Help desk advice

annsmith

Hey guys, just looking for career advice here. I've been working as an IT support for almost 5 yrs and I specialize in AVAYA platform, I was part of the Telecom Team, a division of the IT department. I just recently moved to hawaii and I don't find any company that hires an avaya support, I am thinking of applying as a help desk support, I'm an ITIL and CompTIA A+ certified, will that work? I had an interview 2 weeks ago and I haven't heard anything from them (the post is still open), my worries are that I don't have a help desk experience and english is not my first language, its dragging my confidence level. Any advice in getting an IT entry level post here in hawaii? I would really appreciate it.
thank you.

Russ5813

You have the experience and the certs, which makes you a competitive applicant for helpdesk. If you're having trouble finding/landing a job, you might not be doing a well enough job communicating your skills to potential employers. I don't say this because English is your second language; I say this because there are tons of native English speakers who have the same problem every day. Identify the desired knowledge/skills/abilities in the job posting, then talk about them in your resume. Have someone review your resume to check for errors and point out areas that may need improvement. Also consider working on your interviewing skills. Look up some common interview questions, write them down, and practice how you would respond to them. Brush up on some technical questions, too, if you feel that you may be weak in some areas.

Best of luck!

Quick edit: Towards the end of the interview, be sure to ask when you can expect to hear from them. So if they tell you that you should hear back in two weeks, but don't, follow up with an email or letter to let them know you're still interested in the position. It doesn't hurt to put yourself back on their radar.

annsmith

You're right, I feel like after the interview I wasn't able to highlight my skills and what I can offer.
Also my nerve got me, I know there shouldn't be any excuses so I have to improve myself.
Okay, I'll have someone review my resume to check for errors. I'll research on how to improve my interviewing skills and identify my weak areas. I'll practice.
I also bought a book in amazon about how to improve your English to help with my writing and speaking and should arrive next week.


I'll be sure to ask when I can expect to hear from them every after the interview. I didn't ask that question and I hope that didn't give them the impression that I am not interested or anything like that, because I wasn't sure if that was okay. I will also follow up with them tomorrow.


Thanks much Russ5813! These are really helpful.