Is Help Desk stressful?

 it help desk support salary

Stress Management Tips for Help Desk Professionals

Managing stress is an essential job skill for the successful help desk professional. Typically help desk agents experience burnout from two sources: 1) repetitive routine requests, and 2) frustrated customers. The combination can lead to stress, unless the help desk personnel manage their responses well. The following are stress-busting ideas to help keep calm and maintain perspective.

1. Don’t be a sponge for customer frustration. Their frustration has nothing to do with you, so don’t take it personally. In their emotional state, all they can think of is how upset they are. Most don’t realize the impact they might be having on you. Ignore any personal attacks and exaggerations. At this point in time, they might not be rational. I was on a plane flight delayed by a lightening storm. The passenger next to me was very agitated, and was yelling ‘This airline always does this to me.’ This comment was so outrageous nobody would take his complaints personally. Sometimes the less outrageous exaggerations trigger stress responses. Remember: Never take it personally.
2. Remember the angry customer is really a nice person, and has temporarily become a sheep in wolf’s clothing. Think of them normally reasonable, and in a good or neutral mood. They’ve probably called you before with a routine question, and been okay. Now you’re experiencing a blip in their behavioral radar. When talking to them, remember there’s a nice person in there someplace, and if you keep your cool and work with them, you’ll discover that nice customer again. Typically they’ll apologize and thank you profusely if you keep thinking they’ll become nice.
3. When customers are frustrated, their behavior is a reaction to unmet expectations. Uncovering their expectations will help defuse the emotion, help you keep cool, and keep the conversation focused on problem solving. Keep focusing on what you can do to close the gap between their unmet expectations and their experience of your company’s services and products. When customers are dealt with sincerely and professionally, they are more open to alternative solutions.
4. When you start your help desk shift, make an agreement with yourself that you’ll stay in control of the calls, and in control of your mood. When you’re in control, the customer responds, and the conversation takes less time and is less emotional. When their frustration ‘pushes our buttons’ we’re less effective. The tone of the call is emotional rather than conversational. If you’ve ‘fallen off the wagon’, take a break, regain your cool, and resolve that the rest of your shift you’ll be in control. Find a way of rewarding yourself for your first day ‘in control’, although the lack of stress you’ll feel at the end of your shift is reward enough! https://www.fieldengineer.com/blogs/what-does-a-help-desk-technician-do
5. Keep a healthy work/life balance. One of my favorite agents maintains perspective with a current family photo at eye level in his cube. It’s a photo from the latest family vacation. When calls become stressful, he looks at the photo as a reminder that dealing with customers is his job, and his family is his life. What is important to you in your personal life? Bring a representation of your personal interests to work as a reminder to maintain perspective.
6. Keep a laugh diary. Remember the last time something made you burst out laughing? Keep a list with key words to trigger your memory of the scenario. When you’re feeling stressed and depressed after a call, look at an entry in your laugh diary to neutralize negative emotions. When you’re not at work, stay alert for funny incidents from movies or reality and add to your laugh diary. While it can be helpful to decompress by laughing about difficult calls with colleagues, it’s healthier not to spend lots of time reliving distress. Consult your laugh diary, and healthy laughing!
7. Remember that stress has a physical component. Eat for mental alertness and low stress. Try declaring your workspace a no sugar zone. Although stress can send you running for sugar, the feel good ‘rush’ will evaporate within a half hour. The sugar blues can leave you more vulnerable to emotional reactions. Many people find incorporating more protein in their diet keeps them positive. Try high-protein snacks like sunflower seeds, nuts etc. and see if you notice a difference. It’s important to drink plenty of water. Feeling foggy and frustrated can indicate dehydration or insufficient protein. Eat for success, and you’ll feel calmer and in control throughout the day.

What certifications should I get for help desk?

  help desk certified

These days, having IT support is vital for your business. If you’re not a tech master, understanding troubleshooting and repair is difficult. But if you’re not a tech expert, who says your staff is tech experts?

While there are plenty of IT education and training opportunities, there are ways you can ensure your IT staff are true professionals.

Certifications are one way to identify an experienced employee from an entry-level IT tech. But with so many types of certifications, many employers overlook this benefit.

If you’re hiring for an IT team, you need to check for certain certifications on their resumes. Here are 5 of the best desktop support certifications.

1. CompTIA A+

The CompTIA certification is one of the most prestigious IT certifications. Many IT professionals strive for this certification for the reputation and comprehensive training.

CompTIA is useful for CompTIA is also great for entry-level support techs who want to expand their skills and for those who desire more certifications.

2. AppleCare Mac Technician (ACMT)

If you use Apple products, find an IT tech with advanced knowledge of Apple products and Mac computers.

