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Hello all.

As the title would suggest, I’m very new to the IT world and was searching for some guidance as far as my position goes. Thankfully, I stumbled upon this site.

The business I’m currently working at changed my position to tech support - which I was thrilled about initially - but it’s becoming clearer that there are a lot of things I’ve yet to learn. Everything I know is self-taught, learned through experience, reading, and researching. I haven’t had any real formal training.

I was wondering what sort of things I should start looking into and learning in order to be successful in my job and offer the best services I can. At the moment, I’m studying up on security and networks, but I know these things are just the tip of the iceberg.

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!

@CompTIA @Google

9 Spice ups
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It really depends on what kind of tech support you are doing. Is it general PC tech support or are you working on specific product lines? Are you going to be required to know a little bit about everything or will you be able to specialize in something?

The most important thing is probably to find out what kind of training your company either offers or is willing to pay for.

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The first step is that you need to never stop learning.

Secondly, what’s the specs on the network that you are working on? How many server, how many computers, what kind of firewall, etc. Main OS of machines?

It sounds like it wouldn’t hurt to start learning through the Microsoft Learning site. Also, getting your Net+ cert wouldn’t hurt either.

GL HF man! From one self taught IT guy to another, you can do it!

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Well finding the Spiceworks community is a good start, I think the biggest thing that you can do for yourself is to challenge yourself in learning new things. As far as certifications go an A+ and net+ are a good place to start. There are a lot of topics and areas of expertise that you can get into in IT. The biggest help you will find first starting out will be the people that you work with, they should be able to teach you a lot if they have some more time in the field than you. One really cool site that can give you a road map or idea of what you would like to learn about is the compTIA IT career map found here: Information Technology (IT) Certifications & Training | CompTIA

The sky is the limit, keep reading and strive to challenge yourself and learn new things.

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We don’t know what job you do, so pretty hard to provide guidance without that.

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Google… Google… And more Google… When I am not working tickets I am usually reading SpiceWorks and then Googling the heck out of whatever interesting topics I find here.

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Are you client side/server side/networking/application or telephony tech support. You could even be all of the above but we need to know which channel(s) your looking after to provide some more guidance. Spiceworks and TechNet are absolutely invaluable to an IT Professional of any grade or experience so sign up and par-take in the community.

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I’m working at a day care that still does most everything on paper. My job is to bring the business to the current century. So we’ve made minor improvements like introducing iPads, buying Chromebooks for the classrooms, as well having me create a student database (which gave me the chance to learn about hard drive encryption), etc. We’re starting from the ground up. So not only am I teaching everyone how to get around on all these products, but I also have to troubleshoot them and make sure that simple things like the wireless connection is always running smoothly. I do handle the PCs, too. I also manage the website for the school. I guess it’s a little of everything?

The school itself doesn’t offer any training - I have to learn everything on my own. I was going for my CompTIA A+, but I also hope to look into things like Net+ as some of you guys suggested. The main OS is Windows 7, there are only 3 machines that I have to worry about (we’re getting Chromebooks soon, but those are easy). And Google has become my best friend. I Google EVERYTHING under the sun!

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What do you use for email and do you use any enterprise software for finance etc?

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My advice is listen to your users and combine that with common sense and previous knowledge. User tend to know how their system should work, ask them to show you (recreate the error), look at what other options are available and see if you can find something which may help :-

As ever, refer to below guide :slight_smile:

tech_support_cheat_sheet.png
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2 Spice ups
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For email we’re using Google Apps for Education as per my boss’ request. We simply access everything through Gmail. There’s no use of Outlook or Exchange or anything. And again, another simple service.

And that guide is spot on. This is usually how I go about fixing most problems.

I’m really grateful to the Spiceworks community for all the responses I’ve received. Thank you all so much. Your replies have put me at a better “starting point” than I was before.

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I was in the same position when I first started IT, I started out with getting a MS Small Business server which I ended up hosting a Domain controller, and a few shares, read allot of books and magazines and it ended up just growing from there. But as far as getting started I would really say pick up these books A+(Good for hardware and troubleshooting), 2008 Server(if you ever get a server), Windows 7 (for some desktop info), and good networking book (Maybe a CISCO CNNA book but it can be a little rough if don’t know anything)

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Start with good documentation, half the battle is there.

Are your computers stand alone, or part of a domain? If so who else manages this? Who do you report to? Are you the only IT person there?

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A+ - not worth the hassle.
Server 2008 - why on earth would you certify yourself in software that is at this point 6 years old? Go server 2012.
Cisco CCNA - Way above his scope of support at this point in time. Let him grasp the basic of Net+ and move into it from there.

Networks usually just work(and his main focus shouldn’t be on networks at this point)…I also doubt most schools drop tons of cash on Cisco gear which is really expensive.

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For the most part I agree with you…I stand corrected! I wasn’t saying get certified, I was just saying look into those area’s… As sys admins we are people of many skills … Masters of none…

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First I have to say, I love your doge icon.

I love reading and actually have the latest (to my knowledge) A+ book - I was going for my cert not too long ago. I’m actually the only IT person at the school, so I do everything.

Because Net+ has been mentioned more than once, I’m definitely running to get it today.

For the most part, I’ve been trying to keep the jobs I give myself small.

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Oh my! If they will let you please try and get some professional help on this. You really need the help of someone that has done this sort of thing before. The issue is you really need to understand the business direction so you can properly build saleable solutions. I use consultants when necessary. In fact I had a consultant check my exchange migration before I pulled the plug. I just wanted to make sure I had not missed anything as it was my first migration to O365.

I am not trying to be trite or anything I am just speaking from experience. I am cleaning up a similar situation where I work. They used consultants, then they realized they really needed a Sys Admin. So they promoted the person that was the best with computers. And she was great and learned a lot, but really didn’t have the understanding needed to be administrating an AD domain and so on. When I came on board all employees were enterprise admins. Everyone had access to all shares on the network. No centralized virus scan. Failed backups etc…

You have a pretty simple environment so it really should not cost that much to have a consultant come out and give you some direction.

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Haven’t seen this mentioned yet, so I will throw it out there.

Microsoft Virtual Academy.

Tons of free videos and they prep you for all sorts of tests and certifications.

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I’ll definitely look into getting a consultant. My uncle works in IT, so he was guiding me a lot too. Unfortunately, I don’t have that help anymore.

I saw MVA in another post on the site, so I’ll definitely check it out.

Thanks!

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I really hope you arent comparing an O365 migration to implementing some tech in a day care…Given that paper has worked for so long, extremely basic tech is probably what they currently need. People put way too many eggs in the consultant basket and much too little faith in those that have a true desire to learn tech.

Their setup can be comprised of some form of storage for their financial person to do(odds are quickbooks is what they use) - make sure this is backed up.

Some form of WiFi a step above or two above consumer, some easily configurable Unify APs should do. And then for the staff responsible for admin stuff, Office, and call it a day. For the toddlers/non-staff folks, chrome books should do.

As for what kids need, implement that on the Chromebooks.