Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• Firstly, you should be able to work close to home where possible and therefore your transport costs should be kept to a minimum.
• Why work for a boss when you can work for yourself?
• You will decide how to use your time available on any given day. Why miss your son’s soccer game or your daughter’s graduation? You work or don’t work when it suits you.
• With one or two years of MyTechie experience you will have a better idea what you want to do with your career. Study further and become a network engineer, a project manager or key account manager. The sky really is the limit.
• If you are unemployed, retired or have spare time on your hands and need a little extra income (who doesn’t) then why not sign up and get some valuable work opportunities in your area.

As a provider of training, it should be of paramount importance to you to not only churn our trained people but also to meet an industry need as then your service will be sustainable.

That said it is important to the industry that the resources coming out of your training courses are genuinely competent and meet and maintain a certain standard.

Working with industry associations such as the fibre-to-the-home Council we have set the ambitious goal of developing a Career-Passport for technicians and practitioners in this environment to start working towards a national standard that is benchmarked with international best-practice.

For this reason, it is imperative that as a potential training provider to the MyTechie eco-system you will need to have to have your courses subject to professional accreditation and endorsement by the relevant industry association.

This will be a marque of quality that will set your training program apart from others.

To this end, we have engaged the services of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) (www.saiee.org.za) and others to provide accreditation services to the DigitalCouncil Africa which in turn will be a requirement for any technician agent working in MyTechie.

It is only in this way quality of output is assured and the virtuous circle can be sustained.

Register [onboarding training provider] to get your courses accredited for use by the MyTechie agents.

• A South African Citizen, or a permanent resident with a valid work permit to work in South Africa.
• A valid driver’s licence.
• Access to a motor vehicle.
• Resources such as Suitable smart device (Mobile phone / Tablet) including sufficient data.
• To lead by example.

Qualifications

• • Grade 12 (Mandatory)
  • Other qualifications such as a relevant B-degree or a Diploma would be an advantage.

Experience

• • At least five (5) years’ experience in a relevant technical field with at least three (3) in a team-leadership role.

Knowledge

• • Domain specific knowledge applicable to the work undertaken in the area.
  • Be familiar with the MyTechie Policy and Code of Conduct

Skills

• • Computer literate.
  • Good communicator in your home language and in English.
  • Entrepreneurial appreciation.
  • Analytical.

Attitudes

• • Self-motivated.
  • Self-starter.
  • Diligent.
  • Tenacious.
  • Accurate / Quality conscious.
  • Team orientated.
  • Customer focused.

If you think you have what it takes to be an Area Leader, then send an email to techie@mytechiesa.co.za for the Country Manager consideration of your application as an Area Leader.

• To maximise the successful completion of system events in your area.
• To identify and recruit new agents into your team when required.
• Motivation and mentorship of agents.
• To do random work site visits and tool checks.
• To investigate and resolve any issues escalated by the MyTechie System.

Proactively - They will do occasional spot checks at your work sites, occasional tool/vehicle, and PPE checks to see that all the MyTechie teams are operating to the customers’ expectations. They may even interview prospective new techies wanting to work in their area. It is all about teamwork and building professional relationships.

They can assist with things like materials and logistics where required and they are they to help you succeed in any way they can. We will have more than one Area Leader in any area.

We may be a cold clinical platform in many respects, but we have a human face, and we make the customer experience more human and less like a ‘number’ in a call centre queue. The village technician/artisan and the Area Leader are a formidable team in demystifying technology for the consumers. The platform MyTechie provides for you is just the enabler to improve service delivery efficiencies.

They will get a retainer of 10% of the MTSA revenue (up to a monthly cap to be determined) for successful work done in their area to be the Area Leader, so they are incentivised to ensure all the work is running smoothly and all the techies working in their areas are well trained and equipped to perform.

If you feel you can handle that role you need to motivate us, and we can consider giving you an Area Leader role to try out in addition to any normal tasks you do in the App.

Obviously, the more effort you put in to developing a strong and competent team around you the easier your job will be. Take pride in your area and in your team. Be the solution and take control of your own destiny.

The Area Leader should be competent in the understanding, appreciation, and execution of the activities within the domain of activities undertaken by the agents in their area.

