1st Line IT Support -

[Steve_bullockuk]

Thing is, a service desk is a call centre environment under ITIL.

You employ your service desk staff for their customer communication skills.

You should be doing a bit of logging and flogging and some first time fixes under ITIL.

It sounds like they've got your job exactly as its defined in ITIL.

100% true.

The company I work for follow ITIL by the book with regards change/problem management, incidents and service requests but that doesn't necessarily it is the best process to the follow.

The working relationship between 1st & 2nd line is in such a bad state that it is having a negative effect towards the customer who afterall pay our wages.

 

[anything I don't mind]

I hate ITIL, in my opinion ITIL is the worst thing that has ever happened to IT support industry since its inception. ITIL where we have meetings about meetings and you spend more time logging calls than actually fixing them. Talk about a waste of time.

Why does ITIL think that call logging is so important, no other departments within a corporate environment have to log every single little worthless question and email.

Marketing, human resources, facilities all work on a similar incident based framework but you never hear about the facilities department having to log everything.

ITIL was designed to create worthless and useless jobs for supervisors and other people in order to sell their products.

ITIL did not invent, customer service, prioritisation, escalation, change management etc

 

[Steve_bullockuk]

I hate ITIL, in my opinion ITIL is the worst thing that has ever happened to IT support industry since its inception. ITIL where we have meetings about meetings and you spend more time logging calls than actually fixing them. Talk about a waste of time.

Why does ITIL think that call logging is so important, no other departments within a corporate environment have to log every single little worthless question and email.

Marketing, human resources, facilities all work on a similar incident based framework but you never hear about the facilities department having to log everything.

ITIL was designed to create worthless and useless jobs for supervisors and other people in order to sell their products.

+1.

Im sure it is the same everywhere but i am strictly monitored on 'First Time Fix' rate in my current role. Infact, a lot of my colleagues take it upon them selves to fudge stats in order to boost the FTF rate which sets the bar higher for everyone else. When i started in June 08, the required monthly FTF rate was 45%. Today its 70%.

 

[randomshenans]

Thing is, a service desk is a call centre environment under ITIL.

You employ your service desk staff for their customer communication skills.

You should be doing a bit of logging and flogging and some first time fixes under ITIL.

It sounds like they've got your job exactly as its defined in ITIL.

I think regardless of the jobs you do to start, Support is a great way for people to get further up in IT. You have to do the low level password reset stuff, of course. I started there. I tell you what though, it took me less than 6 months to be promoted out of there. Show some brains and everything and you can go places, we all start somewhere.

 

[anything I don't mind]

Yea, i have seen it countless times where the goal of call logs and a pathetic little bar graph at the end of the week is more important than actually fixing the calls. Which in fact goes against good customer service and those sorts of goals defer IT support.

For example my supervisor tells me to close calls even when they are not actually completed, because he does want the call hanging around in the queue because that does not look good on the stats. But now i have to keep a separate note of this issue in notepad or in my head, so that i don't forget about it. Which goes against the entire original reason for logging calls in the first place. insane.

Also there is no facility for keeping calls open for monitoring purposes or incase they reoccur, so it might look good on the stats, but if the problem is not fixed it is only going to generate more work for me when i have to, re log it the following week or forget about it and then who knows what happens.

 

[Steve_bullockuk]

Also there is no facility for keeping calls open for monitoring purposes or incase they reoccur, so it might look good on the stats, but if the problem is not fixed it is only going to generate more work for me when i have to, re log it the following week or forget about it and then who knows what happens.

If your company are following ITIL then you should have a Problem Management team in place to deal with this.

Sounds like they are a bunch of cowboys to me.

 

[Slinger]

Wow, a lot of useful stuff in here guys! keep on the discussion I just come back from a meeting with a recruitment agency for an IT assistant role they are advertising.

Heres the job description.

Would suit a bright, enthusistic individual who has a natural flair for IT and systems

Technical support to internal and external staff
Desktop user support
Printer maintenance
Configure/create/maintain users/groups and computers
Complete weekly/monthly maintenance reports on all servers and highlighted issues
Desktop builds and rollout
Phone system re-configuration
Manage backup devides
Ordering and liasing with hardware/telecom providers
Implementing a new hardware/software database
New site builds

The job holder will ideally have a degree in computer studies, maths or physics. Have an interest in computers and systems, good communication skills, good team player, valid UK driving licence, experience in managing, maintaining and configuring desktop operating systems XP, Vista, Windows 7 and be willing to travel to remote sites across the UK occasionally.

