by Dave Levinter

Created on: July 20, 2007   Last Updated: October 07, 2011

One thing that I've noticed in my 10 years of being an IT professional is that you can always tell a good technician from a bad one. I'm not saying that bad techs are bad people, however there's certainly a noticeable difference. What's more important is that if it's noticeable by other technicians, then it's only a matter of time before clients realize it as well. So I've decided to layout (in no particular order) my "tips and tricks", if you will, on how to become a good technician:

Don't Be Afraid To Ask Questions - Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it can surely feed the eager mind as well. Never be to proud or too shy or too stubborn to stop and ask questions. If you don't know something, then there's surely someone around who may have the answer. If you're trying to solve a problem, don't just jump into it and start fiddling around. Stop and gather some information first.

Know Where To Look For Answers - Now more than ever, the answers to your questions are right at your fingertips. I used to always joke around that you could always tell a good technician by the books on his shelf. He/she always had the right information handy. Nowadays you can really get away with a lot less. The Internet is certainly full of all the answers you'll need.... if you know where to look. Sometimes honing your searching skills will help you locate what you want quicker. Bookmark handy sites and keep your bookmarks well organized. Trust me, it's quite easy to come up with a clear and precise directory structure in {insert -browser-of choice-here} and you'll be glad you did when you're trying to find that certain URL later on.

Embrace Your Geekdom - Take that free time that you have to play around and tinker with things. Try new things. Rebuild that spare system (many times if you want). Install that Linux build you heard about. Setup a network at home. Read up on the tech sites. Listen to tech podcasts. The bottom line here is that once you're in the field, you almost never stop learning. Take the initiative.

Find Yourself A Mentor - Let me explain. When I first started in the field, I was part of a group of temps that all thought that they were pretty computer savvy. I however, didn't feel that way. I knew that there was a lot to learn. When I went back to the "full time employees" to escalate issues I realized that there was a certain pecking order. Everyone seemed to go to this one individual who obviously knew quite a bit. However whenever anyone went to him he spouted

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