What IT majors or IT job positions are least likely to or will not need to provide Phone support?
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kmanmx
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guess i didnt explain well! I meant large companies that have all these type of roles under their roof tend to mirror what i said above.
not just in employee numbers ! I was cryptive
I understood just fine.
"you places you work suck"
"you need to get better jobs"
WhatShouldIDo
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Ok, but can we get back to answering some of my other questions?
Do Database majors or IT roles and jobs absolutely need to provide support by phone also? Or do you work independently?
There's also Computer Forensics and Healthcare IT majors at my school although I don't know if any of you here are in those kind of IT fields or major or know somebody or anybody that are in those fields or majors and know what it's like working those specific type of IT jobs.
What about entry level IT positions and jobs? Do virtually almost all of entry-level IT positions require you to provide support to end users entirely by phone or mainly by phone?
I do understand that different company and employers have different requirements, expectations and needs. If only it was so easy to narrow down which entry level positions in IT to apply for and go for that had very little to virtually no phone support requirements. I guess that's where it all comes down to making connections with the right people and they'll let you know, since it's all insider information.
I'd only be willing do phone support again if, and that's a big if that I knew absolutely that remote support is possible and will be used frequently along with phone support.
Or, if there is at least the possibility to dispatch a field tech or otherwise to the client's or end user's location.
Although I had always wondered, if it's entirely internal, don't they still have a call center along with additional techs that standby and wait to get dispatched within the same building or on the same floor to various different rooms troubleshooting the problems more directly? Sometimes it's one and the same, you receive the call and try to fix it indirectly first and then go directly to the location of the problem when necessary.
Is that the same as Desktop Support?
And even if it's over the phone at that point then wouldn't it be one technician talking to another?
I'd rather be the person dispatched within the same building or floor going from different rooms troubleshooting issues directly instead of entirely depending upon how the end user implements any possible solutions that I had suggested they should try and implement. Because sometimes they aren't exactly implementing it the correct way, and would sometimes cause even further problems later.
Do Database majors or IT roles and jobs absolutely need to provide support by phone also? Or do you work independently?
There's also Computer Forensics and Healthcare IT majors at my school although I don't know if any of you here are in those kind of IT fields or major or know somebody or anybody that are in those fields or majors and know what it's like working those specific type of IT jobs.
What about entry level IT positions and jobs? Do virtually almost all of entry-level IT positions require you to provide support to end users entirely by phone or mainly by phone?
I do understand that different company and employers have different requirements, expectations and needs. If only it was so easy to narrow down which entry level positions in IT to apply for and go for that had very little to virtually no phone support requirements. I guess that's where it all comes down to making connections with the right people and they'll let you know, since it's all insider information.
I'd only be willing do phone support again if, and that's a big if that I knew absolutely that remote support is possible and will be used frequently along with phone support.
Or, if there is at least the possibility to dispatch a field tech or otherwise to the client's or end user's location.
Although I had always wondered, if it's entirely internal, don't they still have a call center along with additional techs that standby and wait to get dispatched within the same building or on the same floor to various different rooms troubleshooting the problems more directly? Sometimes it's one and the same, you receive the call and try to fix it indirectly first and then go directly to the location of the problem when necessary.
Is that the same as Desktop Support?
And even if it's over the phone at that point then wouldn't it be one technician talking to another?
I'd rather be the person dispatched within the same building or floor going from different rooms troubleshooting issues directly instead of entirely depending upon how the end user implements any possible solutions that I had suggested they should try and implement. Because sometimes they aren't exactly implementing it the correct way, and would sometimes cause even further problems later.
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DB - not usually except what I outlined previously.
"IT roles and jobs" is extremely broad; that covers everything from 1st tier support to sys admins. The lower level would provide support directly to customers, and the upper levels would provide support to the other IT members basically and field requests from them - which could come in the form of an email, phone call, support ticket, etc.
Forensics I would say would be like the upper tiers of what I mentioned previously - being in contact with other members of IT rather than end users; though you would possibly have to be in contact with end users at some point (police dept, etc.), depending on what kind of forensics exactly you're doing.
Healthcare IT...all depends on what role you're in. If you're a technician, you'd be interacting directly with end users. Upper tiers...same as I stated in the previous sections.
