3 Things Your IT Professional Wishes You Knew

The dreaded blue screen, lost data, a malfunctioning printer: all of these have one thing in common, they are going to make you want to tear your hair out. More than likely, you are going to need the help of an IT professional to get things back up and running, but you’re dreading the call. Believe it or not, we get it. We don’t like calling our plumber because it means there’s a problem and it’s going to cost money to fix. It doesn’t feel good to not be able to fix your own stuff- we can’t fix our plumbing and you can’t fix your printer (honestly, it takes a little bit of magic and luck to fix a printer so no judgement). But we want to make that process as painless as possible. Here are 3 things you should know before your call your IT professional.

1. We aren’t magicians. We know, we know, it would be nice if there was a Hogwarts for IT support. There isn’t (yet- maybe someone should start one!). We know our way around a computer, we are up to date on the latest trends in technology. We like this stuff- most IT professionals have been taking computers apart and putting them back together since they were 9. But there are some problems we can’t solve, and that bums us out as much as it bums you out.
2. We are problem solvers. Just because we can’t wave a wand and turn that blue screen into the screensaver of your dog again, doesn’t mean we don’t have a few tricks up our sleeves to fix the problem. And here’s the big secret of IT work: if we don’t know how to fix a problem with our existing knowledge, we love, no, we thrive on finding the answer. Fixing computers is to us what the Saturday morning crossword is to your grandma. We live for this stuff, it gives us a high to struggle through problems then solve it in the end.
3. We are here for you. No, really. We see our job as half IT support and half talk therapy. We know the feeling of having lost an important file, that panicky “I should have saved it more often” feeling. Because we know that feeling we try to bring calm and security to a situation that feels terrible to you. We actually really like this part of our job; we like helping worried people feel less worried by solving problems. We really are here for you.

So next time you feel the mounting frustration of “why isn’t my computer doing what I want it to do” remember that we are here to help (and all without magic!)