Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?
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Now we know that intern is a role, not a level. But there are certainly things that we generally feel fall below a minimum level for someone who is an IT intern, regardless of their responsibilities. How do we see this on the scale of things?
For me, this is how I picture "intern level skills and knowledge"...
User -> Office User -> Power User -> IT Intern -> L0 -> L1 -> L2 -> L3 -> Lead/L4 -> Chief/L5
This was prompted by someone's boss displaying a level of knowledge that I felt was clearly below what would be acceptable for someone who was on their first day as an intern in IT. And that got me thinking, do we really expect someone interning in IT to have more IT knowledge (since it is their area of interest) than we would expect from a Power User? I sure think so. If you aren't already at the interest and knowledge level of a power user (in regards to IT stuff, not apps and whatever) then you really shouldn't be interning in IT yet, I would think.
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So I guess I have to ask, what should an intern know to qualify to be an intern?
Should they know how to troubleshoot a desktop? Or maybe they should be proficient programmers? Or maybe they should have no clue about computers short of how to turn it on or off?
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I think that they should at the very least have basic knowledge of like what a router, switch, firewall, and access point are. Knowledge of big vendors, products, and use cases. Basic networking enough to handle home networking. Things that are solidly core or high end for power users. If someone fully supports their own home network in a good way, they know these things. These are things that computer users know, that aren't IT knowledge specifically. They are just general computer literacy, but on the higher end of computing literacy.
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What would you consider to be an User? Office user? Power user?
i guess I would like to know more about the progression shown.
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@wrcombs said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
What would you consider to be an User? Office user? Power user?
i guess I would like to know more about the progression shown.
Users would be "anyone". Basic computer literacy. Ability to surf the web, send and receive emails, write office documents, play video games, install software (at home), etc.
Office Users would be a step up. They would know the same basic literacy, but also apply that to an office environment adding printers, domain logins, business applications, more "technical" style applications, etc.
Power Users would be a step up from that. Maybe knowing how to build computers. How to configure computers and simple network stuff. Using technical or power apps. Edging on being IT, but because it suits their end user needs rather than for the sake of being into IT itself.
An Intern should start where these leave off, because they are honestly looking into work in IT and you should research and study before being an intern. You shouldn't not know that you want to be an intern until you are used to that stuff.
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@scottalanmiller said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@wrcombs said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
What would you consider to be an User? Office user? Power user?
i guess I would like to know more about the progression shown.
Users would be "anyone". Basic computer literacy. Ability to surf the web, send and receive emails, write office documents, play video games, install software (at home), etc.
Office Users would be a step up. They would know the same basic literacy, but also apply that to an office environment adding printers, domain logins, business applications, more "technical" style applications, etc.
Power Users would be a step up from that. Maybe knowing how to build computers. How to configure computers and simple network stuff. Using technical or power apps. Edging on being IT, but because it suits their end user needs rather than for the sake of being into IT itself.
An Intern should start where these leave off, because they are honestly looking into work in IT and you should research and study before being an intern. You shouldn't not know that you want to be an intern until you are used to that stuff.
Yeah, those definitions are not at all what I would consider valid.
I will try and write something up on the train later. -
I think the difference between an intern and any of the levels you've listed below them is desire. Most of the others are content to simply know what they know and learn only what they have to in order to meet a need. For someone to be an intern they don't need any knowledge at all, but the desire and drive to learn more than just what they need to get by.
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@kelly said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
I think the difference between an intern and any of the levels you've listed below them is desire. Most of the others are content to simply know what they know and learn only what they have to in order to meet a need. For someone to be an intern they don't need any knowledge at all, but the desire and drive to learn more than just what they need to get by.
I agree, "users" however you categorize them are end users and we assume their goals are to "use" computers. An IT intern's goal is (or should be) to learn IT and support users whether directly (helpdesk) or indirectly (SA, manager, CIO, etc.)
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@scottalanmiller said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@wrcombs said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
What would you consider to be an User? Office user? Power user?
i guess I would like to know more about the progression shown.
Users would be "anyone". Basic computer literacy. Ability to surf the web, send and receive emails, write office documents, play video games, install software (at home), etc.
Office Users would be a step up. They would know the same basic literacy, but also apply that to an office environment adding printers, domain logins, business applications, more "technical" style applications, etc.
