Anyone work in IT/Technical Support?

Stat1c

Stat1c

Stat1c

Associate
Joined
20 Jan 2011
Posts
165
Been in 1st line (helpdesk) support for several months now and obviously don't want to stay here forever. I've a degree in IT but it's not helped at all knowledge wise (basically just java, php programming, databases, maths, essays etc) ie things I don't use in this job.

It seems one of the main routes to advancing and gaining knowledge in this field is through networking/infrastructure. Does anyone know any good books or anything? I use the likes of Citrix, Active Directory etc and know some network basics like domains, DC's etc but I really need to significantly advance my knowledge.

I am doing quite a lot of 2nd line work now but some of the 2nd line people have a really high knowledge of infrastructure and I'm some way off. I feel like my jobs not going anywhere atm
 
mrbell1984 said:
You have a degree in IT and your wanting to do a technical job? Do you not fancy aiming for line manager / manager roles?
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Nothing wrong with wanting to do a technical role, I would much prefer to be doing something than telling someone to do something, and you can get quite a lot of flak as a manager (ultimately, the buck stops with you).

Some of our Windows/Server guys at work have degrees in IT and they get along just fine.

My advice would be to decide what you want to do, and then advance yourself in that area. Take the relevant exams, study the material.

To my mind networking is about more than just AD/Domains, it's about how you physically connect everything, firewalls, routers, switches etc, subnet masks, IPv6, cabling, the works.
 
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Theres nothing wrong with it but I see it as a waste if all your wanting to do is technical roles as technical roles can be had without going to uni to do a degree.

A lot of the basic courses like ccna, A+ e.t.c can get you a 1st / 2nd line role.
 
mrbell1984 said:
You have a degree in IT and your wanting to do a technical job? Do you not fancy aiming for line manager / manager roles?
Click to expand...
I work in an IT company and most of the IT jobs are technical. And in order to get to management I would need a hell of a lot more experience.

My idea at the moment is maybe I get a couple of years of technical support under my belt, then I assess my options. I don't really see much other career options at the moment.

Technical support certainly isn't what I want to be doing for the rest of my life, but employment wise it's all I know. I only graduated last year and it took me months to find a job (this one)

Some of the infrastructure guys are making insane $$$ though
 
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You can have my job when I leave. I want out of IT after 10 years. :D

Where are you aiming to be in IT in five years? Your posts seem to show you lack direction.
 
Stat1c said:
I work in an IT company and most of the IT jobs are technical. And in order to get to management I would need a hell of a lot more experience.

My idea at the moment is maybe I get a couple of years of technical support under my belt, then I assess my options. I don't really see much other career options at the moment.

Technical support certainly isn't what I want to be doing for the rest of my life, but employment wise it's all I know. I only graduated last year and it took me months to find a job (this one)

Some of the infrastructure guys are making insane $$$ though
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Sounds good to me, I had the opportunity to become an infrastructure engineer or line manager but never took it up.
 
No huge reason to see management as an inevitable career path these days, its more than possible to have a technical career path that leads to technical architect in global enterprise systems that pays as much if not more than management roles, and is generally more fun and less hassle too.

You want to have a good grounding through support roles, into 3rd line and then into the design side, probably with a large corporate or services company that works with large corporates. Public sector perhaps, but on large central government programs. Personally i find working in public sector intensely frustrating, but that's just me.
 
Certified DBA? If you don't mind entrencing yourself in SQL Server.

Just throwing that into the mix, as it can be quite a lucrative option. I'm in system administration, with second line support thrown in. I know my way around SQL and can do some DBA work, but I think you really need to throw yourself into it if you really want the jobs - Integration Services, Reporting Services, et all.
 
My career path over the last 6 years is as follows:

  • Tech support (email) for crappy AV company - 2 years

Horrible job working with one great guy, and a few of the worst of the socially handicapped nerds you can imagine. This then led to me applying for and getting...

  • Tech support for global accounting company - 2 years

Not a bad job but pretty quiet and boring in the long-term. Led to me getting 6-month secondment opportunity in another country, which then turned into...

  • Tech support for global accounting company - 3 years

...a permanent position in said position other country. Slogged my guts out under some tough conditions until I got fed up with IT support and started to send out my feeling within the company, eventually leading to the following position a few months ago...

  • Enterprise Risk Services Consultant for global accounting company

High salary, high workload, high stress... but one hell of a job ythat will only improve with time and experience.

