What Type of
Education/real life skill needed for Help desk/ IT Support job ?
Get some hands on experience. Build your own PCs, buy some cheap ones
from the local second hand seller and shuffle the parts around. Install
drivers. Network them all together.
Nothing beats real experience. Ask a local company if you can work for them for free for a bit to gain experience and help them out.
Certification *alone* will not get you anywhere. Your doubt and insecurity will be shared by any prospective employer.
Nothing beats real experience. Ask a local company if you can work for them for free for a bit to gain experience and help them out.
Certification *alone* will not get you anywhere. Your doubt and insecurity will be shared by any prospective employer.
The
skill you required are:
1-The ability to troubleshoot real-life PC problems (AV/Malware
infections, printer problems, and when to cut your losses and know when an OS
reload is the best use of time)
2-The desire to help others. Patience without feeling the need to teach
the user how to use their computer. They just need to get their job done.
3-Being creative. This will get you
far. Only after years of experience will you know close to have the answers to
your problems before you do research. In the meantime, being resourceful and
creative will make up for it.
- Effective listening and communication skills
- Effective telephone techniques
- Working in a team Environment
- How to manage those difficult people
- Managing stress in a job that demands “helping” people all the time
- Maintaining motivation in demanding times
Certification: You could
always start with a Comptia A+ Certification training course but ITIL v3 is
must have, I would say. The certificate ensures that you have the skills needed
for a basic IT environment
The Information Technology Infrastructure
Library (ITIL), is a set of good practices for IT service management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning IT services
with the needs of business. In its current form (known as ITILv3 and ITIL 2011
edition), ITIL is published in a series of five core publications, each of
which covers an ITSM lifecycle stage. ITILv3 underpins ISO/IEC 20000 (previously BS15000),
the International Service Management Standard for IT service management,
although differences between the two frameworks do exist.
ITIL describes procedures, tasks and checklists
that are not organization-specific, used by an organization for establishing a
minimum level of competency. It allows the organization to establish a baseline
from which it can plan, implement, and measure. It is used to demonstrate
compliance and to measure improvement.
The names ITIL and IT Infrastructure
Library are registered trademarks of the United
Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce (OGC) – now part
of the Cabinet Office. Following this move, the ownership is now listed as
being with HM Government rather than OGC.
In addition you can do MCTS on Windows 7 Configuration; The Microsoft Certified Technology
Specialist (MCTS) credential enables professionals to target
specific technologies, and are generally the first step toward the Professional-level
certifications.
You
should be able to install, deploy, and upgrade to Windows 7, including ensuring
hardware and software compatibility. Additionally, you should be able to
configure pre-installation and post-installation system settings, Windows
security features, network connectivity applications included with Windows 7,
and mobile computing. You also be able to maintain systems, including
monitoring for and resolving performance and reliability issues. You should
have a basic understanding of Windows PowerShell syntax.
CCNA will make you strong candidate and
highly valued certification: CCNA (Cisco Certified Network
Associate) is a certification from Cisco. CCNA certification is a second-level Cisco Career certification. CCNA certification validates
the ability to install, configure, operate, and troubleshoot medium-size routed
and switched networks, including
implementation and verification of connections to remote sites in a WAN.
To achieve CCNA certification, one must earn a
passing score on Cisco exam #640-802, or combined passing scores on both the ICND1 #640-822 and
ICND2 #640-816 exams. Passing the ICND1 grants one the Cisco Certified Entry Networking
Technician
(CCENT) certification. Passing scores are set by using statistical analysis and
are subject to change. At the completion of the exam, candidates receive a
score report along with a score breakout by exam section and the passing score
for the given exam
Who other terms of Help desk: You may have a title such
as Help Desk Operator, Help Desk Analyst, Relationship Co-ordinator. Service
Desk, Desktop Support etc.
What you can expect to learn/bring in Help Desk Environment:
Customer service in perspective
- What is a customer service attitude
- Adopting a customer service focus
- Common customer service problems
Problem reporting
- Central logging
- Clarifying, prioritising and allocating problems
- Problem ownership
- Effective problem solving steps
- Monitoring and escalating problems
- Maintaining positive user satisfaction
Communication skills
- The art of communication
- Understanding customer expectations
- Building rapport
- Common misunderstandings
- Handling complaints and difficult customers
- Productivity and good human relations
- Hold onto your positive attitude
- Telephone commandments
- Communicating using the telephone
- Good and bad phone techniques
Task management
- The six-step improvement model
Stress management
- How stress affects your performance
- Detecting and responding
- Managing the stress warning signs
