Would you make a career in the Help Desk?

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Would you make a career in the IT Help Desk?

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networker050184

Sure if I actually liked doing it and didn't care about making a big check. Why not? It's a monotonous job that most people tire of though.

NetworkNewb

Nope, but I used to work with some people at a call center that said they have to no intentions of ever leaving the helpdesk... Seems pretty boring always doing the same thing and never growing but if someone is happy doing it, more power to them.

kohr-ah

If you worked up to manager and then some and enjoyed it (and made a decent check) I wouldn't out rule it. me personally. No. I'd get bored easily. I like working on more complex things.

Mooseboost

Do you work help desk or have you before? It is an okay job and a great way to break into IT. We have several people at my help desk who have made it their career - it really will depend on where you work and how they structure. You can work up to around 50K here after five or so years. Ultimately it depends on your aspirations and if you can handle it. I can tell you - being yelled at by users who don't understand technology will get old after a while.

adam220891

No.

Too low of pay, too boring, too much interaction with end users.

NetworkNewb

adam220891 wrote: »

too much interaction with end users.

Yea, I hate people too

E Double U

help desk career = oxymoron

bpenn

My situation is quite different from the average help desk. My position is coded as "Help Desk" but I do so much more than that. I am a DoD contractor and I dont sit in a call center. Half of the job lies in information assurance and compliance. Fortunately for me, I work with great individuals who treat IT with respect and I rarely encounter troublesome clients.

The thing is, I just cant survive on this salary much longer. I have a wife and kid, ya know? But I love desktop support and I love the feeling when I go above and beyond and make someone's day because I solved what noone else could. I just wished the job paid more...

markulous

No. I do that now and it gets boring and repetitive. Place I work at I could probably make like 60 to 70k as a level 3 in a few years but I would rather do something else by then that will also likely pay more.

TR4V1STY

What if the help desk position was at a really FUN to work place? Somewhere that's rated highly on sites like Glassdoor for employee happiness? Somewhere like a gaming company (my main hobby)?

koz24

I've always thought that if you spend more than a few years in help desk it just means you're lazy and unmotivated. That might not sound fair in 100% of cases, but I bet it's true in most. Why would anyone want to spend their entire career there is beyond me, but to each his own. Also take into account that when you start getting grey hairs, you will look real funny working help desk along with interns and 20 year olds. Ever see the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin? That's going to be you, The 40 Year Old Intern! Yeah, they can't legally discriminate based on age blah blah blah, but they do and everyone knows it.

pevangel

Can't pay the bills with FUN. You may be able to get yourself up to 50k+ in one company but what happens when that company closes or you get fired. It'd be hard to find another help desk job that pays the same or better.

cowill

I'll put it to you like this...you aren't going to get many people on here who will say yes.....most people who want/dont mind a career on help desk aren't going to be on this forum.....

mistabrumley89

I would contemplate killing myself if this was my only option.

On the other hand, I just met a lady not too long ago that was about to retire after 33 years of working on a helpdesk

LeBroke

I'd have to be working helpdesk at the Playboy Mansion, and all the bunnies just happen to really need their iPhones configured... And are really grateful afterward.

Seriously, though? Probably not. Desktop support/break-fix, sure. I like fixing stuff, and I really like talking to people one on one or in small groups. Deskside can even be pretty fun if your user base is decently trained, and only call you for the stuff they actually need IT help for. Then you basically get to hang out with someone as you fix their computer.

But not helpdesk. It never gets fun.

ImThe0ne

I was on a large corporate helpdesk for around 8 months before getting offered a SysAdmin job, I would say more than 75% of the 20+ person team had all been there 5+ years (thats about 4 years longer than they should've been there), with 5 of them being there for 15+ years. I think "Career Helpdesk" happens more than most people think, some people don't have the aspirations of climbing ladders. Like mentioned above, people get complacent and comfortable, so they never leave. It's easy for them to show up to work everyday, mindlessly do the same thing they have done for years, bring home decent money for never having to do anything they had to think about.

And thats not to discredit anyone, that's just my 2 cents. If you have the mindset to stay on a helpdesk that long, kudos to you, it is something I could have never done.

Ismaeljrp

This question has to be a joke...

LeBroke

Ismaeljrp wrote: »

This question has to be a joke...

To be fair, it's a really biased forum. I have a few friends who would kill for a decent helpdesk job. Think about it - get paid $50k to answer some emails and occasionally talk on the phone to a stupid person. Certainly beats killing yourself for half that working at the kitchen.

On the other hand, everyone that's a regular here is basically on here so they can either start their career, further their career, or prolong their career. We've got high-level security engineers from Pentagon, a good number of people with Secret and Top Secret clearances, network specialists designing carrier-grade stuff, and devops engineers who were devops before it even became a word (which was like two years ago). Everyone else is either aspiring to be one of the people above, or alternatively, make double the median income only coming in to the office twice a week.

dustervoice

Yes as i like to be really "helpful". only thing issue is the money sucks

alias454

I would think it is no different than going to a factory job for 20-30 years. There's nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned. Different strokes for different folks. if everyone wanted to be the CEO, who is going to make the coffee? I will also agree this forum is not the most likely place to find a person fitting that personality though. And No I would not like a career at the helpdesk even if I could make 100k per year.