The best certification to find is the AppleCare Mac Technician or ACMT. Also called the Apple Certified Mac Technician, they’re trained in-depth in MacBook, MacBook Pro, and other professional Apple products.

3. HDI Customer Service Representative (HDI-CSR)

If you don’t know what HDI is, you need to study IT a little more closely. HDI is one of the most legendary tech organizations. Their certification, the HDI-CSR, specializes in service desk and technical support.

But the HDI-CSR is extremely complex.

Their certifications range from entry-level (HDI Desktop Support Technician) to a directorial certification (HDI Support Center Director). As long as you see “HDI” in their certification, you’ll know they’re the best candidate.

4. ITIL Foundation

ITIL, or Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is a source for IT service delivery. Their certification covers all IT aspects, including design, development, support, and delivery.

Keep in mind, the ITIL Foundation certification is the most basic certification.

There are many levels: practitioner, intermediate, expert, and master.

5. Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate on Windows 10 (MCSA: Windows 10)

Many people, including professionals, experience difficulty with Windows 10. If this is the software your firm uses, hire a Windows 10 expert. As problems arise, a tech guru can help both your system and your customers.

Even though is a recent certification, it offers comprehensive Windows training that typical training doesn’t offer.

The Best 8 Help Desk Certifications in 2020

 it help desk jobs entry level

So, let me guess. You read our awesome list of the best help desk software, then went ahead and installed one for your customer service team. But, even though you have these new, shiny tools, your team is stuck scratching their heads trying to figure out how to use each one. While they may come with some instructions, there's no guide that will teach your reps how to best use your new help desk.

Fortunately, there's training that can teach your team how to use a help desk to optimize their workflow. These courses can be paid or free and consist of various exercises that help reps become familiar with fundamental help desk features and common customer interactions. When a course is complete, reps receive credible certifications symbolizing their mastery of help desk software.

In this post, we'll list some of the best help desk certifications available for your customer service team in 2019.

Is help desk a dead end job?

 help desk job

"Some people use it as a launch pad, and other people make it a dead-end job," he says. The greatest opportunity for help desk technicians lies in their ability to learn about different facets of the business, "which makes them more valuable than a pure IT guy," says Rosen.

When Anthony McCloud graduated from Graceland University in 2000, he didn't have a smidgen of business experience. He didn't know the first thing about business processes, customer service, or the quirks and habits of business workers. https://www.fieldengineer.com/blogs/what-does-a-help-desk-technician-do

Now he knows all that and much more. McCloud has spent the past seven years working in help desk-related roles at four companies, including stints for a high-tech equipment maker and a small restaurant chain.

The experience he has gained from learning about different businesses and "intermixing" with various types and levels of business workers has been priceless in terms of strengthening his communication and relationship skills, McCloud says.

India’s highest paying tech jobs and the skills that rake in the big bucks

"From my experience, being on an IT help desk has been a huge, huge opportunity," says McCloud, who was hired by Mac Equipment Inc. in Kansas City in June 2007. In addition to his role as the company's lone help desk technician, McCloud has also helped out as a server analyst and has done application development work in SQL, Visual C Sharp and PHP.

On the money front, McCloud doubled his salary when he first left a two-person business to take a help desk job at Mac Equipment, and since then, he has watched his compensation steadily increase at each subsequent position.

As McCloud and others are discovering, many help desks have evolved beyond their ticket-taking roots -- offering expanded opportunities for help desk employees (see "What's in it for you?" for details).

But that doesn't stop some IT professionals from hewing to the "old school" party line that says a career stop on the help desk is a one-way ticket to Palookaville.

"If you're hired just to work on a help desk, that's all you will ever do," says Fred Wagner, a FileNet and Kofax systems specialist for the city of Long Beach, Calif.

In particular, help desk technicians who work in "stovepiped" IT organizations -- that is, companies where systems analysts, network managers and other IT professionals are segregated from one another -- can go 10 to 15 years without being promoted into IT infrastructure, business analyst, systems administrator or other types of roles, he says.

A new breed of IT pros begs to differ, maintaining that a job on an IT help desk can open doors to other IT career opportunities. Help desk technicians, these proponents say, gain valuable experience working with end users throughout the enterprise and learning what makes the business tick.

What every help desk tech should know?

 help desk support technician salary

On MSN the other day, I noticed an article called “75 skills every man should master.” It included some skills I have and some I don’t. For example, I can tie a knot and hammer a nail, but frankly I can’t recite a poem from memory, and bow ties still confuse me.

It was an interesting read and made me realize I could be more well-rounded than I am. To be honest, we all could be.

So in the spirit of personal growth, I developed a list of skills every IT person should have.

