Helpdesk No Respect?

I work help desk for big company. And i just feel like the help desk gets no respect from any other IT internal groups. I get the vibe going like everyone thinks we just open up tickets and dont know anything techical, and sure thats pretty much we all do here, as its not a technical help desk, we have other IT internal groups for answering tickets... I dont get it either.. But anyways i feel like all the certifications and technical experience i have is being ignored at this position, they actually discourage us here to try to recommend any solutions, they say if u want to go above and beyond just put the answer in the ticket for the right internal IT group to do it.. I just wondering have any other help desk people here feel like they dont get any respect from the other groups like, desktop support level, and sys admins?

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nice343

Held Desk is not respected anywhere thats the reason why you should use this job as a stepping stone. Get an MCSE and move on to another job. MCSE plus some experience should do the trick. When a company likes you in the position that you are in, chances of you being promoted slims down by the day

steve_f

I'm in helpdesk in a large accountancy firm, and I do 1st, 2nd and some 3rd line support.

I feel I only get respect when someone wants something for me, a favour or a fast track solution ahead of other tickets. .

There is a big snobbery in professional services firms, between people that bill their time to clients and those that do internal work only.

Helpdesk is seen in the same way as the cleaners, receptionists, typists etc. (No disrespect to these roles)

It doesn't help that a trainee accountant's salary more or less doubles in their first 3 years, so helpdesk are some of the lowest paid in the firm (althhough I am fairly well paid for the work I do)

It's a fact of life in helpdesk.
Though some of the more senior managers realise the power I have to access anybody's mailbox, anyone's private folders, their internet use, their call history on their blackberrys and respect me for that. They also know I can fix their problems quickly or I can drag my heels, citing more important problems that I need to fix first.

It's generally the junior and middle management that are snobby.

scheistermeister

Hey, at least Help Desk is a notch above "burger-flipper" on the totem pole...

nel

i work on 2nd/3rd line support for a national paper but its treated more like a helpdesk setup and we constantly get treat like crap - from other employee's and our own management!

Like others have said, use it as a stepping stone and get the hell out of there man!

IT Man

Oh how I use to dread the helpdesk days. I didn't mind busting my a$$ but I felt very under appreciated most of the time. Then if you didn't call somebody back in 30 mins, they called the VP of IT to complain about our lack of service, going over two other bosses head. I don't know if all companies are like this, but I worked for a sells company and sells folk tend to be a bit narcissistic. Hang in there man, get the experience, get more certs, then find something in the area you want to go in.

bertieb

scheistermeister wrote:

Hey, at least Help Desk is a notch above "burger-flipper" on the totem pole...

Hehe. Yeah, and it's actually a good few notches higher character wise than 'Parking Attendant'.

To the OP:
As the others have said, use it as a stepping stone and look to move on. I know it probably doesn't seem like it at the moment, but the experiences you are gaining now - and by that I mean the IT techie type skills and the personal ones you'll also be improving - will stand you in very good stead for your career.

Just remember to be a kind and thoughtful soul to the helpdesk folk when you've progressed further up the career ladder

ilcram19-2

sorry man but thats how it is, you need to step it up a lil-bit i never wanted to be one of those guys answearing phones and creating tikets (im not saying is a bad job or any thing bad) i dont have that much patiance specially knowing that im capable of more things you need to get another job, more certs or a BS on something so you can move out of there and get the respect you are looking for otherwise y'll be sitting there opening tickets unless you like your job and i know there is some poeple that do

KGhaleon

I skipped helpdesk and went straight to Desktop support. It's much easier and far less confusing when you can sit down with the customer and sort through their mess. I troubleshoot over telephone or remoting, but only rarely and I tend to avoid it.

Helpdesk doesn't pay bad depending on where you are, and you can always study for certs while you are working it. It helps expand your knowledge and develops your logic skills. Honestly, most IT people aren't well respected.

I work like crazy trying to resolve incidents as quickly as I can, but every so often I come across a situation where I don't have time to visit a user or miss an appointment, then that user feels that you are throwing him aside or don't care about his issue. He'll then go and convince the entire department that the IT guys are useless and everyone will be weary of you.

