MEET THE PLANET HEROES – JOSEPH GRAY – 1ST LINE SUPPORT ENGINEER
One of the younger members of our team, Joseph Gray is a key member of our IT Support Helpdesk. He is always near the top of the “Tickets Answered” leaderboard and has gone 4 months at 100% satisfaction in our customer survey results. In fact he has only 1 survey against his his 100% record in the whole of 2020!
He’s a big Spurs fan, loves a pint and has a strange relationship with a certain Caribbean Celebrity Chef… but he’ll get into that.
This week’s Planet Hero is Joseph Gray!
So Joe… let’s start easy… tell us a little bit about yourself?
I’m 21, and as per the stereotypical IT worker love my technology and games, both of which I love discovering and spending far too much money on!
I also love my football and am a big fan of Tottenham hotspur, deciding to get my first season ticket on possibly our worst season in some time! I also love to play football and have games twice a week.
How did you get into IT and what brought you to Planet?
I think the main aspect that got me into IT was from a young age being so invested in technology and fixing both my own and families pieces of kit, the natural progression from this was to get paid for it! The constantly evolving element of IT is a big driving force as you can never see what is coming around the corner, and it’s an exciting industry to be a part of.
My decision to come to Planet was definitely the people. From my first interview I could see how happy and driven everyone was, and it looked like such a positive atmosphere that I knew I wanted to be a part of. Definitely a decision I haven’t regretted as I smile through (most) days! ?
Why the helpdesk?
At an early stage of my IT career I felt the helpdesk was the best place to start my journey and begin learning how to fix different things in different scenarios as we have such a wide and varied client base, having experience across different systems definitely helps things keep fresh and the cogs ticking over in my head!
What emerging technologies most excite you?
Whether we like it or not I think artificial intelligence is already playing a huge role in our day to day lives, through basic things such as recommendations on Netflix to self-driving cars, AI will become such a big part of our lives that we won’t look back… unless it comes sentient… best not to think about that…
What current tech can’t you wait to see improved or made redundant?
Personally, I cannot wait for the improvements to wearable tech. The thought of having directions pop up over your current eyesight or being able to interact with holograms or objects with your hands seems awesome to me. Though I think we have a while before that tech becomes available to me!
From a young age I was so invested in technology
You’re part of a key team for Planet. The IT Support Helpdesk consistently achieve over 98% customer satisfaction. However, in the last 4 months, you personally have achieved 100% satisfaction. What’s the secret?
Haha, I’m blushing! ? It’s a number we are all really proud of, and I like to think the secret is giving good service with a smile, but I guess now its been mentioned its only a matter of time before the streak is broken!
Over the last few months of businesses moving to home working, then some starting to move back to the office – what trends have you noticed? Has anything surprised you?
I think the speed in which all of the various industries adapted for the ‘new normal’ was staggering. It only took a matter of weeks before the masses adapted to working from home without skipping a beat, and productivity was incredible. Of course, some businesses still need help with these, and to that I would say our account managers are always here for a chat ?
Planet IT – what’s it like to work there?
Planet IT is a brilliant company to work for, I really do feel appreciated for the work I do both from the company and our clients. It’s always a nice, positive atmosphere in the office which promotes hard work. I think Planet giving back to us so highly is also a motivation for a lot of us… work hard, play hard is the saying, I think!
Favourite Planet Memory?
Ha-ha, there is a lot of those, but you’ll need to buy me a beer before I can mention certain events on Christmas parties…
Biggest challenge at Planet?
The initial rush going into lockdown was certainly a challenge for all involved. As any member of the helpdesk will tell you, when nearly all of our clients were sent home to work and everyone needed it working ASAP it was certainly a challenge to get everyone setup quickly and more importantly correctly in such a small space of time. The team handled it brilliantly and everyone is a credit to the company.
Outside work – what makes you tick?
As mentioned, before I love football, so I watch and play as much as I can. More recently I’ve enjoyed learning different things to try too, I have been magnet fishing a number of times looking for my next ‘big score’ though so far I have only picked up a nail and a metal post… stay tuned for any exciting finds though ?
Please explain two things about this photo… The glasses… and Ainsley Harriott…???
The minute I took this photo I knew it would come back to haunt me! – The glasses are from a local nightclub on a retro night, I love a good boogie to some cheesy music so you can imagine when they were giving these away, I was all over it! I actually have about 4 pairs in different colours if you ever need to borrow any ?
Ainsley is one of the weirder Amazon purchases I have made (safe to say my recommended items is yet to recover) but was actually our pub quiz mascot for a while! Now he keeps watch behind my monitor as a creepy reminder to keep working hard!
What’s your guilty pleasure? (Please don’t say Ainsley Harriott!?)
Ha-ha, I wouldn’t call it a guilty pleasure, but I love cheese music. Anything from Atomic Kitten to Sophie Ellis-Bextor I’m your man. Oh yeah and wham! (congrats if you got that one)
This is all about Planet Hero’s – if you were a real-life superhero, what would your superpower be?
This is one I think that regularly changes, but currently I think I’d love the ability to fly. The thought of not having to ever take the stairs or worry about plane tickets should be enough to convince anyone. ?
If you were to give advice to a 14-year-old you – what would it be? Wait, you’re older than 14, right?
I’m not going to warrant your second comment with a response. ? My advice to my younger self would definitely be STOP SELLING YOUR TECH. I sold far too much when I was younger that is now worth a lot of money that it makes me cringe!
If you were to give advice to a young person thinking of entering the world of IT – what would it be?
Definitely open yourself up to IT, it’s such a varied line of work which is constantly evolving and changing, which makes it one of the most exciting lines of work to be in currently!
Joe Gray is part of our Award-winning IT Support Helpdesk team. The Helpdesk is the heartbeat of Planet and keeps our clients businesses operating as efficiently as they could hope to be.
In these strange times, organisations of all kinds are turning to technology to help their businesses thrive. If you have outgrown your current IT solution then you should probably give us a call – 01235 433 900 or email [email protected]
