Don't think I'm cut out for helpdesk...

Well I finally got back into IT support in a helpdesk role on phones two months ago. In my mind I was thinking I'd work my way up to this companies desktop support. I feel like I'm really not cut out for this volume of user interaction doing support remotely. Frankly, I absolutely positively suck at helpdesk. I loved desktop support. I was comfortable and confident in that role. Sadly it was only a short 9 month contract. I really miss working with my hands I guess.

What kind of role would work for a former computer repair/ desktop support/ helpdesk tech who likes working with his hands and getting dirty? I just want to do the technical hands on stuff with limited user interaction. Where should I be aiming in IT? What should I study to be more specialized in that sort of thing? Help?

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N2IT

Anonymouse wrote: »

Back for another update.

N2IT suggested sticking with it for 3-6 months to get a feel for it. Around 3 months I didn't feel like a total screw up on the job and I think I'm at 6 months now and I'm finally confident in my skills and results from day to day. I still don't like a few aspects of the job like getting stuck with a few back office type duties like daily and monthly reports that the level 1's here have to do and I especially don't like being stuck with weekends 'cause I'm the new guy. All in all I like where I'm at right now but that doesn't mean I plan to be here forever. While I'm here I'll enjoy the pay, my cool peers, and certing up (MCDST tests next month, wish me luck).

I am glad you stuck through it. It's VERY VERY important to show solid blocks of employment. Especially when you first start off. I would try to stick this job out 1-3 years if at all possible, but don't think of it like that. Take it one day at a time. Think about where you are now, how you where going to quit. You really proved a lot to yourself, you should be proud. Take that 6 months and continue to grow, get comfortable and then some, at that point I would start to look for a tier 2 position or maybe they can ramp you up to another role. Everyones situation is different.

I have been in helpdesk / deskside support for 5+ years and I finally got my chance to become a supervisor/manager. I have doubts and thoughts that I can't do it, but when I went into helpdesk like yourself I had those same thoughts and now I am the best in our support center.

You will always have those battles, just remember each time you go through one of these new positions and learn the job you will have more confidence the next time you encounter a challenge. You did the hard part brother, you got the 6 months.

Mike-Mike wrote: »

I'm in my 3rd month at my job, and I still really enjoy it.. I have gotten to where I almost always ask to remote in as opposed to trying to walk them through it..

If you have the tools you should use them!

Anonymouse wrote: »

Definitely. The weekend shift here isn't as busy so gives me ample time for cert studies as well as messing with tickets I typically wouldn't get on my weekdays. I'm glad I can come to this forum for career type knowledge and advice.

Great positive out look on the situation.

Use that time to self improve. Focus on your next certification. Use that time to grow and study. You are burning the candle at both ends, and should see results a lot quicker.

I can't stress enough that larger blocks of employment look good. 1-3 years is perfect for one position.

You leave before a year (consistently) you look like a job hopper, major redflags. If you continue to stay at one position to long you look like a lifer. It's a tough balancing act, but as you continue to work in IT you will get a better understanding of the dynamics. Applying for other jobs will really shine the light on that.

Anyway good luck and I wish you the best.

Bl8ckr0uter

N2IT wrote: »

I can't stress enough that larger blocks of employment look good. 1-3 years is perfect for one position.

You leave before a year (consistently) you look like a job hopper, major redflags. If you continue to stay at one position to long you look like a lifer. It's a tough balancing act, but as you continue to work in IT you will get a better understanding of the dynamics. Applying for other jobs will really shine the light on that.

I don't think you should get stuck on this though. If a job opens up a *Insert dream company here* doing *insert dream job here* for *Insert dream wage here* don't be afraid to go after it, even if you have only been at your current job for X amount of time. Also if things aren't working out, don't be afraid to try to find another job.

