We all have to start somewhere, and helpdesk work is as good a place as any for tech professionals to dive in. Helpdesk teaches important communication skills, technical troubleshooting techniques, and how SLAs and call escalations work. If you aren’t much of a conversationalist, then working on the phone all day can help draw you out of your shell. These are all great foundational skills to learn early on in your career and can help you to understand how support roles generally work. How long you should be looking to work in such a position depends on you. You need to consider the important details — career development and room to grow are big ones.
Becoming a Lifer
Different people generally have their own long and short term plans, and not everyone wants to move on from working in a helpdesk role to one like customer support technician or customer service professional.
However, if you are someone that really needs to get their hands dirty with practical work, then moving on is essential. The general rule of thumb is that two to three years is probably the longest you want to be in a helpdesk role if you plan on moving up into a more specialized field. That is assuming that you are using such a position as a stepping stone. Staying any longer and you risk becoming a ‘lifer’ and breaking out of that mold is tough.
Signs of Stagnation on the Helpdesk
There is nothing “wrong” with working in a helpdesk position. Things are good if you are employed at a nice company and you are satisfied with your hours and pay. Some people really enjoy the predictability and security of scripted work. The problem with any entry level role is that it suffocates your potential in the long run if there is no room to grow. If you have any aspirations beyond repetitive tasks, then you are wasting your potential.
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