How to get an entry level job that isn't help desk?

tr1x

Akaricloud wrote: »

At least in a helpdesk position when people get upset it's usually not your fault and you can just shrug it off. Now when you're the person actually responsible for systems going down.. different story!

I think the substantial increase in compensation would ease the pain.

techdudehere

Help desk can be good or bad, depending. I worked helpdesk for a large company and it was the best job I've ever had. The team got along extremely well, there were no after hours calls, the rules were laid out and the users had absolutely no choice but to follow them. If a manager tried to yell at someone, he was immediately transferred to an IT manager and would be written up if it happened more than once. The users weren't allowed to do anything, install anything, etc, everything they wanted access to had to go through the proper channels. By the time I contacted them, the only thing I was allowed to do was what was written in the support. If they wanted anything else done, they had to make a new support and go through the lower levels again and it's unlikely they'd ever land on my desk. Unfortunately, they pay was unacceptable (less than 50k/year) and I really didn't want to do helpdesk work. Later the entire operation was outsourced, anyway.

techdudehere

It's probably easiest to get a position with a small company but some are extremely annoying to work for. Generally, they want to keep more hours than they can properly staff so you'll be asked to be available take calls outside of your shift or in some cases (I'll admit it's rare) I've even known people who were asked to work a split shift. This is on top of the poor pay. The only small business I've ever heard of people making good money and enjoying are spinoffs of a larger corporation. One example, a friend worked at a small company (less than 10 people) where they did a lot of database work on a copy of the larger companies records. I was offered a job there so I know the money was OK but I didn't want to work in a small office filled with guys and I didn't want to work as a programmer.

kremit

Technikal wrote: »

How stressful is the help desk role? I don't want to be on the phone all day, talking to angry people lol. how would i get an entry level IT job that doesn't involve this.

from my understanding desktop support (in house) is a step up but they usually require a couple years experience, yes?

what could i get with an associates degree + basic certs that doesn't involve talking on the phone most of the shift?

i eventually want to either get a job in infosec or network admin/engineer

please and thanks for the help

Impossible. All levels of IT deal with angry people, even programmers deal with angry people. In house support you will still get chewed out. The NOC I just got hired for will involve phones, but not the same level as a level 1 agent, just added stress instead of phone calls.

I got the job because of my experience and the companies on my resume. The certs help my resume pass the HR filter, nothing else.

NetworkVeteran

kremit wrote: »

In house support you will still get chewed out.

The last time someone in-house chewed me out was about eight years go. I stopped responding to his case and referred it to my manager, who contacted their manager, who contacted a director who intitiated disciplinary proceedings. True, it wasn't so much--a couple talkings-to by management, a formal HR warning, his "urgent" case being put on-hold, and a formal pubic apology. But it sent a message, and there was teeth behind it if the behavior were to repeat.

Most companies have a formal grievance procedure. There simply is no level within a respectable work environment wherein one should have to tolerate verbal abuse from a co-worker. External can be a bit harder to control.

NetworkVeteran

Technikal wrote: »

How stressful is the help desk role?

Think of it this way. When someone's having trouble and feels powerless, you get to be their knight in shining armor.

(And usually you are not directly responsible for the big trouble they are facing!)

techdudehere

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

Most companies have a formal grievance procedure. There simply is no level within a respectable work environment wherein one should have to tolerate verbal abuse from a co-worker. External can be a bit harder to control.

This has been my experience. Don't get me wrong, most external clients I've interacted with have been at least professional. However, starting a few of years ago I noticed something changed. External clients didn't just want things fixed anymore. They wanted to tell me how it should be fixed. Sometimes there were good reasons for this, but other times it simply became an annoyance that hindered or prevented resolution. Once that happened, I knew I had to go back to internal support where more formal processes and rules were in place.

TeKniques

Folks, I'm an IT Manager and I STILL have to do some form of Help Desk. Not advanced or escalated issues either ... stuff like "My MS Project is freezing up" or "My printer is acting up again". This is all because the company I work for can't seem to approve a budget for me to hire the correct staff for reasons if I explained here would take 3 pages of posts. Yes, I've delivered detailed cost/benefit analysis of exactly how much of my time is wasted and how much of my time is being deflected from critical path projects. I hate help desk work with the fury of 10000 Suns (probably more) -- InstantRage.jpg

It's at the point now where I am not liking my job.

There are 3 people in my IT department including myself (one FT Network Admin and one PART TIME Help Desk guy who is just now learning how to maneuver through AD as an Account Operator) ... we have processed 2,891 help desk tickets since February 1st. Both myself and the Network Admin have to pick up at least 60% of the help desk load.

