Possible to skip the Help Desk Field?

I'm currently making $23 an hour(with mandatory overtime) in a contracted criminal justice position.

It will only last a year....maybe indefinite(depends on the client)

Yet, I'm looking to switch to the IT field, and short of working for Redbox and call center for a cell phone company almost a decade ago,(it is a stretch I know) I have no IT professional experience.

Currently enrolled in WGU, and have my Comptia A+. Hopefully should have my Comptia Network+ & Security+ by summer of next year.

Is it possible to skip the help desk field?

I have the soft skills and not trying to start out at $15 an hour.

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Comments

stryder144

Yes, it is possible. There are plenty of people who have never worked in the help desk. Depending on where you live and what degree/certs you get, you could go to a NOC or a SOC. You could also go to a small IT shop where you become the Jack of All Trades.

scaredoftests

Yes, it is possible. I am a jack of all trades, myself..

DatabaseHead

I have known plenty of people who skipped help desk and moved into another IT role. Your current skills and previous experiences help dictate that.

Legacy User

Yes it's possible, I skipped help desk. Started as a network tech which turned me into a JOAT providing desk side support since it was a smaller place grabbed enough experience to land a higher level position.

RHEL

Sure it is, I've never done help desk.

Prior to having my degree, I did have some IT jobs that helped me out though. I worked configuring DSL modems for an ISP, as an IT specialist half-time (20hrs/week) for a state gov't branch, and did a 6 week stint as the network admin for a computer camp in Boston over the summer.

I was able to jump directly into a UNIX server admin role for a global company after graduation. No help desk, no desktop support.

Hammer80

Do everything in your power to skip help desk/tech support this is where IT careers go to die. Also i have seen this many times if you are in your company Help Desk you are pretty much blacklisted from getting any jobs in the actual IT dept, it's weird but it's like you have been stained or something and you are deemed unworthy of consideration. In pretty much every company i have worked for IT has zero respect for Help Desk and their skills. Go with a NOC position if you can.

DatabaseHead

@Hammer80 - Ain't that the truth.

I hate absolutes, but from my perspective I have seen so many talented people go to help desk to only stay there for a period of time before getting fed up and moving out of the company. Sad part is, the companies they work for in my area are wonderful, but since they snapped into "DA DESK" originally they were typecasted.

While I was on the desk I knew 4 people who got off the desk. 2 of which had parents working in the company. The other two got out, one had his CCNA and networked with the networking team and the other employee had a CS degree from Rice, ridiculously good CS program.

I actually knew a guy who had been on the desk for ~ 10 years!

I applied everyday after my 18 months when I realized you have almost 0 chance getting moved up. I was in a golf league corporate sponsered and one of the senior directors in an app dev team called the help desk the helpless desk.

My apologies if I hurt any feelings but I'm a straight shooter and from what I seen it's not a pretty picture. As part of the help desk brotherhood, only go for last resort. (of course things could have changed since then).

Legacy User

That is an excellent example RHEL. I just wanted to add if the person can get just enough experience even if its scattered a few weeks or months here and there and they couple that with one or two high level certs that they know like the back of their hand for example (MCSE, CCNA, RHCSA, etc). That will put them in a better position for jumping past help desk to a jr-mid level position.

beads

LOL. Having worked as an executive of a large company and today as a security architect I can tell you I am still attached to the support desk. Today we call it level 3 or level 4 support. Basically, when support/administration/operations, etc can't figure it out it comes back to us at Security to fix it.

You don't have to been dedicated to support or help desk to attached to it, just in IT. No escaping it, its part of IT work as a whole.

My team is extremely popular but are also in a position to never have to buy another beer.

- b/eads

trueshrewkmc

Not sure what you are trying to escape by skipping help desk work.....Sounds like it might be low wages. You might look into IT jobs related to criminal justice or to be more blunt, corrections facilities. That would allow you to leverage your criminal justice experience while building your IT skills.

