Question regarding Job Title & IT Career

Hello,

After 2 years of help desk, I got a job at a non profit organization as a solo IT Support Specialist. I work with 90 users and work with other IT departments within the university ( network team, security team, etc etc.) My role consist of: tier 2 desktop support (mac & pc), Backing up and managing Mac Servers, Inventory & Change Management, working with managers and giving advice on implementing technologies. I have my own tech budget, and have the freedom to order what I feel is best for the organization. My question is do you think my role(s) fit the description of my job title? If not, what would you say describes my position?

Also, I am strongly interested in Desktop Engineering and recently got my microsoft certs 70-680 and 70-685. (debating on A+) I have access to Windows Server 2012, however due to the university policies I cannot obtain Exchange Server and I don't get to work with too much networking. Do you guys feel this current job can prepare me to be a desktop engineer and our my goals realistic?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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Comments

ScrawnyRonnie

Sounds similar to what my boss does and she is the "Network Administrator". IT Support Specialist sounds more like another way of saying Help Desk/Desktop Support or a more entry level position IMO. Since you're the solo IT person and have to do more than just end-user support, I think another title sounds more fitting.

TomkoTech

You can download evaluation copies of Windows Server to install and play around with. You can build a server for a home for pretty cheap these days. And just set up a virtual box to get some experience with the network and server admin side of things.

Trifidw

PDFOUR wrote: »

My question is do you think my role(s) fit the description of my job title? If not, what would you say describes my position?

Does it matter? List on your resume your responsibilities underneath the title and then any future employers will know exactly what your responsibilities are.

PDFOUR

Trifidw wrote: »

Does it matter? List on your resume your responsibilities underneath the title and then any future employers will know exactly what your responsibilities are.

Fair enough and a good point. I just notice that recruiters contact me for level 1 help desk/desktop support positions when they see my title. They see my experience, Windows 7 certs and HDI Desktop Support Cert and think entry level job is all I'm good for. I am sure updating my responsibilities underneath will prevent me from being boxed in.

jthunderbird

Trifidw wrote: »

Does it matter? List on your resume your responsibilities underneath the title and then any future employers will know exactly what your responsibilities are.

Yes, it matters.

May be silly but job title roles certainly matter. More often than not, a recruiter is sifting through resumes looking for the most relevant ones that match certain positions. So if you are an IT Support Specialist but doing Systems Engineering roles and looking for an Engineer job, you will be passed up because recruiters do not want to interview the entry level position, they want to interview the System Admins and Engineers.

Experience is always the most important, but getting an upgrade at job title absolutely matters.