Alt text: Michael Scott Handshake meme. Managers text: “My company Congratulating me on avoiding a phishing test email”. Michael Scott text: “Me, terminally behind on answering email.”
Justify their jobs? Their job is to set shit up, then be around at all times to help already frustrated people to do something they just forgot how to do today for no reason. And then, to politely listen as the person makes excuses to preserve their ego
Security compliance? That’s handed down to them. If they had a hard on for cyber security, they could make 2-3x as much and no longer have to explain to people that they joined the wrong teams call
I make a point to get to know the service staff. Chat with the custodian. Go to IT when you don’t have a problem… Get to know them a little as a person. Then, when you have a problem, you don’t have to make a ticket and wait for them to get to you. You already know them, and they feel respected as a person - they might not drop everything, but they’re going to bend the rules and quietly tell you how to navigate the system to get what you need as painlessly as possible
They’ll also know if you’re an idiot or not already - they might know to trust you at your word, or they might know tech makes your eyes go glassy and hold your hand patiently… But either way, the respect makes them want to help you, and the preexisting relationship makes the whole experience less painful
It is a shit job… It’s the overlap between being in the service industry and a tech worker. Almost all of them couldn’t make it in a more specialized role that would pay far, far more, and if you walk in during downtime half of them will be practicing their programming hoping to get a better job
