Career-Op - Entry Level or Dead End
We all had to start our high-tech career somewhere. The usual entry point within most companies was. and still is, the help desk. It is here we learn our craft, creating solutions out of research, hard work and our own creativity. After spending some time "in the trenches", we move out into different areas of the organization, creating specialties and building our knowledge further. Of course, this is an idealistic view and one that is being threatened by companies who seem intent on keeping help desk staff on the help desk instead of helping them grow.
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posted by Douglas @ 11:55 PM
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The latest cast about helpdesks, where incoming tech's come to rot, is SOOOOO true, except where I used to work. :-)
They did have the same attitude originally, and as you pointed out, turnover was high. However, myself and a couple other supervisor types decided to see what we could do about it.
First off, these folks HAD to be provided with a challenge. Something where they could actually feel like they were growing professionally and contributing to the team, above and beyond the daily grind. They also needed a break from that same daily grind. We devised a schedule where individuals would be provided windows of opportunity during the week in 2 or 4 hour shots where they could work on special projects OUTSIDE of the help desk. They were brought in to projects and provided with tasks that would challenge them while at the same time exposing them to new technical issues.
Another program that I personally established, was a study group. We would meet during lunch hours or after work in a conference room and begin to tackle the various objectives to achieving MCSE certification. It was a pretty popular event and one that pushed us all to learn more. That was especially true if you volunteered or were appointed/assigned to lead the study session on a particular subject. It was great and we all gained a lot from the experience.
I considered this an "old-school" IS department. We had about 25 individuals total within the department. Help Desk staff made up maybe 6 bodies and perhaps another 4 bodies were 2nd and 3rd level support folks, who didn't necessarily work the help desk, but we worked very closely together.
Anyway... just wanted to share that experience with you. Like I said... there are SO many times after your casts that I want to simply carry on the conversation and share my experiences. Sadly, it always seems to be when I'm in the pickup on my way in to work. :-)
-KHD
I also want to say that I found the article to be very true, and represents my situation right now.
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