Slashdot Mirror
Getting Beyond the Helldesk
An anonymous reader writes "I've been working as a helpdesk monkey for over a year in a small-medium sized law firm of around 200 users and I don't know if my patience and sanity can last much longer. I'd like to remain in IT, but in less of a front-line role where I can actually get some work done without being interrupted every five minutes by a jamming printer or frozen instance of Outlook. There isn't really any room for progression at my current employer, and with the weak job market it seems I can only move sideways into another support role. I've been considering a full-time Masters degree in a specialized Computer Science area such as databases or Web development, but I don't know if the financial cost and the loss of a year's income and experience can justify it. Do any Slashdotters who have made it beyond the helpdesk have any knowledge or wisdom to impart? Is formal education a good avenue, or would I better off moving back home, getting a mindless but low-stress job, and teaching myself technologies in my free time?"
Now's a great time to do your MSc because you can weather the economic storm in academia and pray that the job market will be better when you're out. Heck, you might even get funding so it won't be as much of a financial burden.
...
But that said - What degree do you have that left you stuck on the frontlines of an IT helpdesk? If you don't have a BSc, speak now... (Formal education IS a go
Two other things:
1. A masters may not help as a developer. I have a masters but it's in Astronomy and I did it with no intention of taking on Astronomy as a job. Every time I add the qualification to the list, HR takes it back off. I'm not even sure certain HR staff know the difference between Astronomy and Astrology.
2. You might find it easier to get your foot in the door somewhere else rather than try to move into a development role in your current company. If you're already doing a job well, the company has less incentive to move you elsewhere (until they realise you'll leave otherwise, by which time it's too late). It'll be tough in this market.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
It depends on if you want to be a database one trick pony or a programmer or a sysadmin.
A help desk job is where you cut your teeth for being a sysadmin. If you want to be a dba or programmer, you don't need any experience in the real world. You just go to school and hope it's real life.
If you are interested in being a sysadmin, then understand that you are supporting users, and there are sysadmins supporting you.
Hang out with them and ask them to show you how they do their jobs. Learn about the stuff schools can't and never will be able to afford to teach you. SAN's, Fiber switching, the proprietary tools for HP, Sun, IBM, Dell. Use lunch, free time, smoke breaks, after work- whatever.
Sysadmins always have job offers or know people at other companies with job offers that may not be at their level, but at yours. There is no downside.
Secondarily, you should take advantage of their education program. If it's a law firm, they have one. Put in for your RHCE or LPI or MCSE or whatever the hell it is you're working on. Buy or download the book and make them pay for the tests. A cert will get you more pay than a Master's in anything. Unless you are bucking for middle management or want to write obscure code, a Master's won't do dick.
If you really want to leave though- and you know this because you go home, lay in bed, and literally say "I have to get out of this place" every day- then leave. You ain't gonna learn shit. Follow your gut first, head second.
School is a fine fallback if you have money, but if you don't then guess what. This is your school. You won't ever forget working help desk. People in pain learn their maximum threshold for bullshit, so it's good to learn yours early so you don't spin out when you get a job that actually pays the bills. Helpdesk is hell by repetition. DBA, Sysadmin, and maybe Programmer are hell by catching shit from all sides.
I can't tell you what to do. I can tell you that I, and many of the people here, were in your exact position. If you don't want to kill yourself yet, then you aren't finished. Take advantage of what's around you and then opportunities will open up.
You work at a help desk, so it seems your job is getting in the way of whatever you prefer to work at. From your description it looks like you want to move into a managerial role of technical decision making. You can accomplish this by championing projects that you prefer to work on, or starting your own company. All an advanced degree will get you is a different entry-level position, where you'll still be interrupted every five minutes by something.
At some point you'll need to show independent leadership to get your preferred kind of job.
D6 63 0D 70 89 81 BB 8E 7B 7C 5F 5D 54 EA AB 73
There is a difference in being in IT and doing one specific aspect of IT called help desk. I can relate. The poster is seems to be tired of dealing with the same thing over and over from people who make the same mistakes. IT is a much broader field than just help desk.
you could go back to school & work at the university while you're there. Generally, the IT Departments at universities are pretty big and they give you a good idea of anything you're going to encounter. At my university when someone shows initiative and they're competent and not a douche they pretty much always get the chance to prove themselves - ymmv, but I get the impression that quite a few universities are like this.
