'You've got to be kidding': Inexperienced new employee abruptly leaves IT company after senior employee fails to help him adjust to the workload

Advertisement
  • 01
    O 00000000-0000-00-222-000-2 1511511513134BY "Do you even know how to operate a computer?" 2222222222222222 23321221233 22222222220000 22032022222222 222222-2-20 0000000
  • 02
    My most incompetent user only lasted for two months.
  • 03
    This happened many years ago and over a period of two months. A new guy started in the accounting department. I shall call him Kevin. Kevin kept his browser bookmarks in a Word document and would copy and paste links to and from this document. I showed him how to make bookmarks in Edge, but he would forget how, the moment he closed the browser. The Word doc method worked well enough, so I just left him alone.
  • 04
    Our staff intranet is set as the default startpage in Edge, so it opens when you open the browser. But, when Kevin wanted to access the intranet, he would open Edge, completely ignore the page that just opened and then copy and paste the intranet link from his Word doc into a new tab. He would often have two intranet tabs open, whenever he called me over. By some miracle, he never typed Google into the Google search field.
  • 05
    All desks have a universal docking station where monitors and other accessories are plugged in, so you only need to plug a single cable into your computer. For some reason, Kevin would unplug the mouse and keyboard receivers from the dock, before he went home. Then he would call me the next day, because his mouse and keyboard weren't working. I explained multiple times that he didn't need to unplug them, but he kept doing it. I got
  • 06
    tired of this, so I waited for him to leave his desk and plugged the receivers into the back of one of his monitors, where he couldn't see them. I have no idea why he kept unplugging them, but he stopped when he could no longer see them. Kevin needed some accounting software to do his job but would always forget how to open it. I tried pinning the icon to the taskbar and showing him how to click on it, but he would call me the next
  • 07
    day, because he couldn't find the icon. So, I came up with a cunning plan. He had no problem opening his Word doc on the desktop, so I took a screenshot of the taskbar, added a red arrow that pointed to the icon and inserted the screenshot at the top of his Word doc. That solved the problem. Until a few days later. He had somehow managed to pin another icon to the taskbar. He had pinned it to the far right of all the other icons, so they were all still in the same spot in the screenshot and the
  • 08
    red arrow was still pointing to the same place. But, you see, now the taskbar had one extra icon on it and therefore it didn't look like the one in the screenshot, so now he was afraid to click anything. I just updated the screenshot. He tried working from home but could not figure out how to connect to his wifi. He brought a note to work with the wifi name and password, and I manually added it to his computer, so that it would
  • 09
    connect automatically when he got home. But of course, he also had to connect to the company VPN. We gave him a very detailed guide with pictures and stayed on the phone with him the whole time, but it was hopeless. He just gave up on working from home. These were the things that stood out, but Kevin called almost every day about other, minor things. He was actually a really nice guy. He was always
  • 10
    friendly, and he really did try hard to learn. He wasn't challenged in any way and seemed very intelligent, when you spoke to him. He was just completely useless, when it came to computers. After two months of this, Kevin came to the IT office to deliver his computer. He thanked me for all the help and said that he was going to pursue different opportunities elsewhere. I have no idea if he quit or was fired, but I do hope things went well for him.
  • 11
    DRZookX2000 • 25 days ago I have been saying this for years, we need minimum computer literacy standards. Imagen hiring a driver that can't drive, a cook that can't cook or a accountant that can't count. How is using a computer in 2024 any different from these?
  • 12
    Moneia 25 days ago • The root problem isn't with the Kevins though, it's with the managers who hire these chumps and think that this level of incompetence with the necessary tools acceptable. It's also the fault of the culture that has designated the IT help-desk as being the people to teach remedial computer skills
  • 13
    Playful Tie_5323 25 days ago My worst lasted around 3 weeks - they had said they were IT literate in their interview, anyway we kept getting phonecalls to the desk saying her account was locked. We did the usual unlock and away she went. another phone call literally minutes later saying this was locked again. This went back
  • 14
    and forth for a couple of weeks and then I got sick of the calls so did a bit of digging but couldnt find anything. Finally lost patience and went and stodd over her to see what was happening. At the time were using exchange webmail for connections and I immediately could see the issue. she would put her username into the correct
  • 15
    field and then press something quickly on the keyboard and it brought up the usual "Password incorrect" error. Turns out instead of tabbing to the next field she was pressing the enter key. I showed her the tab key but it just wouldnt stick for her and she kept pressing enter.
  • 16
    Full on facepalm moment - I had to go and see her manager and tell them why this user couldnt do any work. Think she was sat down by management and let go shortly afterwards.
  • 17
    Geminii27 · 24 days ago Thank goodness management actually took responsibility for an employee who wouldn't learn how to do their job, and didn't shout about how IT should fix the "problem".
  • 18
    QuietThunder2014 25 days ago To me the biggest problem isn't even the lack of knowledge it's the acceptance that the lack of knowledge is acceptable. We have users who are proud of their computer ignorance and management and others actively coddle them, requiring IT to perform basic tasks they should be able to perform on their own. Software and UI is designed towards the
  • 19
    lowest common denominator, actively teaching people to be dumber as the bar is continually lowered. We used to think it was an age thing and that it wasn't the fault of people who did not grow up with tech, but now the generation that was born with devices in their hands can't operate anything that isn't a tablet or a phone, and can still barely manage that.
  • 20
    No one can look beyond a 2 inch direct center of their screen, no one can find or use any standardized settings or anything that's in the corners of the screen. No one reads any error messages or pop up messages and can never find the "Remember this device" box.
  • 21
    JamesGamification 25 days ago I once had to walk accross a campus because a computer was typing all in capitals and they wouldn't listen when I repeated said over the phone "just press the caps lock". I nearly cried when they medically retired at the end of the year.
  • 22
    I think for some people it's a badge of honour to say "I'm not a computer person" as if it's a way of saying that they are an A1 person otherwise. Like the fallacy of blind people having better hearing.
  • 23
    PepperAnn1inaMillion 25 days ago By some miracle, he never typed Google into the Google search field. Thank God! Don't want him to break the internet.
  • 24
    mjh2901 25 days ago I have had a couple of Kevins. They have taught me not to judge people by their problems and always try to make friends with users like Kevin. Behind the scenes, I found out that one or two told management how great the tech team was and called out specific members for their help during their short tenure.
  • 25
    ItsGotToMakeSense 25 days ago Ticket closed due to inactivity Man you really went above and beyond for this guy. The VPN attempt was doomed from the start though...
  • 26
    JTD121 · 24 days ago Wait, so he was hired into this position? Or was he promoted, or transferred? He chose the accounting job? How old was this Kevin? Like, 65+, so he used a tabulation machine for accounting? If they are ~30, they should. know the basics, I would assume.
  • 27
    But I do also have a few of these where I work. My boss backs me up when I go way over the time he'd like me to, so I feel less pressured. I didn't know jobs like this still existed.

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article