Hello all,
I'm interviewing with an IT-management company for an entry-level help desk position. I'm still in the interview process and don't mean to get ahead of myself, but I was just curious about what to expect if I were to get a job at help-desk. What type of issues do people working at a help desk normally face? I know it can be a wide range of issues, but I was just hoping for some examples of some of the more common calls that someone could expect.
I am just nervous about getting a job at help desk and then finding out I'm in over my head at the technical level. I have my A+ and Network+ certifications and I'm the "tech guy" at my house - but I don't know how well that necessarily translates into a role like help desk. If anyone could give me some insight, I'd really appreciate it.
Hi,
Firstly, congrats on the interview and all the best!
Well the technical level and responsibilities of any Help Desk / Service Desk can vary from company to company, often dependant on factors such as:
- Size of the company
- Company structure
- Number of offices and their location
- Size of the IT department and number of IT staff
- Skills and expertise of the IT workforce
- Type of Help Desk / Service Desk and its location (i.e. Localised or Centralised)
- IT infrastructure, number of IT services, and their complexity and support agreements (i.e. supported internally or by an external third party)
To illustrate, my first job in industry was working in 1st line support on the Service Desk at a mid-large sized University in the UK called
The University of Northampton (circa 15,000 staff and students).
The Service Desk was comprised of 4 analysts and a Service Desk Manager, and analysts primarily only logged, escalated / assigned, chased and provided updates for support requests.
Analysts resolved some support requests however, but they were mainly password resets, account unlocks, request for information (e.g. Wi-Fi passwords, network names, location and names of printers, procuring or borrowing IT equipment etc) and some basic application support. Therefore, it was what you could consider to be more 'call / contact centre orientated'.
Dependant on knowledge and skill-set, a couple of us on the Service Desk (myself included) also provided further support for applications, operating systems, hardware (desktops, laptops, mobile phones) before escalating / assigning to 2nd line support.
We did not however provide any desk-side or hands on support such as replacing hardware, moving and setting up IT equipment, rebuilding / re-imaging computers, dealing with physical printer issues (paper jams, toner replenishment, waste toner disposal), creating or disabling user accounts, managing email mailboxes, IT infrastructure or server support etc.
We had 7 or so other support teams who we escalated support requests to, which included Desktop, Business Systems, Data Centre, Network, Telephony to name a few.
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In contrast to my role at the University, my second job was also working on a Service Desk as an IT Service Desk Support Analyst, but as the sole 1st line support guy in a smaller company. This was at a motorsport race track circuit here in the UK called
Silverstone (circa 150-200 staff).
I worked in a small IT team of 5 which encompassed an IT & Business Systems Manager, Windows Server Support Analyst (2nd/3rd line), Network Analyst (2nd/3rd line), myself as the IT Service Desk Support Analyst (1st line) and a Sales System Administrator.
This role was far more hands-on, with greater responsibilities and technical skill required compared to my first role, as I was also responsible for creating and managing user accounts, creating and managing mailboxes on the Exchange email server, physical support for MFDs, enterprise malware monitoring and removal, LAN, WLAN and VLAN support, maintaining the IT infrastructure and server / comms rooms, network patching for data and voice, installing network switches, telephony system support, setting up and moving IT equipment, troubleshooting and replacing hardware components, supporting race control systems etc.
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To conclude, it very much depends on the position and its technical requirements and responsibilities at the particular company, and the level of candidate (in terms of years experience gained, knowledge and skills) they are looking for.
Of course, there are non-technical skills which are also just as important as technical skills. These are the so called soft skills which include communication and interpersonal skills, time keeping, customer service skills, organisational skills, ability to work under pressure and to prioritise, analytical and problem solving abilities and so on. These skills are increasingly sought after, especially within customer facing roles such as Service Desks / Help Desks, which is why many individuals with customer service and or contact / call centre experience are more readily able to move into a Help Desk role.
