Help Desk driving me crazy!

Hey all,

Is it just me, or is it just the nature of the job?. I've taken a new role in a very large company and it's just so soul crushing, i moved from a small company (1000 users) as a Jr. Linux Admin -> To Help Desk in a very large and known company & it's just not making me happy. Is it me being soft, or is it the role?

Does anyone have advice? I left previous company because it was so hard to get change through, everyone was on cruize control, the new company is large and i have a very specific role. Should i move to a smaller org again? Needs help

-Thanks, ds

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sratakhin

Try to find something else. If you have admin experience, why don't you look for an admin job?

Essendon

Isnt moving from Admin > Helpdesk a bit of a step down? In most companies atleast, HelpDesk is where most people start off at and work their way upto the Sys/Network Admin team. What kind of work do you do at the Helpdesk? Is it just resetting passwords, syncing RSA tokens or users complaining their mouse doesnt work and the like? If yes, I reckon you've taken a step down.

gbdavidx

Sounds like my job.

Nemowolf

Honestly, Help Desk is fairly soul crushing. I work for a small company ~400 employees and the expectations to perform FAR exceed the pay i receive. I also work for a company that has not set a single policy or procedure to hold anyone accountable or set the expectation for a review. Well, being honest, this company does not do or have any sort of review process for raises or promotions. There literally is no future in this job and it weighs on me heavily every day i work for them. My only salvation is the slew of recruiter calls that somewhat brighten my day as the opportunity may be coming any day that saves me from that hole.

Not trying to steal your thunder but showing that empathsize with your situation.

Now for the silver lining. Having worked for a multinational/global company, it will probably look great on my resume and it has pushed me to work on skills like my technical writing with creating the only documentation within my department. The skills i am honing are not technical nor are they entirely useful beyond value add's to my resume.

As others have mentioned, this job may have been a step down from the jr. Linux admin position so perhaps its time to brush up on some Microsoft server knowledge and then see if you can rustle up another admin position in 2013.

Cheers!

tahjzhuan

I believe it's the role. Not uncommon at my fortune 100 company. I think it's the gauntlet. If you survive, you'll be on to good things.

dontstop

Very true, but the company was a very big step up (See: Facebook/Microsoft) company, There are opportunities and very good perks. But for the 90% of the time the work is really boring, repetitive or very random and nothing that will help me in the future. Am i whinging? I've already worked on a Service Desk for 1-1.5 years about 2.5 years ago, have i done my time? (so to speak)

Mrock4

In my humble opinion, you're due to get a few certs under your belt and be very well prepared for a junior/mid-level admin position based on your experience. I'd put in another 6 months where you're at now, use the time to get certified, then either advance within the company or move on to bigger and better things. If you leave the company, the recognized name of the company plus a couple of certs would put you in really good shape. Just my $.02 though.

dontstop

@Mrock4

Thanks man, that's really what i needed to hear. I don't think i could stick in this job for 12+ months. I've now been here for 3, do you think i should stay for 6 months or wait till i hit 12 months?

My other problem is i'm finding it so hard to find the motivation, hopefully by moving closer to the office i will gain more motivation (currently the commute is way to long). I think once you've been out of the Service Desk game and your not new to it, the shine seems to dim.

Mrock4

Truthfully, I think you should stay however long it takes to get some certs under your belt and that's it. I will say, if your position allows you downtime and you make good time of it, then maybe it's worth staying 12 months. I said 6 months because you don't want to stay 12 months if you're totally miserable. I was actually in a bad position before, and on the verge of leaving IT completely, then I took a new position to see how it changed things. It was night and day, and I found a rekindled motivation in me, and haven't looked back since.

So short version: If it takes you a year to get more qualifications under your belt and find a new opportunity, then it takes a year. If you can do it sooner, that's OK too. I wouldn't worry too much at this stage of your career with regards to "only" being there for 6 months- people will generally understand that when you are early in your career you may have to make moves in order to keep progressing.

