Today I felt I was having an excellent day. I got things done as far as time allowed me until I was asked to set up some laptops for an event. I set up the laptops but I didn't plug in the power, or lock them down, and just left some laptops without printers. This whole process was for 8 laptops and I only hit 6 or 7 and even they weren't correct. The entire thing was suppose to take 20 minuites according to my boss who was very disapointed. What's worse is that ive done the process before but I just don't remember how to do it and I've been feeling lately that the co-workers really do look down on me for my slowness. It's gone from 'cartpusher' to 'boys aren't dumb only cartpushers are dumb' to quote a saying today. Because of things like that, because I feel they just aren't respecting me as an IT worker I try to fix things solo without help and even that fails. Also ya I know I just said they're friendlier but hey it's IT people, they want shit done. Period. An they are good for help but..I just feel they're getting annoyed with helping me with every step of everything.
I know your feels. I started with my company 4 years ago basically only having the skills I learned playing video games: basic Windows knowledge, basic troubleshooting, the ability to search Google and read, the ability to read a software menu without going cross-eyed. All the things I had to learn: our software, MySQL, writing queries, manipulating data, bash command lines, and a whole host of other software, I had to learn on the job.
I often felt like I was looked down on by people at work because of my lack of tech skills compared to them. The truth is a lot of that was in my head. Yeah, someone may be annoyed on a given day because you need help and helping you is cutting into their time, adding to their workload, etc....
But you're right: tech people want shit done and if getting it done involves teaching or re-teaching you something, they'll do it. Because it still means they don't have to do it themselves. I'm actually dealing with a new hire right now, a late 40s early 50s woman who is not that tech savvy and came from providing tech support to a
church pipe organ retailer. She's used to speaking to pastors and church wives and hasn't ever dug as deeply into software as she is now. She's maybe been on the job 4 months now and while I do wish she had more skills and generally a less flighty personality, and wasn't as helpless sometimes as she is.....she's learning. And shit, how can I really hold it against her? I was in the same place when I started here. I like that she can confidently ask for help because we've told her it's not just ok to, it's required. Because the sooner she learns how to do it, the sooner she can stop asking how to do it.
So here's what I did what I was new, and what I do to this day:
-Always phrase your requests for help as an actual request, not a demand. Most people who need help often don't think they're being demanding. But consider the two following lines:
"I need help getting this computer on the network because I can't figure out Windows Home Groups"
vs.
"Hey when you have time, can you take a look at this computer with me? Trying to get it on the network but the Windows Home Group is giving me a hard time."
One implies "Drop everything you're doing and help me." The other explicitly states "When you're ready." It makes them feel like their decision to help you when they help you is a choice, not a responsibility. The latter also gives the impression that maybe if they don't help, you'll figure it out. Suddenly people are a lot more willing to help when they think they're just pitching into the solution, not becoming responsible for it. Always, always, always demonstrate you're respectful of other people's time. Don't grovel, don't suck up, don't lay it on too thick. But always demonstrate respect for the time they give you. And always say thank you when they have helped.
-I make checklists. I spend a lot of my days now setting up customer servers from scratch. From installing windows, to installing our software, to troubleshooting networking problems once the server lands where it's going to live. I have a terrible memory. So I make check lists ahead of time, while my head is still clear and I'm not running 1000mph trying to get it done. They help me stay on track when there are literally 15 big steps in the process, and dozens and dozens of smaller steps in-between, and screwing up one can present a problem down the line later.
-I use a wiki. Does your IT department maintain a wiki? They should. It's criminal to run a tech outfit where the knowledge base isn't online somewhere. If there is a wiki, start documenting printer install processes (god I hate printers so much.) It will save you hours of frustration over the long term if you have a reliable, repeatable list of things to try and you've documented common problems you've run into (User Account Control, Windows Share Settings, alternatives to the standard "Add a Printer" Wizard, etc....) Granted, how you make a wiki article might be vastly different than how someone with experience would write it. But experience will come later for you, eventually. So use a wiki as an idiot's guide for yourself. Believe it or not, if you do move on from this job, that wiki article might still be there years later saving some other poor bastard from the experience you're living right now.
-The best way to earn the respect of your peers is to care. I'm not saying have a melt down to prove how much you care about your performance but....I'm the sort of person that wears their emotions on their sleeve. When I'm angry or frustrated, I can't hide it. When I'm disappointed in myself, I can't hide it. When I'm happy! I can't hide it. When I'm in Get Shit Done Mode, it's obvious. The best way to earn their respect is to show you care by being involved, taking responsibility for your mistakes. (Did you not get 3 laptops set up? Then tell your boss that's the first thing you're going to do in the morning, is rectify your mistake. Did you not get those printers sorted out? Well you know what you're doing with your day tomorrow.) Your co-workers don't care that you're the best. They care that you're competent enough it doesn't constantly interrupt their day's workflow, or that your problems don't land squarely on their plate to solve.
-Own your problems. When there's a problem, declare that it's your problem. That doesn't prevent you from seeking help but it puts implementing the solution on you and nobody else. Here's an example: Your on a workstation. You can't find the networked printer it should connect to. You seek some help. Now, stop. Did you get out of your chair so they could drive at the PC? That's a mistake. Your ass is in the seat solving the problem, they're standing behind your shoulder giving you advice, pointers, ideas for things to look at. That means when they're ready, they can walk away and your butt is still in the seat, handling the problem. When you should be worried is when you start hearing the phrase "Just move out of the way and let me do it." That means they really have lost confidence in you and know that it's better for them to just solve the problem themselves instead of
investing in you by trying to teach you how to solve it.
-Decide when you cannot solve a problem yourself, with what you know. In tech this is an especial problem because the solution is always elusively
out there. Maybe if you just try a better worded Google search, dig through one more forum for that magic post that matches your problem, maybe if you just try configuring one more thing....You can drive yourself mad hammering away at a problem from 10 different angles, not finding a solution but feeling like you just can't give up. It generates a ton of stress on a body. Since you're the IT department you ostensibly have full control over everything but that doesn't mean YOU have full control over everything. Say, for example, the reason you can't network a printer is because the group policy is misconfigured. You
could spend 4 hours googling the problem, restarting the computer and eventually failing before realizing you don't even have the admin credentials to make those changes in the first place. Suddenly, it's not your fault this computer can't get networked to a printer, it's the responsibility of the guy with Windows admin credentials to re-configure the group policy. Sometimes printers are just fucked, too, by hook or by crook. Or as another example, the computer was never added to the domain/home group/whatever and you lack both the knowledge how to do it properly, and the passwords to make it happen. By just discovering that problem and telling the right person about it, you've met your end of the bargain.
-Turning it off and on again never hurts either
At my job, which can go from dead and fuck-off-y to "crisis mode pressure cooker" in an instant, what I look for most in co-workers in tech support is that they 1) care and 2) aren't satisfied to just let someone "handle" the day to day stuff they should know. If they bring those two things with them, even if they require help often, they're still an asset because I know they'll doggedly stay on a problem and hold up their end of the employment bargain. Even if they don't succeed at the end of the day, the fact they tried means they can still grow and eventually become more competent.
So good luck to you. I know how bad it is to feel mentally incompetent at a tech job and worry that you're looked down on. Working with smart people can be tough sometimes, you feel the pressure to rise to their level and feel bad when you don't. My managers spent a lot of time reassuring me that whatever derps or fails I had (and I've had at least one major one), no one I work with holds it against me. I still have to convince myself of that sometimes, especially after a really bad day like it sounds like you had. But you can always learn and get better! And for god's sake document that shit so you don't have to go through the same thing every time it comes up.
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