I only got this through my time in IT support and working my way up through sheer strength of will and selling my biggest commodity... me. As cheesy as that sounds, I have no degree and my only marketable aspects have been the technical experience I gained in IT support, my own character (for better or worse), and some serious networking.

Moral of the story: yes, IT support often sucks, but if you make the right decisions, sell yourself, and aim to move every couple of years into something better, then it really can be a gateway to bigger and better things regardless of initial education (I HIGHLY recommend getting a degree as early as possible though, you will need it in the long-run).

Aim for international companies in industries like finance and as long as you get a foot in the door and don't screw things up, your future is yours to do with what you will. :)
 
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I did 1st line for a few years. Couldn't get promoted because it was a Christian IT company and atheists were stuck at the bottom. Now I'm working in customer services for my local mental health authority. It's not far off from 1st line as you're still taking calls and using a call logging system.

To the OP - natural progression would be to 2nd/3rd line, application support. Higher up would be network administrator.
 
I went from:
School IT Department Lackey
Field Service Engineer
Helpdesk
Helpdesk again
Applications Support
Post-sales Technical Support for a Vendor
Pre-sales Systems Engineer for same Vendor
Now I am a Pre-Sales Hardware Manager for a huge company.

Big salary jump was going from post-sales to pre-sales, and again from Systems engineer to Hardware Manager. However, you do need to work harder, and pressures are higher. I have no industry qualifications, just experience, and no Degree :D

Best way to learn citrix and AD stuff is to get a book, and just build a few servers. Much easier now with VMware products, as it is all virtual :)

Taken me nearly 10 years to get to where I am now, but I started young!
 
mrbell1984 said:
You have a degree in IT and your wanting to do a technical job? Do you not fancy aiming for line manager / manager roles?
Click to expand...
lol.
A degree doesn't make him more qualified to do a managerial role, nor would he be considered for one because of the degree.
I'd go as far to argue that that point of view is actually a hindrance to that direction in IT.

Because:
A) You cant manage what you don't know how to do/know about. This is more true in IT than any other profession. I've lost count of the number of useless IT managers that I've come across who know nack all about IT and how it affects more than the obvious, instead having the managerial arrogance that is borderline idiotic.
B) Coming from uni and expecting to be a manager is just plain delusional. You start at the bottom like everyone else, unless your supremely lucky. As in IT it all comes down to one thing: Experience.

If he's got no experience then that's it. Doesn't matter what you have, experience is what counts in IT. Simple as.

Work from the bottom, work hard, put the effort in, network and move every few years till your happy with the job & salary.
 
deSade said:
Certified DBA? If you don't mind entrencing yourself in SQL Server.

Just throwing that into the mix, as it can be quite a lucrative option. I'm in system administration, with second line support thrown in. I know my way around SQL and can do some DBA work, but I think you really need to throw yourself into it if you really want the jobs - Integration Services, Reporting Services, et all.
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Doesn't need to be SQL Server ... most DBAs I know are Oracle DBAs and tend to be rather overpaid (particularly the contractors).

Personally I went from Uni (non-IT related degree) to 3rd line Unix/Linux support, to senior 3rd line (spending most of the time doing technical non-support stuff on accounts, e.g. projects and strategy) and now ... well my job title is Infrastructure Consultant and my role involves various things like telling the architects they are wrong and need to redesign solutions (and why they are wrong).
 
Best way to advance is never stay in the same role once you aren't learning anything else!

Unless it's an outstanding job / company to work for.
 
LordSplodge said:
You can have my job when I leave. I want out of IT after 10 years. :D

Where are you aiming to be in IT in five years? Your posts seem to show you lack direction.
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I don't know where I want to be. I would like to be in consultancy, project type work I think. Good money is my main ambition.

Tbh, I'm more just focused on clear goals in front of me. In order to progress here I need to get my networking knowledge up but I don't know where to begin.

Not sure if I should be diving straight in to doing microsoft or cisco type training and certifications or if I should be just getting some basic knowledge from books. Again though, not sure what books I should be looking at. Don't know where to begin.

Have looked into going back to uni and doing a masters too but not sure it would work around my work schedule and also unsure how much I would learn that would be relevant to my career. (considering how useless my bsc was, though the post-grad would be specifically on a network related course)

I think my main problem just now is my company have no interest in training me in anything to boost my IT knowledge.
 
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