Yes. Phone / email / direct interaction with customers, depending on the company.
Like you said, usually they're one in the same. The same people that are on the phones may have to be dispatched to contact the client or work on a troublesome system. Other companies may have dedicated phone support people and dedicated "field technicians" or "repair technicians".
At my previous job, I worked at the help desk for our internal company. We only provided support for the employees at the company (we had a different support department that did support for customers of the product). We fielded calls, as well as dispatched ourselves if we got a support ticket that had the need for us to physically go to the machine (or remote into it, etc.).
Companies call it different. Desktop support, help desk technician, support desk, etc. Varies heavily by company. This is why reading the job description is important (though remember, "other duties as assigned" means you could be put on phones anyway).
Depends on either your support tier level - tier 1 / 2 usually deal directly with end users on the phone, tier 3 would usually talk to tier 1 / 2, and sometimes (if needed) talk directly to end users. Other roles, like i mentioned, may not need to contact end users directly (such as sys admins, networking departments, etc.).
All depends on the company whether it's the same person or different roles. Though this is why remote access applications are popular, so you can just do it for them.
Really though - what you should be looking for is what excites you and what area you're passionate about. Figure that out and be less concerned if it deals with working directly with end users over the phone.
WhatShouldIDo
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That's why I had realized that connections are so important, maybe there is a local company that have a position in IT where phone support isn't absolutely required or is very minimal or have those possibilities such as remote access support and dispatching someone. But there's no way for me to know for certain unless I already know someone or have a friend already working there and can provide me all of those details on what the employer's expectations and requirements are since they're different everywhere.
No phone support or very minimal amounts of phone support with customers required is ideally what I really would want for entry-level, but phone support with remote possibilities would be tolerable to me since I was completely unable to do that in my last IT job.
I get what you mean. I've been in Customer Support before and had done phone support primarily for 4 years and wasn't really happy with it when I looked back on it, it was just lacking and not what I originally thought and expected it to be when compared to the very first time when I had done an Internship at a public high school. There was no room for growth and it was a dead end. We mainly just troubleshoot the problems of the products they provide to retailers to sell. Different environments and employers would result in different requirements and expectations but I had no idea at the time, what a fool I really was when I look back on it.
The Internship I had done was very much the experience I wanted for a real regular day job, because I was dispatched to various classrooms troubleshooting problems, as I don't recall once that I had to do any kind of phone support, but then again it was just an Internship.
The experience was so different compared to providing phone and email support to customers of a company's products and sometimes we also had to provide support via online chat, although rarely.
I felt disappointed and frustrated with my experience in my first full time IT job right after completing my 2 years of school. I felt the pressure at the time to deal with my school loans no matter what, so when the school's job placement assistance introduced me to that job I just went along with it without hesitation or having any second thoughts about it when they offered me the job.
Then the recession had happened and eventually I got laid off unexpectedly and then I was not able to find a position relevant to my field, and the biggest factor and mistakes as to why was the lack of good and strong social circle that I can reach out to and help me get back on the horse. Other than that I also lacked an entry level certification, specifically the CompTIA A+, which is a goal I have right now and feel I really need, but building good professional connections would be biggest priority don't you think or agree? And then I would also need to take new IT courses to update my knowledge and get new training and try to get another internship. I'm back in school again, but I'm also back to square one again, although I had never fully let go of IT.
I just didn't jump right back into again because I wanted to become better informed about how IT roles and jobs are relevant to what majors someone chooses and what kind of work they will likely have to or need to do on a regular basis. Because I also had became discouraged, doubted and worry that I'd get the same exact thing all over again that I would dread so much and feel very unsatisfied with even if I were to return to IT. I just really wasn't sure, and if there are really any other better alternatives I can choose.
A note on entry level IT support jobs- if you dont want to speak to external customers, just get a job with an internal IT dept.
That way you will really just be speaking to your colleagues in the office and as its the same people, you will get use to it.
I am not a public talker so when I got into IT i opted for an internal IT company as you dont need to speak to the "outside world".
That way you will really just be speaking to your colleagues in the office and as its the same people, you will get use to it.
I am not a public talker so when I got into IT i opted for an internal IT company as you dont need to speak to the "outside world".