1. Be able to fix basic PC issues. These can be how to map a printer, back up files, or add a network card. You don’t need to be an expert and understand how to overclock a CPU or hack the registry, but if you work in IT, people expect you to be able to do some things.

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2. Work the help desk. Everyone, from the CIO to the senior architect, should be able to sit down at the help desk and answer the phones. Not only will you gain a new appreciation for the folks on the phones, but you will also teach them more about your process and avoid escalations in the future.

3. Do public speaking. At least once, you should present a topic to your peers. It can be as simple as a five-minute tutorial on how IM works, but being able to explain something and being comfortable enough to talk in front of a crowd is a skill you need to have. If you are nervous, partner with someone who is good at it, or do a roundtable. This way, if you get flustered, someone is there to cover for you.

12 essential skills you need in a help desk job

help desk technician jobs

Working at a help desk or in a support role is a great way to be tapped into the core of any business: customers and products. In a help desk job, you get to connect with customers, understand their experience with your company, and get to know the product inside and out. It takes a certain mix of skills, values, and personal characteristics to really go far in a help desk or support career.

I sat down with Rick Bal, a Premier Support Manager here, and asked what impresses him most when looking for and interviewing help desk or support candidates. With over 5 years leading and staffing Atlassian support teams, Rick knows what makes for a stellar help desk support agent.

12 traits hiring managers look for in help desk job candidates

1. A real desire to help people.

This person does a great job because they truly want to help others, not because it’s “their job”. They work hard to play hard, find joy in their day-to-day tasks, and have passion for their role.

2. Works ‘with’ and not ‘for’ the customers.

A superior support agent sees the customer as an equal partner, and considers themselves an extension of the customer’s team. Identifying with the customer as a partner helps support agents treat problems as their own and provide a level of service that they would expect themselves.

3. Positive and optimistic approach to problem-solving.

Support jobs can be difficult, but this person doesn’t allow negative customer interactions to become contagious. In the face of a tense or charged situation, this person knows how to stay logical and focus on solving the issue at hand. They approach customers with empathy, don’t complain about customers when things get tough, and look for what can be learned from the situation.

4. Creates and cultivates a playful and relaxed work environment.

This person enjoys themselves at work, spreading a positive can-do attitude. A great support agent integrates a bit of fun into their daily tasks to make everyone’s loads a little lighter. Office pranks are always a fun way to do this.

5. Collaborative team spirit.

This person feels responsible not only for their own tasks, but also cares about their team’s workload, too. They know when to ask for and offer help, and understand how much they can take on at a time. They care about the team’s success, and are happy to sacrifice personal goals when needed to help the team achieve its goals. There are times you will get pulled into a call that lasts for hours on end, so it’s good to know the team can cover for you.

6. Passion for the product.

An awesome support agent is an informed champion of their products. They’re enthusiastic about using them, understanding how they work inside and out, and seek to improve them. This natural curiosity drives them to tinker, and truly understand how the product works, not just how to fix it when something breaks. This type of passion for the product shows up in customer interactions, and it’s infectious.

7. All-star communication skills.

A great help desk agent simply enjoys communicating with customers. They know it’s essential to listen and understand before being heard. This person strives for transparency, and communicates with tact. They know how to adapt their style to different kinds of customers – from those that want to be your best friend, to those that just want the problem solved. Their natural teaching skills help customers understand the product enough to even solve issues on their own.

8. Advocates for the customer – with balance.

This person feels the customer’s pain, and uses their resources to go above and beyond to help the customer reach a solution. They look beyond 1:1 customer interactions to solve problems globally, and in turn, help even more customers. This could be something as simple as updating knowledge base information or filing a bug or feature request. At the same, they know how to prioritize their day, and are careful not to dive too deep into one problem at the cost of other customers.

9. Real respect for the customer.

In a help desk job, it’s important to acknowledge customers by name and build meaningful relationships with them. This person caters to the customer’s needs regardless of where they fall on the technical and product knowledge spectrum, always doing so in a respectful manner which is never condescending or patronizing.

10. Detective-like troubleshooting skills.

From the moment a ticket is submitted, this person knows how to ask the right questions and gather the available data to narrow down the root cause of the issue. Like Sherlock Holmes, they leave no stone unturned in figuring out what’s really going on.

11. Analytical and process-oriented approach.

This person understands support processes are important, and not only follows them, but helps improve them. They take an analytical approach to driving change, and use data to support their assertions.

12. Care for quality over quantity.

When you have a long list of tickets, and know there are more coming in, it’s tempting to work on as many as possible, without truly solving the problem at hand. Focusing on the quality of the support you give, as opposed to the quantity of tickets you touch, will ensure you’re actually solving problems and creating happy customers.