Working hours are full time which will include 1 late shift 12pm - 8pm and a Saturday every 5 weeks.

Salary is between 15 - 19k experience dependant.

Preferred, but not essential skills

Active Directory

Exchange 2003/10

IIS 6.x and 7.x

VPN's/WANS

DHCP/DNS

Now, they mentioned I will get training on thier systems etc. The skills they require seem pretty simple, and I think could be picked up quickly. So they are putting me forward and there should be an interview next week. I mentioned I would like 18k minimum too. They said its quite a busy role too. We shall see.

Though I've realised my knowledge is quite rusty. They asked me to do two little tests in pc support and I didnt do as well as I would have thought, however the system they were using gave very little time to read and answer them properly! 3 mins for 20 lengthly questions! I managed to get through 6! and then this other test which was 8 questions in 3 mins which I done better on. Anyways, just wait and see if I get an interview.

The discussion on here and after today, a lot of things feel up in the air. I need to look into things even more, decide where I want to go and stick with that. I just need work now, so though get into something I should definately be able to do and work up(if theres the option to). But I can continue other part time jobs while I continue looking. I am looking through graduate schemes too, however most of them seem a fair distance from me, but then again if I were to get the job, the starting salaries are good. For instance, IBM offer starting salary of 27k.

I should have mentioned in my original post, as well as 1st line jobs, I meant jobs like IT assistant, desktop support, technical support. All of which seem quite similiar in job description. It differs from company to company, role to role, as mentioned in this thread.

 

[Steve_bullockuk]

I would definitely take it if you can purely based on the fact you have said you currently don't have a perminant job. It will be rewarding if you put the leg work in.

 

[Fr0dders]

I hate ITIL, in my opinion ITIL is the worst thing that has ever happened to IT support industry since its inception. ITIL where we have meetings about meetings and you spend more time logging calls than actually fixing them. Talk about a waste of time.

Why does ITIL think that call logging is so important, no other departments within a corporate environment have to log every single little worthless question and email.

Marketing, human resources, facilities all work on a similar incident based framework but you never hear about the facilities department having to log everything.

ITIL was designed to create worthless and useless jobs for supervisors and other people in order to sell their products.

ITIL did not invent, customer service, prioritisation, escalation, change management etc

Thing is I work in a company that's an IT service provider to the NHS. We have one major area which is the supply of clinical software and the infrastructure to run it on. Within that arm there's a major split between the hosted side (where their system in run from our data centre) and the side where the GP runs the software from an on site server (usually a HP ML350)

The hosted side of the business is fully ISO20000 accredited. The LAN based side isn't and doesn't implement ITIL much at all. The hosted side of the business runs much smother because of it. ITIL is a framework, it's not a set of rules that you must follow, it's designed so that you can pick and choose what bits suit you and implement them as you see fit. If your service desk managers are obsessing unnecessarily about stats that's their fault not ITIL's.

I think it's great when it's implemented properly. At the end of the day a first time fix rate is important, because that's the sole aim of the service desk, to get simple problems and service requests resolved quickly and cheaply. But if the management take that to be the only thing of importance you've got a problem. ITIL doesn't state that

 

[subbass]

Wow, a lot of useful stuff in here guys! keep on the discussion I just come back from a meeting with a recruitment agency for an IT assistant role they are advertising.

Heres the job description.



Now, they mentioned I will get training on thier systems etc. The skills they require seem pretty simple, and I think could be picked up quickly. So they are putting me forward and there should be an interview next week. I mentioned I would like 18k minimum too. They said its quite a busy role too. We shall see.

Though I've realised my knowledge is quite rusty. They asked me to do two little tests in pc support and I didnt do as well as I would have thought, however the system they were using gave very little time to read and answer them properly! 3 mins for 20 lengthly questions! I managed to get through 6! and then this other test which was 8 questions in 3 mins which I done better on. Anyways, just wait and see if I get an interview.

The discussion on here and after today, a lot of things feel up in the air. I need to look into things even more, decide where I want to go and stick with that. I just need work now, so though get into something I should definately be able to do and work up(if theres the option to). But I can continue other part time jobs while I continue looking. I am looking through graduate schemes too, however most of them seem a fair distance from me, but then again if I were to get the job, the starting salaries are good. For instance, IBM offer starting salary of 27k.