1 year is fine. If you aren't advancing or doing cool stuff after about that long, it might not happen. After 1.5 years you should be able to tell how the job is really going to be. There are people here who will tell you that you need to work 3-5 years doing helpdesk stuff before you can be a tech, then another 3 as a tech, then you can start doing admin work. I simply think that is an old school mentality help by a previous generation of workers (I mean in age not when they entered IT). This generation of outsource this and that, no retirement, no benefits, no "job security" and no caring for employees has made this generation spastic and paranoid and I think it should be. My father has worked for the same job for almost 25 years. That will never happen for me or you. Period. And that's ok.

N2IT

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

I don't think you should get stuck on this though. If a job opens up a *Insert dream company here* doing *insert dream job here* for *Insert dream wage here* don't be afraid to go after it, even if you have only been at your current job for X amount of time. Also if things aren't working out, don't be afraid to try to find another job.

1 year is fine. If you aren't advancing or doing cool stuff after about that long, it might not happen. After 1.5 years you should be able to tell how the job is really going to be. There are people here who will tell you that you need to work 3-5 years doing helpdesk stuff before you can be a tech, then another 3 as a tech, then you can start doing admin work. I simply think that is an old school mentality help by a previous generation of workers (I mean in age not when they entered IT). This generation of outsource this and that, no retirement, no benefits, no "job security" and no caring for employees has made this generation spastic and paranoid and I think it should be. My father has worked for the same job for almost 25 years. That will never happen for me or you. Period. And that's ok.

That's fine and all, but if you start hopping and throwing up 3-6 month blocks of employment you aren't going to be taken seriously. Infact I love those applications it makes it easy for me to sift through those ones faster.

I was just recent tossed 30+ resumes and 5-6 of them disqualified themselves with that type of job history.

Now with that said, I agree if a dream job comes about then jump on it, no question about it, but getting disgruntle and bouncing from job to job is just plain bad advice.

Anonymouse

For me personally both pieces of advice are good. At the least I'd like to have been here for a year and have my MCDST. But, with my current work and life conditions I think it would be a good time to get my MCITP EDST and EA out of the way in this time too. I also want to keep at it until I feel like I can handle the high pressure situations this job hands me like they were nothing. On the other hand if that dream job pops up then I may as well try. The way I look at it in my current mindset 1.5 to 2 years seems fine. It would be pretty awesome to move up here 'cause I like the company and my co-workers.

Bl8ckr0uter

N2IT wrote: »

That's fine and all, but if you start hopping and throwing up 3-6 month blocks of employment you aren't going to be taken seriously. Infact I love those applications it makes it easy for me to sift through those ones faster.

I was just recent tossed 30+ resumes and 5-6 of them disqualified themselves with that type of job history.

Now with that said, I agree if a dream job comes about then jump on it, no question about it, but getting disgruntle and bouncing from job to job is just plain bad advice.

That's interesting - demanding stability from potential employees in an unstable job market. Companies fire and hire people all the time but the employees are the ones whose stability comes into question.

3-6 months might be a big extreme but if they are working a ton of contracts, it might be entirely valid. Also what if they are working more than 1 job?

Obviously you are an older worker (and that isn't a bad thing or an attack) but that mentality is usually held by older people.

Put it this way, if I kept that mentality I would have never had a job that I would have touched cisco gear or worked for one for the largest cisco partners in ohio. Or broke into infosec "relatively". Or broke out of the helpdesk. All within 4 years of IT work. Not bad no?

I mean I think 18 months is the golden number. If it hasn't happened for you by then or you still hate it, then its time for a change.

Anonymouse

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

That's interesting - demanding stability from potential employees in an unstable job market. Companies fire and hire people all the time but the employees are the ones whose stability comes into question.

3-6 months might be a big extreme but if they are working a ton of contracts, it might be entirely valid. Also what if they are working more than 1 job?

Obviously you are an older worker (and that isn't a bad thing or an attack) but that mentality is usually held by older people.

Put it this way, if I kept that mentality I would have never had a job that I would have touched cisco gear or worked for one for the largest cisco partners in ohio. Or broke into infosec "relatively". Or broke out of the helpdesk. All within 4 years of IT work. Not bad no?

