Is it possible to make 50k or 70k doing help desk/desktop support?

Bchen2

In los angeles?

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goatama

You can in Tucson, so I hope to crap you can in LA.

BradleyHU

definitely...

nathandrake

The max pay for a senior desktop tech at my place of employment is a little over 75k a year in Dallas, so yes, it's possible for desktop support in LA to pay that much.

tsimmns

Nathan, any advice on getting in for entry level jobs in Dallas with no experience. Working on Bachelors in MIS or possibly BSBA in CIS from Thomas Edison. Hopefully can be done with one by next year around this time. Wife wants me in Dallas, I'm fine staying in Mississippi but know she will win out in the end.

snokerpoker

Where I work the max for Helpdesk/Desktop support is 50k.

The 60-75k range is more of a mid level Engineer.

thatguyftw

I'd assume it's possible. I've seen a job listing for a tier-2 helpdesk position for $50k - $60k here in Oklahoma City a couple months ago.

Nyblizzard

Don't know about LA but I know people making 85K doing Desktop Support in NYC

causan

Here at the local school district I work at near santa barbara, ca. We "helpdesk technicians" max out at 62k and the "helpedesk lead" max's out at around 90k. Plus we are union so we get great benies.

mackenzae

It also probably depends on experience as well.

bpenn

I make 50k and my job is classified as "Service Desk Technician." 'Course, I do tier 2 desktop support, information assurance and compliance, and I deal with technology that requires a security clearance. This is in northwest Florida.

AnthonyG

I'm over 50k and I'm in South Carolina. I think the range for my position is something along the lines of 53k-75k. We get cost of living raises just about every year.

scaredoftests

I was offered $54K for a Help Desk Engineer job at Ft. Meade, but I had already taken the job I am at now(Jr. Admin/DBA).

Success101

You guys making over $50k doing helpdesk/desktop suport are super lucky. I know Engineers barely making over $60k.

SoCalGuy858

I finished my 2 years as an "IT Systems Administrator" at 57k in Southern California. Despite the title and some sysadmin duties, it was primarily help desk stuff. Not sure where the ceiling is for the position within my company...

BradleyHU

Success101 wrote: »

You guys making over $50k doing helpdesk/desktop suport are super lucky. I know Engineers barely making over $60k.

it depends on what locale you are, what industry the firm is, and how much experience you have...

GreaterNinja

I went from 43k to 52k to 75k to 82k to 115k doing Desktop in Phoenix..in a span of 10 years.
The higher end was a true Desktop Engineer/System Admin: Scripting, packaging, desktop, exec support, conference support, building a hardware independent corporate image, vmware, sysprepping, managing altiris,mbam, mobile iron server.
So 70% desktop/client side & 30% server/scripting & projects for the high end of desktop.

Now as far as making 50k to 70k doing HD/DT: yes its possible...but you gotta be good at it. Believe it or not some people are just not competant or thorough enough to perform these jobs. They require paying attention to detail and FEELINGS...ECK.
Doing Desktop @70k+ is definitely possible.

Keep in mind Helpdesk/Operator is typically regarded as Tier 1 support, aka the ***** role. They get **** on the most of all people.
Desktop is usually regarded Tier 2/Tier 3. You won't make Tier 3 unless you are great at communication and troubleshooting. It typically takes at least 2 years experience. If you can, go for a desktop role. Its much more rewarding.

TheFORCE

Someone in NYC making 90k plus bonus for helpdesk /desktop support been with the company for 14 years.

Bchen2

TheFORCE wrote: »

Someone in NYC making 90k plus bonus for helpdesk /desktop support been with the company for 14 years.

90k for HELP DESK !!!!???

good lord i need to pack my bags and move there

Anonymouse

Yes it depends on where you live. In Silicon Valley I have gone to a few interviews for what I thought were desktop support jobs at $80k per year. Turned out to be helpdesk type work. Cool pay but crappy job. I turned 360 degrees and walked away. You can't pay me enough to do that again.

typfromdaco

Did you turn 360 degrees or 180?

GreaterNinja

typfromdaco wrote: »

Did you turn 360 degrees or 180?

Sounds like he took the job lol.

bpenn

typfromdaco wrote: »

Did you turn 360 degrees or 180?

haha, I am laughing so hard right now.

thatguyftw

Anonymouse wrote: »

Yes it depends on where you live. In Silicon Valley I have gone to a few interviews for what I thought were desktop support jobs at $80k per year. Turned out to be helpdesk type work. Cool pay but crappy job. I turned 360 degrees and walked away. You can't pay me enough to do that again.

Walked away from what? Seems like you walked back to that job. Lol

Anonymouse

LOL! It means I spun in a circle and moonwalked out of there. I wanted to show them I was a bit mentally unstable but not enough to work in a call center answering calls on an ACD again.

Anonymouse

I wanted to add more to the conversation other than my cheesy humor. The high pay in some places for these jobs has to do with cost of living. You might be making $90k but most of that is probably going to rent, mortgage, taxes, etc. Some of the guys I work with are up close to the $80k range it seems but they've been senior desktop support techs for longer than I've been in the workforce. I remember being in a helpdesk thinking how much my pay sucked at like $37k in the SF bay area but I think our desktop guys living out in the cheaper states were probably making close to what I did.

VinnyCisco

Nyblizzard wrote: »

Don't know about LA but I know people making 85K doing Desktop Support in NYC

Doing Desktop Support - I am making 92K at the moment in NYC. Alot involved though. Not for the faint of heart.

thatguyftw

Anonymouse wrote: »

I wanted to add more to the conversation other than my cheesy humor. The high pay in some places for these jobs has to do with cost of living. You might be making $90k but most of that is probably going to rent, mortgage, taxes, etc. Some of the guys I work with are up close to the $80k range it seems but they've been senior desktop support techs for longer than I've been in the workforce. I remember being in a helpdesk thinking how much my pay sucked at like $37k in the SF bay area but I think our desktop guys living out in the cheaper states were probably making close to what I did.

This is true. I'm making $41k doing help desk without any prior experience with anything related to IT--but in Oklahoma. The pay isn't all that great, but the cost of living is pretty cheap.

elusiveprey

I make 51k base and about 60k per year after overtime in South Carolina. Basically, I am the sole IT guy for a local office of a huge company. All servers are managed at a regional data center, so I am just responsible for desk side support. So yeah, I would say it's totally possible to make that kind of money.

Bchen2

Anonymouse wrote: »

I wanted to add more to the conversation other than my cheesy humor. The high pay in some places for these jobs has to do with cost of living. You might be making $90k but most of that is probably going to rent, mortgage, taxes, etc. Some of the guys I work with are up close to the $80k range it seems but they've been senior desktop support techs for longer than I've been in the workforce. I remember being in a helpdesk thinking how much my pay sucked at like $37k in the SF bay area but I think our desktop guys living out in the cheaper states were probably making close to what I did.

Even at 90K i think thats a whole lot of money after taxes rent and cost of living
Unless you want to live a really expensive life you can't afford and are dumb spending then of course no matter how much you make you will most likely be broke

Desktop Support at 90k what skills does that require? Im assuming its either Tier 2 or Tier 3 work

datacomboss

Bchen2 wrote: »

Even at 90K i think thats a whole lot of money after taxes rent and cost of living
Unless you want to live a really expensive life you can't afford and are dumb spending then of course no matter how much you make you will most likely be broke

90K in New York is a LOT less than 84K in D-FW, Houston or Austin. You can buy a really nice house for $250K. That'll get you in the most dangerous neighborhoods in New York and LA.