I would like some advice for 2014.

Hey all,

Long time reader and first time poster to these forums.

I have been working as a helpdesk guy for six years (across three companies) and I am starting to get a bit tired of it! I work for a small firm so I do get to interact with exchange servers, sharepoint and the like but I don't have the time to really go through the configurations due to the strict SLA's we have at helpdesk level.

I have done my MCITP:EA and some other certs but because I have been stagnating for so long what I learned while studying has mostly dissapeared. The crux of the matter is I wish to get out of helpdesk and have a role that's less customer facing.

Thanks for your time.

OneUp

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Comments

slotzero

Do you know what direction you want to do? Hardware/Software? Servers, Networking, Administration, Development, Security, Telephony? What is appealing to you?

LittleBIT

slotzero wrote: »

Do you know what direction you want to do? Hardware/Software? Servers, Networking, Administration, Development, Security, Telephony? What is appealing to you?

I'd have to double up on what Slotzero said. At the Helpdesk level, I do sometimes feel like I've hit a dead end, but I do learn a lot when time is permitting me to hop onto our servers.

But, there will be no such thing as away from customers, they will always be there in one way or another.

Think about the 'next level' or the differents paths you can take, decide which ones interest you and get back to TE. There's lots of opinions and advice to be had.

joehalford01

If you have the MCITP:EA, you need to move on. I have less then that and I am finally out of help desk after several years. Those tests are not easy to pass and bottom line is that you have that upper level architecture understanding of Microsoft servers. Leverage that in interviews and start looking for system admin jobs.

You may need to settle for a smaller company that combines their helpdesk and system admin into one job, then only highlight the system admin portions of that job on the next job hunt. Or do that now, I left all of the data analysis and help desk stuff off of my resume for a reason, it helps.

Asif Dasl

I would start looking for desktop support roles, it's the next level up from help desk on the Windows side of things. You could update your MCITP:EA to MCSA/MCSE 2012 but you really need to get relevant work experience under your belt before you can go for System Admin positions - positions that would require MCITP:EA. Keep applying for jobs with the certs that you have got and see what comes of it. Good luck with your job search!