In our ongoing series of career fun and trivia, let’s look at how not to annoy tech support, or the people you depend on to function from behind your desk!

Make Sure You Are Plugged In and Try Restarting

One of the things that annoy most tech support professionals is requests from clueless individuals who don’t try to fix a problem on their own — at all.

If you really want to annoy your tech support team, call and tell them about the “major problem” with the printer…that turns out not to be plugged in. Always check your wires and reboot when possible.

Google It

Want to really get in your IT department’s good graces? Do some additional problem solving. You never know what you may find on Google that will save you and your IT team time and headache.

Know They Have a Lot Going On

IT support is not sitting around waiting for your call and that they are juggling dozens of other problems at the same time. They likely did get your voicemail, email, and sticky note. Give them some time to reply.

Answer the Question Asked

Be as descriptive about your problem as possible. Instead of saying, “error messages showing,” describe the content of the message. Even better, take a screen shot and send it to them.

Enough with the “IT Guy” Label

It’s true most people in IT industry are men, the term “guy” is not exactly professional. You wouldn’t say “accountant guy” or “engineer guy” so let’s give the men and women in IT a bit more respect.

Gifts Will Be Remembered

The IT support role is a very service-oriented function. Since they allow you to do your job, show your appreciation from time to time with a small gift.

Do you work in IT support? What would you recommend we add to the list?