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My job is mainly desktop support, but I work in a small office and take care of system administrative duties too. Really, working on servers is just like desktops especially when it comes to Windows. If you get enough experience in desktop support and do a good job you'll eventually be given sysadmin duties. I've made sure my assistant in our Richmond office has taken on and learned server duties. Any good boss will see the potential in a good employee and give them more responsibility in that way.
At just over 25 years in IT, I make $130k and will have a pension in 4 years that will give me a great retired life. You could do a lot worse than desktop support.
That's great. I have around the same # of years (or slightly more) in IT and I've found that things have really changed over the past 10 with how desktop support is paid and used in larger public companies. Internal HQ or office staff have often been replaced by more "drones" based in India or other low cost countries, and a junior hands-on person in the offices.
Sounds like you have a great employer who values loyalty.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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That's the lowest pay job in our IT department, the range is $50-80,000. That's not much for here, hopefully pay is much more in CA. The real problem is lack of potential advancement, it's a number of people at the same level and one supervisor.
It's hard to keep up with inflation without promotions, with the current small annual raises (if any). You will still have to keep up with changes in technology with additional training, hopefully paid for by the employer, which might make it more interesting.
You can do any job for as long as you wish and as long as your employer wants you.
That said - there is going to be a cap on low level jobs with regards to pay. Just because you've been doing it for 40 years doesn't mean you're going to be making more at year 40 vs. year 20. You still have to be competitive.
So yea, you can do help desk for 40 years if you like. But good luck with that. If there are certain aspect of it that you like, you can likely still try and retain that but in a more senior position - like managing a helpdesk team or be the service manager. That's assuming you are okay with the added responsibilities.
No, technology isn't going away - but it is changing. 20 years ago, every company had desktops with locally installed apps. Today, many have gone virtual or utilizing web based apps. So the need for that personal touch isn't as widespread. Not saying people won't use them. But with virtualization and PaaS/IaaS - having a team of help desk folks is just one of many options. You can certainly work for one of those places that provide said service of course.
Yea - MSP is probably your best bet if you want to stay as a help desk AND be busy. This way, you have enough to do (multiple clients) and potentially have the support infrastructure to continue learning.
That said - I don't have the slightest clue what the going rate would be. It's also hard to pin that down as in many places - help desk is a function that is among others that an IT group may be responsible for. So it's just one of your functions. Even at MSPs, you may be asked to do more (the expectation is that you'd want to as part of your career growth). So someone may say - hey I make X doing help desk.... well, that may be their primary function, but it's likely they're also doing other stuff.
Yea - MSP is probably your best bet if you want to stay as a help desk AND be busy. This way, you have enough to do (multiple clients) and potentially have the support infrastructure to continue learning.
That said - I don't have the slightest clue what the going rate would be. It's also hard to pin that down as in many places - help desk is a function that is among others that an IT group may be responsible for. So it's just one of your functions. Even at MSPs, you may be asked to do more (the expectation is that you'd want to as part of your career growth). So someone may say - hey I make X doing help desk.... well, that may be their primary function, but it's likely they're also doing other stuff.
Good point about MSP - the cost can be shared amongst several clients so they can afford to pay a bit more. But the stress levels might be a bit higher too as there will be targeted metrics to hit.
It's looks like a solid 9 to 5 job without too much overtime.
Pros and cons of doing this?
If I live in California near the valley what would be my income be like on average doing Computer User Support for 40+ years??
I haven't found much I like about the tech field besides End User support.
Any one on here know or have known someone who makes a decent living in Tech End User Support?
Large enough companies (think Fortune 10, not 100) still don't outsource their IT, help desk, desktop support. But why desktop support?
Why not use those skills and apply for a telephone company in their NOC. As an hourly, you have 24/7 coverage and are NEVER on call. You work your shift and go home.
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