Almost everyday I find myself dealing with users who received poor service in the past, so they treat you like dirt. Generally fixing their problem shows that you are reliable and they will change their mind about you. Do the same with your helpdesk job...as long as you resolve the customer's problem in a timely manner, then you have nothing to worry about.

TryPingingTheServer

Users assoicate IT with failure because the only time they interact with IT is when there is a problem. So, yeah, help desk gets no respect but it's one of those things that ultimately makes you a stronger person.

remyforbes777

I also think Help Desk is what you make of it. I did help desk for a number of years but I was damn good at it. There were frustrations but you have to take the job for what it's worth, kick ass, expand your knowledge and move on. Talk to some of the sys admins at your job during lunch. I used to do that constantly and they knew who the truly talented ones were and who the knuckleheads were.

Kaminsky

I love helpdesk as I started there myself and I have NEVER forgot the crap I used to have to go through. Whenever I need to talk to the helpdesk now, I always remember those days and realise they are taking a lot of the crap away from me.

Many times though, I have to pull up my peers when they slag off the helpdesk and remind them of where they came from as well.

In my company, I like to get quite chatty with helpdesk staff on MS Communicator and give them careers/job advice occasionally. Helpdesk is not something you should really do longer than 2 years if you wish to progress further. I realise this is the first rung on the ladder and like to encourage the good ones to do better.

We all started somewhere and unfortunately I find many senior guys forget that.

With the users though, don't take it personally. Be on their side and sympathetic in conversation and pass on their urgency (not their insults) without alienating you senior support staff and you will be held in high regard by both.

Tech109

To the OP - sounds like not a very challenging help desk job. I think that's called a support desk instead?

If I were you I would look for at least a real help desk job where you troubleshoot and can resolve your own tickets - you'll get way more experience that way and build confidence with every ticket you resolve that doesn't need to be escalated.

I work for a large company and our help desk people are definitely appreciated by IT (any help desk should AT LEAST be appreciated by the IT staff, if by no one else). They are able to remotely access desktops, push software, etc. so I think it's a fairly rewarding help desk job.

Basically you should be able to do everything necessary to fix a computer, short of replacing hardware, installing software that requires installation media, rejoining to a domain, and fixing issues where you need network connectivity to the client but they don't have it - then you send out the desktop jockeys to mop up.

Otherwise, you knowledge is being wasted. If you work a help desk job that exposes you to this type of work, then you can easily transition to a desktop or better role where you actually get your hands on the equipment.

snadam

in lieu of the title....

but yea it sucks when you have to take that kind of crap day in and day out. On the bright side, it makes you a better worker/person in the long run. You know how to handle the a-holes.

snokerpoker

I work at large e-commerce web development company at the helpdesk. We call it a Network Operations Center(NOC) and its a combo of helpdesk, technical support and sys admin work all bundled up into one. We get treated like total crap from not only internal employees but by management as well. It can be very frustrating but I plan to stick it out, get more certs and build up my experience. There has been some talk of out-sourcing so that makes me even more motivated to get more certs! I'm taking 70-270 on friday!

mamono

TryPingingTheServer wrote:

Users assoicate IT with failure because the only time they interact with IT is when there is a problem. So, yeah, help desk gets no respect but it's one of those things that ultimately makes you a stronger person.

I've worked a combination of help desk and desktop support when I first started. It gets frustrating at times, but that's what escalation policies are for. Pass it on to where it needs to go if it can't be solved at your level. Definitely don't take it personally, that will only hurt you. Build up the certification base and move on.

Networking with peers is important, it opens doors to other areas and sometimes other companies. One of my friends went from IT Manager at a small firm to Help Desk at a large corporation. He traded one stress for another, but had a significant pay increase and some wonderful benefits. (i.e. $3k technology budget per person per year for personal use.) He's about to go Tier 2/3 DB Integration Specialist for Help Desk, at that point he'll only be dealing with professionals in the field rather than general users and with another pay increase.

Best of luck dude.

learningtofly22

TryPingingTheServer wrote:

Users assoicate IT with failure because the only time they interact with IT is when there is a problem. So, yeah, help desk gets no respect but it's one of those things that ultimately makes you a stronger person.

