The IT Pecking Order ?????

La femme TechqitaLa femme Techqita Member Posts: 17 ■□□□□□□□□□
in General Certification
Like all things in this world , there are done in order and nearly every thing has a title . Can any of you chaps breakdown the IT Pecking Order ???

i.e like is helpdesk a level above desktop or Is System Admin a step above Network Admin ?

Knowing this will greatly help newbies when choosing a path and making lateral moves with job titles !!!!

Thanks in Advance ...
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Comments

  • NetworkVeteranNetworkVeteran Member Posts: 2,338 ■■■■■■■■□□
    i.e like is helpdesk a level above desktop or Is System Admin a step above Network Admin ?
    Typically what is "above" you in the organizational hierarchy is a manager, a second-line manager, a director, and a VP. In some companies there will be fewer or more managers above you. It's quite unlikely that a network admin will actually be "above" helpdesk, desktop support, or system administrators..and vice-versa. They're different roles. Learning about networks or clients/servers or both is a tried and trued way to get more challenging jobs that pay more than the helpdesk or desktop support.
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  • La femme TechqitaLa femme Techqita Member Posts: 17 ■□□□□□□□□□
    NetworkVeteran wrote: »
    Typically what is "above" you in the organizational hierarchy is a manager, a second-line manager, a director, and a VP. In some companies there will be fewer or more managers above you. It's quite unlikely that a network admin will actually be "above" helpdesk, desktop support, or system administrators..and vice-versa. They're different roles. Learning about networks or clients/servers or both is a tried and trued way to get more challenging jobs that pay more than the helpdesk or desktop support.

    I did not mean " above " as a manager roles I meant above as far as Pecking Order goes. " level Above " who's on bottom who's on the Top !!!
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  • NetworkVeteranNetworkVeteran Member Posts: 2,338 ■■■■■■■■□□
    La femme Techqita wrote: »
    I did not mean " above " as a manager roles I meant above as far as Pecking Order goes. " level Above " who's on bottom who's on the Top !!!
    Well, when there's a question or issue related to servers, the server guys have the most authority. When there's a question or issue related to networks, the network guys have the most authority. There's no generic "pecking order" based on role. Indeed, since the company should function as a team, I'm concerned if an employee acts "above" others in different roles. Your influence tends to be more determined by how strong you are, how well-liked you are, and how senior you are.
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  • La femme TechqitaLa femme Techqita Member Posts: 17 ■□□□□□□□□□
    NetworkVeteran wrote: »
    Well, when there's a question or issue related to servers, the server guys have the most authority. When there's a question or issue related to networks, the network guys have the most authority. There's no generic "pecking order" based on role. Indeed, since the company should function as a team, I'm concerned if an employee acts "above" others in different roles. Your influence tends to be more determined by how strong you are, how well-liked you are, and how senior you are.

    What I"m really asking is Position Wise.... i.e help-desk---> desktop---> tier 1-2-3 ---> ?????? Idk whats next ???
    It can be from the Network side , Server Side , Database side , App side,Etc. Whatever your area of expertise or experience !!!

    Please advise for ppl who want to work their way from the Bottom on Up .....
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  • YFZbluYFZblu Member Posts: 1,462 ■■■■■■■■□□
    La femme Techqita wrote: »
    What I"m really asking is Position Wise.... i.e help-desk---> desktop---> tier 1-2-3 ---> ?????? Idk whats next ??? It can be from the Network side , Server Side , Database side , App side,Etc. Whatever your area of expertise or experience !!! Please advise for ppl who want to work their way from the Bottom on Up .....
    Awesome username!
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  • La femme TechqitaLa femme Techqita Member Posts: 17 ■□□□□□□□□□
    YFZblu wrote: »
    Awesome username!

