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Technical Support Fundamentals

This document provides an introduction to a technical support fundamentals program. It discusses the growing need for skilled IT support professionals to fill open jobs. The program is designed to teach foundational IT support skills through hands-on labs and interactive exercises over 8 months. Upon completing the program, students can share their information with top employers looking to hire entry-level IT support professionals. The program includes courses on technical support fundamentals, computer networking, operating systems, system administration, and IT security taught by Google employees with real-world experience in IT support roles.

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arul
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403 views

Technical Support Fundamentals

This document provides an introduction to a technical support fundamentals program. It discusses the growing need for skilled IT support professionals to fill open jobs. The program is designed to teach foundational IT support skills through hands-on labs and interactive exercises over 8 months. Upon completing the program, students can share their information with top employers looking to hire entry-level IT support professionals. The program includes courses on technical support fundamentals, computer networking, operating systems, system administration, and IT security taught by Google employees with real-world experience in IT support roles.

Uploaded by

arul
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TECHNICAL SUPPORT FUNDAMENTALS

1.PROGRAM INTRODUCTION
There's a big problem in the world right now. There are hundreds of thousands of IT support
jobs just waiting for skilled candidates to fill them. They're available at this very moment and
there are companies large and small that really want to hire motivated people. With technology
seeping into nearly every aspect of business, that need is growing by the second; but that's just
half the story. There are lots of people around the world, like you, who are looking for a flexible
way to learn the skills necessary to get that entry level IT support role. There might be a few
obstacles in the way. Maybe you don't have a university degree, or the access, or flexibility to
take in-person trainings. Or maybe the cost is just too high. Whatever the reason, you're looking
for an accessible, hands-on way to learn the skills that companies are hiring for. Google and
Coursera are thrilled to welcome you to the IT Support Professional Certificate Program. This
program is designed to give you the foundational skills and confidence required for an entry
level IT support role, whether that's doing in-person support, or remote support, or both. What's
really special about this program is that learners get a hands on experience, through a dynamic
mix of labs and other interactive exercises. Just like what you'd encounter in a help desk role.
This curriculum is designed to get you job ready. But we're taking it one step further, when you
complete this program, you'll have your opportunity to share your information with Google, Bank
of America, and other top employers looking to hire entry level IT support professionals. This
program has been designed to teach anyone who's interested in learning the foundational skills
in IT support. Doesn't matter if you've been tinkering with IT on your own or you're completely
new to the field, we'll bring the content developed entirely by Googlers, and you bring the
passion and motivation to learn. Here's how we're going to get there, this program is rooted in
the belief that a strong foundation and IT support can serve as a launch pad to a meaningful
career in IT. And so we've designed industry relevant courses. Technical support fundamentals,
computer networking, operating systems, system administration and IT infrastructure services,
and IT security. If you dedicate around eight to 10 hours a week to the courses, we anticipate
that you'll complete the certificate in about eight months. And learning this stuff won't be like
your typical classroom experience. You can move through the material at your own pace, skip
content that you might already know, or review the lessons again if you need a refresher. It's a
choose your own adventure experience. plus we think that the length is a strong signal to
employers that you have the grit and persistence it takes to succeed in an ever-changing field
like IT. Another really cool part about this program is that it's been created entirely by real world
pros who have a strong background in IT support. They work in IT fields like operations
engineering, security, site reliability engineering, and systems administration. They know this
content because they live it every day. Along the way, you're going to hear from Googlers with
unique backgrounds and perspectives. They'll share how their foundation in IT support served
as a jumping off point for their careers. They'll also give you a glimpse into the day to day work
along with tips on how to approach IT support interviews. They'll even share personal obstacles
that they've overcome in inspiring ways. They're excited to go on this journey with you as you
invest in your future by achieving an end of program certificate. Last but not least, we gathered
a truly amazing group of course instructors for you to learn from. They've all worked in IT
support at Google and are excited to guide you through the content step by step. Ready to meet
them? They're all really excited to meet you. My name is Kevin Limehouse, and I'm a support
specialist for platforms in DoubleClick. I'm going to present the history of computing in course
one. I'm Victor Escobedo, and I'm a corporate operations engineer. We'll meet in the lessons on
the Internet in the first course of Technical Support Fundamentals. Then I'll be your instructor for
course two, The Bits and Bytes of Computer Networking. Hey. I'm Cindy Quach, and I work in
site reliability engineering. I'll be teaching you about operating systems in course one and then
take you through a much deeper dive in OS's in course three: Operating Systems and You:
Becoming a Power User. My name is Devan Sri-Tharan, and I work in corporate operations
engineering at Google. We're going to cover all the hardware and even build a computer in
course one. We'll meet again when I teach course four: Systems Administration in IT
Infrastructure Services. Hey everyone, my name is Phelan Vendeville and I'm a systems
engineer on Google's site reliability team. I'm excited to teach the software lessons to you in
course one. Hi, my name is Gian Spicuzza and I'm a program manager in Android Security. I'm
going to teach you about the history and the impact of the Internet in course one. And then I'll
be your instructor for the last course of this program: IT Security: Defense Against the Digital
Dark Arts. Hi, my name is Marti Clark, and I'm a manager with Google's internal IT support
team. I'll be teaching you about troubleshooting, customer service and documentation in course
one. Hey there. My name is Rob Clifton, and I'm a program manager at Google. I'm going to
share a few tips on how to have a successful interview in course one, and present technical
interview scenarios at the end of each course throughout this program.

2.WHAT IS IT?
Welcome to course one, Technical Support Fundamentals. 

