A computer operator’s role is essential to any medium or large company’s IT operations. The position requires a high degree of professionalism and the ability to adapt to different situations as it covers several different tasks. The efficiency of IT departments relies on the job holder’s speed in paper handling, peripheral operation and recognition of error messages.
As is the case in many computer installations, a computer operator in Canada is often required to work a rotating 24/7 shift pattern. This is especially true in financial institutions in the country as they operate real-time systems. Experienced job holders will usually find themselves in shift leader or supervisory positions and are expected to exercise their own judgement when dealing with unexpected system, network or job failures. Junior technicians with less than two years under their belts are responsible for the efficiency of hardware and peripherals and defer to supervisors when incidents occur.
Workers in the junior echelons typically receive an annual salary of C
$35,000 which goes up in increments to a maximum of C
$56,000 for shift leaders. Employment tends to be in the bigger cities as most of the multinational and larger corporations are based here.