

Should I take a Help Desk Job? - isitpossible

I'm currently in a computing program and I'm looking for internships. If you'd like more info about me, I asked a question before: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1718229<p>Basically, I'm looking for some sort of programming related job, be it testing or anything else as long as it's a bit related to it.<p>I was offered what I think a Help Desk job the other day. I'll be upgrading the firm's hardware and provide maintenance support. It's a bit far from where I am ~2hrs commute. I don't have any other interviews as of now and I'm not sure if I should accept the offer.<p>I'm afraid that I might not give my 110% because it is not truly what I want although I can see myself doing it. With the current state of the economy right now and given that I have no experience in anything IT related (mostly fastfood and retail), I'm seriously considering this.<p>I live in Vancouver if that matters. I'd like to seek some advice from you guys as I have no idea what to do right now. Should I take it or wait?
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codeslush
My first professional software job was at a great software company, but I had
a horrible commute each day. I ended up leaving that company to work in tech
support (enterprise software) at a software company much closer to my home. I
remember feeling a little embarrassed about it - it was definitely a downgrade
-- but I chose it for the lifestyle improvements it offered at that time.

Turns out, it was probably one of my smarter moves. I really enjoyed solving
problems for the customers. People sent emails and actual snail mail to my
company raving about me. That was cool. Then, I noticed a need for a utility
in the field. I wrote it and did some testing with it and then the development
manager caught wind of it and came by to talk to me.

He wanted to recruit me in to the development team! Simultaneously, I was
being recruited into sales consulting. Not only that, but our customers were
trying to hire me left and right. I ended up taking the internal position for
sales consulting.

Moral of the story: You can create opportunities for yourself even when in a
position that may not be your ideal role. Hard work, creativity and initiative
go a LONG way.

Taking this job clearly depends on your goals. It seems to me that one has
endless opportunities right now if they are willing to be self employed or
work for a startup and don't have heavy income requirements. Lots of functions
like startup weekend, group meet-ups, etc... can get you in front of the right
people. If your goal, however, is to work for the man, then why not take a
position like this and see what doors it opens?

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paulsingh
I'm going to take a counter position to some of the other advice on this
thread.

Consider taking this gig. As an internship, I suspect that it's going to last
3-6 months. Yes, the commute sucks but I suspect you'll learn something far
more important:

1\. How users react to systems that geeks/engineers put in place.

2\. How to talk to non-technical users (who, I assume, are the likely callers)

I did a short stint at a helpdesk many years ago and it certainly helped me
learn how to talk to non-technical people. (I also did two summers selling
cars at CarMax which, IMHO, was a _fantastic_ way to learn how to sell
yourself to anyone.)

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gaelian
Like you, I decided to get into IT kind of late. My first position in the IT
industry was help desk support for a local and quite successful ISP. We did
both sales and tech support. It was a very busy job with high call volumes,
lots of shift work and the shortest legally required break times.
Coincidentally enough, I also had a long commute to this job, though it was <
2 hours. After about three months I found a new position working in web
design/development which was more like what I was wanting to do. This was
lucky because shortly after I left, the local ISP was sold and everyone was
told they could relocate across the country or lose their job.

I learned a lot from working help desk and don't regret doing the job at all,
if nothing else, it was good to have something other than study on my resume.
But I could tell even after three months I was already starting to burn out
and was getting a bit sick of being treated more like a resource than a human
being. In my experience, help desk workers tend to be treated as being pretty
expendable and easily replaceable, whether this is actually the case or not.

My advice would be if you _need_ a job now or feel that you might benefit from
the experience of working a "real" job (assuming this is your first foray into
a professional position), then take this help desk job. If you don't _need_ a
job now or don't feel the experience of this job would be helpful, don't take
it. _But either way keep looking for something that's more inline with what
you're really after._

~~~
gexla
I had a similar experience sans commute with a helpdesk. I also credit that
gig as being a good learning experience and eventually getting me interested
in web development. I couldn't find a web development job though, so I did
freelancing instead. The nice thing about development is that you don't have
to wait around for something to come to you, instead, make things happen
yourself. Work on getting freelance gigs, in the downtime, work on an open
source project or work on your sales tools (portfolio, web site, connectivity
via social networks, reputation management, etc.)

~~~
gaelian
After some years of working in "enterprisey" environments, I've recently
starting a partial transition into something a little more freelance and self
determined. Always glad to hear from people who are on the same wave length.
:)

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cscotta
I'd consider asking yourself what you expect and/or hope to get out of it. A
two-hour commute for an uninspiring job does not sound like something terribly
enjoyable or fulfilling.

Perhaps others here could suggest different opportunities in the Vancouver
area?

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psawaya
I've been keeping a list of CS internships/research opportunities on
delicious, maybe you'll find something interesting there:
<http://www.delicious.com/psawaya/Internships?page=1>

Also, I don't know if you're looking for an internship for the summer, but if
you are, check out the Google summer of code program. You'd learn a lot more
about programming by contributing to open source than you would at a helpdesk,
plus you get paid a little.

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naner
A _2 hour_ commute? Each way or total? Unless you are hard up for cash or this
is the most amazing opportunity ever, this is a waste of your time. Find
something closer.

~~~
isitpossible
Unfortunately, it's each way.

~~~
CyberFonic
Nah! That's way too much of your life wasted.

As for the main question. If you plan to be programming or building systems,
then 6-12 months on the help-desk will make you so much more aware of the
sorts of things that are show stoppers for _average_ users. In my experience
technical staff with help-desk experience make better usability decisions.

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bdclimber14
2 Hours?! That's 10 hours a week (20 hours if you meant one way) that you
should calculate into your hourly pay rate. However, if you really don't have
any IT experience help desk support is a good stepping stone. Just make sure
you never go backwards.

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alexknight
Do yourself a favour and find something else you truly feel excited about. A
long commute for a position that you cannot get 100% behind is a recipe for
disaster. Stay true to yourself and your ideals.

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known

        I have no experience in anything IT related (mostly fastfood and retail)
    

Since you've no experience, I suggest you take the job.