We used to have a saying that hung outside the door to the Radio(communications) room on my ship that sums this whole thread up:

"You can talk about us, but you can't talk without us".

Plain and simple.

Kaminsky

TryPingingTheServer wrote:

Users assoicate IT with failure because the only time they interact with IT is when there is a problem.

I once got an email out of the blue from a user just to say that everything was working fine.

Sarcastic cow !

jamesp1983

I worked as a network systems admin at a pharma edc company and I got no respect. I was just labeled as a computer guy and dismissed by our pm's and other dept's. I kept the infrastructure that made our company money running 24/7 so don't feel bad.

vsmith3rd

People in other parts of my organization sometimes refer to it as the "helpless desk" or "no help-desk". It sucks because our helpdesk is very helpful and knowledgable, being that first line. Also, the helpdesk is the only IT related department that is physically set apart from all of the rest of IT. 2nd level support, LAN, WAN, telecom, database admins, and programmers/developers are all in one area of the building, and the helpdesk is completely on the other side of the building. Until I was promoted to 2nd level support, I didn't realize how many IT related functions the helpdesk is not invited to. Some folks even called the helpdesk, asking to be transferred to "someone in IT" because the had a problem with their PC or something.

What makes matters worse is that helpdesk management has discourage informational exchange between other IT groups and the helpdesk. After I was promoted, I'd still go back to the helpdesk for a few minutes a week to discuss escalated tickets and general problems that they'd face. The result would be that their 1st call resolution percentages would go up, as they'd have answers that they didn't have before. I always made sure that this was done in a way as not to disturb there work flow, so I did it at off peak times. The manager invited me to leave and not come back or have phone exchanges with her agents about problem resolutions. That just further promotes separation and a culture of diminished respect, in my opinion.

oo_snoopy

I think Tier 1 can be a respectable place to work, but it all depends on how the rest of the IT staff treats the helpdesk.

When the tier II/III actually engages and works with the tier I I think it's for the better of everyone.

Forsaken_GA

There's a reason why it's usually known as the Helldesk.

The Helldesk is the ghetto that pretty much every IT professional has to suffer through at least once. It's worth doing it just because if you can for a year or two, it demonstrates that you have customer service skills and basic troubleshooting ability.

Whether or not a helpdesk gets respect really depends on whether management invests the resources needed for it to run well (trying to do a job with 20 agents that requires 50 is going to drag your customer satisfaction reviews down no matter which way you slice it), and partly cultural.

I've done three different Helldesk stints in my career, and each time, I can classify the agents into two basic types:

A. Paycheck guy. Just follows the script and as soon as he runs into something he can't figure out, escalates it and moves on to the next call.

B. Nerdboy. Does everything he/she can under the sun to help fix the problem, except escalating the call when he/she should have.

I'll let you guess which archtype usually gets first shot when it comes to getting off the Helldesk.

Forsaken_GA

vsmith3rd wrote:

After I was promoted, I'd still go back to the helpdesk for a few minutes a week to discuss escalated tickets and general problems that they'd face. The result would be that their 1st call resolution percentages would go up, as they'd have answers that they didn't have before. I always made sure that this was done in a way as not to disturb there work flow, so I did it at off peak times. The manager invited me to leave and not come back or have phone exchanges with her agents about problem resolutions. That just further promotes separation and a culture of diminished respect, in my opinion.

That's just bad management.

I also do the same thing. If I have to hand an issue off to someone else, I follow it up later with whoever resolved it so I can be made aware of what the solution was, so I don't have to hand that type of thing up again. If I've taken a hand off from someone, I'll go back to them later and let them know how I resolved it (the trick there is to make sure they don't feel like they're being talked down to).

I couldn't imagine working for a company that believed in dividing their support staff up like that. I think that kind of invitation would have sent me into job search mode.

I'm a little strange compared to alot of IT guys, I think. I'm perfectly willing to work for less if I'm working in an environment that I enjoy being in.

brad-

I think the term "helpdesk" differs in different organizations. Ive see it be unskilled people just logging tickets from emails and voicemails, and I've seen it be the only line of support as well. Depends on the company.