A year from now you could have a totally different outlook (both from a job satisfaction perspective, and salary) if you really work at it. We're talking a couple of certifications (say $500-$1000 depending on the cert..that includes study materials), and possibly a 20%+ raise (in a year). That's a solid investment in yourself.

dontstop

Mrock4 wrote: »

Truthfully, I think you should stay however long it takes to get some certs under your belt and that's it. I will say, if your position allows you downtime and you make good time of it, then maybe it's worth staying 12 months. I said 6 months because you don't want to stay 12 months if you're totally miserable. I was actually in a bad position before, and on the verge of leaving IT completely, then I took a new position to see how it changed things. It was night and day, and I found a rekindled motivation in me, and haven't looked back since.

+1 rep

Cheers mate, That's some solid advice.

I was going to start working on CCNA after i read said books in my Signature, which i now have (only 1 chapter left in the Unix Book). So i should be able to push that out + LPIC-1 over the next 3-4 months. I dropped the idea of the RHSCA after i left my last job

but that's on the list still.

I'm feeling ya, Very much in the same boat right now. Kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place as i'm just starting and i have too much experience for Help Desk/Desktop Support and just not enough to be a System Admin.

Junior Linux/Unix Admins are not as popular (by a long shot), My last job they offered me the Senior role, but i had more respect for the job than just taking it and decided i needed more experience and the only option was to find another job and this one arose at the right time.

Anyway...
Thanks again for the advice.

Mrock4

Don't sell yourself short. Don't ever say "I don't have enough experience" ...I have yet to accept a position for which I met the formal experience requirements, yet I have done well in each position I've taken on. Just something to consider

sratakhin

To be honest, I thing you should have stayed at your last job and gain more admin experience. I understand that there may be more opportunities in bigger companies, but working as a helpdesk for 6 to 12 months just to feel what it's like... I don't know.

Just like Mrock4 suggested, try to get CCNA (if you have network experience), but don't give up on Red Hat certs yet. I heard that Linux+CCNA with experience is a very good combination. If you want to broaden your skill set, look at MCSA 2008.

discount81

I couldn't do help desk again unless I was absolutely stuck for work and needed money.

I would find a Desktop Support role anywhere just to get out of Help desk hell, however before you hand in your resignation speak to a HR manager in your current job(don't mention you have another job).

Explain that you are not happy with the role and want to know if there is a possibility of moving into a different role that isn't on the phone, tell them you have the experience already and you are studying right now and you feel helpdesk is no challenge at all.

If they say "6-12 months" then hand in your resignation and move to a new role.

Arysta

I just wanted to throw in a support response. Help desk is horrible. It's so very boring, repetitive, not challenging, and made me far more cynical about the intelligence of the average person than I was when I started. But for some reason, the folks who hire for higher up IT positions, love to see help desk on a resume. I think they believe if you made it through help desk for a year, you probably have decent communication skills, and that's really important to them.

dontstop

sratakhin wrote: »

To be honest, I thing you should have stayed at your last job and gain more admin experience. I understand that there may be more opportunities in bigger companies

As much as i wanted to, the Org was very hard to bare... let me just say it was "Gov" and doing things correctly, well or doing things "at all" was a struggle.

Not to blanket all Gov Organisations, but this was a power struggle for the top position at the bottom of the heap. It's a low paid job, people are not very skilled and everyone is grabbing for the top spot and resting on the success of maybe 1-2% of the staff that actually do the heavy lifting work, for a new starter in the field it was a very toxic environment.

@Arysta - I've worked on a support desk before for 1 year, that's why i was asking if i had done my time. What i found was very similar to what you said, It's a high burnout job - You can only take so many of the same calls, problems before you go crazy. I took this role on the merit that it would be a lot different (being an innovative company). At the end of the day... Service Desk == Service Desk in any company, you are chained to your Desk, your "team mates" get shitty if you have to leave your post for anything, typical SD rubbish. The worst thing is when you don't complain when need to cover others to do something but they don't return that favor when it's your time.

