How is a help desk position valuable? And what can you expect?

I've never yet worked IT, currently getting my entry level certs. I've heard many times that help desk is a great entry level stepping stone, but i'm having a tough time understanding why?

Now granted, I don't have much of an idea of what it is really like, however I had a friend who worked help desk, and he said they simply had him reading a script. So none of his computer knowledge was pertinent at all, as he would just ask the questions that popped up on the screen, and basically read through an automated troubleshooting system. Is that what help desk is generally like? Or do you generally actually use your knowledge to solve the problem yourself?

I may be thinking about this all wrong, as I really don't have a clue what its like, but I'm just imagining such a mundane position, more closely related to unskilled customer service than IT, with little hands on, or opportunity to actually learn anything (again I may be very wrong, its just what I envision) So I'm just wondering how it could be a valuable stepping stone? In what way does it make you any more prepared for a position requiring more skill, like say some sort of IT or network admin?

He also said, there would be lots of down time between calls where he could study. I actually like this idea, because right now I'm spending my own free time studying, if I could study on the clock, that would be a nice perk. But is it typical? Or are these help desks often high pressure, nonstop rush through the calls fast to meet daily call quotas, barely keeping up while your voice gets worn out?

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Comments

tkerber

Hey there!

My $0.02:

Helpdesk is a REALLY vague title--as are almost all titles in IT. Helpdesk can be as low level and as boring as what your buddy does. Or on the other scale helpdesk could also be like a Remote Support Engineer that handles high level and escalated issues remotely. There is a really large grey area.

Generally the kind of position you would want to look for is something that doesn't just limit you to doing 'helpdesk stuff' and allows you to tinker with and get a feel for other areas. I worked in several helpdesk positions before I got my current position and I can tell you that they were all very different. One company called us 'helpdesk' but had us managing and configuring about 1,000 retail servers, 800 firewalls, and 4,000+ workstations. The last helpdesk position I had was 'User Support Specialist' where I basically unlocked AD accounts ALL DAY and made Exchange accounts (no joke).

So it's really hard to say for sure but that is up to you. When you get a chance to interview companies ask them questions about room for growth and what kind of technologies you will be supporting. I will definitely agree with your friend on the downtime part. Sometimes it's just quiet and you have time to burn. Other times you will leave work without even taking a lunch break.

Jon_Cisco

Well if nothing else you are still exposed to the types of problems that are being expressed by the end users. This information if valuable even if it's not what your looking to do. I don't think I could read a script all day but you have to start somewhere.

Good Luck!

VikingWarlord

Go to Dice.com and search for help desk jobs. You can look at the descriptions and get an idea of the types of things that can be expected.

Pupil

That's not at all what my help desk position is like. We're very much hands on and we handle tickets related to almost everything. Whatever we can't resolve we escalate. One moment I'm running virus scan on an infected machine, next moment fixing issue w/ Outlook and Exchange, then handling problems w/ printers, imaging PCs, setting up new users, modifying users access to internal applications and various permissions, monitoring network and troubleshooting site connectivity problems, replacing hardware, etc. And on top of all of that you gotta be able to talk to end users without getting angry, losing your mind, or being condescending. I've been at my internship for a few weeks now and I've learned a ton.

TL;DR Help desk is the perfect entry-place for someone new in IT starting their career. You just don't want to be there for too long.

Kai123

Pupil wrote: »

That's not at all what my help desk position is like. We're very much hands on and we handle tickets related to almost everything. Whatever we can't resolve we escalate. One moment I'm running virus scan on an infected machine, next moment fixing issue w/ Outlook and Exchange, then handling problems w/ printers, imaging PCs, setting up new users, modifying users access to internal applications and various permissions, monitoring network and troubleshooting site connectivity problems, replacing hardware, etc. And on top of all of that you gotta be able to talk to end users without getting angry, losing your mind, or being condescending. I've been at my internship for a few weeks now and I've learned a ton.

TL;DR Help desk is the perfect entry-place for someone new in IT starting their career. You just don't want to be there for too long.

Its important to get your title right, and might even be worth asking the IT manager to see if it can be changed. Helpdesk is generally seen as logging calls and tickets, even if some are level1 support and others even with the helpdesk title have more responsibilities.

My official role is “ICT Technician” but its 30% helpdesk and 70% Desktop Support. The full down system administrators here (IP Phone guy, Exchange guy, VM/Citrix guy) are ALL “ICT Technicians”. Badly defined roles would probably hurt them if they ever left.

logisticalstyles

Yeah, Help Desk is really a very generic title. I've been at jobs where my title was Help Desk Agent and it was just a call center job somewhat similar to what the OP described. That job was more about following company procedure. My current position and my first job in IT are also titled Help Desk but these jobs are in a corporate environment where we support the internal employees. In my current job my pone only ring once a week, in my last job the phone rang about 40 times a day. At the end of the day my resume lists all three job Help Desk.

The Help Desk role is the perfect opportunity to learn new skills and decide what you want to specialize in.

ande0255

Helpdesk will benefit with learning how to effectively troubleshoot an issue, like what questions you will need to ask customers to extract the information you need to solve the problem, as 80% of the time (at least) end users will not give you all the information required to give you the full picture of what's going on.