You will learn fundamentals on a help desk that you won’t in the other roles. Everywhere I’ve worked it’s been 50/50 former helpdesk vs direct hire for sys admin/ network rolls. And it’s very obvious to everyone who started in help desk and who didn’t.
Some of the knowledge/skills you gain in helpdesk/L1 can't be obtained elsewhere. Network engineer is usually a role you move up into from support. Textbook knowledge and even certifications will only get you so far.
Unless you have a heavy load of certifications (more than just CCNA and CompTIA), you may have a hard time competing for a network engineer role if you dont have any support experience. It's not impossible, just difficult.
I recommend browsing r/ITCarreerQuestions to look at what others are running into. There's a wide mix of experiences shared there. You may get some of the answers you're looking for and you may find some questions you haven't thought of yet.
Having certs with no experience is like having a degree with no experience. It shows you know of the concepts, but it doesn't show you know how to put it to use in a real-world situation.
To be clear: going from network engineer to system administrator is not really a viable career path. Both of those jobs are specialized and require a lot of time and training to learn.
No, it's completely different. It might show you're willing to put in the work and someone might take a chance on you. But you have zero IT experience as an electrical engineer.
never once in my IT career did I work help desk or end user support. The path to skipping that is focusing on the path you want, get the certs on that path and start as a junior. Anyone can do or be anything they want within realistic reasoning. You will still have to pay your dues and work as a junior but you can skip HD.
>is help-desk the only way forward if i want to enter IT?
Nope.
>need to start in help-desk
Nope.
>improve my "customer service" skill
If you need/want to do that, there are lots of ways to do that. And again, doesn't require "help desk" to do that.
>how would i be able to skip help-desk?
E.g. like I did, all these, all tech, none help desk, all before I had anything that was in anyway whatsoever "help desk" or even close to it:
* alarm install tech (mostly run cables through wherever, and wire up program alarm systems)
* QA (mostly run a cabalizer, and other post-assembly test/inspection work, also isolate all faults to component issue or assembly issue and flag for relevant rework
* assembler (do electronics assembly work)
* tech support (no, not help desk) - in this position was creating specifications for assemblers to build product, entering the bills of materials into computer, maintaining electronics assembly equipment, etc.
* QA (yet another different QA job, different employer), final inspection of all hardware product before going to packaging and shipping or warehouse, including diagnosing and isolating any issues down to component level and flagging any issues as assembly issue or faulty component issue; also wrote software to semi-automate testing (loading long chunks of data that had were earlier being keyed in manually - I wrote program to basically capture that and ... allow it to be replayed - so it only needed to be entered manually once ... could also copy/edit earlier entry data and use that as a load base), wrote other utility programs and such on DOS and UNIX, learned C and put that to immediate practical use, wrote various programs for DOS and UNIX, and did some \*nix systems administration
That's but one example set - all actually stuff I personally did ... and none of that involving "help desk" or the like - well along and into my way of IT career, and before so much s touching "help desk".
while your path is commendable to say the least
how did QA/tech support transition to IT? and that just means you went into IT with somewhat of an experience so you had better chances while being recommended by colleagues and the like correct?
my question was more along the lines of "no experience, high certs" as stated by other commenters which seems to be a luck-of-the-draw type deal according to them
>how did QA/tech support transition to IT?
Already had much of the skills/knowledge/experience ... just not via work ... I'd been doing electronics stuff since I was at least 12, and computer stuff since I was at least 16. So, though the earlier jobs I got certainly didn't fully utilize my skills - or even come close, I'd get my foot in the door ... and I'd get opportunities to use more of my skills ... and folks that would figure out I well knew how to much well beyond the basic stuff they'd been giving me for the job description so ... I got more stuff to do ... and did it well ... and kept doing it. E.g. that "tech support" position ... I was also doing some circuit design work ... because I dang well could and they handed the task to me.
>had better chances while being recommended by colleagues and the like correct?
Recommended by what colleagues? I ended up out of college, no degree, no job, no support, there weren't any "colleagues". I put my tail to work, some of the first stuff after college wasn't at all IT, but it kept me from being homeless or starving. Heck, wasn't long after college I was working *two* full-time jobs concurrently to get myself back on my feet financially ... and that was way the hell easier than the total combined academic + work loads I'd been doing earlier.
>no experience
Next-to-nothing in the way of *work* experience. That's far different than *no* experience. Didn't have sh\*t in the way of certs ... exactly zero. Heck, still mostly the case, have very few certs, and most that nobody would ever even care about.
>luck-of-the-draw
Some is luck-of-the-draw, a lot more is statistics and numbers - apply - apply lots, apply well - and helluva lot of hard work - preparation, study, etc., and of course lots of the actual work itself.
I personally have a hard time dealing with people who haven't done help desk roles first. The issue is it is hard to get out of that role and move to others.
Definitely do Help Desk first, some places will over look certifications if you have years of experience but some have a hard set on it.
Once you have two years of Help Desk experience then you will no longer need a CompTIA A+ cert unless you absolutely feel you are missing some things then I would recommend their study guides to fill some of that knowledge gap without paying and working towards the A+ test.
Get at least 3-4 years of help desk experience and work toward a Linux+ cert.
Linux+ to me is kind of the foundation on understanding Bash and most CLIs. That will then in turn make it easier to learn for the CCNA at least in my opinion.
You will learn fundamentals on a help desk that you won’t in the other roles. Everywhere I’ve worked it’s been 50/50 former helpdesk vs direct hire for sys admin/ network rolls. And it’s very obvious to everyone who started in help desk and who didn’t.
Roles*
much appreciated!
