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You won't have to worry about finding a job, like.....ever. The pay isn't great compared to other fields, but if you enjoy it, then as long as you can pay your bills, you're fine.
FYI help desk people are not IT. I know a couple IT professionals who will strangle you if you think that's what they do.
Not sure where you are getting this assumption from, but I work in the field and would definitely consider help desk under the umbrella of IT.
If you like helping end users, it isn't a bad field to start out in. Most use it as more of a stepping stone to get into the field and then move on to something else after a few years to gain more specialized skills and earn a higher income (Security, Sys Admin, Network Engineering, etc.). Also to avoid end users as much as possible .
FYI help desk people are not IT. I know a couple IT professionals who will strangle you if you think that's what they do.
Some of the best IT people I have ever worked with started on the helpdesk, most with no IT experience whatsoever. Take two as an example. One came to me from the marketing department. She was quick witted and really good with end users. Twelve years down the road and she's head of information security at a large oil company. Another guy was killing cows at the local abattoir. He did volunteer with his local school helping out with a computer training program. Ten years on and he's now head of platform and performance monitoring at one of the largest data centers in the world.
Some of the best IT people I have ever worked with started on the helpdesk, most with no IT experience whatsoever. Take two as an example. One came to me from the marketing department. She was quick witted and really good with end users. Twelve years down the road and she's head of information security at a large oil company. Another guy was killing cows at the local abattoir. He did volunteer with his local school helping out with a computer training program. Ten years on and he's now head of platform and performance monitoring at one of the largest data centers in the world.
TL-DR - Helpdesk is an excellent way into IT.
You guys misunderstand me. While I agree that the best IT people started out on the helpdesk, IT professionals I know tell me they don't consider helpdesk IT. They call them technicians.
And I understand what they mean. While surveying and machine operating jobs are considered under the umbrella of construction engineering, I certainly wouldn't consider surveyors and operators "engineers".
You can make a career out of just about any job. As long as you accept the limits of said job.
In most cases, IT helpdesk will limit you from further advancement/pay in relation to other IT disciplines. But if that's not an issue, there really isn't anything that will stop you from doing it for decades as long as you can find the jobs.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Our help desk staff are in the IT department, and some started there and worked up to higher positions. I would not consider help desk as a long-term career, though, unless you have a well paid spouse. It's definitely not the same pay as the typical IT professional, in fact here it's the same pay as Administrative Assistant.
If I could make 50K work regular hours and have paid time off I really don't mind and don't forget I said either Help Desk and or DESKTOP SUPPORT.
The problem solving aspect and satisfaction of helping end users is what keeps me in this job.
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