Looking for Helpdesk Position

Panther

ReonBalisty wrote: »

I have been searching in the area I am in for the last year and a handful of months, and I have had 100+ applications sent out within a 20 mile radius and I have had 40+ interviews where I have been passed up for other people with their bachelors or Net+ certification. As I am making my 3rd attempt for my Network+ (I scored 700 on the second attempt), I am really trying to find something in the field for the experience in my resume. I am kindly asking if anyone knows of anything within the Northern California Area of Chico that has openings or will for this type of position.

I have had great interviews, and then get the "thank you for trying" email/letter/phone call. It is a great demoralizing factor in the job hunt, I just want to see if anyone has anything for entry level IT.

Thank you all for your time.

What's the experience in you resume? Is that IT experience? What area?

Edit: I see it now ...
"My hands-on EXP is 17-18 years of working with workstation/SOHO systems as a freelance troubleshooting break-fix tech."

Panther

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

The resume is landing you the interviews, but you're not able to close the deal. This is happening to me too. I'm a tad past entry level.

I would say visit your local Work Force Center and mention the issue with the interviews. The Workforce Center should be able to give you some advice regarding the interviews..

Also, see if the workforce center or your school can schedule a mock interview with you, at least this way you might be able to figure out what you your interview weaknesses are.

My questions:

Do you have a college degree? AAS or BA

Have you looked at volunteer IT potions?

Have you worked with any IT recruiters?

Have you done any mock interviews?

Do you send email and surface mail thank you cards after the interview?

Please look over this document as it has helped me in the past:

Preparing for the Job Interview


http://mikenation.net/files/Preparing_for_the_Job_Interview.pdf


Good Luck!!

Adding:
Are you willing take a pay cut?

I'm in a similar boat. Though, have many years in the private world. Recently joined the job market. Gettin a few phone interviews, but nothing further. Granted, I'm fresh in the job market. I hope not to be in it too long, but I don't know.

I don't have any kids. I think I'm willing to take a pay cut to get back working asap, and also to compete with people are who will work for less.

Daneil3144

ReonBalisty wrote: »

I am very confident going into interviews, I mention my schooling through University of Phoenix (Which I got my AA in IT Sec this last January).

Maybe you shouldn't be 'very confident' when you mention your AA. The bachelor degree is the equivalent of a high school diploma, nowadays.

ReonBalisty wrote: »

My hands-on EXP is 17-18 years of working with workstation/SOHO systems as a freelance troubleshooting break-fix tech.
.

So, that puts you at an age close to 40? Maybe you are experiencing ageism. Your supervisor may very well, be younger than you.

ReonBalisty wrote: »

So I inquire what they are paying for the position, and I glorify my question with the fact I have 3 other dependents that require that I make money doing something.

Never mention pay? Why? What purpose does it serve, since you aren't getting offers?!

Never mention family/kids. Some employers may feel you're more prone to call out to take care of the kids/family.

Panther

Daneil3144 wrote: »

Maybe you shouldn't be 'very confident' when you mention your AA. The bachelor degree is the equivalent of a high school diploma, nowadays.



So, that puts you at an age close to 40? Maybe you are experiencing ageism. Your supervisor may very well, be younger than you.



Never mention pay? Why? What purpose does it serve, since you aren't getting offers?!

Never mention family/kids. Some employers may feel you're more prone to call out to take care of the kids/family.

Great point. I believe it's illegal for employers to ask if you have family/kids, during an interview. Thus OP, don't volunteer that info.

They can figure your age too, without directly asking. For example, if topics of when you graduated comes up.

Unfortunately, I think with the internet, employers nowadays have an easier time to find your age and family/kids status.

NetworkingStudent

Panther wrote: »

Adding:
Are you willing take a pay cut?

I'm in a similar boat. Though, have many years in the private world. Recently joined the job market. Gettin a few phone interviews, but nothing further. Granted, I'm fresh in the job market. I hope not to be in it too long, but I don't know.

I don't have any kids. I think I'm willing to take a pay cut to get back working asap, and also to compete with people are who will work for less.

good point

OP will need to take a pay cut. Typically, the first job out of school is help desk. You will need to research what the typical pay is in your state for help desk. Is it 10-15 an hour? 10-12 an hour? is it 15-20 an hour.....ect.

Someone mentioned a mock interview, I agree. Can the OP go to the unemployment office and do some mock interviews?

ReonBalisty

Ageism, wouldn't think that as a 28yo male would constitute me as "old." (As a 10 year old I enjoyed working on my 98SE doing reinstalls via floppy disc and CD). Taking a drastic pay cut as you folks put it, at 10-12 an hour I can barely pay for my rent let alone utilities, other expenses and what not that revolve around my kids.