Power Users would be a step up from that. Maybe knowing how to build computers. How to configure computers and simple network stuff. Using technical or power apps. Edging on being IT, but because it suits their end user needs rather than for the sake of being into IT itself.
An Intern should start where these leave off, because they are honestly looking into work in IT and you should research and study before being an intern. You shouldn't not know that you want to be an intern until you are used to that stuff.
According to this, over 90% of the people here, are just users. Most barely know anything about using MS Office or something that isn't related to their exact role. If they get stuck in their task sequence they have to start all the way over. Not because the systems prevent them from backtracking, but because they can't think of how to do it without going from step 1 - 10.
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@wrx7m said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@scottalanmiller said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@wrcombs said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
What would you consider to be an User? Office user? Power user?
i guess I would like to know more about the progression shown.
Users would be "anyone". Basic computer literacy. Ability to surf the web, send and receive emails, write office documents, play video games, install software (at home), etc.
Office Users would be a step up. They would know the same basic literacy, but also apply that to an office environment adding printers, domain logins, business applications, more "technical" style applications, etc.
Power Users would be a step up from that. Maybe knowing how to build computers. How to configure computers and simple network stuff. Using technical or power apps. Edging on being IT, but because it suits their end user needs rather than for the sake of being into IT itself.
An Intern should start where these leave off, because they are honestly looking into work in IT and you should research and study before being an intern. You shouldn't not know that you want to be an intern until you are used to that stuff.
According to this, over 90% of the people here, are just users. Most barely know anything about using MS Office or something that isn't related to their exact role. If they get stuck in their task sequence they have to start all the way over. Not because the systems prevent them from backtracking, but because they can't think of how to do it without going from step 1 - 10.
By "here", you mean your place of work?
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@scottalanmiller said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@wrx7m said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@scottalanmiller said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@wrcombs said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
What would you consider to be an User? Office user? Power user?
i guess I would like to know more about the progression shown.
Users would be "anyone". Basic computer literacy. Ability to surf the web, send and receive emails, write office documents, play video games, install software (at home), etc.
Office Users would be a step up. They would know the same basic literacy, but also apply that to an office environment adding printers, domain logins, business applications, more "technical" style applications, etc.
Power Users would be a step up from that. Maybe knowing how to build computers. How to configure computers and simple network stuff. Using technical or power apps. Edging on being IT, but because it suits their end user needs rather than for the sake of being into IT itself.
An Intern should start where these leave off, because they are honestly looking into work in IT and you should research and study before being an intern. You shouldn't not know that you want to be an intern until you are used to that stuff.
According to this, over 90% of the people here, are just users. Most barely know anything about using MS Office or something that isn't related to their exact role. If they get stuck in their task sequence they have to start all the way over. Not because the systems prevent them from backtracking, but because they can't think of how to do it without going from step 1 - 10.
By "here", you mean your place of work?
Yes. LOL Sorry. Not on ML.
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@wrx7m said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@scottalanmiller said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@wrx7m said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@scottalanmiller said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
@wrcombs said in Where Does Intern Level Fall on the Scale?:
What would you consider to be an User? Office user? Power user?
i guess I would like to know more about the progression shown.
Users would be "anyone". Basic computer literacy. Ability to surf the web, send and receive emails, write office documents, play video games, install software (at home), etc.
Office Users would be a step up. They would know the same basic literacy, but also apply that to an office environment adding printers, domain logins, business applications, more "technical" style applications, etc.
Power Users would be a step up from that. Maybe knowing how to build computers. How to configure computers and simple network stuff. Using technical or power apps. Edging on being IT, but because it suits their end user needs rather than for the sake of being into IT itself.
An Intern should start where these leave off, because they are honestly looking into work in IT and you should research and study before being an intern. You shouldn't not know that you want to be an intern until you are used to that stuff.
According to this, over 90% of the people here, are just users. Most barely know anything about using MS Office or something that isn't related to their exact role. If they get stuck in their task sequence they have to start all the way over. Not because the systems prevent them from backtracking, but because they can't think of how to do it without going from step 1 - 10.
By "here", you mean your place of work?
Yes. LOL Sorry. Not on ML.
Lots of people at businesses are not what we'd normally consider computer users. Like obviously they are USING a computer, but not AS a computer. Like I have some users that only scan barcodes. It goes into a computer, but they are really just barcode reader operators.