I will stick it out until the 6 month mark, i believe this is just long enough to put it on my resume without it looking like i'm a job hopper. I've worked hard here, i don't want a 6 month gap in my resume either. I believe that if i do stay for 12 months I will be very bitter by that time and could potentially burn bridges. (i think i will feel my way around during this one 6 months min - 12 months max)

@discount81 - Thanks for the advice, i will be following the the ideas that Mrock4 presented. This place has a very solid reputation (think: Apple/Microsoft) but due to being large the job roles are really regimented for support staff (the role i'm in, is the role i'm in) so it's either deal with it or move out/on. I could apply Internally for a much better job (System Admin) as i was offered the Senior role at my old Org, i just wasn't confident i could do it (and the work conditions see above ^) the only thing i lack is the industry experience that comes with 3-5 years being a Jr./Sr. Admin vs. my 1 year.

Like Mrock4 said, i think it's a case of being more confident in my knowledge and realizing that:

a. Not everyone starts a job knowing everything
a++. Also even the stuff you do know, you don't need to be an expert on it (some exposure + experience is a great start)
b. Most people don't know as much as they make out/seem to know
c. If your motivated, interested & driven you can quickly learn and improve and fill the role (it's about growing into a role)
d. Politics are unavoidable, play the game (without getting too involved - while doing the best for the company/customer)

Again, thanks all for the help
-ds

W Stewart

Trust me I know how soul crushing walking away from a good linux job can be. If you've got some linux admin experience then you need to start looking immediately. I made the same mistake and not only did I luck out and find another linux job, but I realized that my linux knowledge has gotten me further than any certification has ever gotten me.

About7Narwhal

Arysta wrote: »

...and made me far more cynical about the intelligence of the average person than I was when I started.

Try working for a medical provider... I constantly find myself thinking "...And you perform medical procedures?!?"

I think the problem is that Help Desk / Service Desk is often viewed as subservient. We are the butlers of the IT world. We get yelled at by the end user when something breaks then turn around and get yelled at when we report it to the resolver group. 1 - 2 years is plenty of time to show ability. If you have done it once, no need to stick around again. Pay will only take you so far. Even if it was a step up, they probably still aren't paying enough to put up with the constant disappointment in your current position or the constant let down of humanity.

Cleverclogs

Just wanted to add that I know exactly how you feel. I spent 6 years in my previous role on a Helpdesk, but the last 25 months of that were trying to get out of it. My old role essentially involved constant phone calls and admin work, as well as forwarding on emails. The shifts were draining, and the job was dead-end because there was no chance of promotion. However, in August I successfully escaped and joined a smaller company. I've gone from supporting roughly 2000 users to just under 250. While I still do phone support, it accounts for around 10% of my job. Now I am doing Desktop Support, settings up VCs, setting up Cisco phones and much more. I've even been asked in to assist the Server guys with weekend patching (Something my old job would never, EVER have allowed me to do) which has been fantastic experience.

All in all my motivation has returned in spades. I've lost 30lbs with all the rushing about, I'm calmer and less stressed and I'm volunteering for everything that comes along. My advice to you would be to stick it out but to remember that if you're good enough, you won't have to work there forever. Good luck

bryguy

Been there... That's how a lot of folks, including myself, broke into IT. The average burn-out rate for help desk, however, is 9 months. Initially, I thought that if I just work hard enough, I could get out and get transferred to a different line of service. Unfortunately, instead of being transferred, they put me in charge of fifty of my former colleagues.

Middle management in help desk is not a place you want to be. You get kicked in the nuts on both sides, by the "twenty something" brats that think because they know how to defrag a hard drive, that they're IT experts and by upper management, who barely understand what IT services their techs are providing. You also get to deal with the "difficult" customers that your techs couldn't manage which is a joy in and of itself.

