What Qualities Make Good Technicians?

rderek asks: "I am an instructor at an educational, and my focus is on computer technicians (not sys-admins). The course that we run is very demanding, and produces (we think) very good techs. We are allways in the process of adjusting our cirriculum to remain current, but it may be time to adjust our teaching process. What we want is not simply to create people who know how a computer works, but who also have the attitude and mindset of good technicians. I would like to know what each of you consider to be the qualities necessary for a person to be a good tech."

Comments

curiosity in a hackish sort of way

[He Who Suffers]

Having worked as a tech, in a variety of organisations, I have noticed that my colleagues with the 'right stuff' were all very curious about how things are, and how they work.

Any new toy^H^H^H piece of equipment that comes into the office has the lid opened to check for new stuff. Articles about novelties must be followed up - it took me weeks to search out enough information to be comfortable with how sterling engines run.

Much to the distress of my mother, I must plead guilty to having a track record for pulling things apart from a very young age, but mostly putting them back together in a working state. Of my friends who are techs, most have the same story.

Hardware of all sorts is fascinating. The first time I see anything new, I find myself thinking out how such a machine would operate. If it is not immediately apparent, then the lid must come off, or the plans be searched out to satisfy my need to know. In this way a general knowledge is built up so that tech people have a feel for what is right, and get hunches about a faults, that then pay off when repairing unusual faults.