'd be asked to prove you could use a computer at an interview or at least serve a month's probation. I don't expect people to be IT experts, but at least have a rough idea of what you're doing. Sadly, I've come to understand that if someone can follow a set of simple instructions: "Click that, click new, fill in the boxes, press submit," that's all they need to know to hold down their job and get paid every month. And this is why AI will swallow up so many jobs, because it will fulfil the prophecy "You could get a trained monkey to do this job."
Image: AI-generated via ChatGPT .
Image created by irisworld
My actual name is Pete. This is why I have the username dickturpin
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I'm not an IT pro, but I know enough about computers to install Linux on old laptops to save them from becoming e-waste, and install software from the terminal with sudo apt install. Helping patrons use computers at the library was often deeply frustrating.
If he'd have just said "I can't open this document." it would have saved a lot of time and grief.
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