4 answers
Phila
Student
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
1
Question
Asked
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I have a certificate in IT support services, Id love to work almost anywhere with my skill set how do I go about securing a position preferably as help desk?
Hcert and a diploma in INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT SERVICES, certified by Cisco aswel level1 #information-technology #job
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4 answers
Rebecca Tang
Banking
1793
Answers
Hong Kong
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Hi, you have already had the diploma on Support Services, it is already a good start. Many medium size and large corporates may look for talents on system support and helpdesk.
The corporates usually would post their vacancies online . You can visit their recruitment website from time to time.
Also, you can send your cv to some of the recruiting agents. They can also help to match any vacancies that suitable for your skills.
If you can also seek for opportunities in the college career centre, some corporates would also post their vacancies that suitable for fresh graduates.
Having said that, would you consider to continue your study to obtain a Information Technology related degree? It can add value to yourself.
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
The corporates usually would post their vacancies online . You can visit their recruitment website from time to time.
Also, you can send your cv to some of the recruiting agents. They can also help to match any vacancies that suitable for your skills.
If you can also seek for opportunities in the college career centre, some corporates would also post their vacancies that suitable for fresh graduates.
Having said that, would you consider to continue your study to obtain a Information Technology related degree? It can add value to yourself.
Hope this helps! Good Luck!
Vladimir Shatunov
QA
3
Answers
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Updated
Vladimir’s Answer
IT Support Services specialty could provide you a great carrier path within the industry. If you would prefer to elaborate helpdesk ladder, that's OK. As usual, starting from Junior helpdesk specialist you would go to Mid- and then Senior positions and finally to be Head of Helpdesk Department or something like this. However, if one day you feel tired of responding the same questions again and again being on duty day after day - maybe you would think about switching to some other path in IT industry.
And IT Support area could be a very good start for this challenge. Providing support for some software or hardware product you pick up a lot of experience about it. Your understanding of the product become much better that the regular product user have. It even could be extended to product internals, design and architecture. At the same time you pick up a good understanding of the subject area and industry the product is used in - from user cases you are working on. Also you usually become familiar with product weak points and usage scenarios that cause most difficulties and would be improved.
All this make you a good candidate for Quality Assurance and even Software Engineering positions either in the company that develop product you work on helpdesk for or even in other company in the same area. From my experience from being technical interviewer for candidates on different positions in software testing area, candidates that came from Support with several years of experience usually demonstrated quite sufficient skills. Work in Support elaborates problem solving, responsiveness, accuracy, the experience with user issues solving naturally transforms to product weak points, issues and defects identification skills. I'd say that candidates from Support with several years of experience may have even more advantages for such positions than fresh graduates with major in the position area. Of course taking some courses on testing or programming languages would improve your chances even more.
Once again, this is just an advice that could wider your horizons. Good luck!
And IT Support area could be a very good start for this challenge. Providing support for some software or hardware product you pick up a lot of experience about it. Your understanding of the product become much better that the regular product user have. It even could be extended to product internals, design and architecture. At the same time you pick up a good understanding of the subject area and industry the product is used in - from user cases you are working on. Also you usually become familiar with product weak points and usage scenarios that cause most difficulties and would be improved.
All this make you a good candidate for Quality Assurance and even Software Engineering positions either in the company that develop product you work on helpdesk for or even in other company in the same area. From my experience from being technical interviewer for candidates on different positions in software testing area, candidates that came from Support with several years of experience usually demonstrated quite sufficient skills. Work in Support elaborates problem solving, responsiveness, accuracy, the experience with user issues solving naturally transforms to product weak points, issues and defects identification skills. I'd say that candidates from Support with several years of experience may have even more advantages for such positions than fresh graduates with major in the position area. Of course taking some courses on testing or programming languages would improve your chances even more.
Once again, this is just an advice that could wider your horizons. Good luck!
