Is It Normal For Help Desk Jobs To Not Train You?

Right now, I don't have enough knowledge or experience to do anything other than repair or help desk and the like. I've been trying to stick it out at a help desk job until I can move on, but I'm now on my second help desk job where I feel in over my head more often than I'd like to. I was told at my previous help desk job that I was doing well, and I am doing okay where I work now. But I was not trained at either job, and my current help desk job pays a lot better than the first one but it's way more stressful than the previous one for a lot of the same reasons, most of which I feel go back to not being trained. On both jobs, I was put on phones and emails on the second day. Most questions are not general PC-troubleshooting questions--they are about systems people at my company use that I have never heard of, don't use and don't know anything about or are questions that amount to me needing to open a ticket for someone else and needing to figure out WHO the ticket is supposed to go to, among other things. Tons of people work at this company--how would I know who the ticket goes to without being told or given a comprehensive breakdown in writing?

"Training" consists of literally running after co-workers and asking them questions, and 75% of the time they're not at their desk or anywhere to be found. Also, when we do get PC-troubleshooting issues we're apparently supposed to go as far as we can and then pass it on to a higher level...but then when I do that, the higher-level admins don't do anything and I get calls/emails complaining about me or telling me how XYZ needs to be fixed NOW. I spent three and a half days working on an issue because of this and eventually got it resolved myself, but I was told I'm not supposed to spend that long on anything because it leaves my co-workers taking more calls. If I hadn't done that, though, who knows when the issue would have been resolved. At the two-month mark, I was told by the supervisor I'm asking too many questions and need to "figure it out" instead of asking. But I am told by others who work there to ask if I have questions and they say it takes 6-8 months to get the hang of it here--one co-worker even told me it takes a year. If they would train people, it wouldn't take so long, I feel.

My first help desk job was similar to this, only not with as much thrown at me because it was a small company and the co-workers/supervisors were far more understanding/friendly/helpful/available.

Is this type of thing standard for help desk?

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Comments

lsud00d

It's not good practice but probably happens often.

I was trained by my peers and at some point as workers mature they will have to train the newcomers, so it's a perpetual cycle. If something like that is not in place at your current job then I feel for you. Possibly talk to your manager about a peer training program for 3-5 days...I think the most we gave people was 2 weeks to answer phones by themselves and if they didn't get it they were gone. Of course everybody was always available on IM and encouraged to ask for help so it wasn't exactly sink or swim, but get up to a certain level of self sufficiency.

When you escalate tickets it's out of your hands and not your responsibility. I know you might feel inclined to help the end user but you should not--simply update the ticket so the tech gets a notification that the user called back and let the user know that information has been updated to the tech assigned to it. If the person gets mad they can speak to your supervisor, which is GOOD because that might get the techs to address tickets in a timely manner.

Chitownjedi

I've been tossed in the fire every job I've had last two years... Tossed in the FIRE!

the_Grinch

That is how help desk work, not entirely sure what you were expecting. Everyone I had worked at had training in regards to the ticketing system used (if there was one) and any applications that IT exclusively used. After that it was all on you to get the needed knowledge for the other apps. When I worked at an MSP it was basically impossible to teach you every weird app that our clients used. We were fairly friendly with getting people up to speed, but eventually you'd have to swim. See where you are in six months, each month should get easier and by six you should be close to a pro.

N2IT

Sometimes you get 1 week or 2 weeks of training tops but a lot of times it's "Here's the break room, bathroom, etc go ahead and answer phones".

100k

N2IT wrote: »

Sometimes you get 1 week or 2 weeks of training tops but a lot of times it's "Here's the break room, bathroom, etc go ahead and answer phones".

That kinda makes me a bit nervous. I will be starting soon and am just worried that I might get questions I don't know the answer too. I have an A+ but that doesn't mean I remember every detail.

Success101

Yeah, basically. I think the thing to remember is because of the duties, it's hard to actually sit down and provide one on one training. I don't agree with this at all because I believe in training your employees. However, I heard of this happening often.

My advice is just to take notes and check previous tickets to see what the solution was or if the tech had any input to add, other than bashing you.

wweboy

As someone who has been pretty much on the help desk for 8 years now in some role or another sadly this isn't uncommon. Not trying to be rude either but your coming from one help desk job to another and yes it is going to take a bit of learning to learn the topology, core servers etc but at a bare minimum you should be able to do the core job without issue.

