Is anyone else an IT Support Technician and what are the

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good bits and the bad bits?

I don't mean for the first response to your thread to be bitter and cynical, but that was my experience in IT, so it is what it is. (I hate that last expression, but it's become really popular recently, so might as well make use of it.)

The good bits:
* Working with my hands
* Solving puzzles, in a way
* Helping people

The bad bits:
(Grab yourself a snack and a soda, coffee, beer, etc., because it'll be a long one)
* People expecting you to work miracles like a god, while treating you like less than human.
* Your employer thinking they own you just as they own the computers you support.
* In early to mid 2011, I was put on call 24/7/365 (in other words, permanently on, with no off time whatsoever), with a requirement to be available at all times and go to the office right when the phone rings. I got a labor lawyer involved to put a stop to this.
* Later in 2011 and for most of 2012, my company retaliated by giving me unrealistic targets and requiring me to say yes and help everyone who asks that same moment, regardless of my pre-existing workload.
* Getting blamed for things that are nowhere close to being my fault, such as a new server blowing out a fuse, because it was connected to a cheap, generic-brand surge protector that someone else put in.
* Having to plan your vacations around not being reachable by phone or e-mail. It had one nice effect: I discovered just how fun and aspie-friendly solo cruising can be. But it was my work that made me choose a cruise just to escape the cellular signal.
* Paying sh*tloads of money for lawyer and doctors, just to get accommodations for my work environment, and by "accommodations", I mean a reasonable workload and expectations, as opposed to a pressure cooker I've been working in for 2.5 years. Both the doctor and the lawyer I saw told me that they get a lot of IT workers coming to them with situations similar to mine.
* Having your job follow you home and everywhere you go. It's no different than being a police officer or a doctor, only without the respect that accompanies those other jobs.

So there you have it. My dream of being a project manager in charge of creating great programs, has been reduced to a disgruntled IT guy who pops prescription pills for anxiety. On the plus side, I now pretty much have a license to do the bare minimum of work, because I technically have a medical disability. But it's unfortunate that my work drove me to this condition. I'm in the process of planning a career change to get out of IT altogether. Take it from me: do the same, because every IT job I had was worse than the one before it, and it'll only get worse in the future. Computers will permeate our society more and more, and guess who'll be expected to support them 24/7?

I did it for 3 years, now I'm an IT Manager.

Good Bits

Job varies by day
Decent amount of down time
New challenges every day
Ability to walk around and not be in a cube all day (usually)
Interact with some colorful characters

Bad Bits:

People expect miracles.
Some days you can be slammed
as*holes
Idiots
If your really good at it, you end up getting picked for everything.

All in all, it's not bad though.

I have been an IT Manager for a number of years. I'd share most of the same 'pros' as the others.

However, for me, the de facto hardest part is the interruptions - When you have a server down or some Very Serious thing doing down, and you are completely absorbed in fixing it, that's the moment when someone will come in panicked and insisting you come see their computer immediately - and it turns out they are in the wrong folder or something else. We don't have a lot of staff to deal with first-level help to it hits whoever is around.

Having an AS diagnosis helps me to recognize that this is a particular area I'll find particular frustrating and I try to adapt as best I can.

If I may, I used to work in IT from time to time and the thing that got me the most was that people expect you to be like a god as you put it. I keep thinking to what Klinger said in M*A*S*H, "if I had all the answers, I'd run for God."

That is definitely still very common - and it poses considerably risks for those with significant anxiety issues. IT can be high pressure. The best thing I'd suggest in that area is to have a way to manage the incoming requests and become a master of the art of deferment. I tend to ask co-workers to email the request if it's something I cannot get to at the time - or something I might need to take some time to research.

and thank God for Google.

Computer Stupidities
http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/

CHOCK FULL of stories of funny idiotic customers (and some workers, bosses and tech support!)

This gave me some idea of what it's like to work in IT/tech support.

As for whether I'd do it? Possibly. I don't mind being challenged (e.g. being asked to solve many very difficult problems at once), but if they're acting like I'm lazy or the devil incarnate for not magically solving ALL problems, I'd find another job or even line of work.

Right now I feel like I can solve a lot of "common" computer problems at least. If I call tech support, I've got a stumper.