I more recently did an interview with a company as IT for a Programming QA business. I found out that the job itself is not like helpdesk at all. The job posting itself states 30-35k annually (where as in, I make 34k a year where I sit). And with my "basic" skillset, I would be seeing the bottom of that scale more than the higher end. And from what I gathered from the Interview, the job was more like that of an IT Systems Admin rather than that of a starter/helpdesk(which was what the job posting itself promoted). One of the perks, and I kid you not, was a "game room" (this "hr" person stated this 3 times in the interview), but no mention of real benefits, 401k/vision/dental/health insurance (stuff I already have at my current employ).

The pay seemed low compared to a more recent staffing firm offer that is attempting to get me on board with the local hospital as Helpdesk(21.85hrly FT).

I have a feeling if I take the first job as IT in the QA firm that I would be offered the hospital job and would have to take it due to the exponential pay increase and benefits.

As now that I have the Network + in hand, I am getting more interviews than I did with just the AA and the A+ combined.

Panther

ReonBalisty wrote: »

Ageism, wouldn't think that as a 28yo male would constitute me as "old." (As a 10 year old I enjoyed working on my 98SE doing reinstalls via floppy disc and CD). Taking a drastic pay cut as you folks put it, at 10-12 an hour I can barely pay for my rent let alone utilities, other expenses and what not that revolve around my kids.

I more recently did an interview with a company as IT for a Programming QA business. I found out that the job itself is not like helpdesk at all. The job posting itself states 30-35k annually (where as in, I make 34k a year where I sit). And with my "basic" skillset, I would be seeing the bottom of that scale more than the higher end. And from what I gathered from the Interview, the job was more like that of an IT Systems Admin rather than that of a starter/helpdesk(which was what the job posting itself promoted). One of the perks, and I kid you not, was a "game room" (this "hr" person stated this 3 times in the interview), but no mention of real benefits, 401k/vision/dental/health insurance (stuff I already have at my current employ).

The pay seemed low compared to a more recent staffing firm offer that is attempting to get me on board with the local hospital as Helpdesk(21.85hrly FT).

I have a feeling if I take the first job as IT in the QA firm that I would be offered the hospital job and would have to take it due to the exponential pay increase and benefits.

As now that I have the Network + in hand, I am getting more interviews than I did with just the AA and the A+ combined.

I think a benefit of speaking with a counselor at the local unemployment office (aka Career Center, Work Force, Work Source) is staying the right frame of mind, in the midst of your job search.

For example, the pay is low (because it doesn't pay the bills). Don't let them know this. Don't object. Be agreeing. The goal is, see if you can get them to make you an offer to hire you. Basically, you get to decide (later) If you will accept the job. Not them rejecting you because they sense that you think the pay is too low.

That's just one example. I think it'll apply for other topics too besides just pay.

So, staying the right frame of mind, you can nip things that might be off putting and not get you to the next steps. I'm practicing this mindset myself.

knownhero

All I do before an interview is research the company. Then I walk in and just be myself. I feel like I under prepare, though it gets easier when you're interviewing for a specialist area in IT rather than HD.

Pseudonym

I'm going to agree with some of the other guys in here. Maybe you shouldn't be 'too confident'. This is a helpdesk job after all. If you're that technically gifted and have so much experience, then why are you applying for a 'lowly' helpdesk job?

A little humility goes a long way in these situations. You need to convince them you're going to be a good employee. One that doesn't think he's above the job offered.

Maybe I'm completely wrong, it's just the way it came across is all.

NetworkingStudent

The best interviews I have had were ones that were more of a conversation vs a traditional interview: employer tells you about the job, asks you questions, and then asks if you have any questions for them.

ReonBalisty

Pseudonym wrote: »

I'm going to agree with some of the other guys in here. Maybe you shouldn't be 'too confident'. This is a helpdesk job after all. If you're that technically gifted and have so much experience, then why are you applying for a 'lowly' helpdesk job?

A little humility goes a long way in these situations. You need to convince them you're going to be a good employee. One that doesn't think he's above the job offered.

As someone who has zero exp in the enterprise portion of the field (Except for educational environments) the only option is to start ground floor. I have had 2 interviews with a school district and been offering amazing pay, but wasn't chosen due to lack of EXP with enterprise environments or that someone had that BS in IT (which I am attempting now).

It is a demoralizing thing to have to keep interviewing and having them get you in the door, ask questions, then tell you that you are lacking in the exp they weren't looking for when they posted their ads.

