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One of the things that NSK Inc. is most proud of are its employees. As with any field, it takes a certain type of person to handle the kind of work that we do. The IT field not only requires an immense amount of patients, a logical mind, and a good level of social skills for customer service, but also the ability to act completely in the moment based on very limited information. Finding people with this combination of skills can be challenging, but when we do find them, they become an invaluable member of our team within their first week. Recently, NSK had the pleasure of introducing three new members to this team: Monica, Joe, and Darren.
More important than us being proud of our team however, is the notion that our clients and subscribers can also be proud to have them as their IT service providers. Building a relationship between our staff and clients is always the first step to ensuring a quality experience that can measure up to our level of IT service. In order to help get our newest members on the map, we quickly added them to our Meet the Team page with a quick bio to give our customers an idea of what each of them brings to our company for skills and interests. However, a few short paragraphs definitely doesn’t show who each of these incredible IT professionals are on a personal level. In order to help you really get a sense as to who these new employees are, we asked them all a bunch of questions, both serious and silly and these were their responses.
Q: What do you do here at NSK Inc.?
Monica: I'm a business development manager. I basically work with new prospective clients to show them what NSK can offer their company.
Joe: I'm a help desk engineer.
Darren: I help our clients with various computer issues that they have.
Q: What are your certifications? Specializations? Have you gotten any awards?
Monica: CDIA+ and CTT+
Joe: I have an A+ certification in Computer Hardware Support and a Disaster Recovery Axcient certification
Darren: I have an A+ certification and I'm pretty good with mobile technology.
Q: Where and when did you go to school? What did you go for?
Monica: For undergrad I went to Rutgers University for biotechnical engineering from 1996-2000.
Joe: Lincoln Technical Institute in Somerville, Ma. I went for computer networking support and graduated last December.
Darren: I went to Lincoln Technical Institute for computer networking and help desk last year, it was a 10-month program.
Q: What is your favorite thing about the IT field?
Monica: The problem solving. When you can fix a problem for a client that they thought would be impossible to fix in a way that the problem doesn't even have to be a remote thought while taking their morning shower...that is a great feeling!
Joe: Being able to use my brain at work.
Darren: There is always a new thing to learn and figure out!
Q: What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?
Monica: Shopping, anywhere and for anything. I like walking and reading biographies too. I'm also really into music; I saw Rob Zombie in concert and participated in an all girls 30+ mosh pit. Granted I fell down and got crushed by a 65-year-old woman, but I had to be a part of it. I also love the Pixies, and I really want to see Rammstein in Berlin so I can really experience their pyrotechnics!
Joe: Honestly, my favorite thing to do is spend time with my wife and dog. I hadn't really had a lot of time to do that until recently when I joined NSK, so that's been really nice.
Darren: Watching any of the new shows that are on Netflix, catching up on YouTube shows I watch, and of course playing my video games. My current favorite game is "The Witcher 3" and the next one I'm excited for is "Uncharted 4."
Q: On a scale from 1-10 (1 being “I’ve never heard of Star Wars” and 10 being “I have Episodes 4-6 memorized by heart”) How nerdy are you? What is the nerdiest thing you’ve ever done?
(photo credit:Jonathan Lin)
Monica: I'm a definite 7. I can totally keep up as far as quotes go, but I haven't seen the newest Star Wars yet. The nerdiest thing I've done is either waiting in line over night to get a Harry Potter book the day it was released, or the fact that I went and saw "Catching Fire" in costume. Yes, I own the suit she wears into battle. OH! I also went to a trade show about fitness, which I have no interest in, just to meet and get an autograph from the Iron Sheik and Roudy Roudy Piper, who were wrestlers from the 1980's.
Joe: I would say I'm a solid 8. I went and saw "The Force Awakens" at 8:00 AM on the day it came out. The nerdiest thing I've ever done though was probably back when "The Phantom Menace" came out back in 1999 I think. A bunch of friends and I dressed up as Star Wars characters to go see the movie
Darren: The nerdiest thing I do is attending gaming conventions. I usually try and get into Anime Boston, but I always seem to miss out on getting tickets! Oh, and of course I have episodes 4-6 memorized!
Q: What is your favorite color? Food? Animal?
