IT Workshop technician

[googlemad]

I've found a job up the road from me as a PC workshop technician. I just chatted to one of the guys on the phone and was going to visit (But can't until Monday since I'm fully booked today and tomorrow!).

 

Anyway he basically said they repair PCs for a major firm and I would have to hit 'targets' of around 15 PCs per day.

 

Has anyone ever been in such a job role before and how intense is it really? I could replace 15 RAM sticks in 15 seconds

[Guest]

Used to be a filed engineer / workshop engineer about 6 years back now.

 

Depending on the kind of faults you have to deal with 15 PCs a day should be easy to hit. Used to have to do between 7-10 calls a day as a field engineer plus the 100-200 miles a day driving to get to the calls.

 

Good luck.

[Mr_T]

I've found a job up the road from me as a PC workshop technician. I just chatted to one of the guys on the phone and was going to visit (But can't until Monday since I'm fully booked today and tomorrow!).

 

Anyway he basically said they repair PCs for a major firm and I would have to hit 'targets' of around 15 PCs per day.

 

Has anyone ever been in such a job role before and how intense is it really? I could replace 15 RAM sticks in 15 seconds

 

When i was at PC world we had a quota of around 30 Jobs per week. But there was alot of customer hand holding. It really depends on if it's just parts replacment or diagnosis aswell.

[davyboi]

hmm sounds like it would be good for a few week then get really boring and repetative, i work for a private company and i build pcs when im not contracted to schools, and trust me after a day building 15 pcs am ready for toping my self espectally when there isnt much natural light in our workshop, i know building them is a bit different to repairing them but still

 

but dont take my word for it you might prefer that sort of thing so its up to you really

[Norphy]

Many moons ago, I used to work as a computer repair technician for quite possibly one of the most evil mail order computer builders on the planet (Who have recently gone into administration. Schadenfreude? Me?) The job wasn't bad, 15 a day is doable if the problems are simple but you will always get days where you are tearing your hair out over a persistant problem.

[derer1]

I've worked in a similar situation before....shortly before the company was closed down for fraud and other malpractice!

Basically, it was a con. Piecework, with Rate X below a certain number of workstations built/day, with rate Y kicking in above that level. However, with the thresholds nigh-impossible to hit, and the below-rate equating to under minimum wage, it was not so great.

 

I'd get precise details of your targets, what happens if you get suck with difficult workstations, or whatever. X per day on a variable-problem break/fix line could be very hard to hit.

[StewartKnight]

Each technican fixing 15 computers a day...75 a week... seems like a lot of broken computers to me, are you sure they can get the leads???

[krisd32]

say if you work a 9 till 5 with no lunch its leaving you with just about half an hour per machine, if you have half an hour for lunch you only get 28 mins per machine obviously you'll get some where its a five minute job but with other jobs you'll have to diagnose etc.. which is going to take longer than that. this company sounds like the company i used to work for, putting you under very strict timeframes you start to rush things so you get done in time but that doesn't always say you've done the job to the best of your abilities.

 

just remember speed kills goes for alot of things other than driving!

 

this is why education suits me more we have a very relaxed atmosphere here and its great not being put under those sorts of pressures!

 

Kris

[gwendes]

All depends what they're paying! I'll fix 200 a week if the company is happy to fill my bank account with large piles of cash! Give them a call and ask what it actually entails - remember though - you'll not get holiday time to catch up!

[Ben_Stanton]

I was a field tech for near on 8 years, workshop based and actually on the road. One company (PC Doctor?), my area of coverage was Herts, Beds, Bucks and London (all of it). Working 7 till 10 some days (but the incentive was there - I was rolling in it). Really the best hands on experience you could ask for - you really do learn lots.

 

I ran a workshop for another company, helped them grow ridiculously based on my ability to diagnose and repair within given time contraints and SLA's. I will be completely honest, if you are only doing hardware repairs/swap outs - you may achieve your target. Personally, if you were in one of my workshops - I would not let that happen. I will almost guarantee you recieve a higher rate of recalls. You can't fix all faults, be it hardware of software in half hour slots, it doesn't work like that. You may have an interittent fault with what you think is the PSU. You swap the PSU, seems to work ok now 10+ reboots. You can bet your bottom dollar, as soon as the client recieves it back - that 11th boot will cause the error that turned out to be fried caps on the board!

 

What I am good at is time management, assessing the likely repair time and shifting jobs around so all are completed within a timeframe. My methods work, the company are still going strong with the team of 5 engineers I trained up - they have just taken on new premises and mass advertising and advertising for more staff!

 

It will be a high pressure role with targets like that. I would want big bucks.

[markcuk]

shouldnt put a time limit on those type of jobs wonder how many they get back with the same fault

[andyturpie]

Sounds like a tech guys splinter group.