I hv 2 years of IT support experience, supporting the company like hell. Networking, switch programming, hardware, software installing, troubleshooting, dealing with difficult users.... And then I come to this factory interview for IT Support, it freaking say IT Support in the ads and it didn't mention any programming requirement.

"But you do not have programming experience, we will consider you as fresh graduates. Your expected salary is too high."

This is how they treating IT workers?? aka IT slaves. NO WAY.

y not u find bek IT support job?so ur previous job xp will be a plus 4 u..

They ARE looking for IT support, but they press your price with your lack of programming experience... lame but, well, what to do.

mayb they are more on supporting programming kua...i suggest u find a job which is similar with ur current job..then ur expriences wil add more advantage 4 u leh...

why u're leaving in the 1st place?
they wan u do additional on programming rather than normal IT support?
how much they willing to pay compare the workload their giving?

Actually jensen is right, there are 2 forms of IT Support. Some companies will hire IT Support but is not Technical Support like your 2 years experience but is actually Software Support, companies like ACS or Scope does this. What you actually do is support production software, so you are the first line of defect/customer support for the production systems. So you do have to know programming. I guess the Ad was not detailed enough. Its normal if you have experience in one discipline and switch to another, companies will consider you a freshie, heck even if you switch programming languages like from .NET programming to Java programming, most companies will treat you with minimal experience.

That said, it is also possible that the company you interviewed are hiring Technical Support. Just that a lot of hiring/HR managers will use any means possible to undermine potential hire's credibility in order to offer the lower salary package possible. Heck I've been in interviews where the manager said my previous experience in the position is not in Malaysia so it does not count which is just utter crap since the systems and language are the same. I used to hate scums like that, but I realized its not their fault as they are just doing their job as required by the company.

Normally, employers won't give a high pay to IT support (not mean to be offensive) unless you move your path as a consultant.

I hardly meet an IT support whose salary can reach to 5 digit figures.

Just my 2 cents.

if the case is like this?
what the heck for jumping to another company that pays u lower than ur current income?

sometimes i wonder what is these HR ppl thinking....

Got people jump to a job with lower salary, if the growth potential, new knowledge and career advancement opportunities are better

It seem like they are not even confortable with my current salary.

The supervisor asked do I know about SDLC, but didnt specify any programming language specifically. And then he keep pressing the issue about my lack of programming experience, I dont even know where to start to bluff about my programming skill. SDLC... what is that? It is just a cycle of procedures right? Just like wat I learned from books last time.

And then I will be the front line support to all the hardware, windows, which is peanut matters to me as my current company has a even much larger user groups to support.

The fact is that, yeah, I understand that its their job, keep pressing your value based on your weakness.

Yes I agree. And as usual, everybody is always out for hunting. Heck, when I do pc support, I can find a "resume" folder in almost every computer...

new knowledge and career opportunities is really good to compensate with a lower salary;

even so i do concern on the benificial given to staffs + growth potential together....

they should have pre-screened your resume before they agree with your demand & invite your for an interview session.. well nowadays too much of job seekers, so you gotta keep the pain in the a$$

This post has been edited by fairus: Oct 12 2006, 03:05 PM

Heh, maybe this is only because not many people willing to travel to such "ulu" place to work so they hv to interview me. Most people in Klang Valley look for jobs in KL or anywhere near LRT.

SDLC = System Development Life Cycle

it's bout hw u implement ur system..wat steps u take 2 complete the development

edited:i also believe they need somemore who hv some programming background 2 do the support

This post has been edited by jasonlim: Oct 12 2006, 05:10 PM

still need people, PM me.

well, i experienced it too.. but i got the job.
their intention is to press on yr salary.. juz look for others..
well, juz bla on the software site. they onli need ppl know bit bout it, to support the apps, not go into details..

anyway, wish U best of luck!!

SDLC?
It is a luxury but most companies dont have, and hardly follow exactly to what you read in the books. Not practical most of the time.

What we really do is:

1) Requirements gathering
2) Analysis and conceptualisation
3) Approval to conceptual design and sign-off
4) Recieve payment from client
5) Prototyping
6) Client review, feedback and sign-off.
7) Further detailed design, approval of design, then development.
8) testing, review, installation, further review, actual sign-off, and further payment etc.

As long as client dont agree to the concept, or no PO, or no payment = no development, and there goes the project manager's schedule and timeline into the drain. And worse is, when the client do pay, they will expect the timeline to remain as promised, hence giving you guys sleepless nights!

Plus,while doing all those documentation, programmers are left idle. So normally we will skip such detailed docs and head for the crucial ones and pass right to the development team.

Basic software support might include testing of modules, installation and setup, database knowledge, troubleshooting and debugging, prepare documentations, requirements gathering or liaising with clients. etc.

With your basic understanding and logic on programming and current 3-tier architecture in development concept, you dont need real world experience to be an IT support for software. Although it helps, but not crucial as it can be picked up along the way.

Well, this is my experience. May differ from other more professionals working in software houses.

Maybe just their trick to pay you lower. They probably want you but don't want to pay you that amount?

On the other hand, a non IT factory's ppl may not know about IT things. So their idea of programming and an IT persons idea of what is programming, is different. Maybe their factory programming is just actually doing the settings on their production machines and not coding, sdk..

This post has been edited by nlik: Oct 13 2006, 01:43 PM