The Area Leader should be able to provide on-the-job technical guidance to agents to assist them to successfully complete assigned events to the satisfaction of the customer and at the Standard expected by the customer.

A MyTechie Area Leader is one of the operating techies that is highly experienced and competent in their field. They are not employees of MyTechie, and they are not the line managers of any of the operating technicians / electricians in the area or turf they may be working in.

They are responsible for the smooth running of all the work done in the discipline they are leading in (telecoms, or electrical etc) in the area or turf that they oversee for MyTechie South Africa.

They are a customer deliverable facilitator and will aim to motivate the team to maximise their opportunities by building up their available skill sets through accredited training providers.

They will deal with any ISSUES that may arise in the course of work being done in their area. Issues such as customer complaints, poor workmanship, poor service ratings (1 and 2), accidents, out of SLA jobs etc.

They will provide some leadership, mentorship and guidance to Techies working in the area. They want you to succeed and not make mistakes and they want you to develop in your businesses.

Reactively - They will investigate any issues and assist with their resolution to the customers satisfaction.

No problem, at MyTechie we will try to pair you up with an experienced techie in your area, to give you some work experience in the field and get you to a point of confidence to be able to work independent and form you own team.

Each one takes the hand of the next one and we help each other to succeed at MyTechie.

The experienced techie team leader will get a better rate from MyTechie as we do charge a 12% admin fee instead of the usual 15% if they are using one of our qualified assistant interns on the job.

We are building capacity for our country.

This depends upon your own business running costs and the requirements of the job and what work you are expecting to take on. In most cases you will be required to cater for:

• the job-related consumables and materials
• your tools and equipment (including a suitable smart phone and laptop)
• transport costs
• airtime and data for your phone
• any personal protective or safety equipment
• team costs
• insurance

This is also dependent on the volume of orders you will take on in the period and in most cases payments may take 30 days to come through from a corporate customer so you will bed to be able to manage your expenses for that period while you are wating to be paid.

You can only take what you can afford to do.

An invoice will only be presented on your behalf for payment once your customer has confirmed the job is complete and is in agreement with the adequacy of the quality of your work. MyTechie SA is pushing for all of your customers to pay within 30 days from the end of the month after an invoice has been presented for payment. You need to ensure you have sufficient to maintain your business until payment.

If you do not have the working capital, the tools or the vehicles, then you need to team up with someone near you that has, maybe and electrician or a plumber or a DSTv technician - look around you where you live, form a little team and jointly attack the business opportunity. Jobs (with companies) are not easy to get these days. Look for the small companies around where you live and see if they can add you to their teams to expand their capacity to take this new work. Work out a deal with the family of MyTechies around you – we have to hustle to help each other in this game there are no more government handouts – it’s up to us.

Please look at this link for the recommended requirements in terms of a smart phone for the MyTechie App and platform.

DISCOUNT CODE FOR RUGGED PHONE

For those of you considering a new smart phone for all this MyTechie work. https://ruggedsa.co.za/ sell a great field smartphone at around R5000. Armor 8 Device (6.1''+Android 10+4GB+64GB+5580mAh). And we have arranged a unique discount code made for our MyTechie Team, please note that this discount code is 10% off of any product or total of the cart, and it can applied at the Ruggedsa checkout page. Use this Discount Code: JMRQ0RKPJS6X

All the basic tools to do the job such as:

• Pick
• Spade
• Screw drivers
• Hammer
• Pliers
• Longnose pliers
• Side cutters
• Hammer drill
• Drill bits (masonry and steel)
• RJ-45 crimping tool
• Ethernet cable tester
• Cable labelling machine
• Step ladder

Some of the more specialised tools will be an advantage such as

• Splicing machine
• Light source and power meter
• Cleaver
• Tube splitter
• Fibre stripper
• midspan access tool
• DUCT cutter
• Patch leads
• Pig tails
• Trunking for drop fibre
• Cable labelling machine
• Satellite meter

You will also need to carry some consumables such as:

• Cleaning alcohol and wipes
• Wall plugs / rawl bolts
• 20mm PVC conduit
• Saddles for the conduit
• Cable ties

Please make sure your password is correct, and if you have forgotten your access password then please click on this LINK to reset your password. If you are still having difficulties, then please contact our support desk at support@mytechiesa.co.za

No! - we are not offering you employment; we are offering you something much better than that. We are offering you an opportunity to become your own boss, to take control of your own destiny and to enable you to grow from being just a technician into what we call a ‘techtrepreneurTM’ within your community.

