Help Desk Technician

Help Desk Technician

The roles of help desk technicians are significant for the IT department of any business. They are the key responsible person as the IT staff of the company to keep any IT related operations up and running for the business.

Maintaining IT related issues like configuring and troubleshooting hardware and software to the end-users are part of the critical job responsibilities of help desk technicians. Two significant types of support are provided by these technicians, which are remote support and in house support. In the case of remote support, help desk technicians are providing solutions through email or phone. In house, technicians are providing support mainly for the internal employees of the business.

It is recommended that; help desk technicians have adequate knowledge of computer hardware and software. They must also be proficient in communicating with the end-users, no matter whether the end-users are technically sound or not. As a help desk technician, you must be a quick learner and be able to solve any kind of IT related problem in a step by step method. Help desk technicians should also be resourceful and possess a problem-solving attitude.

Many IT professionals have started their careers as help desk technicians due to a lack of enough experience and academic requirements. But, gradually they found a way to uplift them through the career ladder and became proficient in a particular area of IT like Database Administrator, Network Administrator, System Analyst, and so on.

Average starting salary of help desk technician related positions:
Help Desk Technician£18,599
Computer Repair Technician£17,781
Technical Support Specialist£26,647
Desktop Support Specialist£23,274
Application Support Specialist£32,557
System Administrator (Windows Server)£29,954
 Computer / Network System Administrator£26,704
Linux System Administrator£37,121
Server System Administrator£31,449
Systems Administrator£25,479
Help Desk Specialist£22,456
Help Desk Team Leader£26,075
Help Desk Analyst£19,680
payscale.com
Academic qualification required for help desk technician

For an entry-level help desk technician, a college degree is not essential. However, it will be considered as an added advantage to get a job faster than usual with a higher starting salary. You can smoothly go for the position of network administration, help desk administration, and similar technical posts if you possess a degree in computer science and/or engineering. On the other hand, if you have a college degree but unable to complete a four years bachelor’s degree program, then it would be better for you to go for a recognised certification program for the help desk technician position.

Vital communication skill for both verbal and written is an essential requirement for a help desk technician. At the same time, you must have enough knowledge and skill on repairing computers, managing computer networks, configure and deploy operating systems, ensure the protection and privacy of data for the business and so on.

Recognised IT certifications could be considered as an alternative to a college degree for the position of help desk technicians. Certification programs like CompTIA A+ and Network+ could be a good option for you to go for a help desk technician job. After successful completion of these certification courses, you may go for other certification programs like MCSE or MCSA to enhance your skill level and uplift your career position, as well.

Duties and responsibilities of Help Desk

• Find and figure out any problem in the computer and computing devices and take immediate measures to provide the necessary support.
• Configure and troubleshoot hardware, software, and network-related issues of the business.
• Provide required training to the end-users to learn about setup and use new technologies.
• Keep the backup of necessary data and restore it when required to avoid any disruption in the business process.
• Always keep both application and system software updated through download, install, and editing process.
• Be able to repair essential hardware components of a computer like a hard disk drive, printer, modem, keyboard, etc.
• Provide remote assistance over the phone or online.
• Familiar with the uses of customised application software to gain access to the end-users’ computer to provide remote assistance.

Nowadays, many handy and sophisticated simulation programs are used by the training providers, and you can efficiently complete any such certification programs online through the distance learning process.