Desktop Support Jobs?

goasakawa

I have had several job offerings for Desktop support. From the sounds of it its mainly simple troubleshooting pc's/laptops, xp settings and stuff. THe hours are perfect since I am in school.

My questions is with these jobs do they usually expect you to know everything about there systems, do you get a lil trainging class, will not having customer phone service exp. hurt ya? Or worse, do they stick you in a dark dark room with a phone, pc and a script?

Most of my career has been in computers with little emphasis on customer-phone interaction. Just looking for some insight from anyone who works in call center, desktop support areas. Thanks. :

TeKniques

To me there are 2 different help desk scenarios.

1. A call center where any tard can read a screen from a knowledge base that "a real" tech worked out the answers for the customer.

OR

2. Help Desk for internal employees which is by far better for someone who wants some real desktop support experience.

From what I'm told the potential employer just wants you to have the basic knowledge of whatever Operating Systems they are using. In most cases I would doubt for a help desk job you would have to know everything about their system or tools they use on the job.

goasakawa

TeKniques wrote:

2. Help Desk for internal employees which is by far better for someone who wants some real desktop support experience.

Would you say that your MCDST has furthered your path in the support feild? Would it be worth pursuing?

bighusker

It really depends on who you're working for. I am a "desktop technician" right now and have been on the job for exactly two weeks. My employer has been very accomodating about training, and getting me situated in my new position.

I was upfront in saying that I didn't have experience with Novell and Enterprise-level Microsoft Networks. Fortunately, they didn't expect me to know MCSE-level stuff. Everything they've asked of me has been pretty simple. I basically go around and install applications, printers and hardware on people PC's, or "thaw" their computers so they can make changes. (We use a program called DeepFreeze).

I've also done things such as setting up a wireless card for somebody's notebook, fixing the problems someone was having with their notebook docking station, and adjusting the screen resolution for people who didn't know how. I've also helped to move some of the workstations in Active Directory into the proper organizational unit, which is basically the department that computer is located in. I've even had some funny calls like the lady who said she needed a power strip/surge supressor because she didn't have one at her desk. It turned out that she did, but it was behind her computer so she didn't see it.

In just two weeks, I've learned a lot about MS Networks, Groupwise, Novell and some of our specialized business applications like SalesLogix and Relius. In the interview, I was upfront about what I could do for them, so they didn't expect me to do things that were beyond my ability when they hired me. I think most employers will be the same way. Just be honest about what you can do, and you shouldn't have any problems if you get hired.

s0c0

goasakawa wrote:

I have had several job offerings for Desktop support. From the sounds of it its mainly simple troubleshooting pc's/laptops, xp settings and stuff. THe hours are perfect since I am in school. My questions is with these jobs do they usually expect you to know everything about there systems, do you get a lil trainging class, will not having customer phone service exp. hurt ya? Or worse, do they stick you in a dark dark room with a phone, pc and a script?

Most places provide some training, especially if you are supporting proprietary software. Not having any customer service experience will hurt you, but if you have had any job dealing with customer then that counts (in my book) as customer service experience. Yes I am stuck in a windowless room with a phone, a pc, and a script. Ofcourse nearly any phone job requires an opening and closing script.

goasakawa wrote:

Most of my career has been in computers with little emphasis on customer-phone interaction. Just looking for some insight from anyone who works in call center, desktop support areas. Thanks. :

Hey if it works with your school schedule and need a job then why not take one. You can always ask the person hiring you these same questions to decide if it's for you. I've been working on a helpdesk since October or 2004 and it's not that bad. I've learned a few skills, they are flexible with my school schedule, and I can put more experience on my resume now when I go for a better job.

TeKniques

goasakawa wrote:

Would you say that your MCDST has furthered your path in the support feild? Would it be worth pursuing?

It helped a bit. Especially dealing with MS Office, and customizing a user desktop and things of that nature. I started out on help desk, but now I do Web Design, Application programming, and am learning to do some system admin stuff.