The IT help desk technician is the hero of every office and makes sure the technology works smoothly so businesses can do their jobs. As a help desk technician, you turn technological frustrations into solutions, identify problems, and solve problems when one of your colleagues has technical difficulties. In addition to your communication and teamwork skills, Generation gives you CompTIA A + certification, making you a valuable member of any IT team.
A help desk technician should have both hard and soft skills, as the position requires a solid technical understanding and the ability to communicate clearly with others. For example, if a user has a question, the help desk technician should be able to diagnose the IT problem and explain the solution to the user. Help Desk technicians are essential to the IT workforce, as they maintain the technologies that organisations rely on to keep their business up to date and run smoothly.
Job Description
IT Help Desk Job description provide technical support and troubleshooting services for end-users who need assistance with computer hardware or software. There are two types of support technicians: internal and remote. Remote office technicians support technology customers by phone, online and occasionally on-site. Internal technicians assist only to internal employees.
Help Desk technicians need a complete understanding of computer hardware and software. Solid communication skills are also essential, as help desk specialists need to communicate useful for the solutions to both technical and non-technical people. The IT support route for the IT office is ideal for solving methodical problems, with the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new skills. Patience, resources and willingness to help others are desirable virtues in technical support and office roles.
Many IT specialists start their careers as Help Desk technicians due to insightful experience and education requirements, now, as they exposed to new IT disciplines and technologies, they find out their niche and expand into other IT careers, such as network administrator, DBA or IT security specialist. Other technicians will stay at the help desk and use their experience to become a technical assistant manager.
Help Desk Technician Skills and Responsibilities
The typical daily tasks and skills required for IT help desk technicians include the following. Computer help technician:
- Diagnose computer errors and provide technical support.
- Solve software, hardware and network problems.
- Tell end-users how to configure and use new technologies.
- Make a backup and restore the files and data systems of an organisation.
- Install, configure and update PC software and operating systems.
- Repair computer hardware, such as printers, keyboards.
- Remote technicians at the IT help desk provide technical assistance by phone or the Internet.
- Remote help desk technicians regularly use special help desk support software to take control of end-user computers and solve issues, diagnose and solve complex difficulties.
Help Desk Technician: Typical tasks
Stage 3
- Investigate and solve the most challenging and complex problems that other levels of the help desk could not solve
- Analyze and detect trends in problem reports and preventive solutions.
- Support other service personnel in the analysis and resolution of hardware and software problems
Stage 2
- Solve more complex issues that require detailed knowledge of the system and application; These problems have been escalated by Level 1
- Decide if you want to create an error or a work ticket for issues that require a visit to the user’s PC or workstation
Stage 1
- Receive initial inquiries by phone or email, and correct errors and problems with relatively simple hardware, software or network
- Detect and scale difficult Level 2 support issues
- The call activity is registered.
Where can the Help Desk technician job take you?
Taking a job as a Help Desk technician can take you on a fast path to a high pay entry level jobs as an IT career, primarily if you invested in building the knowledge base.
“I started getting a CompTIA A + certification through the help of my employer at that time,” says Lewis. “I was an office analyst for a large law firm, and this initial certification started my career. It has helped my more advanced colleagues trust me with bigger and better projects to promote my knowledge.”
Lewis’s story is not a rarity. Many IT companies recognize that their current support technicians are their future leaders. “At Safari, we actively support our support desk, and other junior technologists as more important roles grow as software engineers or corporate systems administrators,” says Daly.
Working as a support technician could pave the way for a career in software development, computer systems administration, IT administration and more, according to BLS. The possibilities are endless.
Salary Range
The median salary and wage for computer support specialists are $52,160 per year, and the hourly salary for help desk technician’s ranges from $12 to $44 per hour, depending on location, technical speciality, experience level, and certifications held. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
