Meet a 'real' computer tech from Craigslist

I sold a 4 bay IDE to USB drive bay to a 'real' computer guy on Craigslist.
We met at a local McDonalds to complete the transaction. He pulls in with a truck that has stickers on the door for his computer business. Whenever I cross paths with a tech, I like to feel them out, plus I was curious what you can make as a freelancer. I showed him the device and how it would work, told him the drives where DBAN'd clean. We talked and he expounded about how he knew just as much as a certified tech, he could clean and protect any machine. Ok. About an half an hour later he calls me because when he hooks up the device the drives don't show up... I thought he knew it all?? I instructed him on disk management and the drives were fixed.
PC repair is the auto mechanics of the 2000's..

 

Reminds me of when I worked at a major electronics and computer store in the electronic components dept.

The store offered a system build package where customers would buy the motherboard, memory, case, etc. and have the in-store techs assemble it. There were several times I (the salesperson) had to go behind the service counter and show the techs how to set up RAID, Crossfire and a few other things techs should already know.

I'm not A+ Certified. All of the techs were. This is why I'm convinced an A+ Certification isn't worth the paper it's written on.

 

Reminds me of the folks I know who have passed cert tests by memorizing Test King...

 

Not just any hack with a ratchet can rebuild a small block, that's for sure...

:-D

 

At a previous job I worked with a MSCE certified person, who'd ask me the simplest questions. That was when I learned the term 'paper tigers', someone who can pass a test, but has no real world knowledge of what they are certified in.
I do have an A+, N+ and an associates degree, but none of it really counts without the real know how of actually doing the job.
BTW my A+ was DOS/Windows & is lifetime, now they are making you take it yearly? I think.

 

You got that right. Hell, for over 40 years I've been working with/repairing computers, teaching/working in industrial electronics/robotics and competing in chess tournaments - and I didn't even graduate from high school...

 

I like how quick people are to badmouth one tech when he didn't understand how to operate your device that you sold him. If someone sold me a device, and i had issues with it, i would probably ask the seller before going off and trying to figure it out on my own, i mean yeah i can figure it out, but why take the time if i still have access to the sellers knowledge.

 

If people brag about how much they know, and then have to ask for help....they deserve a little humble pie.

Do not brag about that which you cannot back up.

I would say he got off easy with this thread. I bet if the 'tech' wasn't flying off at the mouth, this thread would have never been created.

 

Maybe not to you, but it sure is to potential employers. Go take the real A+ tests and see how you do.... I seriously doubt you'd pass without studying, they are not a walk in the park for typical users or even "power users" for that matter. Especially now that they include Linux in the test (which I would fail). And yes, I have one, since Dec 2K.

It's one thing to say these things on a forum, completely different doing it for a living sitting in a CEO's office fixing his computer while he looks over your shoulder.

 

To clarify, I am not knocking people who truly know their stuff and have certifications. My rant is with those who somehow managed to get one or more certifications without the knowledge to apply what's on the test in real life.

Albeit unscientific, my experience working with "certified" co-workers has been that about 1 in 4 are either stupid, lazy or clueless. These are the ones I would LOVE to see in the CEO's office attempting to fix a problem they somehow passed on a test but do not have the skills or ability to look up answers to apply to a problem.

I know the A+ tests are both tough and expensive. The question remains: How do so many ID10Ts end up passing them?

 

ALOT from what I've seen, but people like that won't/don't survive long in an enterprise environment, their lack of real skills will become apparent rather quickly.

(been there, seen it)

 

I've always found certification tests to be a bit stupid. In part because I blow tests pretty badly, but I can do the practical applications.

What I am good at is finding other people who have the answer I need. I don't have an A+ certification, but I can get the answer from people who do, and if the CEO doesn't appreciate that, he can fix his own bloody computer.

 

and you'll keep your job how???

That reply has NO merit to my comment at all

So basically you have no clue what you're doing & use google for the answer??

 

I have story that starts like this...My story didn't end well either...

 

Honestly, I wouldn't want to keep that job, but in any case what I meant is that I'd be talking to someone else in the IT department.

But yes, when I've been hired to do a job, that means I need to be allowed to do my job. I don't have a family to support, so I've yet to meet a job I'm not willing to walk away from. And I have yet to be fired for speaking my mind.

I still believe honesty is the best policy. If some people feel the need to pussyfoot around to keep their job, I wonder if that job is worth keeping. If you're going to be fired for speaking your mind, the job wasn't worth investing in.

 

I just passed my A+ about 3 months back(there are threads here about it LOL) It's now a 3 year cert like the rest of them.
I would like to take my N+ and S+, but that will be a little while.

This whole story sounds like a friend of mine who wants to start, sort of already has a small computer repair business. Love the guy, but........ yeah, think you all know where it's going.

 

Look i get that not everyone certified should be actually working on computers, but i dont think anyone should every badmouth anyone in the same field, cause you never know when you may need that person to refer you business, or so on. Personaly theres probably malware removal experts here on this site that aren't super well versed in hardware and would be lost as to that, doesn't mean that they aren't malware experts.

 

That works in reverse as well. My job is to train the Tech Support agents that you get transferred to when the first level of tech support is stumped, but I couldn't solve software problems to save my life. I'm a hardware expert, and the reason I have the job I do and excel at it is because hardware is what my employer sells.

