New Desktop Support Job. Expectations?

Hello everyone. I will be starting my new job as a desktop support technician at a fairly large company (over 5,000 employees) in the next few days and I would like to know what sort of job responsibilities, types of issues I will be sure to come across on my first day or in general?
The company I will be working for is a medical company so it would obviously be an office type of environment which is different to what I am normally used to. In my last job I would be mainly fixing desktops, hardware installation, OS installs, computer tech work basically where I normally did not interact with end users as much.

I would like to know what your experiences have been, what I should expect and what it was like on your first day.

Thanks.

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scaredoftests

Every situation is different. I would imagine you'd be in training/orientation the first couple of days. I would also imagine that you would shadow another tech for a few weeks. You'd really get an idea then....

zeitgeist29

If you don't mind me asking, what's your experience level and do you have certifications? I'm working on my CCENT so I'm just curious about what type of positions to aim for. I just applied to 5 jobs that I believe I'm qualified for and don't require much, if any experience, rather just an aptitude to learn technical material.

valenlane85

minmax228 wrote: »

Hello everyone. I will be starting my new job as a desktop support technician at a fairly large company (over 5,000 employees) in the next few days and I would like to know what sort of job responsibilities, types of issues I will be sure to come across on my first day or in general?
The company I will be working for is a medical company so it would obviously be an office type of environment which is different to what I am normally used to. In my last job I would be mainly fixing desktops, hardware installation, OS installs, computer tech work basically where I normally did not interact with end users as much.

I would like to know what your experiences have been, what I should expect and what it was like on your first day.

Thanks.

Not sure what level you'll be touch but if it involves server

1. Password Resets
2. Email Issues
3. This app wont start
4. My PC wont start
5. It says I need a update for this

You'll probably be tier one so expect those issues and when one comes in you cant find a fix for you'll escalate it to next tier. This is were you really want to absorb, if possible see if you can look back on completed tickets and browse through them to learn, that can help a ton!!!

sillymcnasty

Expectations.... everything is probably unplugged, or their caps lock is probably on

ThePawofRizzo

I don't know how you handled the first day on your old job, but make every effort to show yourself the technician that will go the extra mile for users and for your back line IT teams. In a large company that will help you get noticed by customers and by IT staff.

1. When user contacts you with an issue get as much detail as you can, and get that detail into the ticket. Even if you have to quote the user in the ticket describing their issue, the more information you put in that ticket, especially if you are sending it to a back line IT team, the better.

2. Don't get lazy and pass off simple resolutions to the back line. Always look for the simple solutions first. For example, I used to get tickets from our lazy helpdesk techs where someone was having problems sending a SINGLE email to a SINGLE email address outside the company. The helpdesk would forward the ticket to our server team with a note that they thought something might be wrong with the email server. Really? One person keeps getting failed responses sending to a single email address outside? Did you ask them to call that recipient and make sure there wasn't a misspelling in the email address? Our lazy techs would assume the whole email server was effed up, when a single user was having a simple misspelled email address issue.

3. If you keep finding you are walking users through repetitive tasks, consider putting together some documentation for those tasks. Documentation should be simple, clear, and screenshots with arrows help. Docs can take a bit of time to put together on the front end, but can save you lots of time later.

4. For troubleshooting, especially if it is some application or system you run into problems a lot or something you are the "specialist" because you were on a team that helped deploy it, consider also putting together configuration, installation, or troubleshooting docs for the other techs. If the company doesn't have one, put together some type of KB or document library you can share. These docs can be great for newbies that come onboard. The docs can also help you get noticed by other IT staff.

5. If the issue a user is experiencing looks like something you might be able to solve, then try. If you can't solve the issue then add details to the ticket to show what you did to try to solve it. Communicate with the back line team you forward the ticket to that if they find it's something you could have fixed to let you know so you can fix it next time. You will win points if you show other IT staff you can learn, and aren't just passing tickets being lazy.

6. On your first day, start taking notes. I usually get a small spiral and write down anything as I learn it. Then, I'm not "that guy" who keeps asking questions again and again about stuff I've already been told several times.

7. Use Google, and learn to use it well.

8. Keep certifying.

9. And at some point you're probably get a call from an irate customer who is fed up with IT. Honestly, these calls can stink, but if you are patient, try to find out what the real issue is, and really try to solve that irate customer's issue, you can win some good points.

10. Don't give out a personal office or cell number to any customers if you don't have to. If you solve their problems they will call that number rather than going through the official helpdesk.

minmax228

scaredoftests wrote: »

Every situation is different. I would imagine you'd be in training/orientation the first couple of days. I would also imagine that you would shadow another tech for a few weeks. You'd really get an idea then....

Sure. I don't have certifications. I do have a Bachelors in IT and I have a year and a half experience as a computer technician at a very small company. I was expecting a lot of technical questions for my interview, but I came to find out that most of the questions were focused more on the custmoers and my past experiences in dealing with difficult customer service situations. Although I mainly worked repairing computers in a warehouse type environment, I occasionally interacted with customers so I used those experiences for my answers.
You're on the right track, though. Of course you need the technical knowledge, but keep in mind that there will be customer service type questions asked of you.

minmax228

valenlane85 wrote: »

Not sure what level you'll be touch but if it involves server

1. Password Resets
2. Email Issues
3. This app wont start
4. My PC wont start
5. It says I need a update for this

You'll probably be tier one so expect those issues and when one comes in you cant find a fix for you'll escalate it to next tier. This is were you really want to absorb, if possible see if you can look back on completed tickets and browse through them to learn, that can help a ton!!!

That's great information! Basically, I would be in charge of a single floor for an office building. They told me I wouldn't have a desk to work from and instead I would basically just setup shop anywhere I can find a spot to work from. So I would imagine I will be jumping from person to person and help them with issues like the ones you mentioned.
Good tip on service tickets. I will definitely keep that one in mind.

Thank you for your input!