IT Help Desk Technician is a IT specialist that provides technical assistance for IT systems, and serves as a first point of contact for customers that require help with their technology issues via telephone or e-mail. Help desk technicians are critical to providing a system of technical assistance to IT users, including employees and customers. As a help desk technician, you are responsible for responding to emails, chats, or calls, and providing technical support for customers using IT systems, hardware, and software. IT Help Desk Technicians offer technical support and troubleshooting services to end users that require help with their computer hardware or software.
Remote support technicians typically use special IT support software to gain control over the end-users computers in order to problem solve, diagnose, and solve complex issues. In some roles, a help desk technician may have to travel to the customers location to solve complex issues. Other technicians may be able to offer remote support and operate from the convenience of their home. Often the first port of call when a problem arises on a network, support technicians possess expertise in customer support, in addition to issue resolution.
Help desk technicians are the technological foundation of any customer support team, and hiring an experienced, knowledgeable, multifaceted person is critical if you want to deliver optimal customer support. The marketable skillsets you should be looking for in a help desk technician degree program include PC repair, networking, operating system deployment and configuration, information security, desktop and mobile device problem solving, as well as soft skills such as customer support and oral and written communication. For those pursuing a formal education, computer information systems (CIS) degree programs, help desk management, technical support, and network administration provide a strong foundation to the career path of the help desk technician.
Courses such as A+, Network+, Linux+, or even just a basic computer repair course are all you need to start on this career path, but if you are really serious about it, you should pursue a post-secondary education (college/university) in the field of IT, as employers will always prefer candidates with degrees over those who do not, particularly for higher-level positions like help desk manager or network administrator. Just like in any career, IT support technicians are going to become better at these skills, ultimately expanding their vocabulary to the non-technical public. Technical skills are usually specific to the job you are applying to, and may include software knowledge, computer programming, computer repair, software troubleshooting, and much more.
The first thing to realize is that the Help Desk Technician is not actually a job, but rather an entry-level career path–there are opportunities for individuals to advance in this role, developing new skills and taking on more responsibility. Many people looking to start careers in the fields of IT and Engineering are looking for entry-level roles, and these usually include working at the desk.
Even though the help desk role does not specifically focus on IT, every business needs customer support, and this is a good way to get some computer experience before moving on to the computer science field or another related major. As a help desk technician, your duties include receiving tech support tickets, calls, or emails, communicating with a user or client, listening to their problems, diagnosing the issue, and walking them through solutions. Because the help desk agents role is one that involves interacting directly with customers, it is important that you are able to communicate with people, understand their problems, requests, or concerns, and offer a clear solution.
All help desk agents require great problem-solving, communication, and interpersonal skills, as well as patience, customer-friendly attitude, and an ability to work in a team environment. Needs is the reason our Computer Support Specialist Program also helps you to sharpen your skills in customer service and public speaking.
A Help Desk Technician (aka, a Computer Support Specialist) provides support for any and all employees using computer equipment and software/supports IT staff in an organization/assists non-IT users (internal and/or external) experiencing equipment and/or software problems. Help Desk Technicians can either work internally or work remotely as freelancers, and their daily duties can vary depending upon the nature of concerns raised by employees or customers.
In-house employees deal exclusively with in-house systems and networking issues affecting employees, whereas remote workers can handle customer inquiries and issues through telephone, email, or in-house visits. Online technical support professionals assist customers remotely, whether by phone, email, or live chat. Helpdesk support also tracks and updates customers statuses and details for any advanced requests, and passes any inputs or suggestions from customers on to relevant internal teams.
Throughout their days as IT support technicians, these technical professionals listen to customers opinions and concerns without filtering them–concerns that are crucially important to the business leaders in charge to be aware of. We asked the tech pros to share their experiences, as well as offer some things you should know before applying to take on your first job in IT support. Instead of thinking of an IT support engineer as a lower rung on a ladder, consider an IT support engineer to be at the forefront of the customer experience, providing valuable insight for corporate leaders.
Because of its affordable educational requirements, an IT help desk is an excellent entry point for someone interested in the tech industry, but does not want to invest much time or money into getting a college degree now. The help desk can benefit organizations of every size and type: from multinationals serving millions of other businesses across a multitude of languages, to smaller, consumer-facing businesses that need to quickly answer customers questions without recruiting armies of customer service reps. To boost your job prospects in the field, focus your help desk skillset on the computer systems design field, because the labor market for help desk professionals in that area is expected to grow twice as fast (24%) in the same 10 year timeframe.