is hard to do a IT helpdesk job???

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by abhi2002_sen, Jul 9, 2008.

  1. abhi2002_sen

    abhi2002_sen New Member

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    is hard to do a IT helpdesk job??? i heard from my frnd that the customers are always very irated and they shout on the call...
     
  2. UKDarkstar
    Honorary Member

    UKDarkstar Terabyte Poster

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    Learning how to deal with end-user frustrations is all part of the job :biggrin
     
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  3. dales

    dales Terabyte Poster

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    yep most of us go into it cause we like fiddling with stuff, however part and parcel of that is the end users which is something we all have get used to. I think it helps if you already have a background in customer service but you can pick it up along the way. just let them vent their spleen then get on with what you have to do. eventually you will be able to turn an angry customer into a happy one which is a worthy skill in itself!
     
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  4. grim

    grim Gigabyte Poster

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    half the time its because they've f00cked something up and dont understand whats going on and you have to hold back the laughter while logging it as an ID ten T error

    Grim
     
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  5. dales

    dales Terabyte Poster

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    very true, still as soon as they have spoken to you about it, it then becomes your problem. Another thing you will need to learn is listern to peoples language and gauge how technical or not they are. Then you can direct your instructions or questions to the same level. Users get very frustrated as well when they dont understand what you are saying.
     
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  6. grim

    grim Gigabyte Poster

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    users automatically vent their anger on the IT staff because it's "always our fault" and its your job at helpdesk to calm them down, explain the fault and tell them it'll be fixed ASAP. i always find it helps to explain how to avoid them doing it again as repeat faults from the same user gets annoying.

    Grim
     
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  7. Jimbooo

    Jimbooo Nibble Poster

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    Also, customers believe that you are more likely to help them if they show signs of anger or impatience.
     
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  8. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    Customers and their venting is all part of the job and hence one's effective communication, firm and empathy attributes should come into play.
     
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  9. kevicho

    kevicho Gigabyte Poster

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    They soon change their tune when you fix the issue for them :).
     
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  10. grim

    grim Gigabyte Poster

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    complete opposite with me, you're more likely to get a response if you're nice

    Grim
     
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  11. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    I've always found that too.

    No one likes angry people, and most service desk workers are less inclined to help someone that's called them a complete nincompoop (or stronger words to that effect).

    You do get angry users, sure, but I haven't spoken to that many. In short, don't let it get to the point where they blow a fuse.

    This would depend on whether you'll be working on a corporate helpdesk, or for a small firm. If someone calls the Toshiba helpline for example and is on hold for an hour before they even get to speak to a human being, then they're going to be angry right off the bat, and you'd best be a people person otherwise your morale in the job will suffer greatly.

    If you're working for a smaller company, eg, 200 or so users, the support is more obvious. Because users are looked after directly by you, and you're not just responding to calls you receive about issues, you can proactively seek down issues and resolve problems before users ever have to call you and blast a gasket.

    So service desks can be good, challenging and fun, and won't always purely consist of people venting at you. But the rate of screaming customers can probably be directly graphed to how many users you support, and whether you only sit at a desk and receive incoming calls....
     
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  12. michael78

    michael78 Terabyte Poster

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    I've never done 1st line support but they probably get the bulk of the grief off people but in 2nd line I do come across people who get cheesed off and about 70% of it is ignorance plus the fact that the 1st line is in India which annoys people as well because of the language barrier and the fact it takes 10 times longer for things to get done.
     
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  13. Mordred

    Mordred Bit Poster

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    Helpdesk is what Im aiming for and whilst I dont have IT experience my last job was taking calls on parking tickets so at least I have that to give me an edge.

    One 'customer' even asked if she could speak to my manager as she didnt want to shout at me cus I was too nice, Im still trying to figure out how I can manage to sneak that in my cv....lol

    I did notice a job advert for IT help-desk stuff the other day where they were looking for someone who must have call centre experience and I quote: "IT knowledge an advantage" :eek: Really made me wonder why I paid for A+
     
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  14. Sparky
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    You get used to it, even at 3rd line there is always someone shouting about something :biggrin
     
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  15. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    Effective customer support and feeback is what I would put.
     
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  16. neutralhills

    neutralhills Kilobyte Poster

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    I run a small computer repair business. A lot of people actually pay me to fix their machines instead of using their free tech support because they're completely exasperated with trying to understand foreign technicians who speak English poorly, or with a thick accent that makes them nearly impossible to understand. If your spoken English is less than wonderful, I'd encourage you to avoid a helpdesk role where you deal primarily with English speaking users or you will find a lot of people venting their frustration on you.

    As to how difficult the job is, that depends on how much experience you have. For me, doing helldesk work would be fairly easy because of my depth of knowledge of Windows and many of the popular applications people use. I've also worked at a much higher level than I am now in the past. If you're an IT newbie, you may find helpdesk a tough row to hoe.
     
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  17. Markyboyt

    Markyboyt Kilobyte Poster

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    Personally still looking for that first role but in my current job I do sometimes have to speak to customers and try and explain to them how to do something or try and get information from them about whats gone wrong and try and talk them to a fix.
    I find that you tell the customer to do something, they tell you they're doing it and get agitated that its not working, you eventually discover that they didnt listen and just pressed what they thought you might say press. some customers are happy you helped them, some feel you are obliged to help them for hours on end despite them never buying anything from your company, them ones do tend to be in person more.
     
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  18. Mr.Cheeks

    Mr.Cheeks 1st ever Gold Member! Gold Member

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    its FUN
     

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