Career advice - how to move out of IT Support?

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by nisseki, Jan 12, 2017.

  1. nisseki

    nisseki Byte Poster

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    Good evening all,

    I'm looking for some advice, nice to hear anyone who's moved out of IT support.

    I've been working on 1st/2nd line support for about 2.5 years and I'm hungry for a new challenge. Last year I passed my first Microsoft exam and looking to do more certs this year.

    What can I do to further my career and gain experience to move onto something more challenging?

    Many thanks and kind regards,
     
  2. ElliottLW

    ElliottLW New Member

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    Hi Nisseki

    It entirely depends on what you want to move into, are you looking to specialize in a particular area?

    Thanks
     
    Certifications: MCSA / MCSE / CMNA / ITSQB
    WIP: Exchange/Server 2016 Upgrade / Azure Exams
  3. damo101

    damo101 Byte Poster

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    With 1st line support you'll have had exposure to a little bit of everything and 2nd line will have let you specialise a bit so you're in a good spot to move on. Like Elliott said above, what do you want to specialise in? A good way on moving towards a specialisation is to get involved with projects. You'll get new knowledge that not many people will have and also get to know people you may not normally interact with (project manager, architects, business users, etc). If you pick their brains you'll get to know what else is in the pipeline (new tech coming into the company, other applications/hardware being removed) which will help work out what you're long term plan could be and how to achieve it (as well as maybe finding people who can help make it happen).

    It all comes down to knowing what you want to do next though - without knowing what you want to do it'll be impossible to do it!
     
    Certifications: ITIL Foundation and Practitioner (S&R)
    WIP: OU Cert in Web Design
  4. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    I went from desktop support to server then architect. Ask away but as said you should have a look around at what you would fancy doing. There's a great many paths after support.
     
    Certifications: VCP4, 5, 6, 6.5, 6.7, 7, 8, VCAP DCV Design, VMConAWS Skill, Google Cloud Digital Leader, BSc (Hons), HND IT, HND Computing, ITIL-F, MBCS CITP, MCP (270,290,291,293,294,298,299,410,411,412) MCTS (401,620,624,652) MCSA:Security, MCSE: Security, Security+, CPTS, CCA (XenApp6.5), MCSA 2012, VSP, VTSP
    WIP: Google Cloud Certs
  5. nisseki

    nisseki Byte Poster

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    Thank you all for replying.

    My aim is to get into pen testing or network security.

    How did you get from desktop support to server? Was it promotion or experience?
     
  6. JK2447
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    JK2447 Petabyte Poster Administrator Premium Member

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    I worked hard and applied for an internal job vacancy mate. I loved server support and project work. We did both. Lucky with the company I work for as its a global IT company so we've got every IT job there is
     
    Certifications: VCP4, 5, 6, 6.5, 6.7, 7, 8, VCAP DCV Design, VMConAWS Skill, Google Cloud Digital Leader, BSc (Hons), HND IT, HND Computing, ITIL-F, MBCS CITP, MCP (270,290,291,293,294,298,299,410,411,412) MCTS (401,620,624,652) MCSA:Security, MCSE: Security, Security+, CPTS, CCA (XenApp6.5), MCSA 2012, VSP, VTSP
    WIP: Google Cloud Certs
  7. nisseki

    nisseki Byte Poster

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    Thank you for your reply.

    I've always worked hard. The thing that annoys me the most is lazy colleagues. Anyone else worked with people who don't pull their weight or constantly late all the time for no reason like they don't care?

    So far I've done 6 months software support, nearly 2 years of IT support. I really want to take the next step in my career. I past my first Microsoft exam last year and keen to get my next.

    There is an internal position for Cyber security analyst at my current place however I am unable to apply because I'm a contractor not directly employed. :(

    However I've recently applied for a desktop engineer at Sega... it would be a dream to work for a video game company!
     

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