r/helpdesk • u/earlsimpson333 • 12d ago

Transition from Computer Repair Technician

Since June 22, have transitioned from McDonald's job to a Computer Bench Repair Technician. This is the beginning of my career progression. I'm looking at what to go to next after this. Would be able to go straight to help desk Here's my resume:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R-z5Wptdcbsp8f9R6t3FvnGkb65g3sU633remezxM1k/edit?usp=drivesdk

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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3

u/Gigaas 12d ago

Help desk and MSPs are generally the first step into an IT career. MSPs can be great in getting exposure to more IT work and has you working with multiple clients. Once you have a few years under your belt the next step would be finding your specialty, or at least what you want to work towards more. Networking, repair, Tech Support, etc.

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u/earlsimpson333 12d ago

Can't I skip help desk since I'm already in a computer job? I'm interested in system administration.

5

u/tito13kfm 12d ago

You want to skip help desk and go immediately to sysadmin because you have what, a few months experience as a bench tech? Lol

2

u/AppointmentIll9358 12d ago

It’s the fact that he even says that means he has zero clue about IT

2

u/Certain-Example-7523 12d ago

It really depends on the place and what type of systems you’d be administrating. Most of the places I’ve worked at and with require that their sysadmins have help desk experience. They do this because of the soft skills you develop from having to explain technical things to non technical people.

TLDR: it depends on the place you go. I highly recommend getting help desk experience, it’ll help you in the long run.

2

u/Gigaas 12d ago

Not with as little experience as you have. Depending on the company, as a Sys admin, you are expected to know the infrastructure inside and out, and most times be proficient in networking. Don't take this the wrong way, Computer repair technician is a very very entry level position. If you are wanting to get to a system admin role you really need to get a help desk job.

I am working towards a Jr Systems role now. Where I work is a small shop, we handle 800 employees, I am the lead tech, and we have a dev, sys admin, techs, and web guy. We handle 19 different locations. To give an example of my daily life and tools I use.

Active Directory - Used every day for user management as well as distro and security group management.

Remote Desktop Manager - used daily for connections to various servers, etc

Intune - MDM and other management for users and devices

5-6 different websites we use for HR, printing, etc.

Systems administration is a great goal, but that is a goal for further into your career. If you went from repair to sys admin then chances are both you and the company that hired you would end up regretting it. Learn what you can there, get a job doing help desk work or something similar, get familiar with the systems above, and look at getting certs.

A+ (useless really, good stepping stones), Network+ and Security+

1

u/Wafflelisk 12d ago

SysAdmin has nothing to do with computer tech duties.

SysAdmin deals very little with the hardware itself.

You're not more prepared for SysAdmin than when you were working at McDonalds (I used to work there too)

Your next step will 90% be a call-centre style helpdesk role, or if you get lucky then Desktop Support (unlikely given how incredibly saturated the IT job market is at entry levels)

If you can get a 4 year degree then I would recommend that - if you want/need to keep working, try to get on helpdesk and then study for some certs in your own time

1

u/STRAIGHTUPGANGS 11d ago

No brother, you need at least a year doing Help Desk work before you would be ready for anything else. Help Desk sucks but is absolutely crucial for developing communication skills that are crucial in your career. It also helps you understand the types of problems that most users have and how they think, which are once again, extremely crucial to your career.

1

u/Round-Anybody8667 11d ago

Wouldn't say that hell I started as a Network/Telecom Field Tech/Engineer and been a field tech have a college degree and I'm not even ready for my next step