So... we should just pass a customer over to him and see how he handles him? Sorry, but if I were interviewing the guy, I'd want to see how he handles negativity *before* I let him touch any customer.
If a help desk interviewee couldn't even take that small amount of harassment (yes, I said small) you mentioned above then the interview is over. I took a *lot* worse than that in my former life, and once the problem was solved and the customer was happy, almost invariably got apologies, appreciation expressed to my boss (sometimes verbally, sometimes in writing), often a personal visit to the boss by the "asshole" customer, and some nice pay raises.
Customers with problems can be dicks. Fact of life. Your job as a help desk guy is to help the customer. Fact of life. If you can't deal with dicks, then you have no business being a help desk guy.
And even the ones who didn't apologize made for good stories when us techies got together for a few OB's (beers) downtown.
Agreed. Be a dick to them and see how they respond. If they get pissed, bye bye. If they deal with you gracefully, congratulate them, drop the dick act, and tell them that if they can handle *you*, then they should be able to handle customers just fine. Emphasize that acting nicely to dicks is key to being a successful help desk person.
Been there, done that. I ran a help desk for an ISP overseas on a military base who overcharged customers like no one's business, and continued to charge their credit cards even after they'd left and cut off their accounts. The head of AT&T Asia-Pacific came over to straighten up the mess, chewed out the entire organization, and then presented me with an award. "Customers chew us up right and left, but *invariably* complimented us on the help desk. You guys are a bunch of thieves, but we've never had better tech support."
Same in Korea. I don't think they were *ever* known as cell phones. Quite a trip to visit over there and see little 5 and 6 year old kids trucking around with a "hand phone" hanging on lanyards around their necks. Last time I was over there it was a little difficult to find a pay phone that took anything but calling cards!
Found the answer to the second part... it was in the March 1975 NatGeo. Guy's name was Siffre, and his sleep cycles varied widely... guess I was sleepy when I read it.
Fairly decent ref at http://www.irvthomas.com/thesis/thesis6.html (scroll down about halfway, coupla paras above the white chart) and more if you have some time to kill and Google handy.
I seem to remember something about how sleep deprivation can and does cause extreme psychosis after a while. Outside of a brief mention, the article doesn't really address that. Might be interesting to see what happens in six months or so to some of these guys.
I also foggily remember an article (National Geographic?) many years ago about a study where they put a guy deep underground in a cave with *no* clocks of any kind... if I remember right he eventually equilibrialized (is that a word?) at something outrageous like 27 hours of wakefulness with like 13 hours of sleep in between? Anyone remember that?
I got years and years of "are you married to me or that computer?!?"
It stopped when I retired from the Air Force and got a job paying triple what I made before, with no degree or formal training. Only the knowledge and experience I gained from all those hours on the computer, and from IT type jobs I pushed my way into with that knowledge. Most of those jobs were *way* outside my career field, too.
Was rough at times but worth it in the end! Happily married for 16 years now.
Sounds good to me. I always like Eudora, and only dumped it when it became adware. I like Thunderbird, too, but Eudora had a lot more bells and whistles that I actually liked and used. Hope it comes out well.
True, but your feet aren't pounding the pavement. And with *some* security guards, that can be a lot of weight hitting concrete, even with nurse shoes.
Well, I've got chronic plantar fasciitis in both feet, and I know walking around a shopping center *all day long* would KILL me! Granted they don't *do* much, but that much time on my feet just makes me hurt.
Hell, I give em props for *initiating* the recall, not *responding* to recall demands.
And FWIW, I've seen two in San Antonio, TX... one guy cruising down the sidewalk in front of Lackland AFB, and a new upscale shopping center (La Cantera?) has Segways for their security guards. You'll notice a lot of ramps connecting different levels... not only for handicapped, but for the Segways.
Saw a guard cruising down the ramp... he saw me coming with a grin on my face, and beat me to the punch. "Nope, sorry, you can't take it for a spin!" Grin on his face too, he could read me like a book. In our brief chitchat, he mentioned that they all love them, really reduces the wear and tear on the body that your normal security goon has to deal with.
...and yes, I did RTFA. But it's not unusual for large corporations to pay for all kinds of things for board members, like "private" cell phone accounts that us peons would get laughed out of the office for requesting.
I'm thinking (IANAL, obviously) that if HP paid for all the phone lines, then this would be permissible? Ethical is a whole different ballgame, yes, but legally permissible?
Slashdot Mirror
...when government declares you dead... you are!
How 'bout "what is a fed oral egacy? Sounds kinda kinky..."
Seems to me that robots have been crawling the Alaskan oil pipelines for decades, too...?
Perhaps I wasn't clear when I said, "If they deal with you gracefully, congratulate them, drop the dick act...".
So... we should just pass a customer over to him and see how he handles him? Sorry, but if I were interviewing the guy, I'd want to see how he handles negativity *before* I let him touch any customer.
