Ten signs you're burned out as a support tech: Jobs - Resources

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Ten signs you're burned out as a support tech

By Becky Roberts, TechRepublic
January 31, 2006
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/jobs/resources/soa/Ten-signs-you-re-burned-out-as-a-support-tech/0,130056675,139235794,00.htm

We all have good days and bad days at work, but when the bad days seem to be escalating, it could be time for some R&R. IT pro Becky Roberts knows what it's like to get a little maxed out on the job, and she offers this send-up of some possible indications that a break is in order.

Ever wondered what happened to that can-do, users-are-god, I-exist-only-to-serve-you attitude of your early days as a support tech? Have the users really become that much more unreasonable and demanding, or could you be falling prey to the dreaded users-should-be-drowned-at-birth burnout? To determine whether you, or those around you, may be suffering from this syndrome, review the following telltale signs.

1. Telling a user that his problem lies somewhere between the keyboard and the back of his chair.

2. Offering to fix the problem from #1 with a six-kilo hammer.

3. Creating a user hit list and updating it more than once a week.

4. Complaining about the users spoiling your network.

5. Deliberately infecting the network with a virus just to add some excitement to the day.

6. Writing the virus to deliberately infect the network to add some excitement to the day.

7. Prioritising work orders according to how annoying the user is instead of by business need.

8. Giving the users such unflattering nicknames as "Whack-a-mole", "The Crypt Keeper", "Buffalo Jones", "Buzzard", and "Piggy Pie".

9. Incorporating thinly veiled insults into the assignment of new passwords: "NeedsALife7", "RememberYourPassword99", and "AsABrick3".

10. Requisitioning a digital camera to take photos of all the users, then printing them out and using them for target practice.

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