Embracing this opportunity means that you will not only get remuneration for the skills and experience that you currently have but you will get access to training and support to build up new skills and experience to add more capacity to your skill-set and therefore more earning capability. It will be your choice as to whether you say in the MyTechie system or eventually decide to join a company in part-time or full-time employment as you will have demonstrable experience form any work you undertake in MyTechie.

The MyTechie system is differentiated by building a golden thread of ‘quality’ into the ‘DNA’ of the system. We sincerely believe that our clients; being the service providers and customers that use and pay for our services demand and expect nothing less than a quality service.

One of the ways we do this is to encourage all our technical agents to do two things. 1) to become members of an affiliated professional voluntary association (VA) and 2) to subscribe to a programme of continued professional development (CPD) to keep your skills up-to-date. If you comply with this then you will be remunerated at the higher rate for all the tasks you undertake in the system than if you are not a member in good standing of such a VA and your course and qualification are not undertaking through accredited training providers.

Your earning potential as a MyTechie participant is dependent on three key things; 1) your availability on the system; 2) what skills you have available and would be willing to learn and 3) what services the customers in your area are looking for in a given period.

This is what we call the ‘opportunity density’ around where you live, and your earning potential depends on how many successful tasks you can complete in any period of time.

The MyTechie system will aim (over time) to provide you with enough opportunity to the capacity (in time and skill) that you have available.

The MyTechie system is based on certain assumptions and projections, that said we believe that a reasonable monthly earning potential based on a sample task load is as follows: 

Technical Assistant

Basic - R6 000

With incentives - R7 500

Technician

Basic - R29 100

With incentives - R33 800 to R55 000

Please note the values stipulated in the table above are indicative and are in no way guaranteed. Your actual remuneration will depend on the quantity of successful tasks completed in any remuneration period and may be less or most likely more than the amounts indicated in the table above depending on how you take advantage of the system.

Please discuss your earning potential with your area leader.

For reasons of work operational safety. (Someone needs to hold the ladder). A helping hand on the job makes things safer and go quicker.

Viable teams have complementary skills and resources. For example, an electrician with a bakkie and tools and good hand skills will be an asset when paired up with a network or fibre technician – as a team they will get more opportunity in the market.

Development objectives allow for a less experienced techie (intern / apprentice) to assist the team leader and help with the experience they need to graduate as a technician.

Each one takes the hand of the one below and we lift each other up in this MyTechie family.

By joining MyTechie you will become part of a trusted team as a brand trusted ‘village’ technicians in support of the many technical industries in meeting the consumer needs. Supporting everything from fibre-to-the-home installations through to the full Internet of Things (IoT) eco-system across its lifecycle from the private property boundary gate and in and around the smart home. Starting with basic fibre-drop installations and progressing right through to the connected ‘Smart Home’ eco system.

The participating service provider or a customer selects a MyTechie according to their suitable skills, availability, rating and proximity to where the service is required. Or the participating service provide may place the work in a pool for review by any agent working in that pool.

Each MyTechie agent will be paid according to the Terms and Conditions (Ts and Cs) they accept when logging onto the MyTechie organisation platform. By accepting the Ts and Cs you are appointing MyTechie South Africa as your agent and authorising MyTechie SA to invoice for your services on your behalf to your customers.

This is based on the number of successfully completed tasks you have undertaken using the MyTechie App in the period. The MyTechie system will tabulate all the successfully completed tasks you have participated in each period and will generate an invoice (Sales or Tax invoice) on your behalf to your customer who will review the invoice and then make the necessary payment to you via your appointed collection agent being MyTechie South Africa.

After receiving your payment, MyTechie will credit your account and invoice you for the MyTechie administration fee (between 5% and 15%) of the services fees invoiced to your customer.

