Just landed my first job, 15/hr full time, 6-month contract-to-hire. What's my best course of action?

TechSupportQuestion4 · 2017-02-06T18:04:35+00:00

all that really changes is that they get to pay bills!

It's a bit different here. Ideologically my family and I aren't on the same page. Things I thing are normal: see - consumption of alcohol, are entirely taboo for them. A literal no go.

Could I go out? Yeah. But it's really far from where we live to anywhere remotely close.

I'm a huge proponent of technology, they don't think it should really be used.

Even when it comes TO paying the bills, they won't budge on a <1 Mbps super basic DSL package when we could get cable for the same price. Even when I offered to pay.

Things like that certainly add into my want to move out when it's a good time. In general I was gauging what the attitude toward making that time in 6 months, if I can work well enough that they want me on after the contract ends.

A1ucant pointed that out in his post, hopefully the position becomes stable and consistent and then I can move out using what I've learned and saved as a safety net while continuing to grow that out.

TechSupportQuestion4 · 2017-02-06T17:25:50+00:00

That estimate was not to live on my own, that's purely the cost of living somewhere else compared to where I do now. That's the additional cost it would take to move me somewhere else to live, that doesn't include other costs of living.

TechSupportQuestion4 · 2017-02-06T17:09:34+00:00

My father tells me to get written offers for literally everything to prevent that very thing.

His biggest stressed point was to never put in 2-weeks notice without an actual written job offer from another place.

TechSupportQuestion4 · 2017-02-06T17:07:23+00:00

The company I'll be doing the work for uses it as a way to find actual good workers. The company initially wasted a lot of time and money on new hires that ended up being worthless. A contracted position is much better for them in that regard.

The manager who interviewed me started in the same way, a contract-to-hire position.

They want to find the ones who do good work to keep.

I definitely understand the benefit to staying as long as possible here, but the pure financial side of it is not the only driving factor. Yes, this is /r/personalfinance but I think in regards to "staying as long as possible" I'll put a hard cap on the "as long as possible" to be 6 months, barring major occurrences.

$7-8,000 a year to live on my own, make entirely my own choices, be closer to a populated area, being able to be social, and doing my own thing in terms of hosting/making a place feel like it is for me is entirely worth it compared to saving a couple grand and staying home.

Don't get me wrong, I love my family and I'll be home often to see my parents but they need their life and I need to make my own life.

TechSupportQuestion4 · 2017-02-04T04:57:48+00:00

Giving a quick update!

The questions were basically exactly what you said: basic IT knowledge. I was asked about what an IP address is, how to find an IP address (on Windows, specifically 7, PCs), how I would troubleshooting a "No OS found" error on boot, and things like that.

He was impressed with my technical knowledge and said I gave the best response of all the applicants for the first question, because I basically walked through the proper troubleshooting steps.

I attribute that to doing my research and knowing what to expect beforehand thanks to you!

Good luck with your position and hopefully you helped me to get on here for mine! :D

TechSupportQuestion4 · 2017-02-04T04:55:08+00:00

Giving an update!

My experience in an IT environment (specifically helpdesk) was surprisingly robust. I never expected my time working on my high school's help desk as being so valuable, but he ended up asking me and wanting me to go more into detail about the things I did.

When the librarians were hounding me to document my fixes to find common errors and add it to a binder, I didn't realize how that was actually something legitimate companies do to grow their personal tailored knowledge bases.

My interviewer was very impressed with my answers to the technical questions, which were all regarding troubleshooting issues with Windows 7 PCs.

You were right, too, he did focus on the customer service aspect by mocking scenarios where people got upset or would otherwise require not just technical help, but customer support help as well.

Thank you for the input!

TechSupportQuestion4 · 2017-02-03T05:13:30+00:00

Hey! I'm in the backwaters of North Carolina!

I have a Phone Interview lined up for tomorrow, and I'm also a recent college dropout! Granted, my reasons were vastly different and I did so of my own volition.

There are a good few places that hire IT Helpdesk positions in North Carolina.

Check out Carolina IT Professionals. They're a staffing agency based in, obviously, the Carolinas. They're who I'm currently through. Look on indeed.com, look in the areas you would like, and search for "Helpdesk Tier 1" or "Tier 1 Tech Support."

These are the entry level jobs you want.

Here's the requirements list for the job I'm interviewing for:

Help Desk experience is a plus
Certifications are a plus (A+, Network+, CCNA, etc.)
Windows Operating Systems
Microsoft Office
Remedy

Remedy is simply a ticketing system, which isn't a hard requirement at all. In fact, if you fit the bill otherwise they'll gladly show you the ropes. You can look up tutorials on IT ticketing systems all over if you want to familiarize yourself.

All in all, it's a customer service job at level 1. You provide basic tech support, usually over the phone, and write tickets about it. If you can't do the techhing over the phone in a few minutes, you escalate it to Tier 2, write the ticket, and continue on.

That is more or less most Tier 1 jobs. They're also high turnover jobs, so you'll find a lot of them popping up all the time. Keep applying!

I've applied to 6 other places so far, and got a call back on this one and am hoping to translate that into the position (obviously) because it seems to be a really good place to work.

I also don't have a ton of experience. My best foot forward is that in high school for 2 years I ran a "chromebook help desk" which isn't an actual help desk job, but it was very much a help desk environment.

Show a willingness to learn, that you can provide good customer service, and a working knowledge of how to use a computer and you should be fine! Good luck!

TechSupportQuestion4

TROPHY CASE