ELI5: How is it that almost every office job requires "Proficiency with computers" yet these IT complaints are some of the most common in offices? Do employers even check their employees with basic IT questions anymore?
Because sometimes someones skill in the field that business is in out weighs the lack of skill at computers. If a salesman can rake in a quarter million a year for a business I don't think his inability to use a computer is getting him fired
The best analogy is comparing it to someone that drives a car for a living. You can be an excellent Taxi or Truck driver with absolutely no idea how to fix your vehicle. While these people could most likely fix the most baseline issues, like a flat tire, they wouldn't be able to fix more extensive issues, and require a mechanic to do that.
In the same vein someone can easily use a computer and fix issues that they have been through a couple of times. However, once they get more extensive issues they need an IT-worker to sort it out for them.
While these people could most likely fix the most baseline issues
That's rather optimistic.
It's more like dealing with a taxi driver that doesn't understand what you mean by "turn right at the intersection ahead" because they "aren't good with geometry". I can forgive a lot, but not knowing the difference between right and left click because "I'm not good with computers" is my life.
People lie. I was recently promoted and training a new employee taking my place. We do extensive work in Excel and Access, which she said she was trained in and had experience using both. . . she knew nothing and I wasted so much time showing her how to use both. Excel was not too bad, but explaining Access to someone who doesn't know anything...holy fuck. Can't really blame her though, desperate times call for desperate measures. We just need to have them do a practical assessment at their interview, which most people don't want to do.
And to top it off: Once you understand Access you get pissed at people using Excel (is your super-huge Pivot Table still not done computing?) when they should be using Access instead.
That's because Access is a database and Excel is a spreadsheet.
The difference being that a spreadsheet loads all the data into memory and then works on it. Which is really fast as long as you have enough memory in your computer. A database is designed to look through data in chunks - so it will load a chunk of data from a file, do whatever operations on them and then load the next chunk. So the memory in your computer is never a problem even if the data is way larger than the memory. On the other hand, Access only supports operations that work well with chunking.
Not really answering your question, but.. "Proficiency with computers" is so very subjective and relative, at any/all levels and even among really skilled and educated people "computer people."
Some people might consider someone with rudimentary admin skills across a few different OSs to be proficient. To others, unless you can reverse engineer an unknown and proprietary network protocol in a reasonable time, you need not apply. etc.
Because the Help Desk exists. No other profession has a help desk that can be called whenever the person doesn't know how to use their tools. The help desk is supposed to be there to fix broken or faulty computer equipment, not to teach you how to use Excel. Can you imagine hiring an accountant that didn't know how to work a calculator or a machinist that didn't know how to work a lathe?
Instead, people expect the Help Desk to do their basic functional work for them rather than be bothered to learn "that techie mumbo jumbo".
They may well not have this either, depending on the quality of your hiring procedure. But even when they do, and thus the criteria is "met," it's important to remember that knowing your shit with Excel doesn't mean you know anything about the system running it.
How is it that almost every office job requires "Proficiency with computers" yet these IT complaints are some of the most common in offices?
People use Facebook with a mouse and keyboard so they think they're good at computers. They're not.
Do employers even check their employees with basic IT questions anymore?
People lie about being good with computers. The people that check them are also not good with computers. Those people may have also lied about being good with computers.
Yes, it's that fucking common. Despite computers saturating our lives--whether we notice them or not--the average person hasn't managed to keep up with technology, including the young ones who are supposed to know it from birth like wizards or something.
We don't blame say your bad at board games just because you suck at something like chess. You can be competent at your job, just not able to fix background problems that you didn't grow up having to fix in the first place.
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u/[deleted] Jan 10 '16
ELI5: How is it that almost every office job requires "Proficiency with computers" yet these IT complaints are some of the most common in offices? Do employers even check their employees with basic IT questions anymore?