My Year Working On-Site as an IT Support Engineer

From September 2022 to June 2023, I worked as an Onsite IT Support Engineer for Neusoft. My specific assignment was to be stationed at the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) in China.

My main role was to provide direct, on-site technical support and maintenance for the ERP and management systems the client was using.

What I Did Day-to-Day

My work was very hands-on and focused on immediate problem-solving for the client.

• Data Services: A large part of my job involved data. I provided on-site services for data filtering, exporting, cleansing, and analysis. When users had a data-related request, I handled it directly.
• System Operations: I was responsible for monitoring the system status to ensure it was healthy and running correctly. I also led system updates when necessary.
• Integrations: I provided technical support for third-party API integrations, helping to ensure that different systems could communicate properly.
• Problem Resolution: When users encountered software application issues, I was their first contact. I had to identify the root cause of the problem, report it clearly to my company, provide solutions, and resolve the client's issue in a timely manner.
• Communication and Training: I had to communicate efficiently with my remote team members to define tasks and solutions. I also trained the client's users on how to use the system functions correctly.

What I Learned from This Experience

Working directly at the client's site was very different from working in a development office. I learned a few key things:

1. I gained a clear understanding of how end-users actually use software, what their daily frustrations are, and what parts of the system are most critical to them.
2. I improved my ability to find the true root cause of an issue, rather than just fixing the symptoms.
3. I learned how to be the communicator between non-technical users and the remote technical team, translating business needs into technical tasks.

This experience was valuable because it gave me a strong user-centric perspective, which I now use in my development work.