If you get on as a student, that's cool, part time, focus on school, show some initiative and try to get a full time job
If you get on as a full timer - awesome for you - most universities offer pretty good benefits, a lot of them include stuff like tuition wavers (full or partial - either way, you're going to end up paying less.)
and finally, working at a university IT department doesn't necessarily mean being in a support role -
our it department has an application development group, a services group (support), a project management group, a system administration/network admin group, a business group that handles contracts & such with other departments/companies, a research computing group (super computers), a dedicated security group, an administration group (payroll), and an HR group. Of those, sysadmins, services, and app devs have to do support. Everyone else is only rarely customer facing. The likelihood that you're going to get into the non-support groups right away is pretty slim, but movement has a tendency to be really fluid.
In case you didn't get the main point of this - the important thing is showing initiative. Show that you're interested in doing something new and interesting - show it by talking to people who do it already and trying to shadow them. Work with your bosses to get involved in projects, do things to get noticed. =)
Um. If you are on the helpdesk - unjamming printers and unfreezing outlook is your job. Your work isn't being interrupted every five minutes, but rather you are being called on to do your job every five minutes.
To be fair, in a 200 person shop, he may also be expected to do sysadmin duties as well as helpdesk. It tends to get lumped together a lot. But even as a sysadmin, your job is ultimately to serve the company and it's clients, and in a small to midsize company, that means rebooting the boss' PC every now and then. Try to take pride in the fact that you tangibly made his life slightly better.
My role in a similarly sized company is basically sysadmin without the title, so I feel for you. There are days I'd love to play with the tech and roll out cool things, and it does get annoying to handle the level 2 stuff (fortunately, I have a part-time helpdesk guy for the basics).
One tip would be to get an intern, and dump some of the support tickets on them. Honestly, I'm not sure how viable a solution that is (I'd be eager to hear others experiences), because I don't know if a CS person will want an internship like that. But maybe someone from a business background would be intrigued; you likely touch every part of the business, and there could be appeal there.
If you're interested in web development, heck, just do it! Do your own site. Do your friends' sites, though set some clear boundaries. This will get you estimating experience, and you can play with whatever strikes your fancy. Then hit up some local small businesses and do their sites. Use that experience to get your next job. A CS Masters seems like overkill for web development. I can't say I know one, but then again, see my second paragraph. :) I do know many web folk without masters, though.
The last thing I'd suggest is to get yourself involved on larger projects in the company. I don't always think to ask my helpdesk guy to help out, but I'm glad when he volunteers. This is a way to learn the tech, the business, and all those fuzzy skills that we don't think should matter but really, really do.
HTH,
CC
IT is a support function, yes, but that's not to say that all IT people keep getting calls every five minutes when someone can't print an email.
I would go as far as to say that the folks we have here on the IT helpdesk are very tech un-savvy. They follow simple flowcharts to get resolutions and do very little actual IT work. I also work in a 200,000 employee company at the head office which has 4,000 staffers. I would say that to get into the IT field, you need to either jump out into a side role and get yourself known, make friends with developers (if you have them in-house) or simply look to maybe even join a helpdesk in a larger firm.
Having said that, I don't really see why you cannot study while being at the helpdesk. It's not a stressful role, you answer calls, you help people with stupid things when they are clueless. Yes, it's numbing, yes it's boring - and it's perfect to use as a job while studying for something else or learning things on the side.
Not to be rude, but be prepared for a LOT more stress than a helpdesk if you do get seriously into the IT field. Developers are ALWAYS being pushed for quicker and cheaper developments, project managers get sizings and then shave off time for an action if it doesn't fit into the time constraints - and I ain't even going to start on the business users and what you will have to do for them during the warranty phase of developments when they start changing requirements left right and center.
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
To become a competent unix sysadmin, do what this guy says
The problem is that there are no certifications for linux that actually mean much of anything, unlike the windows world where you have the MS cert. Sure, there are a few companies that offer certs for linux but anyone who knows anything in HR will sneer at them as the meaningless drivel they are.
I actually don't know how people get involved in being sysadmins on unix systems, since it seems you need experience to get it.
