The stigma of a tech support background
Submitted
by
Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Since the last semester of college I've been working as a first line tech support agent, at first it was just a way to earn some extra money, then it became a way to scrape by until I could find myself a real job but by now (almost two years in) it's beginning to feel like a curse. I've wanted to be a sysadmin ever since I was a kid, I know it's maybe not the most common dream job and I'm sure there are lots of sysadmins who would tell me it's a bad career choice. The problem I'm having is that no matter how many jobs I apply for and no matter how well-written my applications are I can't seem to get further than to the first interview, and one point that always comes up is that I'm currently working in tech support. I've even tried using various other terms with similar meaning to "tech support agent" in my applications which has yielded a slightly higher percentage of interviews but once it gets to questions about just what I do at my job there's a question that always seems to come up, "so it's tech support?".
For some reason it seems a lot of employers will completely overlook my degree in computer engineering, the fact that I can show them several personal projects that I've worked on and that I can show them that I clearly possess the skills they are looking for the moment they see "tech support agent" on my resumé. I've had several employers tell me to my face, and in rejection letters, that my "professional background" isn't what they're looking for even when they've clearly stated that they're looking for recent graduates. In fact, a few have even told me that they decided against hiring me simply because I've worked in tech support at a call center for the last two years.
Obviously, if I had known of this stigma that seems to be attached to experience in tech support I would never have bothered getting the job (which I still feel has given me some very valuable skills, not just when it comes to dealing with users but also in dealing with downright insane management decisions, handling high-stress situations and quickly coming up with solutions to problems) but since it's too late for that I'm wondering if any of my fellow slashdotters have experienced similar problems and if there are any good ways to get employers to realize that my experience from tech support is actually a good thing and not a sign of incompetence."
For some reason it seems a lot of employers will completely overlook my degree in computer engineering, the fact that I can show them several personal projects that I've worked on and that I can show them that I clearly possess the skills they are looking for the moment they see "tech support agent" on my resumé. I've had several employers tell me to my face, and in rejection letters, that my "professional background" isn't what they're looking for even when they've clearly stated that they're looking for recent graduates. In fact, a few have even told me that they decided against hiring me simply because I've worked in tech support at a call center for the last two years.
Obviously, if I had known of this stigma that seems to be attached to experience in tech support I would never have bothered getting the job (which I still feel has given me some very valuable skills, not just when it comes to dealing with users but also in dealing with downright insane management decisions, handling high-stress situations and quickly coming up with solutions to problems) but since it's too late for that I'm wondering if any of my fellow slashdotters have experienced similar problems and if there are any good ways to get employers to realize that my experience from tech support is actually a good thing and not a sign of incompetence."
The stigma of a tech support background More Login
The stigma of a tech support background