    Lol Thx ...... I live outside the Box :0)
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  • NetworkVeteranNetworkVeteran Member Posts: 2,338 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Well, first the concept that you must do help desk before graduating to more technical roles is somewhat flawed. I've met people who may be at the help desk for life, and others like myself who never spent a day there. The real gate-keeper is if/when you put in the time to learn what you need to for a more advanced technical role. In the networking field, the typical entry-level certification is the CCNA. I decided to earn that before working my first job in this field. Not that the help desk is all bad. If you can avoided becoming jaded, it's a good place to pick up people skills, and you can often get your feet wet with just an A+.
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  • widget101widget101 Member Posts: 29 ■■■□□□□□□□
    In my organization, the hierarchy is roughly like the following (please excuse the crappy attempt to graph it out):




    Network Engineer (Server side) L1
    L2
    L3
    Senior Network Engineer



    Network Engineer (Network side) L1
    L2
    L3
    Senior Network Engineer


    Help Desk
    Desktop Support Technician






    IS Security Analyst L1
    L2
    L3




    IS Analyst L1
    L2
    L3



    NetworkVeteran:
    Well, first the concept that you must do help desk before graduating to more technical roles is somewhat flawed.

    Agreed. The troubleshooting and people skills you earn in help desk positions can be very useful, but there isn't a predefined amount of time you're expected to work help desk before moving upwards, nor is it mandatory to do so like NetworkVeteran pointed out. Some people end up staying on help desk roles because they lack the technical ability and/or motivation to move up, but there are also those who actually enjoy the experience of working help desk. Unless you want to further develop those skills, get your foot in the door at a particular organization, or just simply love help desk, you could probably bypass it.
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  • filkenjitsufilkenjitsu Member Posts: 564 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Entry level roles: Technical Support representative, Help Desk Technician, PC Repair

    Entry-Mid career roles: NOC Technician, Desktop Support, IT Analyst

    Mid career: NOC Engineer, Associate Engineer (Network, Server, etc.)

    Mid to exp. career: Network Engineer, Network Administrator, Server Support Engineer, Virtualization/High Performance Computing Engineer, Etc.

    Exp career: Senior title added to previous listed positions.

    Subject Matter Expert Career: Architect added to previous titles, "Member of Technical Staff" based titles
    CISSP, CCNA SP
    Bachelors of Science in Telecommunications - Mt. Sierra College
    Masters of Networking and Communications Management, Focus in Wireless - Keller
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  • boobobobobobboobobobobob Member Posts: 118
    My current company breaks down like this:

    Computer Tech (helpdesk guys)
    Network/Systems Tech
    Network/Systems Engineer
    Senior Networks/Systems Engineer

    The pay scales vary very widely within roles. A lot of larger companies will break up each of the tiers into Level 1/2/3 positions.
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  • La femme TechqitaLa femme Techqita Member Posts: 17 ■□□□□□□□□□
    filkenjitsu wrote: »
    Entry level roles: Technical Support representative, Help Desk Technician, PC Repair


    Entry-Mid career roles: NOC Technician, Desktop Support, IT Analyst

    Mid career: NOC Engineer, Associate Engineer (Network, Server, etc.)

    Mid to exp. career: Network Engineer, Network Administrator, Server Support Engineer, Virtualization/High Performance Computing Engineer, Etc.

    Exp career: Senior title added to previous listed positions.

    Subject Matter Expert Career: Architect added to previous titles, "Member of Technical Staff" based titles

    Awesome Break down :0)
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  • La femme TechqitaLa femme Techqita Member Posts: 17 ■□□□□□□□□□
    NetworkVeteran wrote: »
    Well, first the concept that you must do help desk before graduating to more technical roles is somewhat flawed. I've met people who may be at the help desk for life, and others like myself who never spent a day there. The real gate-keeper is if/when you put in the time to learn what you need to for a more advanced technical role. In the networking field, the typical entry-level certification is the CCNA. I decided to earn that before working my first job in this field. Not that the help desk is all bad. If you can avoided becoming jaded, it's a good place to pick up people skills, and you can often get your feet wet with just an A+.

    Thx for the great Advice !!!!
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  • PsoasmanPsoasman Member Posts: 2,687 ■■■■■■■■■□
    Another good way to see the pecking order is to browse jobs on the larger company websites, like Boeing or Microsoft.
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