Best Career Advice for Help Desk Service Technicians

The IT industry is on the way, and help desk technicians have plenty of opportunities to catch the waves.

If you are dissatisfied with your current position for some reason, such as a low salary, few promotion options, or lack of professional development, you do not need to maintain the status quo. Here are some professional tips to help you increase your chances of embarking on a dream help desk service job.

Understand Industry Trends.

The top three IT trends that will affect help desk technicians in the near future are mobility, "bring your own device" or BYOD, and real-time support.

With so many workers using mobile devices (and through BYOD policies, or not), help desk professionals are rapidly increasing the number and variety of devices they need to support. 

Businesses are pushing the boundaries between cloud and mobile computing, but some IT departments and management systems are struggling to keep up. Smartphone and tablet apps are consumer-friendly trends and offer value at a lower cost and lower latency, but they can challenge the help desk.

When technology allowed more workers to work from home, help desk support services specialists were supporting user-supplied equipment. But the mobile device broke the lock. Even for companies that don't support their employees' devices, the mobile market is changing rapidly, and efforts are being made to keep up with the mobile devices offered by companies.

An example: OS X is no longer a niche operating system (OS). Mac desktops and laptops are still common in the field of education and creativity, but the superiority of the iPhone and iPad means that help desk professionals need to understand Windows and iOS systems. 

The expectation of real-time support is putting even more pressure on help desk professionals. The expectation that the help desk technician has the answer is much higher because the user is waiting for the phone, the chat window, or the other end of the session to share the screen. You also need good customer service and organizational strength to meet the pressures of real-time support.

The professional advice here is for help desk professionals who are flexible and want to learn. Rather than resist change, think of it as an opportunity to add it to your toolkit and accelerate your career. Take a look at the tools consumers and businesses use and prepare to support them.

Develop Skills

Help desk technicians often enter the field with general computer skills and receive additional training from their employer. To get out of and out of the help desk hierarchy or establish a leadership position someday, you can develop your IT support skills, including non-technical diversity, to set yourself apart from the crowd.

1. Experience with widely used network protocols and operating systems.
2. General knowledge of software and applications
3. Knowledge of cloud-based platforms in various web browsers and operating systems.
4. Customer-focused temperament that includes friendliness, courtesy, patience, initiative, and a sense of humor.
5. Problem solving skills, such as customer situation analysis and solution research.
6. Good written and verbal communication to describe technical problems without special jargon.
7. Ability to open and listen.

Level 1 positions require general troubleshooting and a small ranking. Specialization is not detrimental to meeting the qualifications of the most supportive jobs. The demand areas today are mobile, networking, data security, cloud products, healthcare and advanced server hardware.

Receive Training

Additional Pro Tips: Take your career at the help desk to the next level by educating you. Most employers prefer that their IT support staff have a technical degree of at least two years, and the associated certifications will be a great advantage. The most in-demand ratings include CompTIA A +, CompTIA Network +, Microsoft Certified Professional, HDI, and Cisco. If you don't have an associate or bachelor's degree, earning a degree is a great way to unlock more opportunities for your ladder. Some employers provide tuition assistance.

Don't miss out on job satisfaction and salary gains in the help desk profession. Our best career tip: Whether you're promoted, elevated, or new positions this year, set yourself up for success by getting the skills, experience, and certifications your IT employers need most. Please prepare.