Whats it like in 1st line/helpdesk support?

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If you take that "bored" attitude, it WILL show in your work, and your employer WILL notice... and the chances of your supervisor letting you advance to the next level then becomes slim to none, and Slim's about to leave the building.

But... if you take this as an opportunity to learn and gain experience, you'll likely do well, and thus, you'll likely advance up the IT ladder quicker. It's all in the attitude you present.

Now, you can take this advice to heart, or you can say it's all a buncha crazy talk... but I've seen entry-level techs take the exact same attitude you have towards entry-level work, and they usually end up stagnating in the position, unable to advance any farther, or they simply give up because they get frustrated at "not being allowed to do 'big-boy' stuff". You can believe that, or you can reject that, but I have nothing to gain and nothing to lose by giving this advice to you. Do with it what you will. I'm just trying to keep you from needlessly spinning your wheels when instead you can use this opportunity to excel.

 

This attitude is by no means confined to IT. I had an endless procession of young, bright-eyed hopefuls begging to be taught in my old job. As soon as they realised they had a snowflakes chance in hell of doing what they thought the job was anytime soon, they disappeared. One guy stuck it out and he's now picked up all my old contracts and is doing well for himself.

 

Theres plenty of entry jobs not restricted to just sitting picking up a phone.

 

I was reading an article in MicroMart yesterday which talked about remote assistance programs. There are various ones available, but the one which was discussed is Crossloop( www.crossloop.com ). Instead of working for a company directly (as per the discussion on 1st/2nd line etc) one could consider working at home and using this software to earn an income and gain experience. With Crossloop they take a 20% cut off your earnings though. However, I am not advocating this, merely highlighting something which is an interesting alternative to direct IT employers.

I may have to consider this myself when I become experienced and qualified.


Hilz

 

I like the idea of doing field support. I eventually want to go onto network management, design and implementaion, probably freelance. Its what my college lecturer did, and it sounds a very interesting, and extremely rewarding carrer, with plenty of scope. A few years away yet mind. What I dont want to do is get stuck in a rut, or something I dont realy enjoy, I've done enough of that already.
I also like the idea of working in science, chemistry or physics, maintaining the systems and networks, and the science being like a sideline or hobby of sorts.

 

I am like you, i don't want to do any type of telephone support,but i know i will have to start at the beginning,at the botom of the ladder,for anything i do.

At first i began the A+ thinking that alone should be enough to make a start,the longer i spent doing the A+ the more i realised ,yes,this is a beginners course,i will need more than this to get anywhere.

So i then went on to do the MCDST,which i view as tougher than the A+ ,i will probably do the second MCDST exam this year.
Even with both these qualifications i still expect to be at the bottom of the ladder in terms of work.In terms of competition for employment it should help me.

Self employed may be my best route forward though i feel.

 

Im kinda baffled at some of the negative attitudes towards doing 1st Line support work. Sure it can frustrating at times, to the point of wishing to bounce the monitor off the wall, or even your users head but there is so much Ive felt Ive learned since doing 1st Line, that despite any frustrations I feel......and despite the wish to progress into a more technical role, I dont regret ever taking the decision to do 1st Line support. Its certainly better than stacking shelves like my old job.....


And personally I think if anyone sees or is offered a position on a 1st Line Helpdesk, they should certainly take it.

 

Stress is my middle name......

 

Ive been working on 1st line for around 6 months now and its not half as bad as people make it out to be nor as bad as I first thought it was going to be. :P

Yes there are targets to meet, such as :-

* Fixing X amount of call before they get passed to 2nd line.
* SLA's as was previously mentioned.
* No call script.
* Support to thousands of users on several different networks.

Every call is different, yes the some problems do come up more than once but theres always new problems which you learn from and help you prgress with your knowledge.

I would recommend 1st line (even if your on the phone all day) to anyone who wants to get a foothold into the IT buisness. Fortuantely I work for a very large buisness and within the 6 months i've worked there I've seen quite a few 1st liners move to 2nd line. So people on 1st line do get recognised if you but the work in.

 

So how many X problems have to be resolved out of the calls you get (approx)?

 

I just wanted to ask, im studying for my a+ and want to get my first job in I.T as 1st line support in a few months,
What sort of training is provided to you when you first start a job to do the various tasks above

 

All of those subjects are covered by mainly the A+ ,some of them are MCDST subjects.

here is my view of what is covered in the a+ from the list

Hardware, diagnostics, Repairs, Upgrades, Cleaning,
Operating System installation, Redeploying faulty computers including installing relevant upgrades + Software
Maintaining System integrity i.e ensure hardware is running well, Clean up Malware, Spyware, Virus.
PrinteR Problems, i.e user cramming up Print queue, Faulty fuser units, Toner replacement, Lack printer connection due to someone has accidentally knocked the cat5 cable out of the printer
Patching in phones and new network connections.



this is MCDST
Outlook Troubleshooting, Office troubleshooting.
* Customizing the O/S to suit end user needs. I.e you may have a user with a disibility.


this is both a+ and MCDST
Troubleshoot Network issues, i.e switch failure, cable failure, I.P address conflict, Incorrect TCP/IP settings
Server failure, User cannot access specific shared resources. Mapped drives not working.
PASSWORD RESETS!!!!!! you better get used to this! you will be doing it alot lol.

If you pass both the A+ and the MCDST you should be able to do everything on that list.

 

In regards to the X amount of fixes at first line its around 60% for the SLA agreed.

 

One of pivotal things about working in first line is it introduces you to users, the way they act, their level of understanding and loads of other soft skills (conflict resolution being one of them). You need to learn how to deal with users from all angles even the ones that cannot explain what is wrong or start by sending you down a completely different issue.

Most people in IT want to work with technology but the reason all of us are in IT is to empower the needs of the company we work for which means having to talk to people..... lots of people...... lots of people that have absolutely no idea what they need to tell you.

First line teaches you what questions to them to find out what is wrong and it also teaches you patience

That being said a first IT job could be as a tech in a small computer repair company, thats where I started out, all hands on work (dusty virus ridden work mind you).