IT support, 1st line & 2nd line

tkilo

tkilo

tkilo

Associate
Joined
26 Oct 2014
Posts
5
Hi folks,

I've got a few questions regarding the above IT jobs mentioned.
I have recently been applying to a lot of 1st line/2nd line support jobs and have not been receiving no responses.
I have come to the conclusion that the lack of responses I'm receiving is a result of my lack of experience in IT support.

The only thing that I have is a degree in Computing which I received in 2013.
I have tried applying through recruitment agencies but mostly they never reply to me and on the rare occasion they manage to reply to me they say that they would forward my CV to the relevant employer but I hear nothing from them after that. :rolleyes:
It's the same story when I apply directly to companies.

I use the following Job boards when looking for support jobs:
Cwjobs
Reed
Indeed
Total jobs
IT jobs board
Jobserve
Universal jobs match
CV library

When I use the above job boards I hardly ever get an invitation for an interview.
I wonder what else I could do to get an IT support job?
Any suggestions will help as I have been looking for work for a year now
 
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Which location are you in? Can you give some examples of the jobs you are applying for? Yes experience is key although less so for L1.
 
Hades said:
Which location are you in? Can you give some examples of the jobs you are applying for? Yes experience is key although less so for L1.
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I applied for 1st line support analyst, Help desk support, application support.
I'm in Doncaster, South Yorkshire.
 
This all comes down to having a reasonable CV, Granted a lot of places are looking for experience, have you thought about an apprentice scheme?
 
What you have to remeber is when companies take on grads, you need to wow them on the CV, as you will have lack of experience, then wow them in interviews

What you also have to remember is most grads, graduate in July, so a lot of the grad positions would have been filled In the following months, that's when most companies pick them up. However some companies do advertise later in the year

Not all though, e.g. in our company we take on people with experience and certs most of the time, but they have advertised a few grad vacancies for various teams.

If you are looking for jobs which are more aimed at experience then it will be tough competition, unfortunately, but keep trying.

P
 
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I'll be honest, I'm looking to fill a 1st line role but I'm looking for someone that's done the job before, I simply do not have the time to train an apprentice!
 
tkilo said:
I've been working in Retail it's soul destroying and it's time for me to move on
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Again highlighting that it is possible, I know the most recent grad our place took on was working in retail after graduating, but they applied themselves in the CV, and in the interview and got the job, now working in one of our teams in an infrastructure backups team.

You need to apply yourself on the CV to grab their attention, then wow them in the interview

Don't make it seem to them like they have to train you from scratch on base level stuff you should already know
 
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Wizzkidy said:
I'll be honest, I'm looking to fill a 1st line role but I'm looking for someone that's done the job before, I simply do not have the time to train an apprentice!
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For 1st line, you don't need experience. What is much more important is the ability for someone to use their initiative and resources to troubleshoot. Training for 1st line should be process which you'll need to give someone who has done it before anyway.
 
tkilo said:
........... the above IT jobs mentioned.
I have recently been applying to a lot of 1st line/2nd line support jobs and have not been receiving no responses.
I have come to the conclusion that the lack of responses I'm receiving is a re...........
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I would suggest posting your CV, the highlighted section in the sentence above may give a clue as to part of the problem.
 
Wizzkidy said:
I'll be honest, I'm looking to fill a 1st line role but I'm looking for someone that's done the job before, I simply do not have the time to train an apprentice!
Click to expand...

Nobody who is worth employing would do a 1st line role and then move to another. 1st line is all about getting people with good customer service skills and teaching them the technical bits. The clue's in the name - it's 1st line. If you don't have a 2nd line to escalate a thoroughly described issue to then what you are looking for isn't a 1st line tech.
 
DJMK4 said:
Again highlighting that it is possible, I know the most recent grad our place took on was working in retail after graduating, but they applied themselves in the CV, and in the interview and got the job, now working in one of our teams in an infrastructure backups team.

You need to apply yourself on the CV to grab their attention, then wow them in the interview

Don't make it seem to them like they have to train you from scratch on base level stuff you should already know
Click to expand...

That's interesting, when you were hiring graduates, what type of degrees were you looking for ?
And did you look for certifications?
 
It is hard work sometimes, even with experience.
When I was made redundant it took me a while to get something else.
Apart from all the 'big' recruiters, it is also well worth trying to find smaller, more local, agencies.
Even if they are not IT specific they sometimes deal with smaller companies that don't necessarily go to the big sites.

You also find they tend to be a bit more personal and keen to find you something.

This is actually how I got both my current and previous position.
I don't have any specific qualifications but did have experience plus a real enthusiasm for the job.

A smaller company might also be a good place to start anyway as you will quite possibly get involved in ALL areas rather than just 1st Line.
My current job there is just me and the IT Manager most of the time to support 200 users! We both get involved in pretty much anything with a plug on.
I like that type of job. More interesting than sitting at a helpdesk just taking calls all day.

Do you also have other interests that you could find companies for that you could then write to? Explain what you want to do and the interest in the company.

Sometimes it might just hit the spot!
 
Go work somewhere as a volunteer to gain the experience and also fill your time, in the meantime. It will help on your CV also that you are already working in that field ;)
 
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