Help desk (RANT)

ClapDemCheeks

Help desk has to be the worst job ever. Dealing with douche bags over the phone, micro managers constantly bitching, writing long documentation, etc... All this for low pay. Yet, other departments browse facebook all day and send all the work to help desk.

EV42TMAN

Yep, but that is how you get into the industry and gain some experience.

sratakhin

Nobody is forcing you to stay at helpdesk positions indefinitely. Get out as soon as you can.

Mrock4

It is what you make of it. View it as a worthless endeavor, and that's what it is. View is as a learning opportunity, and it is one. I could have complained while deployed for 15 months to Iraq (I earned $30,000 that entire time, by the way) - but instead I used every minute of that time to learn anything and everything I could. That experience is what shaped my career for the past 8 years. Those that went on about how horrible it was the whole time didn't make the best of it, and their salary reflects it.

And honestly, if you don't want to write documentation, you are in the wrong field..it only gets worse as you gain experience.

So my final question is, what are you doing to better your situation?

NetworkVeteran

ClapDemCheeks wrote: »

Yet, other departments browse facebook all day and send all the work to help desk.

Those people lounging around put in the effort at some point to earn their degree, CCNA, MCSA, etc. One day soon you too will hopefully up your level of skill, education, and/or experience and be free from the nefarious helpdesk.

Asif Dasl

You say "All of this for low pay" while I agree to a certain extent, once you get over that bump your pay increases dramatically in the US unlike a lot of the rest of the world (if you put the hard work in). In Ireland and the UK from viewing the salary thread, we have better starting off pay but as you go up the ladder we can't really compare to your higher wages.

I agree with Mrock, you'll get out what you put in. If you get over this career roadblock, you can go places and earn a lot of money if you put the hard work in (instead of surfing Facebook all day). You might also want to pay attention to my signatures!!

Cpl.Klinger

ClapDemCheeks wrote: »

Help desk has to be the worst job ever. Dealing with douche bags over the phone, micro managers constantly bitching, writing long documentation, etc... All this for low pay. Yet, other departments browse facebook all day and send all the work to help desk.

Where are you working? I don't deal with a lot of trouble, my manager is awesome, Text Expander makes my documentation easy and I get paid reasonably well. And I browse Facebook and TechExams between calls.

If your current situation is sub optimal, then change it. Even if it takes a year, change it. Otherwise there is no one to blame but yourself.

ClapDemCheeks

Mrock4 wrote: »

It is what you make of it. View it as a worthless endeavor, and that's what it is. View is as a learning opportunity, and it is one. I could have complained while deployed for 15 months to Iraq (I earned $30,000 that entire time, by the way) - but instead I used every minute of that time to learn anything and everything I could. That experience is what shaped my career for the past 8 years. Those that went on about how horrible it was the whole time didn't make the best of it, and their salary reflects it.

And honestly, if you don't want to write documentation, you are in the wrong field..it only gets worse as you gain experience.

So my final question is, what are you doing to better your situation?

Certifications. I got the CCNA last year and i am still in the same shitty position. I also have bachelor degree in CIS.

Mrock4

That's good. Keep moving forward. My best advice is to A) keep learning everything you can and keep your eyes out for new opportunities (whether that is with your current employer or not)

Essendon

As the others said, it's what you make of it. I was in the exact same situation 7-8 years ago, and I was on the graveyard shift too which made it even worse. I could only stand it for 3 months, found myself a better job supporting internal customers at much better pay and hours. In the 3 months I was there, I tried to learn as much as I could. I couldnt pass an exam back then as I had zero experience but I studied the cert books which helped me get through the interview for the second job.

If your that fed up of the helpdesk, get the eff outa there just like I did. Work on another cert (MS preferably to diversify your skills and cert set) and you should be able to land something quick enough.

W Stewart

ClapDemCheeks wrote: »

Help desk has to be the worst job ever. Dealing with douche bags over the phone, micro managers constantly bitching, writing long documentation, etc... All this for low pay. Yet, other departments browse facebook all day and send all the work to help desk.

That helpdesk job may be the worst job ever right now but it also got your foot in the door of the IT industry. Back before I was in the IT industry, I would have killed for a help desk job and I honestly wouldn't change a thing.

When I did finally get my first job doing helpdesk, I dealt with douchebags and micro managers, long documentation that had to be put into a very slow oracle database system that always crashed on Mondays. Basically everybody and everything working to prevent me from doing my job efficiently, but that crappy experience allowed me to get my foot in the door so I could make that long hard climb up the IT ladder and now I could sit around and browse facebook all day if I wanted to, but instead I choose to use the extra downtime at work to study and learn new skills because that's what got me out of help desk and what will get me to where I want to be in my IT career.

If you don't like helpdesk then find out where you want to be and what skills you need to get there. You're going to be working hard your entire career but the work will get more enjoyable as you move up.

W Stewart

ClapDemCheeks wrote: »

Certifications. I got the CCNA last year and i am still in the same shitty position. I also have bachelor degree in CIS.

