Resume - Tier 1, 2 and 3 support.

kevozz

I'm working on my resume and would like to get your opinions on your experience with Tier 1, 2 and 3 levels of support. What would you catagorize as each level for Desk Side, Help Desk, and Networking issues from your experience.

Thanks.

paintb4707

I think it really depends on the help desk honestly. Tier 3 support could be considered Tier 1 support at a different company with the same duties. For example, you have Microsoft tech support agents supporting Exchange at a Tier 1 level. Supporting Exchange at another company may be considered Tier 2 or 3. Really boils down to what tier THEY consider you as. If the company you were employed at didn't have any tiers at all, I think it would be hard to say.

Not to mention, it probably wouldn't be smart going around claiming you worked for so&so company as a Tier 2 agent just because you felt the duties were equivalent to it when you were really employed as a Tier 1.

kevozz

That's why i'm asking for peoples opinion/experience for what they have done for each level. Many of the job postings i'm applying for list Tier 1, 2 or 3 support for the requirements, and very little information of what they expect for that specific Tier. I would need to give examples when this came up in an interview (which it has previously) and/or resume. Regardless of how a company classifies you, certain tasks will most always be associated with a certain tier across the board. A little common sense goes a long way in matching ability to the level of support and examples would be extremely helpful if ones skill set is different or unique. That's a good point regarding what is considered Tier 1 and one company could be Tier 2 or 3 at another. I'm hoping to avoid any misrepresentation.


Where i work now, i handle anything that come my way. They advertise for any support call, you will receive a minimum of Tier 2 support knowledge regardless of the issue. I assist customers with troubleshooting 2-16 screen systems, personal computers and servers, networking, card and driver installation, virus and malware removal, ect... I'm not sure how to catagorize some of this. I want to give the best answer possible and not stumble when asked questions in an interview.


I almost always tailor my resume to the job posting. Getting others perspective on this issue will help greatly.

Thanks!

bighornsheep

If the department follows ITIL best practices, Tier 1 typically involves information capture and records logging; Tier 2 will involve some troubleshooting and typically deal with bigger problems affecting more than just a few users, they provide more immediate solutions; Tier 3 is engaged for severe problems that affect many users or they are working to provide a permanent solution to replace a workaround.

like paintb4707 said, every company is different and ITIL or other frameworks are simply a guideline, but if you follow some kind of a script and do not think individually that much, you're probably on a low tier, whereas if there is alot of individual thinking and problem solving, you are probably on a higher tier.

blargoe

I think of tier 1 as a call center type of job. Tier one is pretty much always going to involve the phones. It may or may not involve other duties.

Can't speak to the other two beyond what others have said.

Daniel333

They are right on with the ITIL as far as an enterprise support model! Do a search for "The Art of Service" on itunes if you want to learn a bit more on ITIL.

Ultimately ITIL is a great idea but doesn't cut it in some environments.

Say your company supports networks, you might just break it down in terms of certification level.
Tier 1 - CCNA
Tier 2 - CCNP
Tier 3 - Specialized in things like voice etc...

In smaller companies there is never any such structure. Normally one guy has 3-4 hats he will wear. Desktop support today, Server tomorrow... switches next week and could be hammering away on a visual basic front end for a database next year.

kevozz

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll do some research on ITIL. Our department doesn't follow any guidelines per say, but maybe I can suggest this.