I didn't get into IT until my 30s. I used my communications skills to improve help desk life for my fellow help desk personnel. I choked down my MCSE (liberal arts makes cert exams easy) and followed my former help desk boss to her new section. Help desk work is not always a dead end. Leverage your other skills and experience and apply a little social networking.

WafflesAndRootbeer

I never did Help Desk, nor would I want to. Where I live, it's a separate thing with non-IT folks, cut out of the process/doesn't exist, or is entirely outsourced to call centers w/ the fixin done by field/remote techs, so most people around here don't work that bit of IT. I jumped straight into technician work and went from there.

PocketLumberjack

Some Help Desk positions pay well, like what you're currently making. That being said I am about to end my year probation at my current Help Desk job and with Network+, ITIL Foundations, and starting WGU in the winter I will have a solid resume for the next position. I took a lower level position at this company because I knew they were going only internal for higher level positions, they are using attrition to keep the IT department trim.

With all that being said it is the most soul sucking job I have ever had in my life. There are people who have been doing it for 20 years and I don't know how they haven't just quit and freed themselves. I have busted my behind off making connections and getting involved in projects. My supervisor appreciates the hard work and is very aware that I will not be around much longer. I should reiterate that this is a large company that I work for and they have about 30 open internal jobs at any given time and I knew some people on the inside so I really understood the company before I started. There are some days that I miss my old job so much that I think about walking out [after I call some rude end users and tell them what I really think about there outlook problems

]. But the year in the Help Desk has helped me learn about all the tools and teams available to me so I will excel in my next position.
TLDR:
If you can skip it do it, but if you can't find an IT job take a help desk position and study between calls like I did and you'd be surprised at how much you can learn.

Thats my 2 cents. I should mention that I work from home and don't get to socialize much so I got a little ranty.

dontstop

A lot of very black & white comments about helpdesk here. I'd say like everything in IT "it depends". If you find a really good company, helpdesk can be a foot in the door and a great way to progress and at others, not so much. This attitude of "better than thou" with regards to service desk is precisely the reason it has a stigma. I agree that some roles can be soul destroying and most places will treat you like a robot, but then in saying that so can many of the Level 2 support roles like NOC, Desktop Support and Entry Technicians.

In any of these roles as long as you do the best you can, have a plan for growth (time frames for staying in a role, commiting to study and certification) and try and be progressive (proactive, improve processes) you can easily move up quickly or pivot to another company.

kabooter

DatabaseHead wrote: »

@Hammer80 - Ain't that the truth.

I hate absolutes, but from my perspective I have seen so many talented people go to help desk to only stay there for a period of time before getting fed up and moving out of the company. Sad part is, the companies they work for in my area are wonderful, but since they snapped into "DA DESK" originally they were typecasted. .

Hey, are you talking about me? LOL

goatama

beads wrote: »

LOL. Having worked as an executive of a large company and today as a security architect I can tell you I am still attached to the support desk. Today we call it level 3 or level 4 support. Basically, when support/administration/operations, etc can't figure it out it comes back to us at Security to fix it.

You don't have to been dedicated to support or help desk to attached to it, just in IT. No escaping it, its part of IT work as a whole.

My team is extremely popular but are also in a position to never have to buy another beer.

- b/eads

I was having the same problem in gov't. We were essentially Tier 4. Every single effing time something major broke, it was Security that had to fix it. When I complained to management they said "Well, the people over in XXX don't really have the skillset that you guys do." Um, that's a problem. We're *security*; we secure things, not fix broken crap.

That said, when I started looking for my next job, I did so specifically to find a security gig where I wasn't an extension of IT support. At the happy hour interview for my current position (App Sec Arch) I asked the CISO if we reported to IT. "F--- NO!" was his response. I have never been more excited to go to work knowing at the end of the day, it's not on me or my team to fix the crap that's so broken everybody else just shrugs and walks away.

xxxkaliboyxxx

I'm just going to quote myself because it's 0400. This is from a transitioned veteran, who's first job in the "civilian" sector is a helpdesk. It is what you make it.

