Vantaggi
Techincal Support Engineer roles are part of the Red Hat Global Support Service. It is a support job and you are exposed to a lot of different tecnical issues which require in-depth analysis and an understanding of low level system working. The first line of support of Red Hat GSS would be equivalent to L2 and sometimes L3 positions in other organizations when it comes to the candidates required technical abilities. There is a very good scope of learning - both technical as well as non-technical things like team work and customer service. Growth options from this role is to move to Senior TSE after which depending on your abilities you could move to become a Software Maintenance Engineer if you have/developed coding skills or else you can become a Technical Account Manager (TAM). However, TAM oppurtunities are limited in India region.
Svantaggi
There is considerable work pressure due to the high load of support requests. At L1 level the pressure can be very daunting initially and requires personal efforts to tide over. Training is an issue as management cannot afford to take support engineers off the line for long periods due to work load. However, training is imparted through lunnch 'N learn sessions which help and recently engineers and experts from foreign locations have provided 2-3 day workshops for advanced topics. Most learning still happens on the job. Career stagnation is another issue, if one does not improve and move up the value chain. People who develop skills on the job can look forward to good career progress within the organization. Python scripting skill is highly appreciated other than C language. Coding ability is necessary to move from purely support role to engineering roles which is not easy for most people that are recruited for support profiles.