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Many of us might have faced this irrespective of the profession you are working but hear me out on this and please tell me what can anyone do to improve/ handle this situation in a professional manner.

I was reached out by a client for a simple problem that her credentials for a database were not working. So to access this database there are 2 types of credentials - 1. Common ( used by others and has limited access ) 2. Developer (as the name suggests it has full access and is used by developers only)

I had my developer credentials and so I tried them since her common credentials were not working on her machine and so I was able to access the database but what is even weird that everyone else around her was able to access the database using the common credentials but her. So a common sense clue I was getting is that she might be having a problem on her machine, but it wasn't because I told her that I will pull in my manager in the call and maybe he would be able to guide her out of this. My manager asked her to put her credentials ( common credentials ) and it worked !! I and the client were in shock because she had tried this in front of me in the call and it didn't work and now it did...

After the call, my manager explained to me how to deal with this problem on call. Much of what his voice and way of speaking suggested disappointment to handle a simple situation and that I am very incompetent. I am a fresher in this company by the way and so I am not given much work so you can imagine what he would think about in my appraisals and handling my responsibilities in the future.

How do I approach a situation like this? Should I explain my manager or should I keep quiet and gulp my anger?

Side-note - My manager happens to be a short-tempered guy who gets easily irritated

Trust me, I am not overthinking this. I think many of us have been here like me where I try to help someone with something and then some other guy comes and tries and the thing and it works... It really sucks how it feels after you go through something like this.

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    Ok, so what's your question?
    – Philip Kendall
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:22
  • How do i approach a situation like this ? Should I explain my manager or should I keep quiet and gulp my anger ?
    – shuberman
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:23
  • That's what weird and trust me even the client feel the same way. So there's no way I can think of to explain my manager about this since obviously that way I am blaming a machine which sounds paranoid like I just saw god with my own eyes. People won't believe it
    – shuberman
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:26
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    This happens all the time doing IT work. The computer doesn't seem to be working, then suddenly it does. You get used to it. Does your manager really think you are incompetent? Did they say so?
    – Seth R
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:27
  • @Seth R You know what a crying baby sounds like ...So yes sir I know how my manager sounds like when he is disappointed.
    – shuberman
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:32

1 Answer 1

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There was a problem. You tried to solve it but it didn't work. Manager tries the same solution, it now works.

Welcome to the wonderful world of IT. I lost count of the number of times that stuff just magically started working when someone else was simply standing in the room. Most likely she reboot her computer - there's a reason this is a meme.

At this point just take what the manager said and apply those steps next time. Even if they were the exact same steps as you took before. Just add in "turn it off, then on again" as step 1...

edit
I meant to add one more thing - Don't take it personally. Laugh it off and move on.

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    There's even a phrase for this in video production: "Engineer Proximity Syndrome" where things magically start working once the engineer is looking at it after the ops call them.
    – Wesley Long
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:28
  • Sir belive me I also watch that TV series and she even rebooted her system, so this is beyond my imagination how it worked out
    – shuberman
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:30
  • @NotMe Looks like that's what I have as an option lol..
    – shuberman
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:31
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    @Sagittarius009: It's also entirely possible that the person kept entering the credentials in wrong. Maybe the caps lock was on, maybe she recently lengthened her fingernails and it was catching on an extra key, maybe she forgot the right credentials and misremembered them until the manager showed up on the call and she decided not to tell you that she entered them in wrong from fear of appearing like an idiot. (I've personally caught people on that one).
    – NotMe
    Dec 10, 2018 at 17:36
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    @Sagittarius009 there is no magic in the IT world. If the common password was working for everyone else (and worked for her later), then she was mistyping it. This is one of the most common mistakes in the world. Cut and paste doesn't eliminate the problem because folks will miscopy, and inadvertently ad extra characters after pasting.
    – Charles E. Grant
    Dec 10, 2018 at 18:08

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