Should i become a computer support specialist

Question

i live in the bay area, ca in which technology is very big.i have been looking in to becoming a computer specialist but now im confused to as what they do. do they fix comp. or help with troubleshooting? can someone let me know what they actually do or are supposed to do?

also how many years of school & how much will i get paid after college?

also is this mostly a 9 to 5 job?i have a 6 month baby girl and i dont want a career which will keep me away from her at nights or weekends not sure if you understand?

Answer 1

I think the most important question when asking something like this is what kinds of jobs/tasks really interest you.  I have done both software support (which I really enjoyed) and hardware support (which I hated).  They're both analytical, but the software side is much more creative.

Both do troubleshooting, and neither require college degrees.  You can get your A+ and other certifications and be just fine.  The jobs can be 9 to 5, but this is not always the case.  It depends on the work hours of the company you would be working at.

Apologies for the non-answer, but the question isn't hours or money, but what kind of work do you enjoy?  If you like work that requires lots of logic and testing and exploration, either hardware or software support will give you that, to some degree.  When I did support, I enjoyed more depth and less breadth - questions centered around something I was really good at, and not questions about just about anything, and lots of repetition.  I really enjoy an intellectual challenge, and hardware support or generalized support didn't do that for me.  But that's just my experience.

So I think the question is better framed around what really makes you happy at work.  What do you love to do?  If you don't answer that first, you'll try tons of jobs and find you hate them.  Been there, done that.  I do NOT recommend it.