helpdesk typical day?

briangl

What is a typical day-in-the-life of a helpdesk person like? What sort of issues need to be resolved on a day-to-day basis? What sort of things are common? What issues are less common but come up once in a while?

I have an interview coming up for a helpdesk position and want to be prepared for those types of questions and actually be prepared for the job. Any other advice would be appreciated also.

Thanks.

goforthbmerry

For the interview, try to relax and be confident (not cocky). If this is a first job they may try to assess your personality more than your skills. Remember that no two work envirnonments are the same so they expect to need to teach you some things. Stress a willingness and desire to learn and it will serve you better than trying to act like you know it all. Be prepared to answer questions about your weaknesses. Make them something possitive. I always like "I have a tendency to work on a problem longer than I should before seeking help. If a critical issue arises and I don't know the answer right away, I immediately look for help. But for those problems that aren't immediate, I like to try to figure them out. It is an opportunity to learn. In the end, if I still can't figure it out I will ask someone to show me the answer."

As for a typical day at a help desk, an adequately staffed help desk will be hot or cold. You are either slammed or you surf the web. You will most likely run into the same dozen problems over and over again. To be successful, learn these twelve items cold. From there start branching off your knowledge. This part is pretty industry specific. If there is a data path, learn the general data flow then learn how to break down the individual processes. You may be supporting a specific technology or piece of hardware, I don't know. In any case learn the basics and then expand upon the individual pieces. Sooner than you know you will become the man/woman/dog to go to on a specific area.

Good luck

ally_uk

I worked on a helpdesk for two years and sorry to put you off it does become very frustrating dealing with reptitive problems

The kinda problems you cant expect are

Printer Jams
Mouse and keyboard not working due to being disconnected
help my pc wont turn on issues
configuring O/S to suit users needs
basic Network troubleshooting
basic administration such as password changes
repairing computers hardware / software

That's about it really you spend rest of the time drinking coffee and browsing the internet

The majority of calls can be resolved by the simple can you please restart the machine and call me back response !

Jammywanks

ally_uk wrote:

Printer Jams
Mouse and keyboard not working due to being disconnected
help my pc wont turn on issues
configuring O/S to suit users needs
basic Network troubleshooting
basic administration such as password changes
repairing computers hardware / software

There ya go. This is the extent of helpdesk

caseyg1204

My favorite is actaully "the Internet is broken."

I actually learned a lot on the helpdesk, you will too especially if they allow you to do other things. Two of the companies I worked for call the postion helpdesk, but it was really more desktop support.

If it truly is a call center type helpdesk get used to using the mute button and learn as much as you can so that you can try to get a more hands on position.

Jammywanks

I see.. from my perspective, helpdesk/desktop support I thought were the same thing. You can answer calls on the phone and work remotely to fix issues, and you also need to run down to the other building to pickup a printer, put it on a cart and push the fscker back to the storage room.

oldbarney

In my organization, a typical day consists of:

- New user setups and training.
- Unlocking locked user accounts through AD.
- Troubleshooting inability to login to the wireless because user messed up the client.
- Expired passwords.
- Troubleshooting problems with HUGE .ost files in Outlook2K3.
- Refurbishing older boxes to run simple, diagnostic tasks.
- Troubleshooting network connectivity issues.
- VoIP phone problems.
- Printing problems (very few jams)
- Repairing/upgrading desktops and laptops.
- Making custom CAT-5 cables.
- Little bit of linux admin.
- Troubleshooting/maintaining BlackBerry phones.
- Managing remote RSA SecureIDs.

A SUPER job, although little hectic at times. Wouldn't trade it for any other. Great atmosphere and wonderful co-workers.

amyamandaallen

Jammywanks wrote:

ally_uk wrote:

Printer Jams
Mouse and keyboard not working due to being disconnected
help my pc wont turn on issues
configuring O/S to suit users needs
basic Network troubleshooting
basic administration such as password changes
repairing computers hardware / software

There ya go. This is the extent of helpdesk

You forget when the cheif exec calls you to tell you the cd in their drive is stuck only to find they've stuck the cd in BETWEEN the cd drive and the pc's bay cover

ally_uk

lol yeah that is amusing

althought the funniest thing I ever witness whilst working at a previous job was my IT manager crying because she couldn't over a server cabinet lol and she was gonna repair the server fault hmmmm I don't think so somehow

The best part of the Helpdesk role is bypassing the Proxy and spending your days on ebay always good fun lol

jescab

ally_uk wrote:

lol yeah that is amusing


The best part of the Helpdesk role is bypassing the Proxy and spending your days on ebay always good fun lol

and just how did you do this? LOL

briangl

I have a tendency to work on a problem longer than I should...

I was actually going to use that, it sounds just like me, but it didn't come up.

...you spend rest of the time drinking coffee and browsing the internet

Sounds like the perfect job.

Thanks for all the great answers.