Do you have any kind of wiki you can fall back on or what we do where I work is we can dig though past tickets. If you don't have any kind of wiki maybe create some documents for yourself with important information I also create a folder in outlook called "important" If it is some crucial I need to quickly find I throw it there to reference.

Don't let yourself get stressed out over this stuff you will learn it eventually if worse comes to worse tell the caller you will investigate their issue and get back to them right away. This way the caller knows that you are looking into it and it gives you some time off the phone to get assistance from your co-workers regarding the matter.

Xyro

100k wrote: »

That kinda makes me a bit nervous. I will be starting soon and am just worried that I might get questions I don't know the answer too. I have an A+ but that doesn't mean I remember every detail.

I'm glad I didn't know what I would be walking into! All I can advise is - fake it until you make it.

paul78

I don't think this is unique to helpdesk jobs. Pretty much every job that I've had was pretty much like that. My expectation is that I'm hired to do a job so I should already know how to do it or I have to figure it out as I go along. And with today's easy access to information, it's a lot easier than before the Internet.

Usually my only requirement when I start a new job is to know 3 things - (a) location of the coffee machine, (b) bathroom, and (c) nearest fire escape. If my employer tells me those details, I'm usually all set.

Heck, I once worked at an internet start-up company and I had to bring in my own tools to put together my desk and chair

Although, there are of course exceptions, I don't see it in IT in the US but in consulting companies (big 4), investment banks, and similar where the company hires large groups of new hires, there is a very formal training period. I think that some large Indian IT firms still do that with their freshers but I don't think that practice occurs in the US.

W Stewart

The last company I worked with was horrible about training. It was a NOC. They basically tough me how to sit there and look at solarwinds all night and then left me to work the shift alone. I constantly had help desk asking me questions about things I knew nothing about as if I was some sort of tier 2 support or something. They wanted to know details about maintenance that was being scheduled and other things I wasn't kept in the loop on or didn't have any kind of access to.

The manager who had been there for two months prior to hiring me was also very incompetent which is what I credit the lack of proper preparation to. We were supposed to have 24x7 monitoring of the network relying on 3 guys to be there 100% of the time. Now don't get me wrong, I'm never late or miss work if I can help it but I've been in car crashes before and family members have died. When the engineer tried to explain how we needed a backup plan in case someone couldn't make it in to work or leave early, the manager responded with "You can't". I decided to teach him a hard lesson in contingency planning by putting in my immediate resignation and accepting a better job offer.

N2IT

Xyro is right on the money. Fake it until you make it. In other words Ma'am can you please hold | Google your arse off | get back to the lady "Thanks for holding you do this, this, and this | Next Call.

100k

N2IT wrote: »

Xyro is right on the money. Fake it until you make it. In other words Ma'am can you please hold | Google your arse off | get back to the lady "Thanks for holding you do this, this, and this | Next Call.

Lol I may just have to do that. Thanks for the tip

N2IT

100K

Use the knowledge base if available if that isn't available then google. Last resort ask a co worker.

Make sure to take notes and use the hold button a lot. Thank them always and never lose your cool.

pinkydapimp

as said above, assume you will be thrown in the fire. So with any job, you should go in and try your best to pick the brains of other people there. If there is a KB, read through it when you have some downtime to see the kinds of problems and their subsequent solutions. If you saw something that was confusing, look it up when you go home. And as said above, if you see an issue, chances are, someone else has as well and there is a solution to be found on google.

I just started a new job which requires alot of learning. i picked the brains of everyone i came in contact with. After a month, i took them all out for beers to thank them.

xza

I just got a desktop support job with no previous help desk experience. During interview I asked what technologies were being used. Based on that info I watched the relevant training videos and that's what I've been working on since Friday. A+, 70-685, 70-640, 70-686, etc.

rensational

Thanks for the responses. I was just wondering if this is normal so that I'll know whether or not the employers are the problem or if I'm simply not a good fit for help desk and need to go back to repair while I develop other IT-related skills, which it sounds more like the latter. I've had other jobs in other fields that didn't really provide training, so I think I need to find a job I already know how to do (i.e. repair). I've got coping strategies for doing my job, but it's just very stressful to me nonetheless and it makes me dread going to work. I am very averse to not knowing what I'm doing, and I was just a lot happier doing repair. It doesn't help that I don't like the people I work with or need help from and they don't particularly seem to like me, with a couple of exceptions.

I don't know if this is normal, as well, but with both jobs I specifically asked about training in the job interviews and both times the interviewers made it seem as if there was a training period of at least a couple of weeks, not being thrown right in on the second day. So now I know that they think of training differently than I do.

