Should I move from the helpdesk to ops

thomas130

Hi guys basically at the moment I work on the helpdesk which I don't really enjoy that much however I realised I would need to do this to get my foot in the door and move up.

At the moment I am currently doing my degree which should take another 3 years to do and about ready to pass my ccna in October. I will then do my mcse and ccnp. The thing I really want to do is networking however most of the places will only take you on when you got a degree so I will need to wait.

However should I stay on the helpdesk which I get really low pay or moved to ops where I probably can get double the money and probably learned more about the IT infrastructure.

Another Ideal was to get my mcse by mid next year and move to work in a school or uni and get experience in everything.
What do you guys think

dynamik

So the Ops position gets you more money and more experience? What are the cons? That seems like an ideal move from what you've said...

thomas130

From what I can see because the main job is basically runs scripts at night performing backups, restoring files taking the backup from remote sites etc. Looking after the server room I just was'nt sure if an future employee would value helpdesk expierence more.

The postives for moving to the ops are this
. more money
. don't have to answer the phone
. will get a chance to my coursework at work the other two just watch films lol

The negatives
. Even though I be the same room I probably feel a bit left out my old team
. Might find the job boring if all I doing if performing backups at least the helpdesk gives my variety.

Paul Boz

thomas130 wrote: »

however most of the places will only take you on when you got a degree so I will need to wait.

I never finished my degree and I'd say I live very comfortably with my certs. Most logical employers realize that if you have the skills to pay the bills having your history major on your resume doesn't matter. That's my experience thus far.

thomas130 wrote: »

The negatives
. Even though I be the same room I probably feel a bit left out my old team
. Might find the job boring if all I doing if performing backups at least the helpdesk gives my variety.

These are not negatives. My first job was doing technical support for an internet service provider / telephone company. I made a solid core of friends in tech support but moved into the NOC. same area, same friends. Just because you take on a new job role doesn't mean your friends will ditch you. If you do they're bad friends and you should get new ones anyway.

Point 2: I worked over night for two years and it got me the CCNA, CCNP, and CCDA. I just studied over night and did what I did. If you are finding the job boring you're not occupying your time right. You already said you can basically get paid to study. Take it from my personal experience - you will not find such a nice gig again.

msteinhilber

What kind of upward movement do people in ops positions typically make if any? Are there other co-workers that are in a more administration or networking type role that you ultimately desire that moved up from ops and/or a helpdesk role? If there are people who started out in ops and moved up from there in your organization I would take advantage of the better pay and the slightly different experiences you would be exposed to from working in the server room rather than staffing the helpdesk.

It sounds a bit odd though that the ops people at your organization make more than the helpdesk people. I know of several organizations in my area that operate decent sized datacenters and the ops people are similar duties (backups, restore, racking new equipment, decommissioning old equipment, escorting customers to their equipment, etc) and they are some of the lowest paid people in the facility even below helpdesk. Are you sure the job duties are strictly what you have posted here, or could there be more to it?

thomas130

msteinhilber wrote: »

What kind of upward movement do people in ops positions typically make if any? Are there other co-workers that are in a more administration or networking type role that you ultimately desire that moved up from ops and/or a helpdesk role? If there are people who started out in ops and moved up from there in your organization I would take advantage of the better pay and the slightly different experiences you would be exposed to from working in the server room rather than staffing the helpdesk.

It sounds a bit odd though that the ops people at your organization make more than the helpdesk people. I know of several organizations in my area that operate decent sized datacenters and the ops people are similar duties (backups, restore, racking new equipment, decommissioning old equipment, escorting customers to their equipment, etc) and they are some of the lowest paid people in the facility even below helpdesk. Are you sure the job duties are strictly what you have posted here, or could there be more to it?

To be honest I have'nt seen anyone move up from computer operations regarding them getting paid more well the pay structure is a little stupid at our place lets just stay your pay is'nt about what job you do and what qualifications you got it's more to do with who your friends are.
If I was to move away from the helpdesk I earn about over £20k plus with the overtime weekends and late nights I would be earning nearly £25-30k at the moment I earn a crap £12k.
I know that the network engineer at our place is retiring soon and my name has been brought up that I am interested in doing the job however he believes his work will go to somebody in technical support. I have seen a job I like else where and can earn around 25k as a support anaylst I just need to complete my mcse and ccna and they provide really good training and could move into networking there. So I not sure I should just put up with the low pay for another year then leave.

msteinhilber

Honestly, if it's rare or unheard of for people to move up from ops then I would probably pass. Assuming you are getting by on the salary currently earn that is. The extra money is always a great thing to have, but if the extra money is going to land you in a position that you are less likely to move upwards from it may not be worthwhile in the long run. If you stand a better chance of moving up from the helpdesk I would probably keep working away at the certifications and really show your desire to move up at work and also keep your eyes out for other opportunities at other organizations.