Moral of the story -- get as far away from the help desk as quickly as possible or it too will ruin your passion for IT.

alxx

Just remember some people are suited to help desk work, others of us aren't.

Me I'm more of an Engineering backroom guy.
Currently doing hardware and driver development.

I'm not diplomatic enough for help desk

MentholMoose

Desktop support is a good way to start. I got a student position while in college that was mostly desktop support along with a bit of tier 2 help desk. This helped me get a desktop support internship at a bank, which led to a junior sysadmin role. So I pretty much completely avoided having a hell desk role in my career.

NetworkingStudent

Technikal wrote: »

How stressful is the help desk role? I don't want to be on the phone all day, talking to angry people lol. how would i get an entry level IT job that doesn't involve this.

from my understanding desktop support (in house) is a step up but they usually require a couple years experience, yes?

what could i get with an associates degree + basic certs that doesn't involve talking on the phone most of the shift?

i eventually want to either get a job in infosec or network admin/engineer

please and thanks for the help

Are you in school? Try and find an internship doing help desk at a local company and watch this video. The video talks about mastering customer service in IT.

Free Webinar: Customer Service for IT Pros

I don’t work in IT, however I’am currently looking for a help desk/support role and I can tell you that most companies I have applied to are looking for the following in a candidate..

Customer Service Skills-What jobs have you had, were you had to use your customer Service skills? This seems really big for help desk roles.

-IT degree

-Experience in troubleshooting computer problems

-and Personality.

I truly believe that help desk roles are more about leveraging customer service skills, then actually troubleshooting or fixing the problem.
Everyone else has said this, but you need to know that help desk roles are basically like Basket Robbins. Yes, there are 31 different flavors of Help desk. Some have levels, 1,2,, and 3. On the other hand, there is after hour support, multi- site( drive to location support), take calls and login into vpn support. Beyond all this you need to read the job description for each job, and interview the hiring manager.

Ask them………..
so how many calls do you get? a month, a year, ect?

What’s the biggest challenge I would face in this role?

Do you have 24 hour support?

During you interview ask if there are advancement opportunities. I think it’s easier to advance within your own organization, then to move on to another organization.

If you don’t want to work in the help desk there are some options:

Computer warehouse

Computer Repair shop

wweboy

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

Amen to that. It sure as hell motivated my ass.

I'm probably going to make some people mad by saying this, but I honestly believe if someone spends more than 2 years on a help desk, that person isn't really cut out for anything higher. Not because they lack the intelligence or capacity for higher level work, but because they don't have the motivation. With all the information and opportunities to improve your skill set floating around out there, there is no excuse to make a career out of help desk.

I see your point but I also want to disagree. I've been in a help desk role for 7 years. I've done a ton in my career in IT I've managed AD, I've been in charge of PC deployments, roll outs and even the yearly budget that went along with it. I've done many years of help desk troubleshooting and learned a lot but I've never been given the opportunity yet to break away from the help desk. Yes I've interview for system admin positions and the like but my lack of hands on day to day experience with more in depth tasks that a sys admin would under take has hurt me.

Or the companies I've worked for yes there was advancement but it was literally waiting for someone to leave and the companies I worked for everyone was a 5 plus year employee so the chances were slim even though I'd show good performance plus the volatility of the job situation in general I've worked for companies who couldn't keep on their IT staff. In the end I've gone back to help desk because its what I know and I excell at it. Do I want to move on hell yes I do but its waiting for the opportunity to do so. Its not until now with hte company I've been with that I'm getting chances to move up.

I haven't been promoted yet but I know my number will be called soon, my point is not everyone is fortunate to get promotions and get off the help desk as quickly as others and I feel insults a lot of people. Yes there are a lot of people who get a short stick and move on and others who want to be a career help desk guy. I think it depends on the environment you work in some companies are great at telling when their employees have out grown their position and others there is no room for advancement.

I can say from my own experience I don't lack motivation sometimes I've been dealt a bad deal due to my choices or circumstances beyond my control at this point I'm just happy to have a job I love going to every day and enjoy the people I work with. I know I'm doing a great job at what I do and management has recognized it I'm just waiting for the opportunity to move above the help desk..

To stay on topic I believe everyone should get broken in on the help desk it brings a lot of prospective. You'll be doing a lot of grunt work like password resets and the like but it can lead to bigger and better things plus you see how much IT really touches the business as a whole. In IT its very easy to get tunnel vision getting on the desk gets you valuable knowledge on troubleshooting common and un common issues, it gets you familiar with procedure and software and hardware that the company uses and I believe it gives yo ua good foundation to grow. Like others have said there can be angry people and what not but they are far and few between plus if it is so bad they are swearing at you or attacking you personally then you need to go to management.

