I hate to reinforce stereotypes. But in every Agency I've worked in, most of the IT staff have been under-skilled computer enthusiasts with inflated self worth. This in my opinion is what creates a schism. Many IT staff sell themselves as being much more knowledgeable than they actually are. So when presented with a problem that goes over their head they tend to get defensive and shitty.
I've found the nicer the IT staff, the more knowledgeable they tend to be.
You can test my theory for yourself. If you have a cranky IT staff member, ask him/her to help you with a problem you know they can fix. Note their tone. Then ask them to help you with a problem that goes beyond their skill level. Note their tone.
I've noticed IT people will often try to bluff their way through problems with some technobabblely bs. (Probably because they're trying to maintain the image of the "know it all".) If you ever hear "I'm not sure, I'll have to look into it.", you probably have a good IT guy.
I think what you will usually see as you work your way through the different layers of IT, is that IT workers on the lower rungs, especially help desk, have to deal with all of the irritating IT requests. The guys towards the top usually don't have to deal with end users, because whatever comes to them is filtered on the lower levels. I'm not saying that there aren't incompetent IT workers, just that you should realize that a lot of IT requests are mind-numbingly stupid.
There are terrible IT people out there, that's for sure. Many don't go beyond the knowledge of someone from the Geek Squad. But then again, that goes for every profession.
Many times the nicest IT staff are those that are the most clueless and have to make up for their lack of knowledge with personality. The cranky IT people generally have too much to do, not enough time to do it, and are stuck dealing with trivial issues that stop them from getting to the critical ones their jobs (or the company's uptime) depend on.
I think your experience has been very unique (and fortunate) to come to the nice = smart conclusion.
Technical skill isn't that important for front line staff. Most IT shops will have a bunch of $10/hr types handling "how do I fix this excel formula?" questions. And they have a phone number for the big guns when they need it. Please don't interrogate people who probably know they are relatively unskilled. It's like talking about weightloss to someone who already knows they are fat.
The $150/hr techs you will rarely see are super nice, and would absolutely love a problem they haven't seen before. Your best bet is to try and shorten the path to them.
"The $150/hr techs you will rarely see are super nice, and would absolutely love a problem they haven't seen before" This is kind of what I was trying to get at. The guys who know their shit, relish a challenge.
You have a point there, as long as you define a challenge as teaching someone to remember their own password. Or maybe explaining to people that they should put a customer's ID into the ID field (as opposed to the surname, address or date of birth fields). Or is the challenge explaining to the same people the exact same things for the 20th time, without screaming maniacally?
I've found the nicer the IT staff, the more knowledgeable they tend to be.
You can test my theory for yourself. If you have a cranky IT staff member, ask him/her to help you with a problem you know they can fix. Note their tone. Then ask them to help you with a problem that goes beyond their skill level. Note their tone.