I should have mentioned in my original post, as well as 1st line jobs, I meant jobs like IT assistant, desktop support, technical support. All of which seem quite similiar in job description. It differs from company to company, role to role, as mentioned in this thread.

Sounds like a good starting role. At least it's not a pure helpdesk phone role. Go for it. Definitely secure any kind of job first and continue to look for your IT job.

What were the questions about?

 

[Hellsmk2]

A monkey could do a 1st line support.

Just get to the interviews and spell your name right on the application forms and you'll get the job.

(Not arsed if this offends some folk... it's true)

 

[Fr0dders]

Wow, a lot of useful stuff in here guys! keep on the discussion I just come back from a meeting with a recruitment agency for an IT assistant role they are advertising.

Heres the job description.



Now, they mentioned I will get training on thier systems etc. The skills they require seem pretty simple, and I think could be picked up quickly. So they are putting me forward and there should be an interview next week. I mentioned I would like 18k minimum too. They said its quite a busy role too. We shall see.

Though I've realised my knowledge is quite rusty. They asked me to do two little tests in pc support and I didnt do as well as I would have thought,
however the system they were using gave very little time to read and answer them properly! 3 mins for 20 lengthly questions! I managed to get through 6!
and then this other test which was 8 questions in 3 mins which I done better on. Anyways, just wait and see if I get an interview.

The discussion on here and after today, a lot of things feel up in the air. I need to look into things even more, decide where I want to go and stick with
that. I just need work now, so though get into something I should definately be able to do and work up(if theres the option to). But I can continue other part time jobs while I continue looking. I am looking through graduate schemes too, however most of them seem a fair distance from me, but then again if I were to get the job, the starting salaries are good. For instance, IBM offer starting salary of 27k.

I should have mentioned in my original post, as well as 1st line jobs, I meant jobs like IT assistant, desktop support, technical support. All of which seem
quite similiar in job description. It differs from company to company, role to role, as mentioned in this thread.

I honestly wouldn't do it. Once you get started in a role like this chances are you are going to end up trapped, unless they are a good company who promote from within and offer training. But you can never tell the people who really do, plenty promise it but very few actually deliver, and you can't tell until you're actually doing a job. So many companies promise you everything to attract you, then when you turn up shaft you and reveal it was all a lie.

If you need to work that badly, go for it but keep looking for graduate schemes to get you higher up and into something better than support

A monkey could do a 1st line support.

Just get to the interviews and spell your name right on the application forms and you'll get the job.

(Not arsed if this offends some folk... it's true)

well take a look at the IT assistants description posted above

Technical support to internal and external staff So thats telling them to reboot their PCs and to sod off when they whinge about pointless stuff
Desktop user support that will be resetting print spoolers and finding lost documents
Printer maintenance Putting print cartridges in and clearing paper jams
Configure/create/maintain users/groups and computers Ohh creating user accounts. What fun !
Complete weekly/monthly maintenance reports on all servers and highlighted issues Spreadsheets and reports, the only thing more fun than user accounts !
Desktop builds and rollout Installing windows then
Phone system re-configuration changing peoples extension numbers
Manage backup devices Putting backup tapes and checking the job completed
Ordering and liasing with hardware/telecom providers Ringing the phone system provider when it breaks
Implementing a new hardware/software database Ohh look, more admin work
New site builds Unpacking new PCs and plugging them in

Think you're about right tbh

 

[HungryHippos]

Hi there,

I left college after messing up a year or two there with no real direction, by the time I got to college I think i'd just had enough of education in general.

Took a job in the first position I applied for which was for a helpdesk Level 1 role. Supporting customers with mailbox problems, BES devices etc, generally messaging orientated with some Web Hosting/IIS stuff thrown in.

I've been there since 2006 so going on 5 years or so, I have been promoted 4 times (Level 1 ==> Level 2 ==> Level 3 ==> Network Operations ==> Exchange Admin) and am now enjoying my job more than ever.

My day to day work means I am generally working with the Exchange servers we have, and projects around this area. I get to play around with Exchange 03, Exchange 07, Exchange 2010. I get to write scripts in PowerShell (proper ones that perform functions such as retrieving database whitespace, user counts, EDB sizes etc not the simple Get-Mailbox stuff) which I really enjoy, and also I get to play around with Active Directory/ADSI, BES (we have 5 BES servers), some SQL etc.