Speaking of my area, ops tech's are really kind of viewed as the grunts of the datacenter - just the muscle and script jockeys sort of. I would rather have an extra year of helpdesk experience than a year of experience running backup scripts and verifying backups. The main reason behind that is the helpdesk role demonstrates troubleshooting and technical thinking whereas the ops role is more of a do X, then do Y, followed by Z role and if things don't go according to plan you'll probably be escalating the issue upwards.

jojopramos

well explained, msteinhilber.......

thomas130

msteinhilber wrote: »

Honestly, if it's rare or unheard of for people to move up from ops then I would probably pass. Assuming you are getting by on the salary currently earn that is. The extra money is always a great thing to have, but if the extra money is going to land you in a position that you are less likely to move upwards from it may not be worthwhile in the long run. If you stand a better chance of moving up from the helpdesk I would probably keep working away at the certifications and really show your desire to move up at work and also keep your eyes out for other opportunities at other organizations.

Speaking of my area, ops tech's are really kind of viewed as the grunts of the datacenter - just the muscle and script jockeys sort of. I would rather have an extra year of helpdesk experience than a year of experience running backup scripts and verifying backups. The main reason behind that is the helpdesk role demonstrates troubleshooting and technical thinking whereas the ops role is more of a do X, then do Y, followed by Z role and if things don't go according to plan you'll probably be escalating the issue upwards.

Yeah you right I will do another year of the helpdesk maybe two So I will have my basic as well as my mcse and ccna and start looking.

Thank you for you advice you been very helpful

dynamik

At the same time, it might give you the opportunity to broaden your skill-set and learn new things.

rsutton

It's good to get a few years of Help Desk under your belt, future employers like to see that. You should inquire if in the new position you would get the opportunity to work on some of the more complex stuff. Sometimes expressing an interest combined with a new position can lead to doing stuff that maybe you would not have been assigned. In other words, express your concerns to your employer and ask them if there is a way to satisfy both of you.

Kaminsky

thomas130 wrote: »

To be honest I have'nt seen anyone move up from computer operations ....

Guy in our company been on ops just over a year and I was asked by his boss to help mentor him in networking as part of his yearly appraisal. He passed his ccna a few months back and just moved in the company to a low level network security role. They are going to push him on through his SP and he will move up through that branch of the company.

MS server admins typically start on helpdesk, work through pc support and get to admin.
Networking, helpdesk usually goes through either ops or NOC preferably.

However, ops would give you more time to study as NOC is a lot more SLA driven and typically, productivity is expected off you. With ops, once the work is done, your time is your own to crack on with your studies. (Don't waste this opportunity as I see so many OPs people do all the time)

Good man on working the helpdesk though. I guarentee that experience will help you in the long run to help you visualise what/who you are actually there for.

thomas130

After some consideration I decided I will go for the job after all

At moment with the recession the decent paying jobs which I wanted to apply for in a couple years are still having all the people with all the years experience etc applying for them.

Plus it's much more money so I can start saving for a flat within the next 2 - 3 years. However with the pay I am getting now it's just not viable.

Plus with this job I will get the chance to study I will also be going to work on my website building skills I know people who make some nice money on the side doing this. If I do go for another job in the future I will be able say I got my degree and cert as well as 1st and 2nd Line experience and Computer operations experience since I will have to learn and get practical experience in the server environment.

dynamik

That all sounds awesome. Congrats!

(except website work sucks, seriously)

msteinhilber

Congrats!

dynamik wrote: »

(except website work sucks, seriously)

This is the truth he speaks, why do you think he resorts to exotic dancing? Website work sucks worse than a man sliding up and down a pole.

mikedisd2

msteinhilber wrote: »

This is the truth he speaks, why do you think he resorts to exotic dancing? Website work sucks worse than a man sliding up and down a pole.

Especially with the danger of splinters.

dynamik

mikedisd2 wrote: »

Especially with the danger of splinters.

Yep. Money's tight right now; I can only afford wood poles

tpatt100

I would have taken the job just to learn something new that is IT related. It may sound like grunt work but having a new title on your resume and to be able to break it up a bit from the help desk will help you in future endeavors.

I loved my first couple of years on the help desk. I was a total noob but i was hungry. This was back when money flowed freely and the network admins were swamped with work. I was able to study for school on my down time, plus take all the side jobs the sys admins could not handle. Eventually I had enough tasks they just moved me to a sys admin position since I was already handling a third of the day to day taskings.