My name is Kevin Limehouse and I work as 


a support specialist for platforms building DoubleClick at Google. 
Looking back, I can trace from my passion for IT began, 
to an actual moment when I was eight years old. 
My parents were about to throw away our old busted computer, 
but I managed to convince my mom to let me keep it. 
I remember the moment when I slowly started disassembling it, 
kept digging deeper and deeper unscrewing 
every little piece I can get my hands on and I was hooked. 
By the time I was 12 or 13 years old, 
I became the de facto IT support 
for my entire family and that's no small feat considering, 
I have 11 aunts and uncles and over 35 cousins. 
My parents both grew up in very small rural towns in South Carolina. 
Growing up in the Jim Crow south through the mid 1950s and 1960s, 
they were taught at an early age that one of 
the better methods to get ahead was through education. 
This lesson was instilled in me and my sister and I 
ended up going to university to study computer science. 
I graduate at school right at the end of the 2007, 2009 recession, 
but thankfully I secured a job at Google in IT support, 
where I work with users, 
solving their issues and supporting the IT inventory. 
And now I've been working in IT for 
seven years and my current role as a support specialist, 
I provide technical and billing support to the Google sales teams which 
involves everything from troubleshooting to creating forms or editing automation scripts. 
Now you know a little bit about me. Let's start from the beginning. 
What is information technology? 
Information technology has completely 
transformed your life in ways that you may not even realize. 
Thanks to IT, we can communicate massive amounts of 
information to people and organizations across the world, in the blink of an eye. 
Computers power everything from calculators, to medical equipment, 
to complex satellite systems and the trading desk of Wall Street. 
They are powerful and invaluable tools to help people get 
their work done and enable us to connect with one another. 
So what exactly is information technology? 
IT is essentially the use of digital technology, 
like computers and the internet, 
to store and process data into useful information. 
The IT industry refers to the entire scope of all the jobs 
and resources that are related to computing technologies within society, 
and there are a lot of different types of jobs in this field, 
from network engineers who ensure computers can communicate with each other, 
to hardware technicians who replace and repair components, 
to desktop support personnel who make sure 
that end users can use their software properly. 
But IT isn't just about building computers and using the Internet, 
it's really about the people. 
That's the heart and soul of IT support work. 
What good is technology or information if people 
can't use technology or make sense of the information? 
IT helps people solve meaningful problems by using technology, 
which is why you'll see its influences in education, medicine, 
journalism, construction, transportation, entertainment, 
or really any industry on the planet. 
IT is about changing the world through the ways we collaborate, 
share and create together. 
IT has become such a vital tool in modern society that people and 
organizations who don't have access to IT are at a disadvantage. 
IT skills are becoming necessary for day to day living, 
like finding a job, getting an education and looking up your health information. 
Maybe you're from a community where there wasn't any internet, 
or you couldn't afford 
a superfast computer and had to use one at your school or library instead. 
There are many social and economic reasons why 
some people have digital literacy skills and other people do not. 
There's growing skills gap is known as the digital divide. 
People without digital literacy skills are falling behind. 
But people like you are the real solution to bridging that digital divide. 
Overcoming the digital divide, 
not only involves confronting and understanding 
the combination of socio economic factors that shape our experience, 
but also helping others confront and understand those experiences. 
By getting into IT, you'll help serve those in your communities or 
organizations and maybe even inspire a new generation of IT pioneers. 
When I think about solving the digital divide, 
I can't help but think of all the opportunities and breakthroughs that folks from 
diverse backgrounds and perspectives in the industry can bring. 
By bringing more people of color, more women, 
more ethnically diverse people into the IT fields, 
we're bound to see unique new ideas and products that we 
haven't even begun to imagine that benefits everybody.

3. WHAT DOES AN IT SUPPORT SPECIALIST DO?

So what's the day-to-day work of someone in IT support like? 


Well, it varies a ton, based on whether you're doing in personal or remote, 
support and at a small business or a large enterprise company. 
And there's really no such thing as day-to-day work, since the puzzles and 
challenges are always new and interesting. 
But in general, an IT support specialist makes sure that an organization's 
technological equipment is running smoothly. 
This includes managing, installing, maintaining, troubleshooting and 
configuring office and computing equipment. 
This program is designed to prepare you for 
an entry level role in IT help desk support. 
You'll learn how to setup a user's desktop or 
workstation, how to install the computer applications that people use the most. 
You'll learn how to fix a problem or troubleshoot when something goes wrong and 
how to put practices in place to prevent similar problems from happening again. 
Not only will you learn the technical aspects of troubleshooting a problem, 
you'll also learn how to communicate with users in order to best assist them.
Play video starting at :1:8 and follow transcript1:08
We'll also show you how to set up a network from scratch to connect to 
the Internet. 
Then teach you about how to 
implement security to make sure your systems are safe from hackers and 
other risk. 
For me, my favorite part of IT support is the problem solving aspect. 
I love to exercise my creativity to spin up a solution to a user's issue. 
Being an IT generalist also gave me the flexibility to learn and practice so many 
different skills and eventually determined where I want to focus my career. 
Plus, when things go wrong or you fail at something in IT, you can take the feedback 
from those mistakes and be better equipped to tackle them the next time around. 
Using failure as a feedback is an important skill both in IT and in life. 
For me, that's why I was so attracted to the IT field. 
I love the process of problem solving and 
constantly stretching myself to learn and grow. 
There's also never been more opportunity to get into the IT industry than now. 
Not only is the field of IT incredibly diverse, but 
job prospects are also booming. 
It's projected that IT jobs in the US alone will grow 12% in the next decade. 
That's higher than the average for all other occupations. 
So what does this all mean? 
There are thousands of companies around the world searching for 
IT professionals like you. 
So the main gist is that IT is totally awesome and full of opportunity, and 
we're so excited that you're here. 
So let's dive right in.

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