Yeah most of my work experience have been short durations of less than a year due to only finding contract work up until now. I fixed computers at an electronics store for 3 months and worked contract jobs for the following 3 years until I landed my current full-time job where I am employed by the company itself. I was and still am worried about those short contracts but I make sure to point that out in cover letters as well as in my resume I list my job title as "job title/contractor".

Bl8ckr0uter

Anonymouse wrote: »

Yeah most of my work experience have been short durations of less than a year due to only finding contract work up until now. I fixed computers at an electronics store for 3 months and worked contract jobs for the following 3 years until I landed my current full-time job where I am employed by the company itself. I was and still am worried about those short contracts but I make sure to point that out in cover letters as well as in my resume I list my job title as "job title/contractor".

And that's my point. I worked at one place for like 18 months and then did a few contracts and now all of a sudden I am a job hopper. I actually talked with a recruiter and they basically said you have to list that the jobs are contracts to "protect" yourself that stigma.

mikej412

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Companies fire and hire people all the time but the employees are the ones whose stability comes into question.

I've never seen a company that "rotated" new employees in every 3 months.

Even the McD's I grab lunch from has employees that have been there for years.... not sure I've ever seen a company (including staffing agencies) that burned through all their employees every 3 months.

Bl8ckr0uter

mikej412 wrote: »

I've never seen a company that "rotated" new employees in every 3 months. Even the McD's I grab lunch from has employees that have been there for years.... not sure I've ever seen a company (including staffing agencies) that burned through all their employees every 3 months.

Again 3 months is a bit extreme but I have done 1 week contracts. I have also done 2 contracts that were basically 6 months. 6 months is a bit realistic with some contract companies like RHT and Tek (although TEK is imo way better than RHT but that is another story). Lots of companies aren't hiring of perm positions and like to leverage 6, 8, or 12 month contracts. With durations of the first two and slightly less being more common in my experience.

undomiel

N2IT wrote: »

That's fine and all, but if you start hopping and throwing up 3-6 month blocks of employment you aren't going to be taken seriously. Infact I love those applications it makes it easy for me to sift through those ones faster.

I was just recent tossed 30+ resumes and 5-6 of them disqualified themselves with that type of job history.

Now with that said, I agree if a dream job comes about then jump on it, no question about it, but getting disgruntle and bouncing from job to job is just plain bad advice.

Isn't that looking a bit short sightedly though? If I recall correctly from another thread the project you're currently on is a 6-9 month contract. What if some of those applying are contract workers? That would easily explain the work history as that is the type of work they're targeting. Looking for people with 2-3 years of employment at a single place for a 6-9 month contract strikes me as being a bit hypocritical. I especially know that back when I worked help desk/desktop support I was usually working contracts that would never last more than a year and quite often was in the 3-6 month range. Even some of the places I landed at that should've last 2+ years did not due to changing circumstances for those companies. I just wouldn't be so quick to dismiss those types of resumes when you're recruiting for contract work.

erpadmin

undomiel wrote: »

Isn't that looking a bit short sightedly though? If I recall correctly from another thread the project you're currently on is a 6-9 month contract. What if some of those applying are contract workers? That would easily explain the work history as that is the type of work they're targeting. Looking for people with 2-3 years of employment at a single place for a 6-9 month contract strikes me as being a bit hypocritical. I especially know that back when I worked help desk/desktop support I was usually working contracts that would never last more than a year and quite often was in the 3-6 month range. Even some of the places I landed at that should've last 2+ years did not due to changing circumstances for those companies. I just wouldn't be so quick to dismiss those types of resumes when you're recruiting for contract work.

See below...my post applies as a response to you as well

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

And that's my point. I worked at one place for like 18 months and then did a few contracts and now all of a sudden I am a job hopper. I actually talked with a recruiter and they basically said you have to list that the jobs are contracts to "protect" yourself that stigma.

Didn't we talk about this a few months ago?

As I remember that conversation, there is a difference between someone who does several contract jobs and a guy who bounces from one permanent job to the next in a short period of time. The latter is a job hopper. The guy who works a few contracts in that same period is someone who is either trying to gain experience or a consultant.

