Thoughts on Help Desk jobs

I interviewed for a position at a Pharmaceutical company for a Help Desk position yesterday. It sounds interesting, but I am not sure I would want to sit at a desk for 8 hours a day and field phone calls...for those that have a job like this, is it rewarding? Is it as mundane as it seems to me? (I am not trying to put down the job in any way, I'm just having doubts about changing careers - I'm a PC Tech in a School District now - it would mean a small increase in pay, but over 70 minutes drive time each day to and from work compared to the 15 I have now).

They did not give me an exact number for salary, but when I told the interviewer what I was told by the gentleman I spoke to to set it up, all he did was say "I have to have a talk with Matt..." so, apparently it is not as much as I was led to believe...

Anyway, sorry to ramble on here, but I was just trying to get a grip on what can come out of a position like this? My goal is to be a Network Admin and I was told that being on Help Desk Support, you learn a little about everything imaginable and a lot about other parts which I guess could be good for later advancement.

Thanks for reading my babbling post and if you have any thoughts, I'd love to read them!

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Comments

int80h

hands on support experience is better than over the phone support experience for obvious reasons.

keenon

it sounds to me like you should keep looking.. unless it pays that " golden" number that you need but you'll trade it back in the time loss for travel and gas

jpeezy55

keenon wrote:

it sounds to me like you should keep looking.. unless it pays that " golden" number that you need but you'll trade it back in the time loss for travel and gas

That's my thought...Like I said, it's nothing against the work itself, so I hope I didn't offend any current Help Desk folks.

I was told by the first gentleman that it paid "around the mid-$30s" which is close to $8,000 to $9,000 more than I make now. For that amount I would consider doing it, but if it is half that, then I will indeed burn most of it up in gas, especially when the travel route takes me through the middle of a major city, sitting in traffic is never any fun. They actually have a branch office which is 10 minutes from where I live, but when I asked if there is a possibility of working there, I was told there was not and would not be one...just my luck, huh?

It's still an open option for now, but once I find out for certain how much it pays, I may just decide there is no way to do it...My main question was if it would benefit me to have that experience, but as int80h said, hands-on is better and I tend to agree...this Help Desk position covers everything from hardware to applications, to the phone system and even Blackberry units. They have 6 Help Desk staffers and over 6,000 end-users across the country in 7 locations, which also leads to working till 11 PM (Eastern) on some night and weekends...

Who knows...

:

I'll see what happens!

Danman32

It really depends on the shop. In my last job, help desk was much more than answering the phone and solving users' problems. We were also administrators. Since we were on the evening shift, we deployed software after hours, and figured out the best way to deploy the software. We also developed automated routines to monitor network security.

I was told later after I left that job that the original network administrator really wanted me on his team but because of our physical characteristics, upper management didn't think it was best for both of us to be on the same team. So he recommended I go on helpdesk, learn about the shop, and perhaps I could transfer. That never happened, but I did get valuable experience there, especially in documenting network changes and their potential effects before the change was made. The CIO was definitely a stickler for that, and we hated it. But when he left and things were more relaxed, we learned the value of his policy, even if we didn't appreciate the way he delivered his policies.

Transatlantic

Ask them what tools they use for remote access and support of the client base. If they have good reliable remote access to the systems these will allow you virtual "hands on experience", and I've found in my current position that with the exception of hardware related issues there really is very little that I'm not capable of working on remotely just as well as if I were deskside.

That said, if all they have you do is work through scripted troubleshooting procedures over the phone without any options to access the system remotely - that'd count as big negative mark in my view.

strauchr

Actual hands on experienced is way over rated. If you can remotely control PCs and use your customer service skills over the phone you are getting 99% of the experience as in hands on anyway, except you get to solve many more problems in a day than you would travelling to 10 or so clients in a day hence greater experience faster.

The only hands on stuff you get is plugging in monitors, power cables and network cables and maybe moving some PCs around. Very rarely get to see the inside of a PC as most companies just send it back to get repaired under warrenty. And even still theres not much you can actually 'fix' inside a computer other than replacing parts really.

Also many Help Desk jobs allow some network administration and because you can be in direct contacts with administrators etc. you can work with them on problems rather than being out in the field and just palming the job off as a network issue. Help Desk got me to network admin.

I have done the field stuff as desktop technician but it really sucks for future career development IMO.

Oh and don't get me wrong, Help Desk sucks as much as a field tech but your opportunities are better. Field tech does allow travel which is a bonus sometimes but not in other times.

wizarddeath

Hey Jp, You dont happen to live in NC do ya? Sounds like a position I applied for recently in the Raleigh area... ;p If it is then Id say not worth it!! ;p

12thlevelwarrior

My approach is factor in all the positives and negatives and come up with a # that would make me say yes. Everyone has a price and you just have to find yours and let them know what it is.

I agree about hands on being overrated, the real pros don't need hands on.