"A lot of people might look down on help desk jobs or see it as a downward move for someone who just finished 8 years as a IT Specialist in the greatest Army in the world. I see it as getting accustom to the civilian world, working on my communication skills, a learning environment on unfamiliar application, having time to study, having time with family/friends and having a moment to breath to figure out where I want to head in life in 1, 5, 10 years from now. A lot of people look at the negatives, I see it as a blessing and am thankful. Coming from the military, we know the meaning of hard work. Oh yeah, did I mention I'm having fun?" - LinkedIn

Daneil3144

Just want to come back and say...it took a few months of staying at the contracted position...Yet, come next week,

I will be the Local Network Support Technician at a local community college! (Pretty much their entire IT department)

It is possible to skip the help desk!!

paul78

@Daneil3144 - congrats on your progress. Always great to read updates.

yoba222

Nice catch. That should be a good role to complement earning the Net+ and Sec+ and perhaps CCNA.

cowill

"Help Desk Field" is vague. Very vague. Please be more specific.

With that said, knowing what I know, I mean I rather be at a Help Desk doing Security or Linux work than being a Tier 2 Desk Top support analyst. In some places Desktop support is considered Help Desk

Personally, I'd try just to get a job, even if its in HD. If I'm not in the field at all, I can't pick and choose. Do your research. Especially on this board. Every other day somebody is complaining about trying to get in. Certs and all.

cowill

beads wrote: »

LOL. Having worked as an executive of a large company and today as a security architect I can tell you I am still attached to the support desk. Today we call it level 3 or level 4 support. Basically, when support/administration/operations, etc can't figure it out it comes back to us at Security to fix it.

You don't have to been dedicated to support or help desk to attached to it, just in IT. No escaping it, its part of IT work as a whole.

My team is extremely popular but are also in a position to never have to buy another beer.

- b/eads

Yep. In certain environments: "all you IT guys are all the same!"

End User: "Hey, you, IT guy, can you help me reset my Windows password?"

IT Security/Desktop/System Admin/ETC guy : "I don't really do that type of work, you have to call help desk"

End User: "Well what good are you for?"

IT Security/Desktop/System Admin/ETC guy " I'm good for a lot of things, just not resetting Windows passwords. Please contact Help Desk to reset your Windows passwords"

End User: "I'm going to contact Help Desk"

End User (After they "contacted" Help Desk): " ARGH!!!, I told them to reset my Portal password, they told me something like the app developement team does that? IS that correct?

IT Security/Desktop/System Admin/ETC guy: "I'm not sure why they told you to contact the APP Development team, they work on your ______ (Insert proprietary app here). Are you sure you told them to reset your WINDOWS PASSWORD?"

End User: "I'm not sure, but you IT guys suck and cant do your job!! I never had this problem with Comcast Support at home"

*IT Security/Desktop/System Admin/ETC guy snickers to himself*

*End User goes on to complain about the IT department to other co-workers, starting with the IT Security/Desktop/System Admin/ETC guy that doesn't reset Windows Passwords, when they really need their Intranet Portal password reset*......

kalimuscle

yeah I skipped it,

you can too

9bits

If you can't skip it, don't stay long. It's an oubliette.

SweenMachine

9bits wrote: »

If you can't skip it, don't stay long. It's an oubliette.

I think I take irrational exception to people who talk so negatively about help desk and how it is a nowhere job that teaches you nothing. Maybe it is because I have dedicated my ENTIRE career to customer service, providing support and working with end users, and it is a passion of mine. 15 years into my career, I still consider myself at the help desk although in reality I am a Director who overseas the whole operation.

Help desk isn't this crazy death trap. If you use your time at the help desk well, you can develop quite a solid troubleshooting methodology and soft skills. My personal opinion is from my role at an MSP, I see and deal with employees on other teams that have NOTHING AT ALL in terms of soft skills and how to handle a user or even their internal resources. For everyone who says skip the help desk and it is a waste of time, I can show you another jerk who bypassed learning customer service skills and is a nightmare to work with. I can admit there can be terrible help desks to work at, but there are terrible every places to work at.

And maybe it is a shock to some of you, but there are people who genuinely love working first level customer support.

-scott