Then I would be glad to see you go.
If a help desk interviewee couldn't even take that small amount of harassment (yes, I said small) you mentioned above then the interview is over. I took a *lot* worse than that in my former life, and once the problem was solved and the customer was happy, almost invariably got apologies, appreciation expressed to my boss (sometimes verbally, sometimes in writing), often a personal visit to the boss by the "asshole" customer, and some nice pay raises.
Customers with problems can be dicks. Fact of life. Your job as a help desk guy is to help the customer. Fact of life. If you can't deal with dicks, then you have no business being a help desk guy.
And even the ones who didn't apologize made for good stories when us techies got together for a few OB's (beers) downtown.
Agreed. Be a dick to them and see how they respond. If they get pissed, bye bye. If they deal with you gracefully, congratulate them, drop the dick act, and tell them that if they can handle *you*, then they should be able to handle customers just fine. Emphasize that acting nicely to dicks is key to being a successful help desk person.
Been there, done that. I ran a help desk for an ISP overseas on a military base who overcharged customers like no one's business, and continued to charge their credit cards even after they'd left and cut off their accounts. The head of AT&T Asia-Pacific came over to straighten up the mess, chewed out the entire organization, and then presented me with an award. "Customers chew us up right and left, but *invariably* complimented us on the help desk. You guys are a bunch of thieves, but we've never had better tech support."
Good lord. If a mail server gets overloaded by 10 emails...
NOW it might be getting hit by people, since the article is out, but I hope to gawd his 10 email tests wouldn't cause problems!!!
The clue store is open...
Best of luck to her... looks like this one might be quite important for setting precedents!
Same in Korea. I don't think they were *ever* known as cell phones. Quite a trip to visit over there and see little 5 and 6 year old kids trucking around with a "hand phone" hanging on lanyards around their necks. Last time I was over there it was a little difficult to find a pay phone that took anything but calling cards!
Found the answer to the second part... it was in the March 1975 NatGeo. Guy's name was Siffre, and his sleep cycles varied widely... guess I was sleepy when I read it.
Fairly decent ref at http://www.irvthomas.com/thesis/thesis6.html (scroll down about halfway, coupla paras above the white chart) and more if you have some time to kill and Google handy.
I seem to remember something about how sleep deprivation can and does cause extreme psychosis after a while. Outside of a brief mention, the article doesn't really address that. Might be interesting to see what happens in six months or so to some of these guys.
I also foggily remember an article (National Geographic?) many years ago about a study where they put a guy deep underground in a cave with *no* clocks of any kind... if I remember right he eventually equilibrialized (is that a word?) at something outrageous like 27 hours of wakefulness with like 13 hours of sleep in between? Anyone remember that?
And if their "key server" crashes?
So how long will it be before someone calls for their arrest and they get thrown in jail?
Let's find out.
One...
Two...
Three...
*karuuuunch*
What the hell was that?!?
Slashdot? Handling user conflicts?
:)
Dunno what you're smoking, but *share*!
I got years and years of "are you married to me or that computer?!?"
It stopped when I retired from the Air Force and got a job paying triple what I made before, with no degree or formal training. Only the knowledge and experience I gained from all those hours on the computer, and from IT type jobs I pushed my way into with that knowledge. Most of those jobs were *way* outside my career field, too.
Was rough at times but worth it in the end! Happily married for 16 years now.
Sounds good to me. I always like Eudora, and only dumped it when it became adware. I like Thunderbird, too, but Eudora had a lot more bells and whistles that I actually liked and used. Hope it comes out well.
Kinda like you would mete out punishment, but with a different tool.
Sad part is, his name is actually "Bob".
True, but your feet aren't pounding the pavement. And with *some* security guards, that can be a lot of weight hitting concrete, even with nurse shoes.
Well, I've got chronic plantar fasciitis in both feet, and I know walking around a shopping center *all day long* would KILL me! Granted they don't *do* much, but that much time on my feet just makes me hurt.
Hell, I give em props for *initiating* the recall, not *responding* to recall demands.
And FWIW, I've seen two in San Antonio, TX... one guy cruising down the sidewalk in front of Lackland AFB, and a new upscale shopping center (La Cantera?) has Segways for their security guards. You'll notice a lot of ramps connecting different levels... not only for handicapped, but for the Segways.
Saw a guard cruising down the ramp... he saw me coming with a grin on my face, and beat me to the punch. "Nope, sorry, you can't take it for a spin!" Grin on his face too, he could read me like a book. In our brief chitchat, he mentioned that they all love them, really reduces the wear and tear on the body that your normal security goon has to deal with.
...and yes, I did RTFA. But it's not unusual for large corporations to pay for all kinds of things for board members, like "private" cell phone accounts that us peons would get laughed out of the office for requesting.
I'm thinking (IANAL, obviously) that if HP paid for all the phone lines, then this would be permissible? Ethical is a whole different ballgame, yes, but legally permissible?