Want a computer built? No problem. Give me your budget and I'll build you a system. Just don't ask me to support and troubleshoot anything you install to it... I suck at that.

At the same time, I fully agree with this. Know what it is that you don't know, that is one of the most important distinctions between an expert and a wannabe.

 

rofl...

On the same token, I doubt every "certified tech" would know what was wrong here.

I guess it depends on how much he was boasting about himself. Typically a person that brags about something is typically insecure about that something. :/

And maybe the guy just wanted to make sure everything was OK with the items sold to him by verbally communicating with the seller instead of diagnosing the problem himself.

 

But I told this guy the disks were cleaned, and if he knew more than a certified techas he put it, he should know how to troubleshoot a 'missing' drive. It is more a comment on these people who download Malware Antibytes and AdAware to clean a 'clients' computer and call themselves a "Computer Tech". I can't walk in to a hospital and say I know just as much as a doctor because I know where to buy scrubs or spent a night in a certain hotel chain, eh?
I am not saying certifications are good or bad, mine have worked out for me but in have some knowledge going into them. They are bad where someone decides to be a computer repair man and gets a book, memorizes it and passes a test, that is not how it is supposed to be done. Or someone buys a computer and cleans a virus off it and thinks they can go into business doing that. Most of the techs at my current employer have no computer training other than what they got on the job, when the main office tries to roll out something they assume all the techs are beginners and dumb it down. One of the other techs in an adjoining state put it to me like this, when they go home, they don't spend their evening on a computer like we do.

Most people (with some knowledge or drive) would not ask a question in a forum, they'd use google.(No offense).
I have had the same experience, any questions I post rarely get an answer.

Bottom line whether your certified or not don't over state your abilities and make the whole lot look bad.
And for the consumer looking for a computer tech my story is supposed to be a warning - CAVEAT EMPTOR.

 

The other thing is I don't come on strong - I don't spout off about what I know. People need my help and I play dumb with them, last thing I want to do is make them feel dumb. On the flip side if I am taking tech with a tech I'll get totally geeky. I take a page from my old Commodore and try to be user friendly.

 

Always better to show than tell.

 

Interesting discussion. Real world 'nuts 'n bolts' knowledge is invaluable; but so are certifications if one wants to do this kind of work professionally. I have no certifications, but I have built and repaired more computers then I can count . . . but I've not done it in a professional capacity. It's more of a hobby for me.

Here is something a bit off topic, but it is along the lines of having hands on experience in addition to "book smarts."

There is often a disconnect between the people who create software, and those that actually apply it to their job. The software designer may have studied exactly what the end user's job entails, but has never actually done the job itself, so what sounds perfectly logical to someone designing, lets say, a Computer Aided Dispatch program fails to translate into anything actually useful in the real world.

It would be nice if such software was designed the way most gaming software it - by people who actually use the software on a day to day basis in the real world. Nice thought, but hardly possible. The closest we can expect to come is accepting input from real world users. Some software companies seem to be good at this, others not so much.

Reading this thread just set my mind to wandering . . .

 

Absolutely! Beta testing is critical. Extensive beta testing... And making the changes user input dictates.

I know the suits will complain about costs involved, delays into getting to market/production, but in the long run it makes for a better product and a happy user base. If you can't be successful with a happy user and a good product, heck, you were never going to make it anyway...

 

I followed this thread with interest because like others here i do not have certification just hands on knowledge.
Like Mimsy if you give me your budget and needs i will build a system for you and to a limited degree i can solve software problems but in no way do i think i am an expert just a gifted amateur.
I am in later years and my memory is not what it used to be so taking tests are not my forte, i have no doubt i would fail.
I have the greatest respect for the tech who knows his job (like those here) but i have the same respect for the tech who knows his limitations and will ask for help rather than stumble along in the dark only to make problems worse.

 

I've often said it isn't WHO you know, but WHAT you know and can do with it.

 

Yup. I simply don't talk about things I don't know. Its easier than trying to bluff my way through it and them ask me a difficult question.

Awkward...and it makes you look like an idiot. Not because you didn't know, but because your bluff was called and you were found to be a phony.

 

That would be me right there hands on i can read books and stuff like that but i rather be hands on then sit facing a book all dam day.Most of the books are pretty much gibberish nonsense that has nothing to do what you really need to know.

 

They teach grammar?

:-D

 

True all of that. Especially the part about being in the later years of life . . . I looked into software design, and decided after about a week of research my brain is way too calcified for that! :-D Study and test taking? Forget about it. Those brain cells have departed this host long ago.

Getting old sucks, but there isn't anything for it. Best we can do is ignore it and push on till our own motherboards fail.

 

Re: Met a 'real' computer tech from Craigslist

I'd agree sometimes the software is designed by people who can't grasp the task it is supposed to complete, that is why you should learn to program. The big issue is tunnel vision, once you think you've solved the problem you go head first in to programming a solution, sometimes you loose sight of the end goal or miss something that would of made the program perfect. Because you're really writing the program for you. That is why beta testing or even open sourcing is important, giving and getting input helps improve the project. I often rewrite my own programs over time, once the first draft or alpha is done, you can step back and look and say "I can do better there".

 

Re: Met a 'real' computer tech from Craigslist

Can edit after the fact.