NetworkingStudent

ReonBalisty wrote: »

As someone who has zero exp in the enterprise portion of the field (Except for educational environments) the only option is to start ground floor. I have had 2 interviews with a school district and been offering amazing pay, but wasn't chosen due to lack of EXP with enterprise environments or that someone had that BS in IT (which I am attempting now).

It is a demoralizing thing to have to keep interviewing and having them get you in the door, ask questions, then tell you that you are lacking in the exp they weren't looking for when they posted their ads.

It took me three years to find an IT job once I finished college. Yes, three years!! You will question why you choose IT? Why change jobs/careers..? Trust me I questioned these often daily when I was looking for my first IT job. It's really hard to find someone that will give you a chance.

I was in the same boat as you, except I didn't have kids. Keep applying, stay positive, and you will find something!!

These you tube channels I listed below have some good advice, maybe you can check them out and see if they help you? I know they helped me.

PC Simplest
https://www.youtube.com/user/PCSimplest

Oregon Jobs
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2dozBUwa7w5x9toZDjJhyg

Information Technology Q & A Show
https://www.youtube.com/user/partnerwithwilliam

Du'An Lightfoot
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeXMAP0cZ-VZ0VHX9ZV2Abw


God bless. I know you will find an IT job!!!

LarryTR

As far as clothing...

Be careful about wearing full suits to interviews. It depends on the company. If the company is a laid-back company that lets employees dress like gutter-bums during work hours, you will come across as a tight-a$$ square and therefore "not a good fit".

Unless you know for sure a company expects interviewees to wear a suit/business-proper attire, dress slacks and nice shirt and tie might be the safest bet. With some companies you may be better off with business-casual attire (nice polo instead of shir/tie), but it's so hard to tell. That's why I stick with nice shirt/slacks/tie but no jacket unless I know for sure the jacket will be expected.

But be clean, neat, well-groomed, regardless of what you wear.

EANx

For a normal IT job in a normal city, I'd go a bit different, Dockers, leather shoes, sport-coat and dress shirt but no tie. But I don't think a manager is going to gig you points for either. Look neat and professional but in the IT world, do a tie or a coat but not both.

Bjcheung77

ReonBalisty wrote: »

As someone who has zero exp in the enterprise portion of the field (Except for educational environments) the only option is to start ground floor. I have had 2 interviews with a school district and been offering amazing pay, but wasn't chosen due to lack of EXP with enterprise environments or that someone had that BS in IT (which I am attempting now).

It is a demoralizing thing to have to keep interviewing and having them get you in the door, ask questions, then tell you that you are lacking in the exp they weren't looking for when they posted their ads.

It's been about 3 months, have you been offered a position? Which BS IT are you going for, have you been admitted and taking those courses while looking for a better paying position? I hope everything is working well for you... if not, keep pushing foward.

There are three things you should look at. 1) Completing that degree while working or looking for another position.

2) Continue with your certifications, since you have an AA in IT from UofP and CompTIA certs, continue on with those vendor neutral certs from CompTIA and then find a specialization of your choice (CCNA or MS, etc).

3) Experience, since you're already working in a similar position as Help Desk or Entry Level IT, why not ask the company you're at to allow you or put you into Temp Assignments in other divisions/departments?

LarryTR

Companies and organizations post ads for (and give interviews for) jobs that they know they are going to fill internally. They do this to cover their a$$es for the wrath of the EEOC. So they post ads, waste job-seekers' time with interviews and have no intention of hiring any outside job-seekers for that position. This is coming from the mouths of a few HR people have known over the years.

I have had interviews that were over 2 hours long. Everything seemed to go GREAT. They would tell/show me things about the job that no one would be told/shown unless they thought they were going to hire you. I would leave feeling like I had it in the bag! But a few days later they would notify me that I did not get the position because they hired from within. They knew they were going to hire from within the day they posted the ad!

This is life in America. The good thing is it gives you experience with interviews and there's always a possibility that the company might call you at a later date for another similar position. But it's still aggravating and it's really a waste of time and money for everyone involved. But that's the way it is in a litigious society like the USA. Lots of wasted time and money all done out of fear.

N7Valiant

ITSpectre wrote: »

I treat finding a job like trying to start a relationship with a Woman....
Call and send your info to them....
Then they respond.
If you call too much you scare them off. If you contact too much you will scare them off. I live by that rule. There are times where the job will just never reply and that's ok. But just like in getting to know a Woman.... a job will contact you if they want you. The same way a woman will contact you if she wants to chat and get to know you.