Regards,

N2IT

It's not challenging, so no I wouldn't want to make a career out of it.

JosephMatthew

I did help desk for a year. It was all levels 1-3, a great place to learn, and a great place to develop customer service skills with those who are not tech savvy. Some days I'd be running around the building all day doing different things, some days I'd be at my desk remoted into someone's computer fixing issues. There are certainly some awful customers, but you also walk away with some hilarious stories. That was my experience. If I had to sit in a call center and repeatedly tell people to reboot as a main focus, I'd go crazy.

Moving away from help desk was a blessing. More money and more technical. Doesn't seem like a viable "career option" but it's a great place to get your feet wet.

TheFORCE

I worked at a place where one of the guys was there for 5 years, its been 5 years since I left. He was like a "supervisor or manager" he mentality was that if he sticks around long enough, while other people leave he will be promoted. It worked for him I guess. By the time I left he had 8 helpdesk people reporting to him. I beleive i asked him one day how much he makes... he said "above 50k and below 60-70k" don't recall now. There are different reasons people do Helpdesk.
To tell you the truth i wouldn't mind being a helpdesk manager, at least I could teach people to do the right thing and then tell them to get out and get new blood in for training.

N2IT

@ TheFORCE

Did that, managed 25 help desk employees. It was brutal, people don't care enough about those positions (for the most part).

I enjoyed designing the service desk, but dealing with the petty issues day in and day out was rough.

I found that working on other teams people were generally more professional. I.E. Infrastructure, analytics, project management

@Iamtheone

Some people don't have the technical aptitude to go higher than level 1 or 2 help desk either. I managed these folks, I've seen them cry because they couldn't grasp concepts, ones that are consider very easy on this forum. I don't believe in the peter principal completely but I do believe we all have a ceiling of incompetence. (Some are higher than others).

TheFORCE

N2IT wrote: »

@ TheFORCE

Did that, managed 25 help desk employees. It was brutal, people don't care enough about those positions (for the most part).

I enjoyed designing the service desk, but dealing with the petty issues day in and day out was rough.

I found that working on other teams people were generally more professional. I.E. Infrastructure, analytics, project management

Yeah i know what you mean. The other teams you mention are more structured because they have the right amount of people with the right knowledge and they put that together. Through my years so far, i've noticed that Helpdesk is very chaotic and you are right, people do not care or they do not put the effort in. That is because, again, most people consider the Helpdesk position as a stepping stone, this might lead into issues down the road though.
What you need on the Helpdesk are good managers, good service desk, good processes and good Helpdesk people, that is a tough combination to achieve though so naturally a lot of people are very frustrated with the Helpdesk job. It's a vicious circle i guess.

markulous

ImThe0ne wrote: »

I was on a large corporate helpdesk for around 8 months before getting offered a SysAdmin job, I would say more than 75% of the 20+ person team had all been there 5+ years (thats about 4 years longer than they should've been there), with 5 of them being there for 15+ years. I think "Career Helpdesk" happens more than most people think, some people don't have the aspirations of climbing ladders. Like mentioned above, people get complacent and comfortable, so they never leave. It's easy for them to show up to work everyday, mindlessly do the same thing they have done for years, bring home decent money for never having to do anything they had to think about.

And thats not to discredit anyone, that's just my 2 cents. If you have the mindset to stay on a helpdesk that long, kudos to you, it is something I could have never done.

Agreed. Probably the majority of people around me at the help desk seems to be content with their station. Most of them aren't getting certs either. If they do, it's the occasional CompTIA or MTA. I personally don't get that mindset, but to each their own. If I'm not learning about something else on the side and trying to further my career, then I should be close to retirement.

networker050184

LeBroke wrote: »

To be fair, it's a really biased forum. I have a few friends who would kill for a decent helpdesk job. Think about it - get paid $50k to answer some emails and occasionally talk on the phone to a stupid person. Certainly beats killing yourself for half that working at the kitchen.

Yep I have to agree about the bias here. TechExams is not representative of the average IT worker. This place is full of the people actually interested in technology, or at least interested in advancing their career. Most people you run into in the real world don't fall into that category. Help desk is just fine for some people. They don't have the want to further their knowledge in the technology sector, or just aren't tied up in the whole career advancement thing. I don't get it, but hey if that's your thing whatever.

successrealm

No, I wouldn't make a career in the Help Desk. I would rather shoot myself in the face, repeatedly...

End users are the LAST thing I want to deal with in IT, and for those of you that have to deal with hearing, 'my mouse is broken', 'I can't adjust my settings on blaaah blaaaah blaaaaah' then I commend you. You are a better person that I am!

If I had to deal with call after call and ticket after ticket of such idiocy, I would reach through the phone and choke-slam numerous people. There is no amount of money or bennies that would ever get me back to doing that. YMMV, but did I mention I would shoot myself in the face repeatedly?

Life is too precious. Jesus, I get nauseated just thinking about it.

/Rant over

scaredoftests

Been there..done that. Nope.

markulous

I personally don't see the frustration dealing with end users. Yes, there are exceptions and there are some rude people, but otherwise I don't personally mind that part. The majority of them are just regular people that don't give me any grief when I'm just trying to help them. But I'm also pretty patient when it comes to things too.