Anyone work in IT/Technical Support?

Not a lot of places will invest in training you up without your requesting it, unless you need to learn something specific for a specific work related reason. Especially in this climate with high unemployment and redunancies. Most businesses are belt tightening to a degree.

Don't be put off by what everyone says as well.

This is my career progression:

1st Line Support
2nd Line Support
3rd Line Support
Network Operations (server monitoring, general escalations between technical departments, internal IT support)
Exchange Admin

So i've had a bunch of promotions, this is probably over a period of around 5 years or so. I've gained a lot of knowledge, and I get to play around with things like PowerShell scripts, MS SQL, some development in ASP.NET C# etc as well.

If you apply yourself, and go for the positions that open up you can generally do well. Be professional at all times, help people out etc, you will get noticed! If you don't get promoted at your current job, and prospects aren't looking good, then look for something else!
 
Last edited:
I see you mention c# there, I was actually thinking of doing a bit of programming in my spare time as it might help my career. I've probably forgotten everything though and I was **** in the first place!

Might setup Visual c# on my laptop tomorrow
 
It takes a certain kind of skillset to be good enough at development to actually do it for a career though, I would personally say I am not good enough to do it therefore I don't :P.

This goes back somewhat to what I was saying, you need to decide what you want to do and set your sights on getting there, doing a bit of everything will make you a jack of all trades which is not the best position to be in.

Also my best advice is learn from those who clearly know more than you do, don't be afraid to ask questions, or take a problem and go away and investigate it in more depth to learn some new things.
 
Last edited:
The more senior people don't seem interested in passing on their knowledge. Keeps them in a job. The helpful people are often far too busy to get any real advice from.

I am focused just now on learning about infrastructure, c# is just something to do in spare time. But as I say, don't have a clue what courses to do or books to read
 
Mine in IT is:

- Started working for free at a local computer shop building computers, fixing faults and attending house calls. Within a month I was getting paid.

- During college I continued to work there as well as at a Restaurant and Tesco's

- Upon finishing college I applied to work at a large Retail department store IT dept. Started on First line and worked in various positions/departmens of IT doing projects, etc.

I've been at my current company 9 years and its about time I moved on as I can't see anywhere else I' want to move to here. More money is the current objective, coupled with new systems and challenges.

I've done my C.V. but I've no idea if it is any good, so it's time I started applying.

Where does everyone look for IT based jobs?
 
Also worth noting is that in those 6 years I mentioned in post #10, my salary has gone from £16k at the AV company, to just shy of £60k at the global multinational living abroad. All accomplished without a degree (though im studying for one starting next year, or I will hit a promotion ceiling in the future sadly), and it just shows that good things are possible through some hard work and a passing level of dedication. And trust me, there were times that I had no idea how things would work out... good things just happen when you least expect it sometimes. :)
 
Stat1c said:
The more senior people don't seem interested in passing on their knowledge. Keeps them in a job. The helpful people are often far too busy to get any real advice from.

I am focused just now on learning about infrastructure, c# is just something to do in spare time. But as I say, don't have a clue what courses to do or books to read
Click to expand...

"Good money is my main ambition."

...is not a bad ambition, but it's the wrong starting point.

Your ambition should be to find something you like and you enjoy, if you do that you will do well at it, and then the money will arrive.

Sounds like you're in the wrong company, you need mentoring and if you're not getting it where you are, move on.
 
Well I've just received my final OU course results which means that when I get my 2:2 I'll soon be on the hunt for one of these entry level support jobs. With any luck I'll actually get one.
 
Dist said:
Well I've just received my final OU course results which means that when I get my 2:2 I'll soon be on the hunt for one of these entry level support jobs. With any luck I'll actually get one.
Click to expand...

You really dont need a degree for an entry level tech support job, so get applying anyhow.
 
Richdog said:
You really dont need a degree for an entry level tech support job, so get applying anyhow.
Click to expand...

Due to certain circumstances I don't have much else in the way of formal qualifications (I didn't fail GCSEs or anything, I just wasn't around to take them). So for me having a degree is a big deal, and due to lack of other qualifications I actually do need it for entry level jobs.
 
degrees mean NOTHING in IT support, its all about how you handle situations and if you can do the job right. Having a degree normally means your a cocky just out of Uni Student who thinks he knows everything about being a IT tech

However all Network Managers/Admins always look for Experience rather than just someone with a fancy degree
 
Right so I'm in the same place as before, though got a VERY good performance review. Where do I go from here though?

Seems to be that an MCITP is the best route but the MS website says you should be in tier 2 employment before doing it? So what do I do? I feel like things are going nowhere and there's not any chance of me getting anywhere

PS - You know the worst part? I wrote this topic almost 6 months ago and have achieved nothing since then. And it feels like I made this topic only a yesterday
 
I have stuck pretty much in same role for 20 years,enterprise level hardware support ( maintenance, installs etc ) , got as far as senior engineer and team leader but the next step would be into a district managers role and this would involve a huge paycut
 
Rotty said:
in my experince there's loads more money to be made in technical roles unless you get very senior in management
Click to expand...

I don't disagree. Technical roles can be very boring sometimes. I suppose it depends what you fancy. Anyone heard of Learning Technologists? It's a new role at our place to investigate technologies, report write, gain funding and implement them.

29th Nov 2011, 17:47 ~ 8th Mar 2012, 20:43 - Sounds like you really need some help getting out there?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom