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They solve a wide range of problems, from simple questions about how to access an application to complex errors affecting servers and networks. While some may work for large software companies or support service firms, others work in call centers. If you’re ready to enter the world of Information Technology (IT), you need job-ready skills. This course enables you to develop the skills to work with computer hardware and operating systems, and is your first step to prepare for all types of tech related careers that require IT Fundamental skills.

Specifically, they’re 7.8% more likely to graduate with a Master’s Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree. We calculated that 8% of Help Desk Engineers are proficient in Troubleshoot, Help-Desk Support, and Technical Support. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Speaking skills. This subreddit is designed to help anyone in or interested in the IT field to ask career-related questions. You can expect to pay around $52,444 per year for a help desk engineer, as this is the median yearly salary nationally.

How to hire a help desk engineer

Because of this, it’s critical that help desk technicians possess specific qualities. It can be a negative environment as technicians are constantly bombarded with questions and problems. If the best universities for help desk engineers are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for help desk engineers.

In general, desk support technicians achieve similar levels of education than help desk engineers. They’re 2.8% less likely to obtain a Master’s Degree while being 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree. This only scratches the surface of what’s possible with a career in software development. Virtual Lab provides hands-on, real-world practice using your newly gained skills on projects defined by industry experts, adding practical experience to your resume.

Help Desk Engineer Overview

Also, being confident in both technical and non-technical skills will increase your ability to work well under pressure. To boost your skill level and confidence, take one or two soft skills courses per year, as well as any technical courses relevant to your job help desk engineer role. You’ll discover as you develop your active listening skills that end users will tell you just about everything you need to know to solve their problem. This not only builds empathy, but also helps you gather more information while asking fewer questions.

• An extensive video library forms the heart of the training process, supported by an automated Dashboard and Activity Tracking Log and a personal Career Advisor to help you achieve certifications and core competencies.
• What I experience in my work now is not what I experienced when I first started 20 years ago, and it’s not just about the technology I was using, either.
• This course enables you to develop the skills to work with computer hardware and operating systems, and is your first step to prepare for all types of tech related careers that require IT Fundamental skills.
• A strong start on the help desk can set individuals up for a successful career in IT.
• “Being in a help desk [role] is a good way to view what other, more intense positions do within the IT field.” It also gives you a chance to either choose to delve further or make a career move elsewhere, Lewis adds.
• The average annual salary for a help desk technician in the US is $57,657, according to Lightcast [2].

A new client of your company has commissioned a project to create a private social media app. An operating system acts as a link between the user and the hardware components. To get here, you have to have had lots of hands on experience, both with successful deployments and failed deployments. There isn’t an architect out there who hasn’t dealt with failures or mistakes in their career.

Be Good at Time Management

If you’re hiring for contract work or on a per-project basis, hourly rates for help desk engineers in the US typically range between $17 and $35 an hour. Take advantage of job acquisition services, such as Resume Creator and Online Reputation Builder to accelerate your search for your dream job. An Interview Coach prepares you for that crucial interaction with targeted employers—your booster rocket above the competition. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 5+ resume templates to create your help desk engineer resume.

To be a successful help desk technician, you must have business awareness. This means immediately asking an end user where they are calling from and about their role within the company. Knowing this gives the help desk technician a gauge for how critical the end user’s problem is. More than anyone else, a help desk technician has the power to give employees across all departments a positive view of IT since they are usually the first IT pro that an employee encounters.

What’s it like to be a help desk engineer?

Senior infrastructure engineers average a higher salary than the annual salary of help desk engineers. We also offer free resources to allow you to practice or pursue any of your ideas in the virtual workspace. Even if you’re remote and taking classes alone, rest assured we’re prepared to set you up for career success as a software developer.

Find a mentor that will help you understand the ins and outs of the technology that your organization is utilizing and sit in on any architecture or design meetings that you can. Take lots of notes and do your best to gain an expert level understanding of how the organization architected their infrastructure and also why they did. Time spent as a system or network administrator will be where you gain the bulk of your experience and knowledge of IT, and it will help you advance to more technically challenging roles later on in your career. Expect to spend a good chunk of your career in systems administration, starting as a junior sys admin and working your way to a senior admin before moving on. Osman says working in a help desk role provides opportunities to network with more advanced technicians and engineers, as well as gain a better understanding of how other teams operate and resolve issues. This additional perspective can be incredibly helpful for narrowing down what would be a wide-open IT career path.

What does a Help Desk Engineer do?

Labs, periodic Master Classes, and access to an Online Professional Community allow you to solidify your technical expertise. Teeple emphasizes the importance of knowing how to support your team and your employer as you advance up the IT ladder—a skill that’s honed to perfection working as a help desk technician. https://remotemode.net/ You’ll learn how to view problems from the users’ perspectives and work effectively with a team. These are two skills that will prove invaluable in any higher-level IT position. Information engineers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $107,435.

Another quality every help desk technician should possess is the ability to pay attention to detail. This goes hand in hand with analytical thinking and involves listening to your end user intently to find clues as to why they are having a technical problem, then homing in on and exploring the details that stand out to you. To succeed in their role, a help desk technician must be able to work with others toward shared goals, even if they work remotely.

Help desk technicians belong to the occupational field of computer and information technology. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 15 percent job growth for careers in this field between 2021 and 2031 [3]. Those interested in working in IT can get their start as a help desk technician before acquiring the skills to pursue more specialized roles. While help desk technicians overlap in some ways with titles like IT support technician, they are ultimately not the same.