Stay out of call centers but get on a help desk even if its six months to a year it builds your IT knowledge and gives you a good foundation and then start applying for the more higher up jobs. WHo knows maybe you'll stand out on the desk and get promoted with in a short amount of time. Oter than that you need to know someone I've heard tons of storys of Guy A quit his job recommened Friend B to fill the position, Friend B gets the job and doesn't know jack about IT. I've learned a lot of IT and probably jobs in general is it pays to know people and network.

NetworkVeteran

wweboy wrote: »

I've never been given the opportunity yet to break away from the help desk.

Rarely are you given opportunities. Mostly, you must seize them!

Yes I've interview for system admin positions and the like but my lack of hands on day to day experience with more in depth tasks that a sys admin would under take has hurt me.

Of course! And for others, their extensive training and experience will hurt them; every certification and year of experience has a price tag associated with it. If you made it to an in-person interview, that means they were willing to accept the experience you outlined on your resume if you were able to impress them enough in-person.

I've been dealt a bad deal due to my choices

If you've been there for seven years, you've doubtless seen co-workers who went on to other things. If your goal is to move onto other things, pattern your choices after their choices as much as you possibly can.

I'm just happy to have a job I love going to every day and enjoy the people I work with. I know I'm doing a great job at what I do

That's wonderful. If that's what you enjoy, may you continue your long and happy tenure on the help desk.

FloOz

I personally have never worked help desk. I started my internship and began right away with desktop support and network services. Now i was offered a full time position as a desktop engineer when i graduate. I firmly believe having a degree helped me tremedously. i couldnt imagine doing help desk. looks way too boring sitting there all day aanswering phones

cyberguypr

I also started with desktop support. 1000+ user environment at a big pharma plant. That gave me a nice opportunity to move around, touch stuuf, get to know the people, the company, the politics. Moved through a couple similar roles, eventually to Sr. Tech, then Team Lead, Jr. Admin and full Sys admin. The role is definitely different than help desk.

N2IT

Even if there is a "formal" policy in place we all know the customer can get away with a lot. The higher the level of employee the more they can get away with.

DevilWAH

pruspeter wrote: »

I personally have never worked help desk. I started my internship and began right away with desktop support and network services. Now i was offered a full time position as a desktop engineer when i graduate. I firmly believe having a degree helped me tremedously. i couldnt imagine doing help desk. looks way too boring sitting there all day aanswering phones

Help desk / desktop support I kind of see them as the same thing.

to me help desk is answering the phone and then sorting out the issues. So going visiting the users to resolve any problems that cant be fixed over the phone.

Phone desk support is what I think of when all you do is answer phone and log tickets.

In regards to this thread though I would consider any thing that is supporting end users fix desktops and applications issues as a help desk position. not all are created equal, and some entry level help desks can be very hands on. I would say only the larger company's run with staff dedicated to answering phones, most combine the desktop support and phone support in to one department, and split there staff across the two.

the_Grinch

I'm not saying stay on the helpdesk forever, but I do find that doing phone support makes you an even better tech. I've worked with techs who have done the desk and those who haven't, people skills seem to be much better with the phone support guys. Would I go back to it, not if I didn't have to, but I also wouldn't take back the two years I spent doing it. You truly learn to multitask, prioritize, and how to deal with an irate customers. Invaluable skills that you will use no matter what position you get after.

blargoe

Technikal wrote: »

How stressful is the help desk role? I don't want to be on the phone all day, talking to angry people lol. how would i get an entry level IT job that doesn't involve this.

Please keep in mind that many (not all) of the experiences that you read about ln these forums is from folks that have had a bad day, or have a particularly crappy envirionment to deal with, and you are reading their rants and vents, and some others are from people that just aren't cut out for support maybe even IT in general. There are many people who are quite content with their support job. So take what you read here and on other forums about support desk jobs with a grain of salt, please.

That being said, working in support can be a mixed bag, and no matter if you start out somewhere on phones or not, you are going to get bottom of the barrel pay (market-wise, for your job role) if you're coming in with no experience. There are ways to not start out only being call center type of support. I never really worked a job like that, I actually landed an internship with a small consulting/MSP where I did all kinds of menial jobs such as... yes... working the phone, but also running/labeling cables, installing software on computers, being the guy that kept clicking "Yes" 100's of times during the SBS 4.0 to SBS 2000 upgrade while everyone else got lunch, stuff like that. But I was able to earn more responsibility and eventually move on to a Jr. Admin role, and the rest is history. The smaller the company, the more likely you will not be stuck on ONLY phone support, but you will likely have to do SOME.