Also, one of the responses said something like, "That is how help desk work, not entirely sure what you were expecting." How can you know what to expect if you haven't done the job before? Personally, it doesn't make sense to me to expect a tech to help a large volume of people to troubleshoot systems/software that you haven't even been told about and didn't know your company had prior to receiving a frantic phone call, but maybe that's just me. I don't know what's wrong with expecting at least one day of being told/shown, "Hey, we have this, this, that and that and you'll get calls about them. Here are some basic tips for troubleshooting steps about these four software programs, just to get you started." And my first help desk job did sort of do that, just not for everything.

Thanks again.

paul78

rensational wrote: »

... or if I'm simply not a good fit for help desk and need to go back to repair while I develop other IT-related skills, which it sounds more like the latter.

Don't sell yourself short. Whoever hired you obviously felt that you had the mettle to do the job and was willing to give you a chance. Maybe you just need to give it a little time and spend some of your own time learning some of the required skills. Studying for certs are a good way to provide structured learning.

rensational wrote: »

... so I think I need to find a job I already know how to do (i.e. repair). I've got coping strategies for doing my job, but it's just very stressful to me ...

IMO - that's an individual matter and there is no right or wrong. But if you have goals or aspirations and you want to grow your IT career, it really does sound like you are at the next step in your career. New jobs and challenges can be stressful. And it sounds like you have coping skills so I hope you would consider sticking it out for a bit.

rensational wrote: »

I am very averse to not knowing what I'm doing,

It's perfectly fine to know your limitations. At least you know that there are things you don't know. That's a good thing. And if you already know everything that you need to know at your job, then the lack of challenge will not advance your career. There is always going to be points in everyone's career where they will wonder if they can do a job. It's a good thing not to be complacent. Heck, I wonder all the time in my job if I'm doing it right

But as long as I still get a paycheck, I must be doing something someone thinks brings value to the corporation.

rensational wrote: »

I don't know if this is normal, as well, but with both jobs I specifically asked about training in the job interviews and both times the interviewers made it seem as if there was a training period ...

That's probably because the definition of training will vary. I would expect that new employee training is most commonly related to process and administrative topics. I.e. how to fill out a time-card, HR policy, etc. etc.

rensational wrote: »

How can you know what to expect if you haven't done the job before?

Exactly - and no two jobs are ever the same as well. So you will never really know unless you take that small risk to try it out. You can always reduce your risk a bit by asking questions during the interview process or even just asking here on the forums about other people's experience.

It sounds like you have some good basic IT experience already. Good luck in your current job. Others have already offered some good advice.

ghoul

Training is often understated or nonexistent at a helpdesk. My department has the same problem and I'm trying to remedy it for a batch of new techs coming in. The main problem though is that the environment makes training difficult because we need everyone we have to man their own battle station. An issue we have is the scope of software/hardware we support is absolutely insane and overwhelming. Like you mentioned, we have an abundance of things we support that our specific to our company. In my experience, the statement about it taking 6 months or so is accurate if your HD is like ours. The stuff that takes a while to get the hang of is company specific and is hardly related to IT. If you could see yourself having a future there once you got the hang of it, I would say dig in and stick it out. One day sooner than you think, you'll realize its all coming together.

For me, the help desk is the entry point to a more technical systems/network career. Good luck!

antielvis

Yes, that's standard procedure for a help/service desk. It's worse because no only are you not trained in technical stuff, you're not trained in procedures. Any wonder why SO many guys say eff it and leave the industry. We eat our young.

instant000

In my experience, it is normal to not be trained.

However, there are two ways you can approach this.

1. Do the job, learning by experience and searching for answers when you get stuck.
2. Do the job, learning by experience and searching for answers when you get stuck. In addition, work on YOUR OWN TIME to learn more about how the systems and applications that you have been hired to support work.

You'll get up to speed a lot faster if you do approach #2, and don't be surprised when people start coming to you for assistance.

If the place is lacking in documentation, then, as other posters have mentioned, you have to document it yourself, if only so you can have a list of what you need to study.

I can guarantee you that it is a lot easier to troubleshoot something, if you know how it is supposed to work

lsud00d

antielvis wrote: »

We eat our young.

As the great Maynard James Keenan said--

learn to swim

ghoul

lsud00d wrote: »

As the great Maynard James Keenan said--

Referencing Tool's mastermind vocalist on an IT forum? Respect++.