All I can say is put in your time and get certified in something other than HDI. I'd put a bullet in my head before I'd ever go back to the desk.

YFZblu

bryguy wrote: »

I'd put a bullet in my head before I'd ever go back to the desk.

This...

CodeBlox

bryguy wrote: »

I'd put a bullet in my head before I'd ever go back to the desk.

Hahaha, the helpdesk at my current gig is not bad at all but I did escape it. If it's anything like at my former place of employment, I think I'd say "ME TOO!".

N2IT

I am a firm believer that someone on the desk only has a life expectancy of 2-3 years tops. After that you burn out and start to "game" the system. Hang up on annoying customers, dial out to other extensions, figure out other ways to keep your phone stats okay without actually working.

That's what I have seen. I was lucky enough to get off the desk before year 2.

wweboy

As someone who has worked in a help desk role for 7 years for different companies. Both small and world wide I can say that help desk isn't so bad. I think it really depends on the environment you have to work and how you and your department is viewed. I've worked for both good and bad and working on the bad made me want to leave and not be on the help desk.

I've worked for my current employer for 2 years now and I've enjoyed it I like the people I work with and we are responsible for a lot of things its not your simple password reset every time kind of call every call is unique and you never know why someone is calling the help desk but you need to get them fixed and working again. I think everyone is giving HD a bad rap here.

If you want to see what I've been doing goto my linked in page its listed in my profile I've laid out exactly what I've done at every job.

CodeBlox

wweboy wrote: »

I think it really depends on the environment you have to work

If they are like the "service desk" I was on before I came to my current employer, I'd say the lifespan is maybe 11 months. Thats how long I stuck around... At month 6 is when the job started to drive me nucking futs. I was pretty good at the job just really hated it... 100 calls in the queue every minute of a required 10 hour shift is not fun!!!

DoubleNNs

To wweboy, I tried to go to your linkedIn. It said the profile couldn't be found.

StephenOnTheGrid

gotta pay your dues!

wweboy

Fixed it. Linked in demands you use www in the address.

dontstop

Thanks for all the comments guys, all very true and accurate.

Reasons why I currently struggle going back to Help Desk:

Group contention of carrying the "load", Everyone gets really narky if you need to sign out of phones for 5 min for any reason. It means more work for them so everyone gets shitty. This is really weak, the work is not equivalent you could have 10 hard calls in a row vs. 10 easy calls someone else gets. But people doing easy work will get angry if the person doing the hard work needs a break.
Everyone is fresh/green, As it's typically a first Job for most. So everyone is really over excited for the work they are doing.
People take the word of others like gospel. People will ask a Question and never follow up by checking it's correct.
Blissful ignorance of the Higher powers above, System Admins being seen as "Gods" vs. People who just have a lot of free time to work things out proper
Your bolted & chained to your Desk
As much as people want to believe it, You have no real impact. Especially if things that cause you pain are Technological or Process based (account lockouts)
"If you see a problem, Fix it": This saying is very common, especially hard when your performance is based on metrics and it's important that your stay bolted to your desk all day.
No hands on the Machine, your hands are typically a users hands. It's like getting your mom to fix your car via instruction of a Mechanic (in cases where you cannot remotely login)
Everyone tries to manage their colleagues, which is a big no-no (micro-management)
You really need to like your team mates, otherwise your going to have a bad time.
You become a human Search Engine, When smarter people cannot find something... it becomes your task to find it for them.

I have applied for a bunch of *nix Jobs again, why I ever went back I will never know. There is only so many times i can unlock an account or have a vague question an undocumented system. Baaah! Humbug! -ds

Roguetadhg

So that's your new years resolution?

dontstop

If making a change was based simply on a date change, I would say i have a new Days Resolution every 24 hours

But yes, I will be changing as soon as I can find another Job to pay for accommodation & support my hobbies $$$