Chuck Deng
Cyber Security
2
Answers
Irvine, California
Updated
Chuck’s Answer
That is great you have already obtained a certificate in the field of your choice. That is a very important step and demonstrates you have passion and will work hard in your career which many companies are searching for. Your next step is to create an outstanding resume even if you are new to the industry. Look online for sample resumes that's close to the position you are seeking and arrange your skills and education in the same format. You will also notice the resumes will have certain key words or terms used, so make sure to word your skills that you have obtained through the certification process in a similar manner like "Ability to troubleshoot non-booting Windows 10 desktop PC" or "Ability to fix internet browsing issues like proxy/network settings". Keep in mind you have skills, but not yet the experience and that's fine. So in writing your resume, you must do your best to demonstrate your skills are what the companies want.
So once you have a good resume, then submit it online to as many companies as you can so you can get your first job. For example, if you have submitted your resume to 50 job postings, but only get 1 response, then something in your resume needs more improvement. If that's, the case repeat the previous steps and include more specific skills and key words/terms of the industry and follow a simple format that's easy for the hiring managers to read and quickly read.
Once you have a 10 or more responses to your submissions, then you know you have a enough resume. Now is the time to improve on your interviewing skills. It is very important to arrive early to the interview to fill out forms and other paperwork that usually happens before the meeting. If possible choose a morning time, as you will be for fresh and present yourself better than in the hot afternoon hours. Dress professionally for your location and your facial expression should be awake, ready to listen, and just a slight smile. Since you are starting in your career, the company does not expect you to have any "experience", so you must try your best to demonstrate that you have great mastery on the skills you have already learned. For example you and answer some questions like this "I have learned that sometimes the internet browser needs the correct proxy settings for it to browse properly". Always thank your interviewer and remind them you have great skills to offer and looking forward to next steps of the hiring process. If possible, get their email or regular letter mail address and send them a thank you note with a brief message of your skills and why you make a great employee (just a few lines or sentences). This keeps your name fresh in their minds when they are deciding who to hire from all the recent interviews and hope that person will be you!
Good luck in your career.
So once you have a good resume, then submit it online to as many companies as you can so you can get your first job. For example, if you have submitted your resume to 50 job postings, but only get 1 response, then something in your resume needs more improvement. If that's, the case repeat the previous steps and include more specific skills and key words/terms of the industry and follow a simple format that's easy for the hiring managers to read and quickly read.
Once you have a 10 or more responses to your submissions, then you know you have a enough resume. Now is the time to improve on your interviewing skills. It is very important to arrive early to the interview to fill out forms and other paperwork that usually happens before the meeting. If possible choose a morning time, as you will be for fresh and present yourself better than in the hot afternoon hours. Dress professionally for your location and your facial expression should be awake, ready to listen, and just a slight smile. Since you are starting in your career, the company does not expect you to have any "experience", so you must try your best to demonstrate that you have great mastery on the skills you have already learned. For example you and answer some questions like this "I have learned that sometimes the internet browser needs the correct proxy settings for it to browse properly". Always thank your interviewer and remind them you have great skills to offer and looking forward to next steps of the hiring process. If possible, get their email or regular letter mail address and send them a thank you note with a brief message of your skills and why you make a great employee (just a few lines or sentences). This keeps your name fresh in their minds when they are deciding who to hire from all the recent interviews and hope that person will be you!
Good luck in your career.
Soh-Ling Loke
Global Program Manager
11
Answers
Singapore
Updated
Soh-Ling’s Answer
Suggest you to check out what are the IT companies that have job opportunities offered within your geography area locally or remotely. Do a bit more understanding about the services offered by the company, do a skill-set assessment and customize your resume as needed. The expectations or requirements are different from one company to another, some may emphasize on hardware skill, some may require more software skill, while some may emphasize more on process or industry exposure.
Having said that, to be a good candidate in support or services industry, people skill and having good EQ are critical, while in search of best-fit job, you may want to get yourself exposed to practical experience in services job regardless of industry, this will definitely get yourself more well-prepared when the right opportunity come by.
Having said that, to be a good candidate in support or services industry, people skill and having good EQ are critical, while in search of best-fit job, you may want to get yourself exposed to practical experience in services job regardless of industry, this will definitely get yourself more well-prepared when the right opportunity come by.