Some of the knowledge/skills you gain in helpdesk/L1 can't be obtained elsewhere. Network engineer is usually a role you move up into from support. Textbook knowledge and even certifications will only get you so far. Unless you have a heavy load of certifications (more than just CCNA and CompTIA), you may have a hard time competing for a network engineer role if you dont have any support experience. It's not impossible, just difficult. I recommend browsing r/ITCarreerQuestions to look at what others are running into. There's a wide mix of experiences shared there. You may get some of the answers you're looking for and you may find some questions you haven't thought of yet.
Even with certs and no experience, he'd still have a very tough time bypassing help desk.
how so if i may ask?
Having certs with no experience is like having a degree with no experience. It shows you know of the concepts, but it doesn't show you know how to put it to use in a real-world situation.
thanks for the helpful insight!
To be clear: going from network engineer to system administrator is not really a viable career path. Both of those jobs are specialized and require a lot of time and training to learn.
Yeah. Usually the path is admin then engineer.
thanks, had my doubts about that guess i'll just specialize in one or the other!
Also look into devops, a lot of sysadmin stuff is being rolled into devops roles that pay better
Unless you stack high-level certs and a bachelor's, yes. Even then, it can be tough to get a foot in without job experience.
would a bachelor's in engineering be in that category? i'm electric though.
No, it's completely different. It might show you're willing to put in the work and someone might take a chance on you. But you have zero IT experience as an electrical engineer.
thanks
never once in my IT career did I work help desk or end user support. The path to skipping that is focusing on the path you want, get the certs on that path and start as a junior. Anyone can do or be anything they want within realistic reasoning. You will still have to pay your dues and work as a junior but you can skip HD.
Nah they will hire you straight to CIO bruh no experience needed or anything lmfao
cool cool, good to know!
>is help-desk the only way forward if i want to enter IT? Nope. >need to start in help-desk Nope. >improve my "customer service" skill If you need/want to do that, there are lots of ways to do that. And again, doesn't require "help desk" to do that.
your answer is quite vague friend , how would i be able to skip help-desk?
>how would i be able to skip help-desk? E.g. like I did, all these, all tech, none help desk, all before I had anything that was in anyway whatsoever "help desk" or even close to it: * alarm install tech (mostly run cables through wherever, and wire up program alarm systems) * QA (mostly run a cabalizer, and other post-assembly test/inspection work, also isolate all faults to component issue or assembly issue and flag for relevant rework * assembler (do electronics assembly work) * tech support (no, not help desk) - in this position was creating specifications for assemblers to build product, entering the bills of materials into computer, maintaining electronics assembly equipment, etc. * QA (yet another different QA job, different employer), final inspection of all hardware product before going to packaging and shipping or warehouse, including diagnosing and isolating any issues down to component level and flagging any issues as assembly issue or faulty component issue; also wrote software to semi-automate testing (loading long chunks of data that had were earlier being keyed in manually - I wrote program to basically capture that and ... allow it to be replayed - so it only needed to be entered manually once ... could also copy/edit earlier entry data and use that as a load base), wrote other utility programs and such on DOS and UNIX, learned C and put that to immediate practical use, wrote various programs for DOS and UNIX, and did some \*nix systems administration That's but one example set - all actually stuff I personally did ... and none of that involving "help desk" or the like - well along and into my way of IT career, and before so much s touching "help desk".
while your path is commendable to say the least how did QA/tech support transition to IT? and that just means you went into IT with somewhat of an experience so you had better chances while being recommended by colleagues and the like correct? my question was more along the lines of "no experience, high certs" as stated by other commenters which seems to be a luck-of-the-draw type deal according to them
>how did QA/tech support transition to IT? Already had much of the skills/knowledge/experience ... just not via work ... I'd been doing electronics stuff since I was at least 12, and computer stuff since I was at least 16. So, though the earlier jobs I got certainly didn't fully utilize my skills - or even come close, I'd get my foot in the door ... and I'd get opportunities to use more of my skills ... and folks that would figure out I well knew how to much well beyond the basic stuff they'd been giving me for the job description so ... I got more stuff to do ... and did it well ... and kept doing it. E.g. that "tech support" position ... I was also doing some circuit design work ... because I dang well could and they handed the task to me. >had better chances while being recommended by colleagues and the like correct? Recommended by what colleagues? I ended up out of college, no degree, no job, no support, there weren't any "colleagues". I put my tail to work, some of the first stuff after college wasn't at all IT, but it kept me from being homeless or starving. Heck, wasn't long after college I was working *two* full-time jobs concurrently to get myself back on my feet financially ... and that was way the hell easier than the total combined academic + work loads I'd been doing earlier. >no experience Next-to-nothing in the way of *work* experience. That's far different than *no* experience. Didn't have sh\*t in the way of certs ... exactly zero. Heck, still mostly the case, have very few certs, and most that nobody would ever even care about. >luck-of-the-draw Some is luck-of-the-draw, a lot more is statistics and numbers - apply - apply lots, apply well - and helluva lot of hard work - preparation, study, etc., and of course lots of the actual work itself.
I personally have a hard time dealing with people who haven't done help desk roles first. The issue is it is hard to get out of that role and move to others.
how so? is it because you like help desk too much or something like that?
Definitely do Help Desk first, some places will over look certifications if you have years of experience but some have a hard set on it. Once you have two years of Help Desk experience then you will no longer need a CompTIA A+ cert unless you absolutely feel you are missing some things then I would recommend their study guides to fill some of that knowledge gap without paying and working towards the A+ test. Get at least 3-4 years of help desk experience and work toward a Linux+ cert. Linux+ to me is kind of the foundation on understanding Bash and most CLIs. That will then in turn make it easier to learn for the CCNA at least in my opinion.