Lol!

Truth of life isn't it? I always look back and wonder if I ever went into creepy stalker territory, or at least gave that impression.

N7Valiant

LarryTR wrote: »

Companies and organizations post ads for (and give interviews for) jobs that they know they are going to fill internally. They do this to cover their a$$es for the wrath of the EEOC. So they post ads, waste job-seekers' time with interviews and have no intention of hiring any outside job-seekers for that position. This is coming from the mouths of a few HR people have known over the years.

I have had interviews that were over 2 hours long. Everything seemed to go GREAT. They would tell/show me things about the job that no one would be told/shown unless they thought they were going to hire you. I would leave feeling like I had it in the bag! But a few days later they would notify me that I did not get the position because they hired from within. They knew they were going to hire from within the day they posted the ad!

This is life in America. The good thing is it gives you experience with interviews and there's always a possibility that the company might call you at a later date for another similar position. But it's still aggravating and it's really a waste of time and money for everyone involved. But that's the way it is in a litigious society like the USA. Lots of wasted time and money all done out of fear.

True, but I think it generally helps if you go into it assuming that 99% of your interviews are going to be a complete waste of time, other than the practice you'll get.

LarryTR

Problem is, I never knew this until about 5 or 6 years ago. So it's REALLY demoralizing when you have a REALLY good interview that takes up 2 or more hours, just to find out they hired from within. But not knowing that was their plan all along, it makes you wonder if you actually know what a "good interview" is.

None of this is necessary. A company should not have to waste it's time ore money nor the time and money of others. I bet most people don't know what I found out 5 or 6 years ago. I hope many newbies read this post so at least they go into it armed with the knowledge of how this all works. Otherwise, they get massively demoralized and depressed...like I did before I was privy to this knowledge.

Anyway, I digress. I just hope as many people as possible read my post so they understand that just because you didn't get a job, it doesn't mean you are worthless. It could VERY LIKELY mean you are being played by a system that forces employers to play you.

N7Valiant

I think most people, even if they don't know what the internal politics are like, will understand that most interviews aren't going to necessarily result in a hire unless their qualifications are stupid impressive. I don't think this knowledge really changes what you have to do to be honest. If I did 50 interviews and didn't land a single job... should I just lie there and die? Join the homeless population? Or do I keep going and hopefully do a little better than the last time?

Being depressed and demoralized are natural human responses of course, but the logical part of your brain should tell you that neither of them will do anything to help with your situation. At the end of the day, you still need to schedule the next interview.

LarryTR

That's true. I guess what pisses me off about it is that it's totally unnecessary. Companies only do this BS because they are afraid of a govt organization and l-a-w-y-e-r-s. Companies shouldn't be scared into creating expensive and unneeded hoops for them and job seekers to jump through. That's where my gripe is.

N7Valiant

LarryTR wrote: »

That's true. I guess what pisses me off about it is that it's totally unnecessary. Companies only do this BS because they are afraid of a govt organization and l-a-w-y-e-r-s. Companies shouldn't be scared into creating expensive and unneeded hoops for them and job seekers to jump through. That's where my gripe is.

What you describe is what I believe to be the main motivation behind why so many companies require a Bachelor's Degree as a filter to hiring even when the position in question relies more on hands-on skill as opposed to a piece of paper saying you showed up to class for 4 years.

But again, can't change the system. We can only roll with it.

ReonBalisty

Bjcheung77 wrote: »

It's been about 3 months, have you been offered a position? Which BS IT are you going for, have you been admitted and taking those courses while looking for a better paying position? I hope everything is working well for you... if not, keep pushing foward.

There are three things you should look at. 1) Completing that degree while working or looking for another position.

2) Continue with your certifications, since you have an AA in IT from UofP and CompTIA certs, continue on with those vendor neutral certs from CompTIA and then find a specialization of your choice (CCNA or MS, etc).

3) Experience, since you're already working in a similar position as Help Desk or Entry Level IT, why not ask the company you're at to allow you or put you into Temp Assignments in other divisions/departments?

I have not been offered anything yet, and since I posted this back in August, I have had a total of 4 Interviews, and in which none of them have panned out. I have now attained my Network + Certification and my Security + Certification. Currently studying for the Linux + 103. I have a potential job on the plate at this moment with a local school district for "PC Technician". And I have spoken to a few of the techs there outside of the hiring process and it seems that they are "struggling" so hopefully I have a shot.
Problem with this school district is that they have a vetting process that is just insane. In this order, a Written Exam, an Oral Exam, then merit points based on those two together, and then ranked with the rest of the hiring pool. Then from there they bring in 3 individuals from the top of the list, and then interview them. Good part is that if you are on said list, you are good not to do that process for 6 months time, so if the job opens up again, they go down the ranking list and find a potential candidate.

