Portrait of an Expert as a Young Man

FixYa has some pretty outstanding experts. One such expert, Ekse, is a 20-year-old information technology student with 3692 FixYa solutions logged in his name. We were lucky enough to get an interview:

Q: Tell us about yourself:
A: I live in Finland, Turku. It’s a beautiful city. (see above picture) I have a background in computer repair and resale. I have had an interest in electronics and computers for a long time now. My father works in cars and back when I was very young I was “helping” my father in fixing his cars, I learned many lessons back then. So my strong interest in electronics and computers started and I have been taking things apart and putting them back together ever since. Right now I make my living from computers and customer service, while continuing my studies.

Q. What are your hobbies?
A. Running. I try to get out and run a few miles every day, it gives me a great feeling. Meditation, reading, computers, gaming and FixYa are also some of my hobbies to name a few.

Q. What first brought you to FixYa? When?
A. A friend happened to mention the website and it seemed like a good idea. I signed up as a expert in Feb. 2008 started very slowly, answering problems whenever there was a silent or boring moment in the computer shop I was working in at the time. I never expected to earn much from FixYa or even get this involved with the community. Eventually, I earned the rank of a wiz and started answering premium problems and chats.

Q. What is the FixYa answer you are most proud of?
A. I’d have to say I’m most proud of a session I had. It was an Acer laptop with E lock management and the customer had forgotten the password to the program. The floppy, cd – dvd and usb devices were all locked and unusable. We managed to work around the issue within an hour. The workaround solution is very simple and if I now get another session with the same problem, I will know exactly how to solve it in only a few minutes. The official Acer fix to this issue is to send the laptop to them for few weeks and pay $100 USD for the service. There have been quite a few good sessions and a few great ones, but the review I got from this one stands out from the rest.

Q. What advice do you have for those asking questions?
A. Try to provide as much detail as possible on the product you have (Brand, model, etc.) Also provide as much detail of the problem as possible. Simply saying, “I can’t send email” is very vague – if you get an error message, include it and everything else that you think may be relevant. It will save us time as we don’t have to ask for more details – it will make it easier to solve the problem.

Q. What advice do you have for experts?
A. Stick to your expertise, do your best and the rewards will follow. Take your time, get familiar with all the functions of the website. To maximize your earnings, answer chats and premiums.

Q. What new features would you like to see FixYa roll out?
A. A search tool for unsolved problems

If you’d like to learn more about Ekse, check out his page. If you or someone you know would like to be featured as an Expert, email dana[at]fixya.com with “Expert of the Week” in the subject line.