Monica: My favorite color is Pink. Food, I would have to go with Escaroll with beans; my mom sautees it with beans and pepperoni and it's always been my Italian comfort food. The honey badger is also pretty awesome, so that's probably my favorite.
Joe: My favorite color is black. I have too many favorite foods, it's kind of a problem, but I guess I would have to go with a well done--well not actually well done--but a quality steak. You can't really beat a good steak. For a favorite animal, I would probably have to go with my dog right now, he's half German shepherd and hald coon hound, he's pretty great.
Darren: My favorite color is blue, favorite food is any type of fried chicken in sandwhich form, and my favorite animal is tough, but I guess I like cats the most.
Q: What do you think of NSK Inc. so far compared to your previous jobs?
Monica: I’ve never been some place where everybody could do everyone else’s job in upper management and has. Nancy, Tim, and Cathie have all answered phones, they all respect, understand, and have done every job involved in the company and that’s really cool.
Joe: This is honestly the best job I've ever had. It's so fulfilling, I come and leave work every day with a smile and it's honestly a dream come true. This company is everything I could have dreamed of for my first IT job.
Darren: I like that it's a bit more laid back than the environment that I had to work in before.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job here?
Monica: I like working with people. It’s that whole problem solving thing, I love the look on a customer's face when they find out it’s not a problem anymore.
Joe: Helping people understand what goes on inside their computer and what could potentially cause issues. Being able to educate the customers a little bit so they can help to prevent issues and talking to the same users over and over again is really cool. It's nice to see a client remember something you said and pick up on what's happening with their computer.
Darren: Being able to converse with my co-workers and figuring out a problem together.
Q: What is something that you could never see yourself doing?
Monica: I always try to do stuff that I’m afraid of. Slow heights like ferris wheels, escalators, etc. terrify me. I went on a hot air balloon once that was tethered and almost died, but I need to keep doing it.
Joe: I'm a try anything once type of guy. I'm sure there are some limitations, but I've yet to find them. Not super solid on heights, it's not my favorite by any means, but I'm not terrified. However, I am a big believer that bigger people should never be more than 6 inches off the ground at any point, as long as it's avoidable.
Darren: I probably wouldn't be able to see myself skydiving, too scary for me.
Q: What is something that you would do in a heartbeat?
Monica: "The Amazing Race," I would love to do that. I even have a partner picked out and everything, he’s my best friend from college and he knows everything I don’t know and is a big ox.
Joe: Probably skydiving. Just to check it off my bucket list. My wife would be terrified, so I would never want her to find out about it, but I'd definitely do it.
Darren: I would love to go travelling to some far off place like Japan, if anyone asked me to go I would have the flight booked in .34 seconds.
(photo credit:reynermedia)
Q: What is your personality type?
Monica: ESFJ
Joe: ISTJ. I'm a judger...apparently. The irony is that my wife has the exact opposite, ENFP. I guess opposites do attract.
Darren: INTP-T
Q: How long have you wanted to work with computers? How long have you worked with computers?
Monica: I’ve worked with computers professionally for about 15 years. I’ve always wanted to work with computers, I got my first one when I was 10-years-old after begging and begging.
Joe: I've always wanted to work with computers. Ever since I was a kid, working with computers has been a dream job for me. I did some basic IT support for the companies I've worked at before, but NSK is the first time I've worked solely as an IT professional and it's all I've ever wanted.
Darren: I've wanted to work with computers since I was 14. I've been fascinated by how computers work and how I was able to somehow figure out problems that I'd have with computers in my house for as long as I can remember.
Q: What is your favorite sport?
Monica: Football! Go Patriots!
Joe: Football, Patriots fan all the way!
Darren: Hockey, without a doubt!
Q: What is the most common issue you hear from clients? How do you help them through it?
Monica: The most common issue I seem to get is calls from owners who can't afford to have an IT person on staff that have employees coming to them with broken materials. The best solution I have for them is paying the flat rate that NSK provides and never having to worry about IT ever again.
Joe: The most common issue I tend to get is that their computer has slowed down a lot or has some performance issues. The easiest way to solve it is almost always just a simple restart, it tends to clear up a lot of issues.
Darren: Usually something to do with their passwords or an issue with Outlook not working correctly. I'd take the usual steps to fix Outlook from repairing the application to uninstalling and reinstalling. Passwords are a bit easier, just go and reset it!