ReonBalisty

Update:
I have had 2 interviews this year and in which was told within 24 hours that I did not make the "oral review" cut for the interview itself, was a local government job in a court house for IT tier 1,
The second job interview I had this year was with a local school district and so far it was great, passed the pre-lims as 4th place (rank), and I was excited to get the interview for the position. It has been a few weeks, just waiting for a phone call for a decision.
The school district has 4 openings,
1 F/T IT PC technician/ AV for events
3 P/T 30 hours a week for 6 months for deployment of Chrome books to middle-schoolers, with a possibility of one of the three being kept for a permanent position once the 6 months are up.
Passed my Linux 103, working on the 104 before the end of the month of FEB 2018, and then starting march, CCENT.

Daneil3144

ReonBalisty wrote: »

Update:
I have had 2 interviews this year and in which was told within 24 hours that I did not make the "oral review" cut for the interview itself, was a local government job in a court house for IT tier 1,
The second job interview I had this year was with a local school district and so far it was great, passed the pre-lims as 4th place (rank), and I was excited to get the interview for the position. It has been a few weeks, just waiting for a phone call for a decision.
The school district has 4 openings,
1 F/T IT PC technician/ AV for events
3 P/T 30 hours a week for 6 months for deployment of Chrome books to middle-schoolers, with a possibility of one of the three being kept for a permanent position once the 6 months are up.
Passed my Linux 103, working on the 104 before the end of the month of FEB 2018, and then starting march, CCENT.

You have a lot of CERTs for not having an IT Job.

Based on me lurking in the forums - you might eventually hurt yourself - all these certs and no job experience. Run the risk of being overqualified.

dizzy_kitty

Daneil3144 wrote: »

You have a lot of CERTs for not having an IT Job.

Based on me lurking in the forums - you might eventually hurt yourself - all these certs and no job experience. Run the risk of being overqualified.

Don't know if I agree with that since they're all entry level certs.

N7Valiant

Daneil3144 wrote: »

You have a lot of CERTs for not having an IT Job.

Based on me lurking in the forums - you might eventually hurt yourself - all these certs and no job experience. Run the risk of being overqualified.

Unless you have a Master's Degree while seeking an entry-level job, I doubt there's such a thing as being overqualified.

McxRisley

I agree with others here, the problem has to be with your interviewing skills/technical knowledge. I feel your pain in landing that first IT job. It took me over a year to land my first IT job, I had to take an unpaid internship for 8 months to build up the technical skills and knowledge to help me get over that final hump in the interview process.

Now as for asking about salary in an interview. I would not recommend asking about salary in an interview for my first entry-level job BUT with my current experience, I always talk salary in the initial interview. That way me and the potential employer are on the same page and we don't waste each others time. I can get away with this though because of my background and previous work experience. I wouldn't advise everyone to do this but for some of us here, we can get away with it. Hell half of the time the employer asked me what I was looking to make (they did this for my current role as a team lead).

ReonBalisty

Update 4/18/2018:

Since my last posting of an update I have had a total of 5 interviews. All of which returned an email, not a call, saying that I did not get the job within 18 hours of the interview.

Spoke with a WGU career person yesterday (4/17/201 about everything that has happened over the last 2-3 years of searching for an IT entry level job. His thoughts were that my resume needed some tidying up, but if it was getting me into the door, "something" else was happening. I have given him all the questions I remember that were odd to ask for entry-level. We did discuss my answers in a mock-interview and he came to the conclusion that it may be the way I am wording certain answers to certain questions and I should just keep the answers fairly simplistic.

"What enterprise experience do you have with Active Directory?"
"What enterprise experience do you have with Citrix?"

Mind you these were asked of my late Feb 2018 in an interview for an "internship" for a local hospital.

My question, and hopefully someone here can answer, Why would you ask such questions during an interview for an Internship knowing the person probably has zero experience other than educational/simulated environment?

NetworkNewb

Kinda sounds like from your last 2 updates it is probably just the soft skills that are hurting you. Talking with confidence and energy, acting personable... Also, really analyze each question they asked you after the interviews and pick apart your answers on where you could improve. Trying to incorporate things in their job ad or qualities you think they want to hear.

Also, for the Active Directory question maybe answer it like "I've replicated a live enterprise AD structure in my lab at home where I've been setting up...." Then going into things you've been working on.