93rd rule of Slashdot: No matter how obvious my sarcasm is, my comment will be taken seriously by someone.
I started out as a phone rep on the floor of a credit collection department. Because I liked to build computers and was interested in programming, I began building a relationship with the LAN team/help desk. I got a certification, then applied for an open position. I enjoyed it but it left me wanting more than unjamming stuff and rebooting computers for clueless users. Even though I didn't mind the work (I don't stress out very easily) I knew I could go further. I began taking programming classes and began proactively taking on scripting tasks and small programming assignments to make my job and the jobs of those around me a lot easier. I jumped at every chance to learn something new, even if it wasn't fun or interesting. I was always eager to learn. When the opportunity opened up to become an intern programmer, I applied and was accepted. Meanwhile, I got an associates in software engineering and began taking classes to complete a B.S. in comp sci. At this point, I realized I would never move up as fast as I wanted to with that company so I bailed and took a similar (lateral move) position with G.E. as a web developer. I began taking classes in web development, earned 2 of the 4 Java certs that were available at the time and finished my degree. Then they laid me off! Eight days before Christmas when we were expecting our 3rd child only a month later! Turns out, it was the best thing to happen. Forty-five days later I was offered a job in another state with a generous move bonus and a slight raise. Thirteen months later I moved yet again to another company. It was then that I realized I didn't really like computers so I took some pre-med classes, volunteered at a local emergency room (on Friday nights until midnight and sometimes later, the stories I could tell!!) and took the MCAT (3 times). Now I am between my 1st and 2nd year in med school and I love it. I would never have thought I would be a physician, especially not at nearly 40 years old with 4 kids and a big mortgage, but everything is working out. Here are the points of my rather long story:
1) work hard and learn continually
2) always look for a better situation and be prepared to get out of your comfort zone to obtain it
3) be receptive to new experiences in different areas that might later bear fruit
4) work hard and learn continually.
Actually took a systems administration course in Microsoft's version of Unix (Xenix), and had a "diploma" on my wall for the sake of humor. The computers had Motorola 68000 chips, were multi-user systems with up to a half-dozen terminals or computers logged in. Made by Radio Shack. A couple of years ago I took the diploma down as sunlight had bleached it to a white piece of paper -- fading just as my memory of Xenix did. (Thank God).
Keep Doing Good.
Graduate school and sex don't go hand in hand (no pun intended - yeah right...)
Nailing that hot 18 year old is a relatively rare occurrence. Also, with OP's money concern, staying on dorm - which increases the chances of sex - isn't a really good option - even with funding.
What he should do is try to do work and classes, maybe just one or two a sem. It is a lot of work (I'm a full time grad student) and may take 2.5 to 3 years (less if he does summer/winter sessions as well).
I never understood why this is supposedly frustrating. In short, ineffectiveness is job security. I remember having a self-drawn roadmap at my last job. Every time I'd be called down for must-do sales support quick fix project, I would tell them how much time this would take off of accomplishing my larger projects. I t was all the same to me, just as long as nobody could blame me for missing deadlines I wasn't allowed to abide by.
Eight hours is eight hours. If I'm not the one prioritizing my projects, I'm not going to sweat the results of those priorities.
Hi,
Having reached a similar point in my life as the writer, I've found your remark very helpfull.
I already tried a lot of things in my career... Personally, I like explaining, discovering things and being 'active' , that's why, after a number of years working as a programmer, I became educator (enjoyed it very much) but the low wage and uncertainty of high-school teaching made me leave for a steady job in IT Support.
The "Reason" why? I thought of 'teaching' and 'IT support' as a 'service' to people -but something is different: in IT support , you're more an outsider the the caller's problem. They'll probably get to know you, but you rarely get to know them. You're job stays 'problem solving'.
In teaching, you get more feedback and you'll integrate more in a community. Teaching is also a good way to get to know yourself, if you're willing to let your guard down.
That's the reason for me to go back to teaching, despite the wage and uncertainty.
The below are generalizations, but are generally true.
1. In the IT field, education is good. But in most cases experience is even more important. Companies like to know what you can do, not how many slips of paper you have. If you had an M.S. in something IT-related but only had helpdesk experience on your resume it would look a bit funny (from the infrastructure side of things, not as much from the programming side of things).
