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Hands On IT Technical Support Manager

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by choppit

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I'm interested to know what everyone understands by the term 'hands-on' in the context of an IT Technical Support Managers role. What does it mean to you? Also, is this role usually predominantly managerial or technical?

24 replies

by jaqui

on the Managerial style of the manager.

to me, hands on means spending at least 25% of your time doing the same work as the rest of the team. If the manager is organised right, they can spend up to 75% of the time working with the team.
If a manger is not willing to do the same grunt work as the rest of the department, then they are not "hands on", as well as they lose an extremely valuable tool for team morale and for respect. Most people that are good at thier jobs have no respect for a Manager that never shows they can and will do the same work. these same people will bend over backwards to help out if the Manager is always ready and willing to help when asked.

by choppit

I've just attended a second level interview for such a position at a well known online retailer fulfilment centre and things are looking positive. They're expecting 40% hands on with a team of 4 direct reports. From what I understand the team consists of IT savvy members of the FC staff and will be installing/ swapping hardware, performing UPS/aircon checks etc. under my direction. About 60% of my time will be man management, planning, contract review etc. My concern is that I can't see much scope for technical development, or 'hands-on' network management which are the parts I really enjoy. I've been told that there will be 5-6 interview stages to pass and I'm on a shortlist of four candidates. What I'm trying to ascertain is whether I should bail out of the interview process now or see it through to the end.

by tony hopkinson

They mean they haven't got the resource for you to be a 100% manager, so they need you to do some of the 'grunt' work. Or they don't feel that management of the existing resource is a full time job, so they can save on a 'grunt'.

Given what you want I'd be going back and asking what do you mean by hands on. Do they mean you are out installing printers, or do they mean you are technically savvy enough implement a new network, so less printers have to be installed?

Probably both isn't it?

They might actually be thinking more of a leadership role than a man management one, another question to ask.

by choppit

After a total of 8 interviews, I've been offered the senior tech support position. Starting in 3 weeks, this will be my first venture into the wider world of IT.

by leketee

This sums it up pretty good. This is pretty much how I would describe it as well.

by choppit

Thanks for your input. They've already made it quite clear that ALL infrastructure decisions and hardware, software will be specified by head office so I know that I'm unlikely to have any major involvement with these except for perhaps implementation. The job profile suggests a technical role, but the interview suggested a management role. Most of the questions have so far been geared around dealing with difficult situations with staff or senior management and as far as I can tell the technical portion of the interview has been done. This consisted only of the following questions from the Regional FC IT Manager.

How good is your Linux knowledge?
Tell me about NFS, POP, IMAP, AD, DNS

by tony hopkinson

they are more concerned with a tech's ability to manage than a manager's awareness of tech doesn't it.

Dunno mate, I suppose it's how much you'd get out of managing vs high level tech.

I'm faced with a couple of paths myself, hands on Team Leader or principal developer, I feel the leadership role will challenge me more, which is why I'm plumping for going for it.

by xenotron

I'm at the crossroads of Team Leader or Operations Manager or Systems Architect. Out of the proffesionals I've talked to, leadership is the one thing lacking in most IT organizations. In the business world, leading the technology is more important than doing the technology. I've been doing the technology for 15 years. For me, it's time to lead.

by gus.swan

If the job spec sounds technical, but the interviewer did not ask specific technical knowledge questions, its possible they don't have the knowledge to benchmark you. With the comments earlier about the lack of clarity in what 'hands on' actually means - it sounds like it could be under-resourced with actual techies and overstaffed with bosses, and you might find yourself overworked. Incidentally a six-stage process! I don't the the sec gen of the UN has to go through that. What a load of nonsense and potential waste of your time.

by choppit

To be honest I have no idea how technical the interviewer actually was, but my gut feel was that they themselves were a hands off manager and had been for some time.

by choppit

The six part interview may no longer be relevant to me. At the last interview the recruitment Manager told me that he was having great difficulty filling the post, he had two types of applicant, Managers who wouldn't (or couldn't) do hands on and techies that couldn't manage. I have both skillsets and experience , but prefer technical, so when asked if I was interested told him that 40% was not enough technical exposure for me. A week later he called me to say that a "senior" technical position may be coming up in the very same team with 90% emphasis on hands on.......

by smogmonster

Work in a school of 1800 kids with around 700 pc's, laptops servers etc. The tech team consist of me (IT Manager), 1 tech, and 1 part time tech. Since the tech is off sick and the part time has other commitments at pres, guess who's a 100% hand on manager.

by kpak44wh

It usually means they want experience on that server, not
just paperwork. They want someone to be able to run and
troublshoot it, not somenone they have to train to use it. I
have been asked if I had hands on on a IBM iSeries (AS/400),
they want the skills and experience.

by duckboxxer

So I HAD a (project) manager that wasn't doing the management of the project, so that left it up to me the "programmer" to do, not just grunt work, but management of the project as well. Not that I minded too much, b/c I want to get into PM.

But there really wasn't any leadership as to how they (management & client) wanted things done. Especially with an audit coming around. So is this just a poor manager or "hands on"?

by tappy0814

What is need in such a hands-on position is the ability to roll-up sleeves when needed. Also it involves the ability to understand techonology and be a part of the meaningful discussions. I have had to face situations where I had to explain database concepts to the project manager and how to query data. This is a waste of time when developing IT applications. Also a hands-on manager will be in a better position to estimate time lines if he has 'been there, done that'. This goes a long way in ensuring a project's success. An accurate estimate is one big step in the project plan. Also being hands on buys you the team's respect and they know that you can and would jump in and work with them when the situation demands.

by jadine

A "hands-on" manager with technical experience might be able to provide work estimates, but it's really not the best approach to estimating. The best approach to estimating is to get the person doing the work to provide the estimate. That way they're vested in meeting deadline/budget/whatever. Having said that, I realize that this is not the norm in the real world, and managers are often required to provide high level estimates in order to size and prioritize work.

by ssmanelkar

Most employers look for Managers who would have worked as core techies in the recent past.
Since the manager is expected to lead a team which is predominantly technical , it is necessary to have a strong grounding on technology which can come only from "hands on" experience at some stage in the career.
Finally the team does look up to the manager when they need guidance.

by xenotron

I've been in IT for 20+ years. Do what makes you happy, keep learning new things, and learn how to lead others in your field. There is a huge market for people that but themselves between business(management) and technology(techie). Do the techie role for now because you like it but be ready for more oppurtunites in the future.

by mahansench

I guess I can say I am exactly what the title implies: I do hands on work with my co-workers, 3rd level support and training. This is an important part of the job: team work, trust, passing on experience...

by tony hopkinson

hands on manager in most places means to get to manage yourself doing the work. As fulfilling a direct operational need ie. 1st or at a push 2nd line support.

by tony hopkinson

But yep they mean someone who can manage and tech, not someone who can manage and 'understand the issues'

It's rare anybody who can fulfil both responsibilities to their best at the same time.

by kpak44wh

I guess you did, but the truth is most of the world still don't
get it. Hands on, means hands on.nothing else I worked at a
meat packing plant for 20 yrs, and when they aske me that
question, I knew what it meant. It means having the skills
and experience to do the job. that's it. I think i drank too
much coffee today, it seems that I am wondering again.

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