The IT Guys Blog

All the things you should never bother your IT Guy with.

• Small office electronics (Personal Printers, Calculators, Lamps, iPods or other home electronics) - It’s not their job to look at why your iPod doesn’t work right with your work computer. It could also land you in trouble with your boss.
• Home Computer Questions - This has to be the number one complaint amongst IT Guys. Just because somebody is an IT Guy doesn’t mean they enjoy answering your home computer questions. If your IT Guy over hears you discussing something and chimes in that’s one thing, but don’t bring in your laundry list of questions and problems. It is not your company’s job to bank roll your IT mishaps- go pay the Geek Squad like everybody else.
• Pressuring your IT Guy into “doing work on the side.” First off it may violate his or her contract of employment and could wind up getting them in trouble or fired. Secondly, this ones a secret, IT Guys don’t like dealing with home computer BS. We’re very sorry your five year old computer you bought at Sam’s club doesn’t work right and “things keep popping up.” -Again take it to a computer repair shop or find somebody who fixes home computers for a living. We choose to work at a nice big company so we don’t have to go house to house and fix personal computer issues, deal with it.
• While your IT Guy at work may seem like the god of all things digital, IT Guy’s actually have job descriptions. If your company has an official help desk, take your problem to them first. Just because you know Mark in tier 5 server support knows how to fix your problem don’t bypass the system. Don’t ask the programmer to help with your e-mail issue or the network guy why your program doesn’t work. If you have a doubt about who to go to and you have a serious issue take it up with the higher ups. They get paid enough to deal with your lack of tech savvy and they can help you get in touch with the right person.
• Don’t be a nuisance. Unless the building is on fire don’t call your IT Guy repeatedly and e-mail him snotty e-mails. Contrary to popular opinion your IT Guy isn’t avoiding you, he’s prioritizing. That’s what IT Guy’s do. Your little e-mail issue is not a big deal when a server is down and thousands of people are without a resource. Personally I put my phone on DND(do not disturb) if I start getting an influx of calls. You can’t solve issues if you can’t get off the phone.
• Don’t tell your IT Guy a twenty minute long story. Tell him what you think is most pertinent to the issue at hand and nothing more. If your IT Guy wants more info he’ll inquire with you through call backs or e-mail.
• Don’t forget to get your IT Guy or Girl an awesome gift for the holidays. - If it wasn’t for the IT Guys of the world you wouldn’t have a job.