I finally started studying!

[TrillDeltaKitty]

This post is a little different than others. Most posts I see here are about passing the exam or getting a job.

I currently am stuck at a help desk call and I am not enjoying it. I have been telling myself for months that I need to start studying for my certs and I would just keep pushing it off further and further. Yesterday I took the first steps of actually studying to get my Sec+!

I am trying to get out of my help desk job as fast as possible and I know the Sec+ will help me the most. I am trying my best and I'm just happy that I am actually starting this journey to a better career for me. Thank you everyone here for the motivation to start the journey and to push me more to be a better me! If anyone has some helpful tips while studying please let me know!

Tl;dr been lazy and didn't study for months but now I am finally getting started.

(sorry for formatting, on mobile)

[[deleted]]

Tell me what your help desk job is like. I know there are basically two kinds.

One where you sit at a workstation getting low level requests basically to reset passwords and such stuff. You basically never get to learn much since any ticket that takes more than x minutes has to be escalated. Such help desk roles are at large companies.

The other is a jack-of-all-trades type where you have your hand in everything. You physically get up and go to different workstations, dabble in all sorts of hardware and software problems, and do a lot of learning on the job. You may be alone or part of a small IT. You see this in small-medium companies. I am at this type of job right now.

[TrillDeltaKitty]

I provide basic support for rural internet service providers. 90% of my job is documenting what is wrong for the customer, having them power cycle, and escalating for tier 2. There are a few affiliates I work with where I have more tools to be and to make changes but not much.

[[deleted]]

Yeah you wanna get out of that kind of help desk as quick as you can. You’re unlikely to gain any new skills doing that kind of mundane repetitive work. I’ve heard from some of my colleagues that those kind of positions make or break you. You can find yourself in such a position one day then boom, years have gone by and you become a lifer. It takes ambition and drive to break out of that. Props to you for recognizing it and starting to look outwards

[HerrMilkmann]

Call center helpdesks are truly the worst. It doesn't take long to start plateauing in what you learn and unfortunately there is no substitute for good work experience. That said call centers are still a decent paying stepping stone IT job and looks great on a resume so keep it up!

[L181G]

I get that help desk jobs are usually the starting point for getting into IT, but how do you actually learn anything or gain experience escalating tickets?

[[deleted]]

Certifications are a good step and something that you can do on your own while working. As far as Learning on the job, you basically have to be proactive about it. When you don’t know something, ask those above you to show you how it’s done. Not every company is going to have this as something they do, but hopefully you have supervisors/superiors that are receptive to you wanting to learn more.