2

I was hired for a junior-level data science position last spring - it's my first job out of undergrad. My last part-time job during school was as a sysadmin, so when my manager introduced me to everyone he mentioned that, and since then people have been coming to me for very minor tech support details like putting more toner in their printer or finding a new battery online for their personal laptop. I wanted to make a good first impression when I started and I didn't have major projects for a few weeks so I accepted and helped them.

I really don't enjoy this though, and now it's distracting from my actual work. Is there a way I can get out of this without hurting workplace relationships?

Improve this question
3
  • 4
    Short asnwer: Transfer what you know. Ex: Picking a new battery online? Email them how would you pick a battery online.
    – Sandra K
    Commented Dec 3, 2018 at 16:35
  • I'm not sure what your goal is: being able/allowed to reject such requests because of the impact it has on your job or being allowed more time to work on such issues issues? (and thus less time for the work related to your actual job definition)
    – Laurent S.
    Commented Dec 4, 2018 at 12:20
  • 3
    @SandraK > "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to Fish, and you feed him for a lifetime". Except that from my experience, lots of people can fish but don't like it and preffer others to fish for them anyway. Most people are actually not conscious tech-savvy people usually don't like to be the de-facto IT support guy...
    – Laurent S.
    Commented Dec 4, 2018 at 12:25

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
11

Keep a record of how much time you're spending on these things, including how long your work is disrupted for because you had to switch context to deal with a printer or whatever else. Be honest about it - don't artificially inflate the numbers, but don't make them lower than they truly are either.

Then have a conversation with your manager:

Hey boss, I'm spending 15% of my time on minor tech support requests (give him the evidence). Would you support me rejecting some of these requests to concentrate on my primary job?

Assuming he says "yes", you've then got cover to answer people with "sorry, I need to work on my main job at the moment. Here's a link to the manual on Google" (or some other deflection strategy which doesn't take up too much of your time).

Improve this answer
1
  • 1
    this is the correct answer. Your boss might be O.K with allowing you the time to do this and it could make you more of asset as long as your boss is ok with it. If they are not ok with it, then have an out. Its a win win
    – SaggingRufus
    Commented Dec 3, 2018 at 16:41
3

If these requests are officially part of your work, then simply prioritize them as low as possible and deal with them once your high priority work is complete. If they are not officially part of your work, then play dumb or delay your responses as long as possible. Answer with something like:

You know what, I am not sure about X. Let me do some investigating and I will let you know what I find.

You can then either wait a few days to get back to them or simply "forget". Once they realize that they no longer have instant support, they may start to back off.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.