August 27, 2012 | British Columbia

A career in customer service can take on a variety of different roles, whether professionals are interested in speaking face-to-face with clients or in front of a computer monitor, providing technological services. Computer support technicians have become one of the most important employees in the modern workplace, as they can offer assistance to not only clients who need guided direction with the company's services, but also coworkers with computer issues.

Responsibilities

On a day-to-day basis, these professionals refer to numerous manuals, user guides and other technical documents to provide solutions to those who call in with specific problems regarding information technology (IT). They should be able to lead customers step by step through the process of resolving their issues, often by recreating the problem that the client is facing on the other end.

In many workplaces, technicians handle most of these problems over the phone, but companies often provide video conferencing services to help make each process clear for the client who has called in with a question. By giving a virtual demonstration and showing the screen to a customer who may be somewhat confused, IT specialists can provide assistance as if they were standing beside their office desks.

Pick from a number of industries

Technicians can work in a number of various industries, but the highest numbers are found to be employed in computer systems design, at 22 percent, telecommunications, at 12 percent, and public administration, at 11 percent, according to Service Canada. About 10 percent of technicians also work in retail trade, where customer service is a profession in high demand.

Bright employment outlook

One of the positive aspects of this type of role is that, generally, the job opportunities are full-time, rather than part-time or freelance, Service Canada reports. Approximately 67 percent of computer support technicians have worked as a salaried, full-time employee in the past few years, a number that is significantly higher than the average for all occupations, which is just above 50 percent.

The IT sector has shown signs of growth and improvement in the last five years, making the employment outlook for computer support technicians positive and recent grads hopeful that they can find opportunities after completing college programs geared toward network training.

At CDI College, students in the British Columbia region can learn the fundamentals of providing assistance with software and hardware issues. They can develop the right technical skills to make them competitive contributors in the IT workforce by enrolling in the Computer Support Technician program. To find out more information, fill out the form on the right.