Leverage your experience when applying for different IT jobs - usually experience trumps certs if they're for the same or similar things.
Yes building connections is one of the biggest things that you can do. My first 3 jobs were actually acquired because of people I knew. My current job as a developer was my first job that I didn't actually know anybody at beforehand to help me get in the door.
Really though you just need to do what makes you happy. If you like networking, start taking network classes & reading networking info and stuff. If you like security, try a bit out and see if it actually interests you. If you like the idea of programming, try some programming tutorials before diving deep into software development.
Depends on the size of the company - last place I worked at where I was internal support, we had 1000+ employees. So there were only some that you actually got to know unless you work with specific departments regularly. For example, I worked mainly with the manufacturing departments; and within that subdivision of the company, mostly with the area that fabricated the circuit boards (had to wear ESD smocks when I went there).
The place I had an internship with during a summer before the above company, was around 50 employees (and I already knew most of them beforehand - which is why I got the job).
WhatShouldIDo
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I will keep this in mind, however I have a big gap in terms of relevant work experience because I had that last customer support job from 2007 through 2011, and now I'm working in some completely different job for almost five years, although I suppose the only transferable skills from the current job would be the soft skills and customer skills experience. That's why I think that it would be best for me to get up to date IT training by taking up to date IT classes at a local Community College in my area first. I was at a different school before and they had completely closed down and I could Not even go back there for career or jobs assistance, and neither could I return for any kind of course auditing to get any up to date information and training.
I didn't jump back immediately into it after 2011 because I was plagued with disappointments unhappiness and doubts, but I realize it wasn't because of IT in general but rather the type of IT work that I did was completely different compared to when I first did my internship for college credit.
The things I can think of for this is LinkedIn, Career Fairs, College Professors that teach IT courses at my local Community College, and other classmates and students of the same relevant field or if they're already working in a company's internal IT department since that's where I should be aiming for. But I am sure there are many other ways for this, and that the more people you know the better the odds of getting a call back or scheduling an interview after applying compared to when someone that had has zero references and connections when they had applied for a position.
The major I was in was Computer Networking for 2 years, although I was trying to find something that is more entry level PC maintenance and repair at the time and that's the only major they had at the time. I'm not in any IT major at this time. But I've looked at the descriptions for Database and Computer Forensics, but wasn't certain. I figured they'd be different and I may end up with something different and not like what I had for my last Customer Support job. As for programming, I remembered I struggled with a basic course on it at the time when I was in that school for 2 years. Think it was a Visual Basic programming course or something, don't remember exactly. I suppose I can try and just learn the basics that is practical but I don't feel that I am that interested in programming to specialize in it.
IT Security seems very advanced. I can take the more basic entry level courses available at my community college, but they seemed to be best suitable for those that already have some real work experience administrating and managing computer networks which I do not have from my previous job.
They even have majors for Healthcare IT, but they seemed the same, more suitable for those that already have real work experience dealing with networks, etc. as they only offer Certificate at my local Community College rather than degrees for those type of IT courses and studies.
That is ideally what I would be aiming for but I don't know if positions for smaller internal IT departments are plentiful in my area or not. Talking to colleagues within the same company and building is less frustrating compared to depending on customers willingness to listen and accept what I tell them and sometimes they don't, and sometimes they like to argue but it's even more frustrating relying and depending on them to correctly implement what I had told them to do, because they aren't familiar with what they are doing or need to do. Although if those positions are not plentiful enough then I will need to know for certain if support through remote access is absolutely available as a minimum with phone support otherwise I really don't know and will have to keep looking.
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Market your customer service skills heavily. Technical things can be learned on the job and over a relatively short period of time...but customer service skills are a more difficult thing to "learn" and are developed over a longer period of time (or for some people, just comes naturally).
When I worked at my college's Support Desk, we had one person that didn't know much of all about troubleshooting systems...but she had good customer skills, so she was able to talk to the people asking for help, and would learn how to do the technical things as time went on.
I'm not necessarily saying that you have to major in a field..but just do some research and try some things out online that you read if you think it interests you.
IT Security is very broad. Network security? Penetration testing? Application Security/Dev-Ops? Forensics? Lots of different sub categories for IT Sec.
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