Am I Being Unreasonable?

The Silent Assassin

So, I have been doing Service Desk work for 5 years and it is time for me to move on. Honestly, it was time to move on 3 years ago but that is another discussion for another time. Anyway, I have placed my resume out there on the usual sites CareerBuilder, Monster, Dice and Indeed. When I am contacted by recruiters it is for the same thing I am doing now, which is primary phone support. I have started telling recruiters that if my primary role is going to be phone support I am not interested. My goal is get off the phones for good, is it wrong or unreasonable to set such a requirement for the next stop on the IT journey?

I have the CompTIA trio and CCNA:S.

cyberguypr

Perfectly fine and long overdue.

networker050184

Agreed, perfectly fine. As we all know experience is king in IT. Recruiters are looking for experienced people to fill roles. You have the phone experience so you're the perfect person for them to call. Just say thanks but no thanks and see if they have something else.

beads

TSA;

Quite understandable. After decades of tech time, paid experience and throw in a certification or two over the years, I too am still annoyed with calls asking me to look at a phone support position. Help desk? Really? Here's what I currently make.... Hello? Hey! You still there? Hel-llloooo! OK, bye!

Yeah often times reach for the next step up can feel like there's a rung missing from one's ladder.

- b/eads

cyberguypr

^ yup! I am fond of my desktop support years but getting those emails/calls for Windows 7 upgrade projects for $10 an hour insult my intelligence.

alias454

Yup, can make more working as a cashier at Mobil

Danielm7

Agree with everyone else, the recruiter responses make perfect sense. If all your experience points to phone support, and they need to fill phone support, they are going to call you first. But yes, it's time for you to move forward assuming you've got the skills to do so.

bpenn

Dear lord, are you me? I am in the exact same boat and I am having a hard time progressing my career. Besides certs and experience, do you have a degree? How is the job market around your area? What are some technologies you want to progress to from here? I chose my path and I plan to graduate with a degree next year because there are more people than jobs available here. Gotta have every advantage over the competition as possible.

Ukimokia

I was just in a similar position (kinda still am), I've been doing help desk for about 2 years now and I'm done with it. I put my resume out there on all those same sites and just kept getting a bunch of calls for help desk positions. Then just recently got a call for desk side/field services support. It's a step up in pay and off the phones for the most part. Just gotta keep looking. With your certs and some general IT experience you should be able to get a NOC type position.

BradleyHU

i think part of your(and others) problem is that you're waiting for recruiters to hit you up, instead of you looking up direct companies to hit up. Remember, recruiters are trying to fill the roles they have been contracted to, and if your current job & skill set fits thats, they'll always call you. Thats why I don't rely on recruiters to look for me, I do that on my own. Even the 2 or 3 recruiters I have a good rapport with, i still don't rely on them to do that. Always look out for yourself in the job hunt, because you know exactly what you want....

eten

Are you tired of 'service desk' duties or being on on phone? Our level 1 noc guys guys spend a lot of time on on phone; whether it be confirming power, talking to the provider or taking a the customer to understand the issue.