Ya, what’s adware? And why is my computer running so slow?
Just figured I should take this time out to give a little advice to those considering a career in “fixing computers” if this is what you want to do be prepared to be making $8/hr at future shop/creative systems or whatever local computer shop in your town.
Basically PC repair has been delegated to highschoolers much like working at mcdonalds etc.
If you really want a career I would recommend you get into networking/computer security,Programming(web or otherwise), Database management, Hardware design/electronics engineering. Those are the jobs that will make you good money because not any idiot with a screwdriver can do it.
I am just starting my career finally but these seem to be the hot career paths right now and wont be going away any time soon. I am looking at (researching it before I start 
) getting into security consulting, I see some down right horrible security practices in business. Critical servers sitting in rooms accesible by anyone with default passwords, unencrypted root access via FTP to servers 
Before you choose one of these career paths make sure you research it, and if you are interested in network security paranoia is a good thing
Oh and another tip, if you dont know what you’re talking about dont pretend to its bloody annoying. Educated guesses are ok but just admit you arnt sure and you assume bla bla bla is true and if you’re wrong admit that too!
there are too many “Experts” in this field that dont know what the fuck they are talking about and cause me pain when I have to figure out what the hell they did when I get called in to fix their mess.
Computer repair is like any other trade or profession - there are good paying jobs but you need experience - which you get by starting at the bottom with Future Shop etc. Of course excellent customer service skills always helps - which means never saying that the customer is an idiot. I have to say that when I hear people on this forum blasting the intelligence of their customers in such a vicious manner I have to wonder about the skills of the blasters themselves …
I dont believe this for a second, sure if you own the business maybe you might make some decent money. How can you expect to make good money off something the average 13 year old kid can do?
In addition to that computers are becomming disposable now with the cost of repairs. think about it you can get a new dell for 500 bucks, or you can pay someone 200 bucks to fix it… which will you choose?
PC repair is not really a career and there wont be “good money” in it for long if there still is. Having experience in PC repair will help you get a job outside of PC repair but there isnt much room to grow in the PC repair field.
Where is the next step? the only one I can see is engineering which leads away from the PC repair field. PC repair is only a stepping stone into your IT career not the career itself and you would be foolish to think otherwise.
In regards to “idiot” customers some are complete idiots do I tell them that no, I will kindly refer them to futureshop because the money isnt worth the hassle to me.
Question my skills if you’d like but I havnt run into any issue I cant resolve yet and my client base is growing because people are happy with my work.
Ah, the self-inflicted tech support responsibility. I try not to even give people purchasing advice or direction anymore either, since they come back and claim that I’m now responsible for fixing their Dell because they asked me about it before they bought it!
On the other hand, I’ve been doing a bit more “paid” tech support lately, which is nice. People who appreciate first-rate work generally don’t mind paying for it. I always try to tell people to try downtown first, though. “Yes, I can fix your computer, but it may be cheaper to try one of the computer stores downtown.”
[quote=“MiG”]
Ah, the self-inflicted tech support responsibility. I try not to even give people purchasing advice or direction anymore either, since they come back and claim that I’m now responsible for fixing their Dell because they asked me about it before they bought it!
On the other hand, I’ve been doing a bit more “paid” tech support lately, which is nice. People who appreciate first-rate work generally don’t mind paying for it. I always try to tell people to try downtown first, though. “Yes, I can fix your computer, but it may be cheaper to try one of the computer stores downtown.”[/quote]
For a while I dealt with it by having them test it and verbally “sign off” that it is working correctly and any further work they would be billed for. However some people just dont get it and still expect you to fix it for free
Biggest problem is I’d like to say what teachers said to me:
RTFM
but I live where 80% of people are illiterate. No shit at least 25% can’t read Dick and Jane. 55% can read the newspaper, but not understand what they just read. Mans are readable by about 2% of the population…
There used to be 3 of in town with Amigas, before the Internet. All of us could rip those suckers down, rebuild, troubleshoot and program. All from mags and mans delivered snail mail.
Curse Bill Gate for Windows, bringing computers to the lumpen-proletariat.
EDIT: he writes before going next door, on a SUNDAY to show the neighbour how to press the fucking wireless button on their new Future Shop laptop to connect to the wireless router on the desk beside it…
(I fully expect to borrow his wood splitter next fall…)
I remember the advertisement in one of my old PC World magazines from 2000 saying that, by 2008 or something, the average wage (in U.S. currency) for:
Computer Programmer: $70,000
Computer Repair Person: $70,000
Website Developer: $70,000
What a joke. As you mentioned, most people would rather bake cookies for the kid down the street and get their computer repaired then actually pay someone for it.
As for computer programming, you still need a degree in computer science or a good diploma (or damn good experience) to get into there, so $70,000 is realistic but not likely average.
As for website developer, there are many out there making huge money; usually the people with diplomas, degrees, or just very skilled. But, far from the average. I’ve been researching this type of stuff a lot because it’s going to be part of my career but really, look at how many people out there buy/download a copy of dreamweaver and photoshop, make a site, and then call themselves a website designer and start charging pennies for the horrible work they do.
It really makes you realize, though, that the “average” earnings for people in a field there are very, very wrong. Take someone who makes $100,000 per year repairing computers, and someone who makes $10,000 a year repairing computers… your average is $55,000. People will think “If I go into that career, I’ll make $55,000” when really, they could be the idiot making $10,000 or the smart guy making $100,000.