Job hoppers are not looked at very favorably...in any job market or economic conditions. Nothing wrong with someone working at a shop for a good 2-3 years before moving on to the next thing, but hiring folks want to see some semblence of stability if you're gunning for permanent jobs. Contract jobs need to be labeled appropriately and it should be explained to any hiring manager that you now want the stability of what a permanent job provides (even if it's not true...they have to be sold on that).

My last job had asked why I had three jobs in the last 7 seven years (with the average of about 3 years each. I gave a very solid answer that satisfied the original inquirer (I had a "360" interview). His boss then went on to say that she wasn't looking for someone who was going to bounce for a couple of years. I then had to explain the circumstances of my leaving and I was very candid (except about the last job...there was going to be a mountain of a crapstorm brewing in about 5-6 months and I wanted no part of that. It had nothing to do with me, but everything about who I was associated with (or weren't associated with, rather). People who couldn't spell IT were going to be made my boss and I needed to leave before that happened. That shop was very "political" and since I was politically indifferent, I had to leave.) Those people who would have been my boss make less than I do...I am very happy about that.

In any event, as much as I hate recruiters, this one is definitely correct, though I had said the same thing to you. You gotta differentiate between contract jobs and permanent jobs and emphasize that the contract jobs were needed for both experience and need for pay.

Though you are now ready for "prime-time."

N2IT

undomiel wrote: »

Isn't that looking a bit short sightedly though? If I recall correctly from another thread the project you're currently on is a 6-9 month contract. What if some of those applying are contract workers? That would easily explain the work history as that is the type of work they're targeting. Looking for people with 2-3 years of employment at a single place for a 6-9 month contract strikes me as being a bit hypocritical. I especially know that back when I worked help desk/desktop support I was usually working contracts that would never last more than a year and quite often was in the 3-6 month range. Even some of the places I landed at that should've last 2+ years did not due to changing circumstances for those companies. I just wouldn't be so quick to dismiss those types of resumes when you're recruiting for contract work.

I agree completely dismissing someone with several contract positions would be hypocritical. What I obviously failed to convey is people bouncing from job to job to job without legitimate cause.

If an individual signs up for a 3 month contract, then sure I would not hold that against someone, but if someone doesn't let me know that, then there could be a possible problem. If this person has 6 jobs in a row none of which are longer than 6 months, I would be very concerned. Again, if they didn't specify why this was the case I would be probably pass up their resume.

There are always exceptions to the rules, but I am not going to hire based off of exceptions. It is up to the person interviewing for the job to let me know. I want someone who is committed and won't bail on the team because they are bored with the job.

Dakinggamer87

Anonymouse wrote: »

Definitely. The weekend shift here isn't as busy so gives me ample time for cert studies

I also work weekends as well and have been using the extra time on my swing shift to work towards my MCSA/MCSE and CCNA certs. The extra cash is nice as well.

NOC-Ninja

Anonymouse wrote: »

Well I finally got back into IT support in a helpdesk role on phones two months ago. In my mind I was thinking I'd work my way up to this companies desktop support. I feel like I'm really not cut out for this volume of user interaction doing support remotely. Frankly, I absolutely positively suck at helpdesk. I loved desktop support. I was comfortable and confident in that role. Sadly it was only a short 9 month contract. I really miss working with my hands I guess.

What kind of role would work for a former computer repair/ desktop support/ helpdesk tech who likes working with his hands and getting dirty? I just want to do the technical hands on stuff with limited user interaction. Where should I be aiming in IT? What should I study to be more specialized in that sort of thing? Help?

It depends. Here's a view:

Network: start /w CCNA > CCNP > CCIE
Systems: MCSA or MCSE or MCITP:SA/EA

So far CCNA got a good spot but i didnt come from helpdesk.

mikej412

Bl8ckr0uter wrote: »

Again 3 months is a bit extreme but I have done 1 week contracts.

There's a BIG difference between being a contract employee and having a history of getting and completing contracts -- and someone who is hired as an employee and has a history of "not lasting" on the job.

