Tech Training

[Stirton.M]

I have a work buddy who just loves pickled eggs...an addiction I think....

You know without a doubt when he's had em the night before. When I first knew him in refurb, he used to pick on another co-worker by deliberately coming up with some excuse to visit the other guy's work space and let one rip silently....damn near chemical warfare.....

Trouble is that I do not know from day to day what place I will be visiting, so I cannot prearm myself just in case...never know, might visit an office with a hot receptionist...don't want to scare her off eh?

[KIP_Doc]

The last place I worked at, I was an instructor. We were pretty much told to not fail anyone. It was for the most part to teach the techs to use their manuals. I just guided them along, answered questions and got free lunch...lol. The test on the last day of class......was books open, use your notes....pretty hard to fail.

[D_L_P]

Sometimes I think ripping a good smelly one would give the hint, or fire up the toner vac.
And depending on where lunch was, beef and broccoli, salad with chopped hard boilled egg works wonders.

LMFAO
One of those things I'd secretly love to do but wouldn't dare do.

I started in a local business with about 12 techs. Spent 2 weeks basic training and 6 months in house shop tech, and trained on 2 models before I hit the field. You see a bit of everything as a shop tech, and I was glad to have some screwdriver time before I was in front of a real customer. I used to like the training courses, but anymore I don't have any use for them, aside from the free meals. I mostly rely on experience and manuals.

[gwaddle]

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.

[mikadonovan]

I used to get to go to school 2 or 3 times a year for new model training. There are certain nuances to be learned in a classroom environment that you can't get just by winging it. These days my new model training consists of the manual and a little time to read through it, especially the detailed descriptions and service tables. If I didn't have more than 20 years under my belt in service, this probably would not be sufficent.

[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]

Tech Trainning

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 .