Technical Support Engineer Vs Web Development

[swaraj_here]

Hello All,

A simple question: "Technical Support Engineer" post is how much valid to a web developer or a web designer?

Me, working as a web designer, and has been shortlisted for the post of "Technical Support Engineer" in Adobe. Responsibilities are "to troubleshoot customer's issues regarding installation and use of of any Adobe Product".

How many of you think I should join or why? I wanted to work using flash coding, photoshop design, and Java Programming, will it help me to grow in my career?

Need your suggestions !!

[tke71709]

Me, working as a web designer, and has been shortlisted for the post of "Technical Support Engineer" in Adobe. Responsibilities are "to troubleshoot customer's issues regarding installation and use of of any Adobe Product".

A fancy term for tech support.

How many of you think I should join or why? I wanted to work using flash coding, photoshop design, and Java Programming, will it help me to grow in my career?

Tech support doesn't do flash coding, photoshop or java programming. They take phone calls and answer e-mails from people who can't get their Adobe products to install properly.

If you want to do those things, you won't take this job.

[Paid Surveys]

essentially it's a maintenance Job you won't be developing new systems or creating new architectures, you'll just be making slight tweaks to what is already there and keeping the system running. You'll also probably be responding to helpdesk queries. I'd avoid it like the plague if you are a creative person.

[swaraj_here]

What else if will be offered one more job as a Web Master wherein I will be handling some basic website maintenance for site updates, photographs updates, checking for color consistency and format.. thats all?

[amf45]

One of my first offers out of college was to do that particular job for a networking division of HP. The job is basically: help customers, but do almost no real creation of anything. They promised that over time, I would be allowed to help modify old versions of the product for customers and then eventually move into modifying the code for new products.

I turned the job down and another HP division came back with a developer's job and I took that and ended up helping them create a whole new product line during my first year on the job.

If you want to do web design/development, tech support is not the place to start unless you feel like the only way into a company you want to work for is through the basement entrance.

[swaraj_here]

..thanks for your reply..

Actually I was thinking that while giving support I will have chance to see the source of the product, which will enhance the ideas of the development planning or visualizations.

Normally before starting any applications or making a product, developers have to draw a line of functioning or behavioral of that particular product.

So if additionally I keep on learning or working in development and doing the same job in hand and later if I produce this working period in my resume as 1 year tech support job, will recruiter consider me for development jobs after 1 year?

Is there any bad impacts if I mention this job in my resume?

[tke71709]

..thanks for your reply..

Actually I was thinking that while giving support I will have chance to see the source of the product, which will enhance the ideas of the development planning or visualizations.

You're not going to see the source code for the product, it's not necessary to do tech support.

Normally before starting any applications or making a product, developers have to draw a line of functioning or behavioral of that particular product.

Developers, business analysts, and product managers do that work, not tech support people.

So if additionally I keep on learning or working in development and doing the same job in hand and later if I produce this working period in my resume as 1 year tech support job, will recruiter consider me for development jobs after 1 year?

Is there any bad impacts if I mention this job in my resume?

Once you take a job like tech support, unless you excel in your work, you will always be viewed as tech support.

I know tech support is big business in India, but tech support is generally seen as among the lowest of the low as far as jobs in IT go. If you want to be a developer I wouldn't take this job if I didn't have to.

Let me sum up your average call

"Hello, this is John speaking" seeing as everyone who does tech support in India has a North American name (ha)
"I can't get Flash to work"
"I see, what seems to be the problem"
"I bought it and it's asking for a license key"
"Have you received the notification e-mail"
"There's an e-mail????"
"Yes sir, please check your e-mail while I hold"
"Ummm, ok... I don't see any e-mail"
"The one from Adobe.com sir, it's titled Flash Licensing Key"
"Ummmmmm, oh here it is..."
"Have I resolved your issue sir?"
"Whoa! You haven't done anything... WTF do I do to get my Flash to work?"
"Sir, you need to enter the license key"
"WHAT LICENSE KEY?!?!?!?!"
"The one in the e-mail sir"
"What e-mail?"
"The one we just found sir"
"There's no key here"
"Have you opened the e-mail sir?"
"Of course I did, mumble mumble, click click..."
"Enter the license key"
Typing... Hang up

Ad nauseum, 100 times a day...

[swaraj_here]

Yeah!! It sucks.. !!

[amf45]

Is there any bad impacts if I mention this job in my resume?

Having a job while you look for another job is rarely a bad thing, provided it's in the general job function area. However, customer tech support is not really a step to the next level of development or design. Internal support -- in other words, supporting the field sales reps -- gets you closer to what you want, but that doesn't sound like the job description you posted, which is much more like the typical phone call described above.

[swaraj_here]

Having a job while you look for another job is rarely a bad thing, provided it's in the general job function area. However, customer tech support is not really a step to the next level of development or design. Internal support -- in other words, supporting the field sales reps -- gets you closer to what you want, but that doesn't sound like the job description you posted, which is much more like the typical phone call described above.

Yes, as of now there is only web cases being handled by employee and also phone calls will land very soon.

[AlexDawson]

I would never work in tech support; you spend all day in a cramped phone booth in a huge room, trying to make money by answering phone calls from people who don't have the first clue about how to use a computer. Call me cynical if you must but I spent some time doing tech support and the dumbest person to ask for my help was an individual who said he was going to sue the pc maker because his pc would not turn on as purchased... and he had not plugged in or turned on the power cable. That kind of job is a fantastic way to make you depressed for the intelligence of humanity.

[swaraj_here]

Lets see how I can make my career path, because I have joined this as I had no other options left with me.