IT Career Advancement: Advice for Moving Beyond the Help Desk
IT Career Advancement: Advice for Moving Beyond the Help Desk
Working on the IT help desk is an excellent method to get your foot in the door in the technology industry. Your help desk experience has honed your ability to operate in a team, communicate technical knowledge to clients, and, of course, deal with cutting-edge technology.
You've been itching to move on to something new recently. However, when it comes to information technology job progression, you're unsure of your options—or how to begin pursuing them.
While charting a trajectory for your future may appear intimidating, you're not off to a poor start. An IT help desk position can give significant stability and serve as an excellent springboard for other technical careers. Continue reading to learn more about your prospective job options and the measures you may take to pursue them.
Common career options beyond the help desk
To begin, you may be asking what types of technology employment are accessible to you as a help desk professional. Depending on your interests, you can use your help desk knowledge to a range of more advanced technological professions.
“The wonderful thing about working in a help desk role is that you get to deal with a variety of technologies, which makes you a natural fit for a variety of tasks in the following part of your career,” says Iyana Garry, a former help desk employee and current IT and security analyst at Thrive Global.
Naturally, certain roles are more conducive to promotion beyond the assistance desk than others. Brandon Sheehy, a former help desk employee and current software engineer, observes that system administrator roles are frequently a logical fit for those looking to transition away from the IT help desk. “It moves the technician beyond end-user assistance and into the administration of servers, vendor software, broad swathes of desktops, and/or networks,” Sheehy explains. He emphasizes that many system administrators continue to do support functions, albeit on a far greater scale than troubleshooting with a single user.
While this list is by no means inclusive, the following are a few additional technological professions you may be considering for advancement:
- Network administrator
- IT manager
- Cybersecurity specialist
- Cloud computing engineer
- Software engineer
- System administrator
6 Steps that can lead to IT career advancement
After determining which jobs to pursue, you must discover how to get there. These are tried-and-true tactics that our former IT help desk employees have utilized to advance their careers.
1. Go above and beyond in your current role
Internal advancement can be an intriguing alternative. One of the most effective strategies to gain supervisors' attention is to go above and above in your help desk function. “Demonstrate initiative in your work. If you have the freedom, make an extra effort to resolve difficult problems without escalating them,” Sheehy advises.
Of course, this is not a quick fix that will guarantee you a promotion next week. However, if you continuously go above and beyond, you'll be in a strong position to speak with your boss about potential growth chances. “If there is one thing that sysadmins will notice and value, it is help desk technicians who take care of support issues. This will pave the way for future advancements inside your organization,” Sheehy explains.
2. Gain experience outside the workplace
Naturally, you may like to broaden your skill set beyond what is provided in your support desk role. If that is the case, you may wish to spend time outside of work giving yourself projects and developing abilities in areas of interest.
“Establish your own home lab or volunteer to contribute to open source software to obtain experience in the field in which you wish to work,” Garry advises. While the work will not be compensated, it will demonstrate potential hiring managers that you are committed to developing your abilities to the next level—and will help you build a portfolio to prove it.
3. Show what you know
Whether you're seeking advancement inside your current firm or seeking work elsewhere, you'll need to demonstrate to prospective managers that your help desk experience has accrued over time. Garry recommends keeping track of all help desk tickets you've worked on and centralizing them. Then you can arrange them to locate instances of experience with the type of work you hope to conduct in the future.
“For example, if I wanted to work in network management, I would keep track of all help desk cases I handled on that involved networking,” Garry explains. This is advantageous since it allows you to demonstrate how your talents have evolved rather than relying on hiring managers to accept your word for it.
4. Highlight your soft skills
Technical abilities are not the only criteria for advancement in advanced technology professions. Indeed, soft skills such as effective communication may be even more critical for people serving as managers or leaders in a technology department.
Fortunately, your time spent accumulating expertise at the help desk has equipped you with an abundance of soft skills. You've gained practical experience explaining technical information in an understandable manner, developing patience and learning to work in a team setting. Make a point of emphasizing these soft talents when you pursue a higher-level position—you already have an advantage over individuals who are fresh out of school and lacking real-world experience.
5. Get certified
Certification is another straightforward option to enhance your skills and demonstrate your commitment to career advancement. “Identify an area of interest and obtain qualifications in that field,” Sheehy advises. “Certifications are available in networking, Linux® server administration, Microsoft® technologies, and database administration, among other fields.”
Because there are so many professional certifications available, it's a good idea to have a general concept of the type of technology career you want to pursue. Then you can concentrate your efforts on obtaining certifications for those skill sets.
6. Take your education to the next level
Your experience at the IT help desk can serve as a solid foundation for career progression. However, this may not be sufficient to qualify you for the desired job title. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), most businesses require a Bachelor's degree in information technology or a related subject for positions such as systems administrator, information security analyst, and software developer.
Through relevant courses such as IT Systems Analysis and IT Operations Management, a Bachelor's degree will help you expand on your prior experience. With a resume that includes both schooling and help desk experience, you'll be in a good position as you advance to the next step of your career.
