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What does a Technical Support Analyst do?

Licia Morrow
Licia Morrow

A technical support analyst is responsible for customer service, troubleshooting, and assisting others with technical solutions. Technical support analysts are individuals looking to solve problems, with the main focus of this job being to help others use a specific device or application. Achieving this goal may include research, technical knowledge, and collaboration. Helping others is a major component of this job and in some cases may involve routine training of others. This employee usually reports to an individual in the information technology (IT) department, such as an IT manager.

In some cases, this job position might involve a lot of work on the phone or computer, communicating with customers who are attempting to use a product. Technical support employees in this case will listen to or read customer issues, research a solution, and give step-by-step instructions to the customer about how to implement it. This might involve being a part of the company's call center or working on more independent projects in which researching a solution is vital.

A technical support analyst communicates with customers over the phone in order to assist them with troubleshooting.
A technical support analyst communicates with customers over the phone in order to assist them with troubleshooting.

Another focus of this position may be technical assistance within company walls. This type of technical support analyst will assist other employees within his own company on hardware and software issues. He may also be responsible for troubleshooting and repairing company machines and equipment. Depending upon the size of the organization, he may initiate upgrades to computers and other devices and manage company databases. When a new employee is hired or a device is installed at a remote site, the analyst will be responsible for ensuring the equipment is properly set up and effectively used.

A technical support analyst may be responsible for repairing company machines and equipment.
A technical support analyst may be responsible for repairing company machines and equipment.

Another essential skill is a general knowledge of technology and an ability to utilize technological devices effectively. While some job training may be available, this individual must be comfortable using technological devices and, in many cases, will need to communicate to others how to use them correctly. This combination of skill, knowledge, and customer service makes up the major components of the technical support analyst job.

A technical support analyst is responsible for assisting customers with technical problems.
A technical support analyst is responsible for assisting customers with technical problems.

As job duties vary for the technical support analyst, so do hiring requirements. Any individual in this job will need industry-specific knowledge or training in order to effectively perform technical support analyses. He may need highly technical knowledge about the organization's equipment, or he may be trained in these areas upon hire. In many cases, he will need some past customer service experience because he will be responsible for passing this information on to others.

Discussion Comments

anon994078

I want a firm or company to check over my laptop and correct the laptop, as I am a self-taught person and not doing well.

anon347885

This is a low paid job which gets outsourced easily. It is easy to be made redundant from it and is not a good job for long term stability. Bullying by managers and between managers is common in IT, and support staff always have to take the blame for any process issues that are the fault of management.

indigomoth
A friend of mine went into this field. He was already pretty good with computers, did a one year diploma to polish his skills (it was a nationally recognized one that he could finish at his own pace) and got a job almost right away. He hasn't been out of work since.

It's not a job I'd like to do myself, but it's the kind of job that, with constant upskilling, isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon.

KoiwiGal

@irontoenail - Well, personally I think it depends on where you're working. If you're at a call center for tech support, then yes, I think people skills are much, much more important than IT skills. Because over half your calls can be solved by turning the computer off and turning it back on again. But it can take an hour to convince someone of that.

But, if you're working in an office, particularly a tech savvy office, you can get away with average people skills, I think. I mean, you don't have to be completely charming because you're just providing a service to people who should understand and appreciate it. Just don't be a jerk and you'll be fine.

irontoenail

If you're looking to become a technical support specialist, please remember that you need to be a people person and have large amounts of patience.

I'm not asking this because I've had bad experiences with tech support people, but more because I know people who have gone into this job and become very unhappy as a result. I guess they figured it was at least a job working with computers, so how bad could it be?

But people can be very frustrating, particularly when they themselves are frustrated and nothing is more frustrating than when your computer doesn't work.

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    • A technical support analyst communicates with customers over the phone in order to assist them with troubleshooting.
      By: Minerva Studio
      A technical support analyst communicates with customers over the phone in order to assist them with troubleshooting.
    • A technical support analyst may be responsible for repairing company machines and equipment.
      By: mickyso
      A technical support analyst may be responsible for repairing company machines and equipment.
    • A technical support analyst is responsible for assisting customers with technical problems.
      By: joël BEHR
      A technical support analyst is responsible for assisting customers with technical problems.
    • A technical support analyst may be responsible for offering assistance to employees in her own company.
      By: auremar
      A technical support analyst may be responsible for offering assistance to employees in her own company.