Hello. My name is Shan Noyes. I'm a Technical Analyst with Advance Interactive Solutions which is a part of SaskTel. Our group was formed a year and a half ago and our main focus is working with the Internet.

I've always been interested in computers and I was working in ITM at SaskTel and in 1995 when SaskTel started to offer Internet access - I worked with the group on the help desk. When Advance Interactive Solutions was formed and all the Internet access stuff was moved down there, I really wanted to move with them so I bid on a job and came down here a year ago.


[Education & Training:]

To be a Technical Analyst here at SaskTel they are looking for a degree; whether it be a Computer Science degree, a degree in a related field or a number of years of experience (up to five years of experience) without an educational background working with computers and stuff like that.

[Decision To Enter This Particular Occupation:]

I got into the computer field because I was interested in it. It's a challenge and I find it very rewarding to work with solving problems. We work a lot with customers here at Advance Interactive Solutions. It's very rewarding to work with people, solve their problems and get them going.

[Leadership & Teamwork Skills:]

As a Technical Analyst, probably one of the most important things is leadership ability. You've got to be able to get out there and have initiative to keep up with what's going on in the industry of technology. You're looking at new trends and stuff like that so you have to be able to work on your own, especially down here in AIS. We have Technical Assistants - who are a lower classification - working with us and so we have to work with them, help them out, put stuff together and solve problems for them. We also have a twenty-four hour, seven-day a week help desk for customers using the Internet. So if they have troubles they phone in to the help desk to get help and if our help desk can't answer the issues that are raised, or things like that, then they come to us and we will solve the problems. So teamwork is very important because we're very busy - all of us. We have to be able to help each other out.

[Hours Of Work:]

You don't walk in and say, "Okay. These are the tasks I'm going to do today. I’ll walk in at 8:00 am and at 5:00 pm I'm done for the day". In our jobs there may be some things you have planned to do but if something happens on the Internet, something breaks or a customer phones with a difficulty then our priority is to work with that customer and solve their problems because customers are our business and without them we wouldn't have a job.

[Skills & Ongoing Training:]

Trying to keep current is an on-going struggle. It's up to you to read the rag magazines out there or do searches and stuff on the Internet. I primarily do all my stuff on-line (being visually impaired). So that's one way to keep current. Some of it falls on our shoulders - keep reading stuff on the Internet, keeping up with trends that way. We also attend courses sometimes if it will help us out. As a matter of fact, I just finished three courses.

[My typical day started with:]

I walked into the office at 7:00 o'clock in the morning (came to get a few things cleaned up before the onslaught started) and the phone started ringing. Well, I got through everything, and the other things I had planned for the day I never did get to because a bunch of customers had a few issues that came up. So I was working on solving their problems, consulting with them and advising them how to fix the things that weren't working for them.

A typical day is customer focused and beyond that the other thing that's consistent is change. You've got to be willing to adapt to change all the time.

[The most challenging and the most rewarding is:]

working with the customer and say they're having a bad day (and they're just very negative). And then when you work with them and solve their problem you see them come around and say, "Hey! Thanks. That's great." I think that's the most rewarding and it's also the most challenging.

I think the most challenging thing is being able to be flexible in our jobs. So you're doing something one moment, and working with the team or helping each other out the next. I guess that's the most challenging part and the most rewarding.

[Advice For Someone Entering This Field Of Work:]

Get your university or post-secondary education. The other thing is to realize that the computer industry is not for everybody. You've got to look at yourself and say, "Okay, do I want to? Do I like change (especially in my area)? Do I like the challenge of constantly learning something". If you like that kind of stuff then I would say focus your goals on getting to that point. You'll do fine in the technical work that I do.