What area do you live in? You could probably land an entry level position at a NOC somewhere if your resume looks good enough. Is relocation a possibility?

Snow.bros

I am in helpdesk but i don't answer phone calls, i only coordinate calls and log backup reports.

the_Grinch

As others have said, eventually it gets better. IT, a lot like law enforcement, is all about paying your dues. In the beginning you get the crappiest shifts, pay, and assignments. You are there to prove yourself to your peers and those above you. I won't lie, I graduated college and thought I should be above the fray. WRONG! For at least a year you will be eating crap, like it or not. I've been yelled at, been told I was useless, and even had a fellow employee tell me he was going to drive down from Boston to kick my butt. For four years I did some form of help desk or field tech work and then finally I moved on.

In life nothing is handed to us. We either accept what is given or we take what it is we want. You can passively complain here or you can keep at it. In four years of help desk I still learned something new every day. I love to complain and as anyone here knows I do it often. But that also doesn't stop me from pushing on. Eventually, you'll move on and you will see that the experiences before made you so much better.

LarryDaMan

ClapDemCheeks wrote: »

Mr. ClapDemCheeks, great user name. That's all.

homemade88

ClapDemCheeks: The post is long but I recommend you read it. Most of the people where I work always complain about their help desk roll. I've been working at that company for 22 months, 15 of which was help desk, do you know what I do now? for the past 7 months, I've been promoted to Commercial Technical Engineer/PBX Technician. I now install major telephone systems (Avaya, Nortel, Mitel) for business/commercial clients. I skipped like 3 department steps in 15 months, I'm now in the highest position Under IT management, working with people no less than their 40s, 50s and 60s and i'm 25, that's a great head start if you ask me an that's because I applied myself an didn't allow the negative atmosphere from my pears that complain all the time to stop me from performing and my managers and pears saw that. I have tons of emails sent to my bosses (while working the help desk) from customers that was pleased with my level of service, whether or not I fixed the problem an that's saying something. Now I have lots of time to study, surf the web, take longer lunch breaks (if needed), supervisors and managers no longer breathing down my back, I don't login or get timed for anything any more, as long as the work gets done, that's all they care about. help desk is like starting from primary school again, parents run your life, watching you all the time, as you move up to junior and high school, they start letting you got out on dates, then finally you're out of school an ready to be treated like an adult. If you keep the same attitude that you have now about your job, you'll be treated like a kid for a lot longer.

neo9006

Homemade has a point, that is how I felt at my second job, busted my butt and got promoted and continued to get promoted. You make the best of what you have. I am doing that right now even though I do not care for my job, just doing my time and the best I can. Even though I feel I get treated like a grunt which is what is happening, I didn't know that no one else knew how to transfer data off a laptop to the network but me. The engineers are just lazy and do not want to do it. No biggie I just shake my head in my mind and just do what I can do. I know my time will pay off in the end somewhere. Clapdemcheeks, just work hard rather its hard or not or you do not want too. You can say you work in the field which is more than some of us. Just have to keep your head up and things will lead to bigger and better things. Keep that thought in mind. I did that and became the best person I could at my second job, lost 100 one time and my manager said forget out it we will figure it out. She knew I brought my A game to my job, so do it like that. Good luck.

SteveO86

If you think everyone else sits back and surfs Facebook, you are going to be sadly disappointed.

Either way get the experience and move on. That's kind of the name of the game unless you enjoy it.

NinjaBoy

ClapDemCheeks wrote: »

Certifications. I got the CCNA last year and i am still in the same shitty position. I also have bachelor degree in CIS.

And what have you done with it? Have you requested to shadow higher tiers? Asked for extra responsibilities?

Having professional certifications and a degree does not automatically promote you to a higher level job.

SteveO86 wrote: »

If you think everyone else sits back and surfs Facebook, you are going to be sadly disappointed.

Either way get the experience and move on. That's kind of the name of the game unless you enjoy it.

I agree, they are the ones who have to fix, sort out, implement things when the sh!t hits the fan.

neo9006

Aww. reminds me of days when the crap hit the fan at my second job and I was more focused than anything to get the job done and everyone did their job and we got it done. I seem to thrive on pressure for some odd reason.

xXErebuS

At the jobs I've worked at it seems helpdesk does deal with the first line bitching - however, they also forward anything that is more difficult than something overly obvious (like enabling an account, changing pw, etc).

Not to mention the stuff that they break trying to fix the original problem.

I agree with grinch, you have to pay your dues but that doesn't mean helpdesk - I started as a field tech / desktop engineer doing the less than desirable work.

Not trying to knock helpdesk, but if you want to move forward in your career you need to get out of that position, especially since you have your CCNA. Helpdesk is low payed but I have yet to see any helpdesk onsite at 1AM when a supervisor fails, or a DC crashes, or around after a 8hr+ shift to implement an infrastructure change. See my point?