recruitment ad for Dell technician

For those of you interested in Dell service practices, here's an email I received recently
by a tech headhunter recruting me for the job. (I am not remotely qualified).

Salary info is included, contact info is not.
I thought some of you might find it interesting.
My first impression is that if the mileage is not paid by actual miles, it won't be very
rewarding for the technician, especially at $4+ per gallon. And it's not really a job, it's a piecework
sort of job where the technician only gets steady work if Dell has mucked up computers, no ?

Actually, it might not be a bad thing for someone who is semi-retired and knows hardware.

I imagine there is a lot of turnover.


==============================================================
[Company name deleted] is currently recruiting for a Dell warranty field technician in your area.

This is an open-ended contract opportunity to work as a consultant to repair desktops, laptops, and printers. The Candidate will
perform desktop computer “Break/Fix” support and Simple to Complex Installation, Add, or Change requirements of peripherals
& Device Drivers. This is a great opportunity for the right individual.

The troubleshooting has already occurred through the Dell help desk support line. That support line has determined the problem
is hardware related and ordered the components for replacement.

Your job will be to pick up the hardware and take it to the client site (home, home-based business or small business), swap the
part(s) out and return the warranty part(s) to Dell.

This contract pays $27.00 per ticket within 50 miles and $35.00 per ticket from 51-75 miles, and you will be assigned an
average of 4-8 tickets a day. The mileage is included in the price per ticket.



Position Overview:


Duties and Responsibilities:

· Provides quality customer service and support for designated equipment.

· Escalates problems to appropriate next level of support when necessary.

· Monitors assigned service calls to ensure timely completion.

· Ensures all time reporting, expense reporting, and other required reports are accurate and submitted on time.

· Completes all administrative duties correctly and promptly

· Meets or exceeds various service levels as established by assignment (calls per day, ETA’s, on-time response,
administrative call closure, customer satisfaction.)

· Responsible for ensuring on-going maintenance and development of positive customer relationships with all business partners and customers.

· Ensures that quality and service level goals are achieved in a timely manner.



Requirements:

· At least 2/3 years hands on experience working on hardware repairs and/or upgrades on pc's, laptops and printers.

· A+ certification, Associate’s Degree in Electronics, formal PC hardware service courses, or similar military related training can
replace a year of hands on experience.

· Must be comfortable swapping out motherboards (Desktop experience necessary, laptop experience desired)

· Must have experience diagnosing/troubleshooting hardware issues on pc, laptops, and printers.

· Proficiency in desktop support of Clients’ individual PCs. Minimum operating system knowledge includes: Microsoft Windows 9x, 2000 and XP

· Basic understanding of TCP/IP networking, hubs and switches

· Support of computer networks, as directed by a Level II or III Engineer/Technician

· A+ certification is preferred

· Dell Certification is a plus ( If you do not have one we will pay for you to get dell certified)

· Must enjoy driving, you will be driving from location to location

· Must have your own tools for repairing computers that include anti-static protection and DC volt-meter

· Must have your own reliable transportation and valid driver’s license

· Ability to locate addresses in your immediate area

· Must dress business casual for the position. No jeans or tennis shoes.

· Must be well organized

 

After reading that, you can understand why Dell's customer service index sucks.

 

I am in for the job

 

on top of the already mentioned high gas prices it would take at least an hour ONE WAY to drive anywhere 50+ miles away, even longer in an urban area. and depending on how long you have to stay you'll be doing at least 2 hours in traveling alone for a whole $35. that freaking sucks.

 

From the wording of the ad, it appears that the conditions may not be set by Dell, but by someone they have outsourced to handle service tickets.

I am an IT consultant, and often big companies use what is called a managed vendor system, or multi-tiered vendor system. Dell outsources to one or two service companies, they in turn outsource the job to others, etc etc.

I have my own small company, and often there are four companies between myself and the actual end client that pays the bills. Outsourcing means there is always someone else to blame, with the solution being to fire the vendors and replace with a different vendor. The multi-tiered vendor systems have made all IT careers into short-term no-growth coolie jobs.

 

i guess it's something for all the 3/4 yr comp sci grads to do.

 

More like something for the 3/4 yr comp sci dropouts to do.

 

oh yeah, grads get the cushy jobs like tech support and help desk.

 

Actually, with the rise of the L1 visa, there aren't that many jobs for recent CS grads. There are now approximately 450,000 L1 visas issued every year, used by companies like IBM to replace 15,000 long term US employees with very young recent grads from India, etc.

And new on the scene is the recent rule change by Homeland Security that will allow an unlimited number of foreign students with brand new US degrees to stay in the US for 30 months to hunt for a job -- all without counting against the H1-B cap of 65,000. It's absolutely killing IT careers for US-born people.

 

Not really. I've hired about 400 people for IT positions over the last ten years. To be honest the quality of U.S. born candidates has been... crap. I'll open a position, spend 3 months trying to find someone local who is remotely qualified, then give up and pursue the sponsorship route. I would love to hire more local talent, but more often than not, they're just not as hungry to find ways to stand out and differentiate themselves. Instead there is an attitude that because they took some C classes at the local university and got their 2.9 GPA while doing an internship writing three html pages in one summer, they are entitled to a nice salaried job.

I resisted offshoring and sponsoring for a long time, but local CS graduates generally seem no more equipped to contribute in a business environment than their counterparts from abroad. Often, they're even less equipped.

 

^^ nice senses of entitlement. at least out domestics aren't graduating university completely empty handed.