Help Desk jobs are everywhere - Want one? …get certified!
5th Oct 2016
If you listen to some people you might think that help desk jobs are either dead-end destinations or lowly positions which offer little in the way of career progress. In short, nothing could be further from the truth; in fact, a great number of today's IT leaders started off in help desk positions, and through additional education, training and certification, they went on to take hold higher positions. Another thing that's not really widely advertised about the help desk profession is the wide range of businesses, organizations and markets which it serves. In other words, if you aspire to become an IT manager with emphasis in the healthcare field it's not a bad idea to consider a help desk position within a research hospital or even within a smaller institution. However, to get there you might need to add some proper credentials to your name which will give you a shot at landing a help desk job. But before we cover that, let's examine a few possibilities, shall we?
As we just mentioned, positioning yourself within healthcare; landing an IT job here might lead you to a really bright future career. The healthcare industry is a great example of a field that offers lots of potential because it's expanding and developing all the time. For example, in recent years there's been a big move to push toward a complete overhaul of the way information, records and basic communication is handled within healthcare institutions. Electronic records, cloud computing as well as other technologies are helping to pioneer better systems within the medial field itself; getting in on the 'ground floor' (via a help desk job) might be your way of landing a great career within this growing IT sector.
Then of course you have areas like the banking sector, which is always looking for solid IT workers. Needless to say, there will always be help desk positions open within institutional finance and banking because it's an area that pretty much everyone is reliant on. This of course applies to those who are both servicing the people by way of customer support as well as those who are operating internally (as support staff). Likewise, because we're talking about an industry that is constantly upgrading its capabilities, there is also quite a lot of potential for growth in the near (and far-off) future.
Your average corporation or large-scale business is also always in need of IT workers, particularly those suitable for help desk positions. Moreover, because we're talking about a very wide range of fields and industries here, you can pick and choose what and where you'd like to end up. There are plenty of stories about people who started off as help desk specialists who eventually ended up as IT managers (within the same company). In other words, try to carefully choose where you'd like to be in 5-10 years, in terms of the general area of industry.
So, what does one need to get started in a help desk position, you ask? Traditionally, one would need a bachelor's degree in some IT discipline or related field; however, you can still land this type of job without one. If this is your situation you should really expect to encounter a lot of competition, but you can certainly overcome the odds if you just stick with it and seek out additional education where possible. Perhaps the best way of doing this is through a help desk certification program; we're talking about a complete course that is extremely thorough and prepares you for any situation you might face in your daily duties. By the same token, a certification course is also going to be much more affordable than almost any other option on the table; ergo, it's the one that most people usually opt for. Moreover, anyone can (and perhaps should) seek out certification, regardless of your past educational experience - if only to further develop your abilities and career experience.
Interested in help desk certification? Here are 2 varieties for you to choose from (including a great companion text - 'Help Desk - 100 Success Secrets')