12thlevelwarrior

wizarddeath wrote:

Hey Jp, You dont happen to live in NC do ya? Sounds like a position I applied for recently in the Raleigh area... ;p If it is then Id say not worth it!! ;p

You guys talking about Wyeth??

keenon

there some prices not worth being paid.. for the losses you gain

example:
company offers 80k a year or 20k more than your making
80-100% travel.. you may get home on weekends or may not

or

company offers 50k or at least 10k more than your making
local company very limited travel if any home everyday before 6pm and no weekends

take in account

now, you have a wife and small kids

????

jpeezy55

wizarddeath wrote:

Hey Jp, You dont happen to live in NC do ya? Sounds like a position I applied for recently in the Raleigh area... ;p If it is then Id say not worth it!! ;p

No, I'm actually Western PA...

jpeezy55

keenon wrote:

there some prices not worth being paid.. for the losses you gain

example:
company offers 80k a year or 20k more than your making
80-100% travel.. you may get home on weekends or may not

or

company offers 50k or at least 10k more than your making
local company very limited travel if any home everyday before 6pm and no weekends

take in account

now, you have a wife and small kids

????

Hey, you know me! Actually, I do have a wife and a 5 year old and a 3 year old, so travel out of state is not an option...I was looking at the fact that now I work from 7-3 and am home by 3:15 (even sooner in the summer since they kick us out around 2:45). I never work OT or weekends, and there are some other benefits I get here that I may not get at this new place, so that weighs in also. In reality, the drive itself was not bad, it's the time to do it...If I work until 5, then I don't get home til almost 6:30 by the time I fight Rush Hour traffic.

So, I think the work/opportunity would be good, it's the small perks that I have now that make this job nicer, and if they only go $3,000-$4,000 per year more, then it is not worth it for the time wasted on the road and the cost of gas which I figure would be almost at $4,000 per year...there goes my pay raise right into the tank (so to speak).

Oh well, at least I got to sit through another interview to get some more experience there...and I'm going to wait until the HR Manager gets back from his vacation to see just what the salary is and the other benefits that the interviewer did not know about...

Thanks everyone! And if there is more, please keep the posts coming!

12thlevelwarrior

keenon wrote:

there some prices not worth being paid.. for the losses you gain

example:
company offers 80k a year or 20k more than your making
80-100% travel.. you may get home on weekends or may not

or

company offers 50k or at least 10k more than your making
local company very limited travel if any home everyday before 6pm and no weekends

take in account

now, you have a wife and small kids

????

There is still a price, if that company pays me 150k to travel, I would take it for two years and make six years worth of salary in 2 years, then quit and spend 2 years hanging out with my peeps.

There is a price for everyone as long as we are talking moral jobs being offered.

keenon

brennonbladin wrote:

keenon wrote:

there some prices not worth being paid.. for the losses you gain

example:
company offers 80k a year or 20k more than your making
80-100% travel.. you may get home on weekends or may not

or

company offers 50k or at least 10k more than your making
local company very limited travel if any home everyday before 6pm and no weekends

take in account

now, you have a wife and small kids

????

There is still a price, if that company pays me 150k to travel, I would take it for two years and make six years worth of salary in 2 years, then quit and spend 2 years hanging out with my peeps.

There is a price for everyone as long as we are talking moral jobs being offered.

so let me ask this to make sure i'm correct

what your saying is that you're willing to travel 100% of the time and leave your wife and kids for 2 years? this isn't an army ordered but by choice

wizarddeath

so let me ask this to make sure i'm correct

what your saying is that you're willing to travel 100% of the time and leave your wife and kids for 2 years? this isn't an army ordered but by choice

Hey, If Im making 150k a year and traveling, aslong as my kid is not in school, they would most likely come with me...being I dont have a child at the moment just a wife, I know she would agree to fly around the country with me if she didnt have to work.

keenon

in that case its not an issue

12thlevelwarrior

forget 150, i'll do it for 200k

strauchr

keenon wrote:

there some prices not worth being paid.. for the losses you gain

example:
company offers 80k a year or 20k more than your making
80-100% travel.. you may get home on weekends or may not

or

company offers 50k or at least 10k more than your making
local company very limited travel if any home everyday before 6pm and no weekends

take in account

now, you have a wife and small kids

????

Depends on where you are in your life. Since I am relatively young, no kids and single I would go for the best opportunity to boost my career

Either that or what was going to put more money in my pocket after expenses. If it will take more time from my life I'll put a value on it and see if its work it. For example 2 extra hours of travel/ot p/d would not be worth an extra $5000 a year but it might be worth and extra $20,000. kinda sums up what others have said I guess.

droma001

I wouldn't suggest going with pharmacy support companies (jus curious is it dendrite?) unless they have a data center attached where you could jump to. Normally they companies. (sanofi, proct gamb, etc etc) have there own it departments.

Its a very stressfull job depending on the size of the field force and tend to be focused on the pharmacy software they are selling instead of general or advanced IT issues.

Most laptop issues can be fixed with ms knowledge base or are sent back to the manufacts. Good job if you need something to do while you look elsewhere and you can tweak your resume to make it more IT focused....