I definitely enjoy the Exchange stuff the most out of everything i've done whilst i've been here so i'm really where I want to be. Pay is OK in my current position though I imagine people who do less than me earn more than I do in other places, it's close to home with a 3 mile trip and I actually enjoy doing my job.

I'd rather stay here and enjoy work than earn £5k more P.A elsewhere but not get to do half the stuff I get to do at the moment. My team is pretty good too, everyone is pretty relaxed about things.

P.S anyone thinking about getting deeper into BES, don't, it's a total joke! their new control panel is god awful, a monkey could design a better system. ActiveSync is much better for mobile email!

 

[subbass]

I honestly wouldn't do it. Once you get started in a role like this chances are you are going to end up trapped, unless they are a good company who promote from within and offer training. But you can never tell the people who really do, plenty promise it but very few actually deliver, and you can't tell until you're actually doing a job. So many companies promise you everything to attract you, then when you turn up shaft you and reveal it was all a lie.

If you need to work that badly, go for it but keep looking for graduate schemes to get you higher up and into something better than support



well take a look at the IT assistants description posted above



Think you're about right tbh

Don't discourage him Everyone has to start somewhere. What do you expect someone with no experience to do? Apply for a 3rd line engineer job? What employer would let a inexperienced person go near a server? At the end of the day, use it as a stepping stone and move on.

 

[Ev0]

So if you're on 30k a year in the bottom position, that probably means your going to be doing a bit of everything. Including the dogsbody work. But in that kind of environment theres no room to take time off to go on training courses, no room for promotion, no room for expanding your knowledge and pushing the IT forward. Its all about fire fighting as cheaply as possible.

Totally depends on the company.

We have 2 desktop guys, on 30k, they do 1st and 2nd line desktop support, most of the stuff in that job description posted actually.

They have had plenty of time for training, lots of opportunity to learn as well as promotion.

P.S anyone thinking about getting deeper into BES, don't, it's a total joke! their new control panel is god awful, a monkey could design a better system. ActiveSync is much better for mobile email!

Might not be great but it's the only choice for some people who are subject to government restrictions as BlackBerry is the only CESG approved solution as I understand it.

 

[Fr0dders]

Totally depends on the company.

We have 2 desktop guys, on 30k, they do 1st and 2nd line desktop support, most of the stuff in that job description posted actually.

jeez if they overpay everybody that much they must be heading for financial ruin !

Either that or thats in London ?

 

[Jim.Ow]

An interesting thread. I started working in IT when I was 17 as part time, then when I finished the first year of 6th form I started full time.

I've been working in my role now for 13 months, it's a mixture of software and hardware issues such Outlook issues, faulty power supplys, broken laptop screens, keyboard and also things such as replacing hard drives with bad sectors etc.

There's no room for promotion within the company which I why im now looking at moving, thing is most companies are looking for people with Helpdesk experience (or degrees), which I don't have. I have a good telephone manner and can deal with people, and logging incidents and following up on them incidents is all part of my job.

Money isn't a massive issue, as I'de have to try very hard to earn less I am now, it's more about gaining experience.

What I'm worried about by trying to get a job in Helpdesk that all I will do is be nice on the phone and log incidents .. basically a glorified receptionist. I know it depends on the company etc, but I'm really looking to get my foot in the door of a good company with room for promotion as I'm very ambitious in that respect, but im concerned that I'll be stuck in a role with no training or room to grow.

EDIT: Also I'm based about 35 mins train journey away from London, so commuting is a possibility.

 

[gettothechopper]

30k for 1st line? lol! Fujistu pay about 12k a year for 1st line monkeys!

the job description above sounds more 2nd liney to me but different companies seem to have different ideas about that

was supposed to do my ITIL foundation when I joined my company in about 4 years ago and still havent got round to it ! been 2nd then 3rd line since then muhaha

 

[ennogs]

Its incredibly soul destorying.

This.

I have done 1st and 2nd line. I would rather jump off a cliff than do it again.

 

[VeNT]

SD1 isn't too bad but really you want to move to 2nd line ASAP and then onwards.
Sadly the 2nd line department I'm in now is being merged with SD1 (cost savings fs) so I'm back to square 1.