I had the interview, I won't know anything for a few days.

avx

I've been working the Helpdesk for about 2 months now, heres some tips

- become a master with OUTLOOK, hell the whole MS suite if you can.


- Get use to resetting passwords, I reset about 30 - 40 passwords a day, no lie than again we support 20K+ users and have about 10 in-house applications that use passwords.

- Learn to think for the user, learn what to listen to and learn what to ignore from them,sometimes they are helpful and sometimes they will have you try and fix 10 problems at once. learn to focus on just 1 at a time.

- If you can't fix the problem within 2 minutes, remote into their computer, dont waste time. It's a real pain when we get VPN callers tho

- Let the user rant, cause they will. you'll hear " The computer doesn't like me" everyday.

- take control of the call, If you let the user control the situation,a problem that could of taken 10 minutes,will turn into an hour. and management know how long certain problems should take.

-If you have to support in-house applications, waste no more than 5 minutes with it, probably less. send the ticket straight to the team who handles those apps.

- last but not least, 80% of the problems can be fixed with a restart..lol

sprkymrk

avx wrote:

I've been working the Helpdesk for about 2 months now, heres some tips

- become a master with OUTLOOK, hell the whole MS suite if you can.


- Get use to resetting passwords, I reset about 30 - 40 passwords a day, no lie than again we support 20K+ users and have about 10 in-house applications that use passwords.

- Learn to think for the user, learn what to listen to and learn what to ignore from them,sometimes they are helpful and sometimes they will have you try and fix 10 problems at once. learn to focus on just 1 at a time.

- If you can't fix the problem within 2 minutes, remote into their computer, dont waste time. It's a real pain when we get VPN callers tho

- Let the user rant, cause they will. you'll hear " The computer doesn't like me" everyday.

- take control of the call, If you let the user control the situation,a problem that could of taken 10 minutes,will turn into an hour. and management know how long certain problems should take.

-If you have to support in-house applications, waste no more than 5 minutes with it, probably less. send the ticket straight to the team who handles those apps.

- last but not least, 80% of the problems can be fixed with a restart..lol

Dang, it sounds like you've learned a lot in just those 2 months!

When I was working for a medium sized school district in the midwest the IT Director came up with a good plan for bringing new guys up to speed quickly. He figured out that 85% of the trouble calls were one of 7 things (User account issues like forgot p/w, acct locked, caps lock on, etc., can't print, etc.). He trained new hires to quickly recognize these issues and the most common fixes. After about a month the new techs could handle 90% of the calls without a problem. The other 10% were handled by veteran techs until the new hires gradually learned how to fix the more complex and unique trouble calls.

DirtySouth

I've worked various helpdesk/NOC jobs for the last 5+ years. Depending on which tier or company it is, duties will vary. However, there will always be a few things that you will probably do on a consistent daily basis...

Reset Passwords
Unlock AD Accounts
Deal w/ Outlook Issues
Help Users Setup Outlook Personal Folders (Archive)
Clear Cache/Cookies

Then of course theres all sorts of obscure things that will run across.

garv221

briangl wrote:

What is a typical day-in-the-life of a helpdesk person like?

Ring, Ring..."Hello Helpdesk"---"Yes, I spilled kool-aid all over my wall, desk, tray, keyboard, papers, monitor, lap, arm, leg, head, neck, back & my chest and now my left mouse button is sticky"

Just a guess...

sir_creamy_

garv221 wrote:

briangl wrote:

What is a typical day-in-the-life of a helpdesk person like?

Ring, Ring..."Hello Helpdesk"---"Yes, I spilled kool-aid all over my wall, desk, tray, keyboard, papers, monitor, lap, arm, leg, head, neck, back & my chest and now my left mouse button is sticky"

Just a guess...

http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~moose/sysadmin/pricelist.html

It's amazing how much money you can make with help desk work these days

muriloninja

Typical day:

1. Grab a coffee
2. Turn PC on
3. Login to phone system (hunt groups)
4. Ring, Ring, Ring

Popular issues:

1. AD account locked
2. Forgot password (reset in AD)
3. Cannot access Outlook (see 1 or 2)
4. Network down
5. Phones are down
6. Import/Export issues in Excel, Word etc.
7. Unable to send e-mail to particular recipient (inside or outside)
8. I don't know what i'm doing, will you do my job for me
9. "Will you log into my PC and bla bla bla
10. Error messages (Exchange related, Citrix, VPN etc)

Misc: Blackberry & mobile e-mail issues

Humper

briangl wrote:

I have a tendency to work on a problem longer than I should...

I was actually going to use that, it sounds just like me, but it didn't come up.

...you spend rest of the time drinking coffee and browsing the internet

Sounds like the perfect job.

Thanks for all the great answers.

I had the interview, I won't know anything for a few days.

Good luck!!!!

DirtySouth

muriloninja wrote:

Typical day:
8. I don't know what i'm doing, will you do my job for me

LOL...