The balance in your account will be transferred to your bank or paid into your digital wallet as determined by you.

You will need a minimum of Grade-12 (Matric) and at least one accredited skills certification (e.g., Certified Fibre Optic Technician, CCNA, VSAT etc.) to be considered as a MyTechie technical assistant. However, to be graded as a technician you will assessed based in your validated qualifications and course certificates and experience. As a minimum you need the following: -

• Matric (Grade-12).
• Valid identification document.
• Proof of residential address.
• Work permit if not South African.
• Some skills certifications like (CFOT, CCNA, etc.)
• Some Health and Safety certifications required as per the Customer requirements.

You will have the following attributes: -

• Good communicator (spoken and written)
• Self-motivated.
• Self-starter.
• Diligent.
• Quality conscious.
• Team orientated.
• Customer focused.

You will be required to: -

• Have a smart device (phone or tablet).
• Have your own tools.
• Driver’s licence.
• Have a valid South African banking account.
• Accept the terms and conditions to operate as an independent contractor with the MyTechie South Africa as your agent.

You can apply online by sending your CV and supporting documents to techie@mytechiesa.co.za After your application has been processed, access to our Training Portal or our validation service provider will be provided where you will undertake a series of online training modules including assessment. Once you have passed your online assessments, we will provide access to our MyTechie mobile App so that you can start receiving tasks and earning money.

• Qualified and certified technical agents in good standing will be visible to service providers and customers via the MyTechie App or web portal.
• Dispatches will be scheduled with agents via the app and specify the work required, the standard and code of conduct applicable and the location with contact details.
• The service provider making the request will provide the material or equipment where required.
• Once the job is completed, you will fill in the completion form on the App and rate the customer.
• The customer will rate your performance and workmanship.
• The service provider will rate your performance and completion record.
• MyTechie will collect all payments, reconcile and pay you out at month end.
• Opportunities include site surveys, installations, maintenance, and commissionable sales and much more.
• There is an area leader available in your area to assist your where required.

When you accept to work on the MyTechie platform you gave the opportunity to accept or reject our Terms and Conditions on our website. These represent your obligations to MyTechie South Africa as your agent and our obligations to your as our principal customer.

If you accept an order on the system (or mobile App) from one of your customers, then at that point a contractual obligation is created for you to follow through and complete the order for your customer (i.e. Supersonic, CBI, Vox etc.) and to their satisfaction.

It is at that point that they (your customer) will have an obligation to pay you for the work you will do for them using the MyTechie platform as your appointed agent for the work provided you complete it to their satisfaction. MyTechie will orchestrate and facilitate all of this via the platform including the collection of the money due and paid to you.

If you accept no orders on the system, then no contractual obligation will arise for you other than the Terms and Conditions you will have accepted to be on the platform.

Yes, there are some costs to operating in the MyTechie platform and while we are in this set-up phase, we will keep them to a minimum.

• There is a once off cost to join MyTechie of R500 to cover the onboarding administration and the validation and background checks we are required to do on each of our operating agents. This can be settled directly or after your first job, so no need to pay anything upfront at this stage.
• There is a monthly licence fee we each pay for the mobile App (where) we get the jobs. This is expected to be R100 per month. This covers the licence fees to owners of Centricity (the platform on which MyTechie is built).
• The MyTechie administration fee which is based on the services (excludes any material) amount of each assignment. This ranges between 5% to 15% as a ‘cost-of-sale’ of the service fee you have charged the client for the task / project. Thus, giving you between 85% and 95% of the services fee for each of the tasks you accept on the system. NB material and equipment used is excluded from this calculation and is passed through directly between you and the client. (More about the rules for the 5% to 15% admin fee later).

MyTechie will act as your Agent will with you the Principal whereby, we will attend to the invoicing and payments between your customer and yourselves. Full records and statement will be available from the system, so there is no need for you to carry invoice books around with you. All you need to do is capture the job completion evidence on the App, get the client to sign off in the App and we do the rest.  You do need to notify us if you are registered for VAT as this needs to be recorded on your invoice.  Invoicing can be from your Company to the client or from you as an individual.