Some people looking for employees may not consider someone who wants to give up the vagabond life of the contract employee and settle down, but that's probably because they think the wanderlust will strike and they'll move on quicker than their average employee. But as a contract employee I get offered a permanent position all the time, so if I ever want to give up the contractor lifestyle (and $$$) all I have to do is accept the next offer (or ask if the last offer is still on the table) and last here at least a couple of more years as an employee.

Mishra

Nice topic.

Anonymouse

WARNING: LONG BLOCK OF BITCHING POSSIBLY INCOHERENT TEXT! Skip to the next paragraph for summary.

Well I'm back to hating life again. Lately a lot of important systems have been going down which leads to heavy calls. Just so happens that two people were on vacation which was kinda weird 'cause I thought we scheduled vacations to ensure that there's still adequate coverage. This all makes for a stressful work environment. Way too stressful for me when it turns into me just taking down users info and then getting yelled at 'cause I can't fix their problem when the 50+ users a day don't realize I have neither the knowledge nor the access to the systems that need fixing. Those days I feel more like a customer service phone guy and/or a password ninja (as worded in another post I saw here haha). I like the technical part of fixing stuff or having to do a little bit of research and fixing stuff. Especially when I take my tickets back from our next tier of support 'cause I either had an epiphany or I do a little bit of research and find the solution before they do. Aside from that I quite enjoy getting those users up and running and for some reason it crushes me inside when I absolutely have to rely on an upper tier because I have no means to help them at my level. Lately I'm just getting annoyed with users calling our department for general questions such as phone numbers or even asking how to do their jobs. Typically people are not happy when I cannot or will not provide them this info. They will typically ask for a manager and even then the manager will probably still tell them the same things I would say. I've never worked at in an IT department where I had to deal with that sort of thing. I'm glad at least all the IT personnel are cool as hell though.

Summary: Job still sucks and lately sucked more. Taking MCDST next month and considering starting job search again after I've passed that. By that point I'll have only been here for 7 months. Aside from that I did 3 months retail computer repair, 9 months of desktop support until contract ended, 6 months of a new OS/computer equipment deployment, and 1 1/4 year of doing data backups in a data center until I got the hell out when I realized it was getting me absolutely nowhere. I'm pretty sure if I leave my job now I will look like a job hopper. Hell I already do. From that short experience I have I would only then have 1 year and 7 months of actual break/fix support experience. You guys think it's wise for me to look for another job with so little relevant experience on my resume or just quit my bitching and continue on?

shodown

I dont' want to hijack the thread, but there were some comments about job hoppers, but my question is this? I have pretty much changed jobs every time I got a new cert. Do you think this is a bad thing? I felt there was no since staying at a NOC with a CCNP if someone was willing to make you an engineer, and no since in staying in lower level positions when you are capable of more.

Hypntick

Anonymouse wrote: »

I'm pretty sure if I leave my job now I will look like a job hopper. Hell I already do. From that short experience I have I would only then have 1 year and 7 months of actual break/fix support experience. You guys think it's wise for me to look for another job with so little relevant experience on my resume or just quit my bitching and continue on?

You have to weigh that against the possibility that the next job you're at will be longer 3+ years. I've been in my current job for 3 months and have been looking the entire time. I was out of work and took what I could get, bills have to be paid. Now I feel no shame in hopping to something else now but if my job history were a little less stable it might stick in my mind a bit.

If you can find yourself a job that you'll hang out in for a while, then all of this previous "hopping" can be overlooked. Sometimes it takes folks a bit to find their niche.

Mike-Mike

i'm in quite the opposite boat.. I have been contracting, and currently they announced they are hiring 2 perm... there are 9 of us contracting... I am in the middle time wise, some have been here longer, some have been here shorter... but I'm pretty much number 1 metrics wise.. and I have no attendance issues... so i think i have a pretty good shot at one of the spots..

thenjduke

erpadmin wrote: »

Where and how do I even begin with this......

