Tech Training

[fixthecopier]

My first job in this business, I was told I would ride with another tech for 2 to 3 weeks and do some in house training. This turned into 3 days riding and in house training then they gave me a car and tool box and said get to work. This could have had something to do with the fact that the branch I was working in had 1 tech and had 75 service calls backed up the day I started. Most training has been the hands on learn it the best you can kind.

Hey ! thats it ! That is the way my shop trains. It is called the sink or swim method. I have watched a lot of them drown.

[Morlock49]

guess at heart, all us copier guys are just tinkerers. We see something new, roll up our sleeves, and get cracking. Repitition is the enemy. A new day, a new challenge. Sort of like "the oppisite of good, is not bad. The opposite of good... is perfection."

We are our own worst enemy because we we are like Builder Bob, can we fix it......Of course we can

[gwaddle]

Hey ! thats it ! That is the way my shop trains. It is called the sink or swim method. I have watched a lot of them drown.

Well apparently I can at least float. I'm still here 13 years later.

[zed255]

I find the current state of training to be pretty poor. What used to be a week long course is three days, what used to be two weeks is one, and so on it goes. I recently completed a product upgrade on-line course. Was supposed to take 16 hours of materials review, with a machine to work on, and a 75 minute exam. I skimmed the slides briefly and wrote the test for a pass of 98% in under 5 minutes of testing time. Absolute joke.

I remember when a good trainer would actually install failed parts from the field or wherever for the practical *timed* exam and exams weren't multiple guess.

[glewisme]

Hands on is the best way.I worked on models for years before actually going to New Jersey for classes. We did mostly hands on and use of the service manuals (terminology).

[KIP_Doc]

I remember when a good trainer would actually install failed parts from the field or wherever for the practical *timed* exam and exams weren't multiple guess.

That was the one thing I did that always got the guys in my classes telling me they learned more in my class. I would save known bad boards, and install them in the machines at the end of the week, and let the class troubleshoot. None of the other trainers ever bothered with that.

[copytechman]

I must have been lucky. I was trained initially via minolta tech-start (remember those?) then rode with 4 different techs for upto a week @ a time.. then it was basically sink or swim!!
I think it helped that I have/had a robotics background!

Regards!
A.

[glewisme]

Minolta tech start was my initial training . LOL

[fixthecopier]

Well that is what I get for talking about it. I now have to get my color certs up for Konica and Ricoh at the same time. Oh Boy.

[DAG COPIERS & COMPUTERS]

I am a junior member, came across this " old Thread", I find it interesting. I live in a developing country - Uganda. our education system is totally modeled along that of the BRITISH, ( TECHNICIAN EDUCATION COUNCIL), our former colonial master. For one to secure his first job as a technician in any engineering company or organization,this is the specifications; Either, a 2 year certificate in ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING, OR , a 2year ORDINARY DIPLOMA in ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING. For senior positions one need to have obtained a 4 year HIGHER DIPLOMA or a BACHELORS DEGREE in electrical, electronics , telecoms or computer engineering - all from recognized institutions. This arms us with a solid technical background in electrical principles. The employers find it very easy to orient us to particular machine models, through short courses. Most technicians are simply mentored by the senior guys in the field, and rely on service manuals, gain experience and they do their job well .