IT Employment·20,050 discussions

Advice on best route to take jobwise

Hi

I thought I would like to become a desktop support person, but have no confidence. I am 41 years old, and live in England. I have done some minor qualifications (city & guilds level 2 in IT support/systems & principles, MTA’s in OS, Networking, & Security). I am trying, and struggling, to get a level 3 apprenticeship, as I am told that I have enough to apply for desktop support jobs.

I have three questions

1. Can anyone tell me if there is a way that I can practice troubleshooting? I don’t know loads of people with computers that need fixing. Is there anywhere that I can access some sort of setup, where desktop support is simulated – i.e. where i am told there is a problem with a computer, and then I go into a lab and try to fix the issue.

2.Can anyone suggest good courses which would really improve my confidence, bearing in mind that money is definitely an object.

3.Is desktop support a good way to go, or should I do something else? I have aspergers syndrome, which i believe makes me have quite a narrow view of things. Can anyone tell me the best thing to get into, considering my age, and the few qualifications i have. Is software a good place to go? I have not done any programming yet.

If anyone can help, I would be really grateful. I really need this.

Cheers

Topic

Would this be for consumer (everyday people with computer issues)?

In reply to Advice on best route to take jobwise

Or a corporate level position?

These two are vastly different. The consumer wants it fixed without the usual factory reset. In the corporate setting you reload the image and see if it works and if not, it’s almost always hardware. This makes troubleshooting something of an entry level skill at the corporate level.

For consumer work your people skills come into play. Almost all encounters seem to be “fix it and save my data.” Which you learn to survey the situation and see if it’s something that can be worked without the factory reset. Given the time involved today I have to admit that we almost always pull the drive(s) out or unplug them and slip in a shop drive as we work the issues. Each PC seems to be unique so you can’t get training to cover all situations and failures.

But if you learn this method of removing the danger of wiping out the owner’s data, you can go a long ways.

PS: There are many fine YouTubes on PC repair. For some the hardest to work is The Dead PC. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBdkuMCM4vs

Corporate, i guess

In reply to Would this be for consumer (everyday people with computer issues)?

I,m looking for desktop support, and my experience of the work out there on job sites, is that it is corporate.

See, I watch these videos that prepare you for exams, and they suggest all sorts of command line tools to use, and i just think that, if i was under pressure, i would not be able to fix anything.

Also, can you tell me a bit more about reloading the image? Is this meaning a re-install of Windows? Or a refresh? Or turning computer off and on? As you can tell, i am a novice.

No I wouldn’t call that reinstalling of Windows.

In reply to Corporate, i guess

In a corporate setting you need consistency so there was work done to install Windows, apps and settings then an image is made to deploy to the fleet.

Restoring the image would NOT be considered a high level job. It’s something the incoming (new!) tech would be shown along with a document telling them the step by step. I would never expect a new tech to know how to do this since each corporate shop has it’s own procedures.

From what I’m reading above you want an entry level job which is a tough ask since few skills are needed for such beyond the people skills (some lack that!) and basics such as what is a PC etc.

The entry level jobs evaporated for the most part as COVID blew up the corporate office structure with everyone going to the office. Work From Home (WFH) is the new norm here and the PC support dropped by a lot (maybe 50%?) with it. The calls for support peaked as the move to WFH happened but from what I can tell has returned to a much lower need for IT staff.

-> Why do you worry about not be able to fix it?

In the corporate scenario you reload the image and if the machine fails it is sent out for hardware repair or replaced. Few corporate shops do hardware repair today as it’s not cost effective. Sure, a good IT staff might pop in a new drive, replace a keyboard or mouse, but not one I know will repair a monitor or motherboard.

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