2. If you've been on the helpdesk for a year, you're not going anywhere. Helpdesk is an entry level job. Most people start there and only stay long enough to demonstrate competency, then they get promoted or switch jobs and move up. There are some people who are helpdesk lifers. They either don't have the minimal amount of skills required to move up, or they really, really like working the helpdesk. I've met examples of both. If you don't move up fairly quickly, you run the risk of looking like a helpdesk lifer.
After beginning a career in IT I quickly established a work ethic that I summarized as "try to do the job well enough that they don't need you anymore". Train the staff to effectively use the equipment, and even find solutions to their own problems. Document everything clearly so I could take vacations, or even get hit by a bus without things grinding to a halt. I knew the scope of the problems I would face and new developments in technology would make my "goal" unattainable.
Then business got bad, every department's budget got slashed, and I was the IT person whose lay-off would be "least disruptive". My career's been pretty much stalled ever since.
I'm not saying my outlook was wrong... just that no good deed goes unpunished.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
That was really well written. Might I suggest a more poetic way of saying the same thing:
Work is love made visible
And if you cannot work with love but only
with distaste, it is better that you should
leave your work and sit at the gate of the
temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference
you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half
man's hunger
And if you grudge the crushing of the
grapes, your grudge distills a poison in the wine
And if you sing though as angels,and
love not the singing, you muffle man's ears
to the voices of the day and the voices of
the night.
-Kahlil Gibran
(The rest of this particular bit can be found here: http://www.sfheart.com/work.html)
I am officially gone from
- Advertising, which tends to be about making a product, company, or political cause look better than it really is.
Not necessarily. Advertising is a lot more than just large companies trying to brainwash people with the latest cheesy tv ads.
I used to work for a company that dealt with Internet advertising (Ad Words, Search Engine Optimization, conversion management, analytics consulting...) and employed about 25 people. We had some rather large clients (countrywide and even some international companies and one political organization) but many were a lot smaller.
I met a lot of people with nice and new business ideas that I couldn't have even imagined myself. I knew that there were a lot of people who honestly could have benefitted a lot of their service but had never heard of it or even realized that such might exist. I took great joy in helping them.
I also left the business because a lot of my job involved interacting with the customers who could sometimes be real assholes. Some just forget that companies they make business with consist of real people and aren't just faceless entities.
Depends on the business. Smaller outfits may have the all-in-one manager/admin/R&D guy that has no other possible future opportunity (although I'm betting a large number of those people are more victims of their own "not my job" mentality than lack of potential opportunity), but larger companies with some IT-savvy folk in management branch that stuff out. Hell, my entire job is now evaluating future tools, when we don't kludge something together, to provide solutions that we usually identify ourselves as being needed and/or beneficial instead of waiting for edicts from on high.
I spent years in support, first in a call center and then doing help desk/desktop support. I busted my ass and did everything that I could to work myself out of a job by automating and documenting everything in sight. While that was an unrealistic goal since the business will always require hands-on support, it did accomplish two things:
1) Helped me to develop a wide variety of IT skills
2) Showcased my capabilities to the business
When an engineering role finally became available in my current company, it wasn't even a contest with any other applicants since I had already proven time and again that I fit the role perfectly and had the business' interest at heart. Most IT folk won't ever get past help desk level roles because they live with a reactionary mindset and expect rewards to fall in their laps if they just maintain the status quo. The reality is that IT personnel who think that way are nothing but overhead that the business would sooner be able to dispose of altogether. It is only when someone in IT can demonstrate that they can be something far more than a low fat substitute for the Google search engine that most business folk will recognize that they possess real value to the business as a whole and consider adopting strategic IT roles rather than relegating them all to tactical support elements.
So, to answer your question, "Since when do I do BlackBerry support?" At the moment that one of your customers needed help with their BlackBerry, that's when. Because almost inevitably that was just going to be the first of many requests for help with that particular product, which meant that it was either, a) a pain in the ass that you'd rather not deal with because you didn't feel prepared to handle it, or b) an opportunity to get a jump on some new tech coming into your environment and develop some proactive solutions for preventing problems and improving the overall experience of your customers. Given your response, I guess you went with option (a) which is actually highly consistent with our experience with the work ethic of consultants that have come on site over the years, so it sounds as though you did indeed find your niche.