Day to Day Activities.....

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by Ropenfold, Jul 9, 2008.

  1. Ropenfold

    Ropenfold Kilobyte Poster

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    On a helpdesk what would you say would be the standard calls you get day to day? What problems crop up time and time again?

    I'd imagine password resets would be one of them (I regularly lock myself out of one system or another and have to phone IT with my tail between my legs :oops:) What else would you people say you get?

    I have an interview next week and I'm pretty sure I'll get tech questions, so I'm trying to have a guess at what some of them will be. The Job spec merely says 'basic hardware support'.

    I'm not sure how IT related this job will be but its 18K and right now I'd sell a kidney to get out of my current workplace......:D
     
    Certifications: BSC (Hons), A+, MCDST, N+, 70-270, 98-364, CLF-C01
    WIP: ISC2 CC, Security+
  2. ally_uk

    ally_uk Nibble Poster

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    Yeah password changes are a biggy you wil spend quite a bit of time reseting users p/w's I spent 2 years in a 1st line support role so can give you a insight into what to expect.

    User having problems where PC is not turning on normally easily resolved and is user error i.e they havent turnt the power on lol or flicked the switch on the back of the psu. Worst case scenario is the PSU is blown you then must put a plan into place to get the user back up and running as fast as possible. i.e providing a temp machine whilst the problem is resolved.

    User needs access to particular software ( so you install and update)

    Printer problems yep loads of printer problems could be user not having adequate permissions, Could be a paper jam , lack of toner, knackered fuser, Print queue grinding to a halt, or print server is playing up or a simple connectivity problem i.e cat5 cable has failed on the printer or some joker has pulled the cable out lol

    Customising Software such as Office to suit end user's needs i.e you always get a call from a user seeking guidance on how to perform a particular task in office etc, or they may want you to add options and customise toolbars for them.

    Basic Network troubleshooting i.e diagnosing at the physical layer router / switch / cable failure

    resolving i.p conflicts, using ping / tracert / netstat to resolve connectivity issues.

    You may be asked to handle backups on a daily basis I was also instructd how to make cat5 cable and patch in phones and computers in the patch panels.

    Some basic Active Directory Knowledge would be good aswell i.e how groups work, password mangement

    Hardware work involving troubleshooting, upgrading and fixing problems i.e PSU changes, ram upgrades, CPU changes, motherboard changes.

    Oh and the most important part is learn how to makea good cup of tea always goes down well with colleagues.

    Also learn what your colleagues strong points are so you can shadow and learn from them :) good luck
     
  3. csx

    csx Megabyte Poster

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    Due to our migration i can see its:

    "Need password reset"
    "Need outlook configure"
    "Roaming Profile not working"
    "Don't know User ID"
    "Account Disabled"
    "Account locked"
    "Home Drive not accessible"
    "Share Drive not accessible"
    "Missing emails"
    "Missing archive"

    the list goes on!

    Simple things the help desk should be able to sort out but can't! by the time they logged the call... they could have resolved. :(
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, 70-271 & 70-272, CCENT, VCP5-DCV and CCNA
    WIP: Citrix
  4. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Some of the more annoying calls... :biggrin

    “My PC is running slow”
    “My laptop is running slow”
    “The network is running slow”
    “The internet is running slow”
    “The printer is taking ages to warm up and therefore running slow”
    “I cant send a 1GB email attachment for some reason”
    “I need a new PC”
    “I need a new laptop”
    “I cant get on youtube”
    “The fax machine isn’t working”
    “My mobile phone doesn’t get a signal in the office”
     
    Certifications: MSc MCSE MCSA:M MCSA:S MCITP:EA MCTS(x5) MS-900 AZ-900 Security+ Network+ A+
    WIP: Microsoft Certs
  5. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    Huh! Sparky, you must be working with IT literate end users as where I work majority of the users don't know what MB means let alone a 1GB file attachment size:) means etc:)
     
    Certifications: MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003 Messaging, MCP, HNC BIT, ITIL Fdn V3, SDI Fdn, VCP 4 & VCP 5
    WIP: MCTS:70-236, PowerShell
  6. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Some of these calls get escalated to me for some reason. :rolleyes:

    The "1GB guy" makes me laugh sometimes though, he asks if I can take of the sending limits so he can send whatever he likes. I did once but all the email servers he was sending to rejected the emails as they were far too big, hee hee!
     
    Certifications: MSc MCSE MCSA:M MCSA:S MCITP:EA MCTS(x5) MS-900 AZ-900 Security+ Network+ A+
    WIP: Microsoft Certs
  7. fatp

    fatp Byte Poster

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    props mate - rated!: Useful for all the newbies unsure about what 'entry level' / 'first line jobs' entail... A lot of the stufff I do as well... Cheers.
     
  8. Ropenfold

    Ropenfold Kilobyte Poster

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    Big thanks to all the posts for this, It'll hopefully help me with this interview I have on tuesday, I'm bricking it to be fair......:rolleyes:
     
    Certifications: BSC (Hons), A+, MCDST, N+, 70-270, 98-364, CLF-C01
    WIP: ISC2 CC, Security+

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