Only you would think like this but the sad part is I even thought the same thing before I read your comment :P

Anonymouse

More bitching about helpdesk and rant:

Still studying for MCDST which I'm taking this week. I plan on going back to school this fall because I don't want to be in helpdesk forever and tuition reimbursement is a motivating factor. I don't want to be stuck in helpdesk for too long. Still not sure on whether or not to start seriously looking for desktop support related work. I have a love/hate relationship with this job. I'm pretty happy with my pay and benefits so i can't complain there. My commute is about 10 miles shorter than my last job which paid less. Some days I feel like a superstar being able to resolve tons of issues. I get satisfaction in the challenge of completing a ticket escalated to next tier and also the satisfaction of a happy user. If the user is being productive and making the company money then that means I'm also making money. Most of the time though I'm a typical 'password ninja', ticket escalator, and practically doing customer service. I get lots of calls from external customers because users are retards and give them our number because they confuse us for the customer service line. The same types of users calls us expecting us to tell them how to do their jobs when that's a totally different department who does that (example: procedures on how to use applications). Helpdesk for me is 25% satisfaction and 75% frustration. I kind of feel this is something I have to stick with though. My previous temp contracts may make me look like a job hopper. Tuition reimbursement and downtime on my weekend shift means I can educate myself more on my career. Don't really know where I'm going with this but I felt like writing job stuff here since I try not to share job related subjects with friends due to seeing how annoying it was watching the mental break down of a former friend who complained endlessly about his job.

/enduselessrant

afcyung

I wouldn't focus on the job itself to much. Just focus on your education. Most people do help desk and get real sick of it fast. Its easily one of the most frustrating jobs out there. Just put in your time while working on your education Certs/Degree and then move on to bigger and better things.

techlady007

Help desk is where IT professionals gain their experience when starting out in the field unless they are extremely lucky. Some people like help desk more than others, either comfortable with what they do, or for pay/benefit reasons. When in help desk, I always tell people to make the best of it and move on elsewhere when they feel time is right to make that move.

Anonymouse

Had another one of those days LOL. This thread is turning into my personal work hate blog. Seriously what path should I take to get as far away as possible from interaction with users?

Akaricloud

If you're looking for something immediate I'd suggest you try applying for a few desktop support jobs.

You still deal with customers but usually face to face on a more personal level. There is far less password resets and that type of boring work.

I know all of my users that I support quite well and spend more time on complex problem solving really.

Everyone

You have to show initiate and a desire to move up. Oddly enough the best way to get out of a help desk, is to be really good on the help desk. I only spent 3 months on the help desk when I started my career. I was asked if I'd like to move back into the Network Administration shop (which was really Server Administration), took the oppertunity, and never looked back.

sheckler

Sometimes I really want to get a shack in the woods and tell the corporate world to go screw.

Anonymouse

Not looking for something immediate. Just looking for ideas on what to start studying which would lead me to not interacting with users. That rules out desktop support now. More of a 2-3 year plan. I was thinking of chatting up some of the other IT staff but I don't even know what facet of IT I can do that leads me to less user interaction.

Also about moving up from helpdesk by being good in helpdesk, I see a lot of awesome techs not move up. The ones who do move up still deal with the same users that I don't want to deal with so I don't want their jobs.

P.S. sorry for making TE into my personal bitching blog, guys.

afcyung

You have to ask yourself what in IT do you want to do? Do you like routers/switches? Maybe you like working Firewalls/proxy/NIDS? Its a personal question you have to answer but you will always deal with customers. Ultimately IT is a service oriented career, in all facets of IT you will deal with customers. Maybe not some as dumb or helpless as the average person calling the Help Desk but you will still have your winners.

Senior level admins deal with less customers but the people they do deal with usually have a lot more pull in the organization. Someone from upper management isn't going to put in a ticket and have it worked up through tier 1 to tier 2 and so on. He is going to get a senior tech to work his issue. This can be more aggravating then dealing with users at the help desk because the pressure can be on. Nothing like getting called in on a weekend to head over to the base golf course because the general's blackberry stop receiving email.