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Hi all,

Approaching 3 years now i’ve been an IT Support Technician.

For all I enjoy the work (well Field work, installations etc) and still learning, certain aspects bore me slightly (help desk calls - to much energy to be sat behind a phone all day) and I feel that “basic” IT support on laptops/desktops isn’t very long term.

Ideally would love something in IT/communications thats quite physically demanding, like being active and working with my hands, probably in the wrong industry for that though.

Anyway, would be interesting to see how others started and where they are now, and how they got there. Training, certs etc.

Cheers ya’ll.
Es Bee (UK)

9 Spice ups
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You’re not in the wrong industry at all. Today i’ve been up in the ceiling stringing cabling for a new projector we’re adding to the conference room. A few months ago i ran about a mile of ethernet cable in the same ceiling for a bunch of IP cameras. It just depends on what comes around.

I worked call center tech support for over 3 years, and while it paid the bills, i hated life every minute i was there. I ended up getting fired a few months after being promoted to supervisor for a joke i played on one of my agents when they didn’t lock the computer before leaving for the day.

Really, it seems like what you want is being an IT guy for a small/medium business. Float your resume and start searching. Since you already have a steady job, time is not a pressing issue. Just see what’s out there, and when you find something you like, bite.

EDIT

Just read about how i got here. Well, i mentioned i got fired from my previous job, so that’s how i found this one. But i am 100% self taught, i don’t have any certifications, no degree or anything. Some people might say that’s a bad thing, but i think in our field experience speaks much more loudly than the vast majority of certifications.

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Cisco certification.

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I feel your pain on the call center stuff. I did it for essentially the first 6 years of my career… and it SUCKED!!! I’ve been doing desktop support for the last 4 years & it’s been anything BUT boring!! We’re responsible for basically anything that plugs into something else, & there’s only 2 of us, so it is definitely not boring… maybe you need a change of venue more than a change of title.

1 Spice up
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I’ve worked helpdesk for 3 years. 2 doing desktop support. Current job is more hands on and I more way way more. if you shopping around contract companies are your friends. Dont be afraid to compare pay rates and jobs they give you. You can build a lot of experience that way in a short amount of time and get a feel for what you like/dont like.

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Started with a hands-on helpdesk job for three years, then transitioned to managing a helpdesk that did 100% remote support, then took an internship at a small shop that did more hands-on support and also let me dabble in server support, and then took the job that I have now that involves about 95% server support and 5% desktop support. I spend most of my time managing our virtual environment and the datacenter. I have never had any certifications, but I have a bachelor’s in Computer Engineering that I earned while doing the first three jobs.

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I did apple tech support for about 2 years and it really ate at the soul. On the plus side I did learn how to yo-yo a lot more than anyone should be able to.

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sign up for some consulting website like onforce.com or workmarket.com. take random jobs, even if just on weekends. especially jobs where you are helping lead techs. you will get exposed to a lot and find what you like. POS installs are fun sounds like you might want to look into that, and pay well.

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I’d say the natural progression is to aim to get in to a server team.

MS Certs are good for that.

You will also get plenty of physically demanding experience and working with your hands - building server racks is hard work - even before trying to rack mount the UPS’s!!!

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Contract companies are some of the worst people to work for. Most of my call center experience was with these people. They flat out do not care about their employees, are REQUIRED to fire or hire people at the whim of whoever is paying their contract, and can fire you without warning, for no stated reason (especially in at-will states like here in Texas). You don’t get benefits unless you’re incredibly lucky, and you’re in constant danger of losing your job to Habeeb in India who will gladly do your exact job for $3 an hour.

Stay far, far, far, far away from contracted call center work.