Did you start at Helpdesk

ArabianKnight

Was your first IT job helpdesk? If not, what made you so special!

GoodBishop

I started at help desk.

Corza

IMO every good IT person started at helpdesk, and yes i did.

Essendon

I did too, in 2006. ISP tech support gig, graveyard shift from midnight to 9am. Turned into an owl within a month. Lasted only 3 months, couldnt take the abuse and the crazy hours.

Bundiman

I started in 1998 collecting pc information for Y2K and then moved into help desk. Not answering phones but walking around fixing issues.

edzyyy

Easy tech for staples.

dave330i

ArabianKnight wrote: »

Was your first IT job helpdesk? If not, what made you so special!

Started as a Network/Sys admin. I have a really big brain.

nosoup4u

Nope, web designer then jack of all trades support role for SMB, moved into sys admin year later been there since

blargoe

I didn't start at helpdesk, though i have had to serve some time there. I started off as the peon at a small mom-and-pop systems intergrator. An intern. I spent a few months tearing apart and putting back together old computers, riding along with someone else when a house call was required, and got the crap work like running cables and sitting through the endless clicking OK on all the errors during in place upgrades of SBS 4 to SBS 2000 while the rest of the crew went to lunch.

I actually struggled greatly for a few months, then one day, I just started to "get it" and I was fine, and was eventually entrusted with more responsibility. Years later, the owner told me that he had planned to fire me and find someone else before I finally caught on and startd to take off. I sometimes wonder how differently my life would have turned out if he hadn't taken the chance on me.

parttimetechie

I started as Staples Easy Tech, then went to a help desk phone support, then a call center, then finally to desktop / deskside support walking around helping people. Loved that job, but lost it due to budget cuts. Now thinking of getting out of IT as it seems to be all contract work and I can't spend the next four out of ten years unemployed looking for work...maybe I'm just not looking in the right places...

lsud00d

I started off at Help Desk as a student worker at my college. When I graduated I got on full time and did that for a few years while increasingly taking on sys admin duties which led to my current job as a linux/Windows sys admin.

I appreciate the troubleshooting, customer service, and wide range of skills I learned at the Help Desk

ArabianKnight

I also think it depends on when you got into IT. Back "in the day" job qualifications were not so ridiculous. It is not as easy to get into entry level IT now IMHO.

MSP-IT

I'm in my first IT gig. I work in a smaller company that has a fairly large range of duties. I was hired to travel and configure our server software for new clients, but when I'm not traveling, I'm taking support calls. I would say my luck in landing the job had to do with the current pursuit of an IT degree and certifications.

Sponx

Started at Staples "EasyTech Lead" or whatever it's called now... Then was solo doing basic systems administration for a radio station, then landed a Desktop Support position, and now I am in a IT project management/desktop support role.

log32

I started as a help desk technician, 3 months afterwards I was promoted to manage the same team for another 9 months, and then I moved on to system administration role

NetworkVeteran

ArabianKnight wrote: »

Was your first IT job helpdesk? If not, what made you so special!

I did not, and a degree. Most of my colleagues never worked at a help desk for similar reasons.

Corza wrote:

IMO every good IT person started at helpdesk, and yes i did.

I am a "good IT person". If your bias were typical in the IT world, I would've done a short stint at the helpdesk, but carriers, ISPs, and vendors really prefer relevant experience, certifications, education, etc. Bypass low-paid grunt work if you can!

You can learn a great deal from working with people who can't find the "power" button on their PC, but you can learn even more from working with people who can't get their network to converge fast enough. Both jobs afford you opportunities to communicate with both laymen and techies, but the latter affords you opportunities to hone more relevant technical skills.

mogeekdad

I actually started as a printer tech, then did warranty work on PCs and servers. After that I learned a little about severs and then got dropped into an onsite contract where I was a one man show responsible for everything. I learned so much there...after that I grew the department and had a report. Now am at a different company with 1 report. Getting ready to start my MBA at WGU so I can move up the management chain.

puertorico1985

Started at the desk (phone calls all day/no walking around) and stayed for two and half years while I obtained certs and a BS degree.

RouteMyPacket

I started on Help Desk because even then I understood the importance of just getting my foot in the door. Within a few months I was off an on site at a client location.

I also agree that those who worked Help Desk tend to have better CS skills then those who didn't. Also, you develop better tracking skills when it comes to ticketing systems from working on a HD.

You have to start somewhere and there is absolutely nothing wrong with Help Desk because those with a vision and will to succeed use it for what it is, an opportunity.

Rosco2382

I am currently working for a company in their MIS department. Its a good learning experience and helping me develop patience with people who are clueless.

Danielh22185

I too started as a help desk tech. Did that for 2 years and moved into a Tier 1 Network Infrastructure Monitoring position monitoring a big corporate network for a year. I now manage the group of engineers I worked as but look to get further into technical stuff and hope to join the ranks of an engineering role in time.

RoyalRaven

Hardware repair. Flat out enjoyed learning how a computer operates directly...oh yeah, completed a lot of tickets too.

gorebrush

Worked for 6 months as a Technician for my university when I was 19, then after I graduated my first job was an Intranet Co-ordinator.

I did pure helpdesk for a month then went into Installation and Support. After that I did Intranet Co-ordinating again, then became a Sys-Admin so "kinda" did helpdesk

N2IT

Was on the desk for ~ 2 years. It was helpful no question about it.

DNM

I started out doing Desktop/Laptop warranty repairs for Dell and IBM customers. Ended up quitting that to work as an onsite technician for a small local business the owner ran out of his house. I got my big break doing desktop support for a pretty legit company. Now I am a Network Technician for that same company.

bryguy

I started my career working on a help desk for a small IT contracting company and it was the hardest two years that I've spent, to date, in IT. That said, the experience benefited me immensely from a troubleshooting perspective. I've applied the same troubleshooting methodology I learned on the desk, successfully, in countless scenarios in different roles ranging from network engineer to auditor. Those of you who are still on the desk, I encourage you to take heart. Whether you realize now or not, the skills and the experience you're picking up will serve you well in subsequent roles.

mworwell

Yep. Started in Help desk, and stayed there for about 6 months before moving on to a NOC

dave330i

Curious to find out what important skills you learn at a helpdesk that they shape the rest of your IT career.

sratakhin

Dealing with nasty people, I guess?
Kind of reminded me of an interview I saw on youtube:
- How well do you handle stress and people yelling at you?
- My mom yelled at me all the time so I guess I can handle that

tycoonbob

I started in desktop support in a hospital of about 8000 PCs. I was there for almost two years, and moved from a contracting desktop support tech, to a full time desktop engineer (SCCM -- OSD, software packaging/deployment, reporting and AV, Encryption, etc). Left there and am now a SysEngineer working for a consulting firm working with enterprise clients. I work with Microsoft technologies (System Center, virtualization) and related.

I avoided helpdesk at all costs!

vCole

Started as a Desktop Support/Jr Sys Admin.