Anyone a "Desktop Support Engineer" ?

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Im looking for jobs as i graduate in June and want to secure something before that. I will graduate with a rubbish media Ba degree and I cant find any jobs relevant to this and the few I have found in London are all £7 an hour jobs.

However previous to the last 2 years (transferred over) my whole background has been IT focused, Ever since I was in primary school fixing the Viglen PC that broke itself in windows 95 daily, to doing and completing a BTEC in Software Design, then doing 2 years at plym uni doing comp sci BSC which i couldnt get into, i let the student lifestyle run away with me and never did any work. So i transferred onto a media degree which I am about to complete, and the way its looking I will probably achieve a first in this.

I find the course I am on so easy its ridiculous, literally taking me ONE WEEK per semester (2 semester a year) to do all the work to first standard. This I feel a sign in itself that I shouldnt sort of, waste my intelligence doing media related work all my life (i dont want to sound cocky here, btw).

I like the idea of IT contracting and if necessary I have the finances to stay out of the workplace full time to complete a course or courses that will put me in good standing to do it.

Now i know certain people on here do this with no qualifications at all, but all of the job descriptions tell me I would be greatly better off studying the MCDST exams ? I already have a CCNA but it was so long ago I dont really remember any of it..

Looking at 3rd tier desktop support (the lowest) I will be looking at £20 an hour in london which is far better than £7 an hour with no flexibility. Travelling is fine for me, I love driving, i drive from cornwall to north wales just for fun, lol, so i dont really care about fuel allowance.

I would be greatfull if anyone actually in the industry could comment, give advice, etc :)
 
you drive for fun so doing cornwall to north wales and back every day would be ok?
 
I'd imagine if you've never completed an IT degree, and you have no employed experience you are going to struggle to go straight into a third tier support placement.

CCNA is beneficial, but any tom dick and harry can pass these nowadays. Even the Microsoft courses you can do week long 'cram' sessions and pass.

If i was employing somebody experience>qualifications. Obviously dependant on the businesss outlook this can be the other way round.

I think you need to start somewhere lower then your expecting. The fact you dont mind travelling can easily land you a field engineer role providing you have some pc/server experience.

Start at the bottom and work up, im sure most on here will say the same. just because you've done a degree doesnt grant you £20 an hour. We all start somewhere and work up.

Ash
 
Start at the bottom and work up, im sure most on here will say the same. just because you've done a degree doesnt grant you £20 an hour. We all start somewhere and work up.

This and/or try and get an apprenticeship in a blue chip company.
 
Start at the bottom and work up, im sure most on here will say the same. just because you've done a degree doesnt grant you £20 an hour. We all start somewhere and work up.

Ash

Kind of this, i jsut got into a ~ £10 hour job in IT and beat 8 degree level people to get it (i have no degree nor amazing a-levels and im 18). My sister who has just got a 2.1 from Durham in geography cant yet get over a £7 an hour job.

Its tough competition out there and they're interviewing everyone.
 
what is third tier desktop support ?

the way ive always known it is 1st line is phone support, 2nd line is desktop support and 3rd line is server/enterprise/network support.

Personally i think you will find it hard to get anything over first possibly second line support as experience is far greater than any academic qualification in IT in my eyes.

£20 an hour would be an experienced desktop contractor it is not simply a case of doing a course and knowing everything.

For this very reason whenever I have interviewed graduates there attitude is wrong. They want in at a high level and assume they can learn anything faster than anyone else rather than accepting they need to start a bit lower and gain real experience.
 
Kind of this, i jsut got into a ~ £10 hour job in IT and beat 8 degree level people to get it (i have no degree nor amazing a-levels and im 18). My sister who has just got a 2.1 from Durham in geography cant yet get over a £7 an hour job.

Its tough competition out there and they're interviewing everyone.

Id imagine because of your attitude and possible experience.

My current job, my boss wasnt interested in my qualifications (i do have a few) but more interested in the way i deal with people and experience.

Indeed as Craig Said thirs tier is generally server and enterprise support.

Start on a helpdesk, get the feel for the business and work up, you know a lot less then you think you do. Unless you do the job you never know the ins and outs of it till youve been doing it a few years.
 
I dont mind starting out lowest at all, i read the job description and i am only lacking one or two of their bullet points, mainly because we did all of our work on xp / vista and never server 2003, im not even sure the work i did DOESNT cover 2003 ?

We are seeking a 3rd Line Desktop Support Engineer for our financial sector client based in West London. The ideal candidate will possess a proven track record working with Windows 2000, Windows 2003 Server, Active Directory, Exchange 2000, Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, Cisco Routers & Switches. Duties will include providing General IT support in form of server administration, server installs, software installation, software support, network administration and support. Any certifications such as MCDST, MCP, MCSE, MCITP, VCP will be of an advantage. The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, keen willingness to learn new technologies and advance upon their qualifications, quick thinking and can handle pressure well to come in and hit the ground running.

Looking back i wish i had stuck the Bsc out but i wasnt really ready for it at that part of my life. I am tempted to go back and do it now but in the 4 years time when i graduate i will be 29 and if fees go upto £9k a year thats £36k for a four year degree compared to my current £5k for four year degree (im on the old £1200 a year fees)
 
Have a look for desktop support on reed.com, most over 100 people apply for, lots with years of support work behind them, your be luckly to get 8 or 9 an hour.
 
I'd imagine if you've never completed an IT degree, and you have no employed experience you are going to struggle to go straight into a third tier support placement.

Ash

Supposing you did have an IT degree though, where would your level of entry be? Im in same position as OP, looking for jobs when I graduate this summer except my degree is a Bsc in IT
 
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The other thing is the 1st line jobs on a helpdesk actually want more qualifications than the third line. Stuff such as Oracle Database skills that I have never even looked at.
 
That 3rd Line job clearly states you need a 'proven track record', you are aiming your targets far too high. "I fixed Windows 95 on the school's Viglen" probably isn't what they are looking for.
 
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Just for some info -
I'm 25 and have a BTEC in computing, business computing degree (2:1) and 2, almost 3 years experience in IT support. Made redundant from last place and now got a full time job doing a mix of phone support, desktop support - server, citrix, ad, gp type stuff and helping out with some big projects like exchange upgrade and other server/comms upgrades. Involves all stuff really, BES support, printer management etc etc

Mate is in support too and they have a contractor who gets around £15 hour i think and are usually in theirs 30s and overqualified but people will take anything at the moment.
 
You can get graduate positions at third line support, that's how i started.

I advise against desktop support, unless its filler to earn some money.
 
But when you have 200 applications, who are you gonna throw in the bin first?
Anyone without a comp science degree. People with a comp degree show an aptitude that someone with a media degree might not have.
 
A comp sci degree is of minimal relevance to a computer support job.

It's true, there are much more useful and practical degrees that can be done but I think the common mistake people make is 'oh I like computers I could do that for a living. *types computer into ucas website and sees 100s of CompSci degrees*'

Thats my view on it anyway, Im not saying that a degree is a must but Im just saying that a lot of people do CS without thinking too much about the other courses available.
 
But when you have 200 applications, who are you gonna throw in the bin first?
Anyone without a comp science degree. People with a comp degree show an aptitude that someone with a media degree might not have.

And then you throw them out in favour of the people with ccna, mcse, even comptia...
 
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