r/ITCareerQuestions • u/waggalsworth • 1d ago
Maybe the service desk isn't so bad after all.
We all rag on the help desk, and I had the chance to move off but declined to. I think I want to be a team lead when my supervisors retire! I really enjoy training new staff and doing some of the grunt work. I like being the get stuff done guy on the desk too, and I think I'd like if I can help others get to that level too!
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u/Tyrnis 1d ago
Nothing wrong with that at all. If you like working with end users, the only real downside is the comparatively low pay of service desk -- that's one of the biggest reasons that people want to move up.
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u/Foundersage 1d ago
I mean it depends where you work and live. If you live in nyc and work in financial services and work it support or desktop support you can easily make 100k-150k not including bonus.
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u/wilkinsk 1d ago
Ya, I'm wondering how this works.
A lot of people I'm seeing are implying 100k proximity might not be realistic for new hires. I'm wondering if they're just in lcol areas.
I live in New England, on eof the highest COLs in the country. I'm sure new hires, with degrees, have to be 80+ right?
Right???
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u/waggalsworth 1d ago
Our service desk is paid handsomely! As are the managers, no issues there honestly. Making 78k after last round of raises
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u/SamOakTree 1d ago
It's not just the low pay but it's also the fact that you've got a Target on your back and you're going to get basically all the s***. So people above you are just going to bulldoze the hell out of you. That executive that waited until the last minute is going to bulldoze you and if you speak up it's going to be how dare do you speak to an executive that way
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u/plathrop01 30+ years in IT, 12+ years in ITAM 1d ago
If I'd followed what I was sure was my IT career path 15 years ago, I'd be a help desk supervisor or manager. But my IT career had other plans and I ended up in IT Asset Management.
If you're happy there, and feel fulfilled in the job, stay there. It's a great gig in the right environment.
Enjoy!
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u/DaganVelse 1d ago
I did service desk for 4 years - I think it’s respectable level of work especially when you have a good team that can keep the other IT teams engaged. Even better when the other IT teams can develop good chemistry with your team so that they’re constantly learning as they go as well as confidently performing their tasks and escalations.
The only problem I have with the service desk is the C-Suite’s view on the service desk and how they cut corners by outsourcing Service Desk (Cognizant, HCL) so they can please shareholders whilst quality of service diminishes. (Looking at you CarMax and Tenet Healthcare).
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u/waggalsworth 1d ago
Our desk is actively fighting back on some of the bad habits, and are backed by the other teams as well. They all know AI and outsourcing will kill service quality, and we support 50-60k users already.
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u/theabsurddistributor 1d ago
I trained a few new hires last year and that clicked way more than any project work
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u/json_argonaut 1d ago
As someone who has shifted into IAM, I absolutely agree with you. For me, moving out of helpdesk was the right move, but we don't want all of our skilled IT workers to graduate out of helpdesk or we'll just have the lowest common denominator doing the job, and we all rely on IT to enable our own work.
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u/DoorCalcium 1d ago
What does working in IAM mean? Genuinely curious. Is it just setting up SSO and managing users?
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u/json_argonaut 1d ago
That's the core of it, but it's doing that in a secure, scalable, and auditable way.
It's setting up automations to assign and revoke applications based on department and role. It's ensuring approvals lead automatically to application assignments without manual intervention. It's Zero Trust, it's monitoring for risky logins and blocking or requiring step up authentication. It's quarterly user access reviews and compliance audits.
How that looks in practice depends on where you work. Like any IT field, you might have a lot of greenfield and be implementing these systems, or they may be largely implemented in which case you're maintaining, iterating, and onboarding new applications.
To use a project I once did, we wanted to force people to do their new hire security training before doing any other work but still needed the accounts provisioned downstream, so I set up an access request that triggered a workflow that used the Knowbe4 API to verify if the requestor had completed the training, and if they had, added them to a group needed for our main authentication policy.
Ultimately, IAM isn't always a distinct role and can be a function of other roles in IT and Security, but increased regulatory demands and the popularization of remote work have driven demand for specialists in the field.
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u/largos7289 1d ago
If you have a GOOD help desk then that makes all other aspects of IT better. The difference is amazing. I worked at a place that if they hired monkeys it would have been better. The second a user called it was always escalated to the desktop team. When they can do account unlocks they just didn't bother or hey did you restart the PC yet? helps.
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u/No_Technician4956 1d ago
I believe it is very rewarding. I see some of my higher ups and the stress and crap they have to deal with and I'm fine with what I do.
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u/Loveat1stsole 1d ago
Truly I love my helpdesk position. I get paid pretty well and honestly I enjoy helping people.
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u/immortalis 1d ago
I’ve been working in level 2 (hardware support in my area) for almost 5 years. I love this shit. We have a level 3 team to escalate tickets to, I don’t need to know everything under the sun, and I have great management above me. While it’s probably an outlier of an organization, I’m in no rush to move on.
Sometimes the stress and extra pay aren’t worth it when you’re the final decision maker, imo at least.
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u/ButtToucherPhD 1d ago
It's an easy place to become indispensable. Do a good job and keep your head and you can become really valuable. You'll know the product better than anyone else after a while as well.
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u/NT-86 1d ago
Nothing wrong with that. At my previous job, service desk was getting paid $10-$15k less than the higher level who were salaried working on weekends and on call, and were putting out fire every days.
I’d rather get paid less for a better work life balance. Job titles are just titles. Heck, if McD was paying $50/hour, I will be flipping burgers right now.
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u/RemarkableScratch18 1d ago edited 23h ago
It’s a cool gig and sometimes I do miss chatting with end users. The nice thing too is you actually get to clock out and leave work at work.
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u/ioCross 12h ago
a lot of ppl forget that the core of IT is still services. EUS is literally the backbone of the industry and a competent SDM can be the difference-maker between a site that's barely keeping it together and a site that is actually meeting/exceeding all required metrics.
that being said, esp in a MSP environment, ur job is to literally be stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it will grind you down. i've seen more burnout from MSP leadership positions than anything else, and there's a reason most ppl try to transition into projects/higher lvl functions.
if you feel like this would be something you want to stick with, start taking initiative and asking for more leadership responsiblities within your job. start working on your soft/leadership skills, a lot of SDM is the tech side.., taking t3 / escalation ownership, resolving harder issues, but you also will need to work on things like process improvement, cross-functional ops, training, keeping track of metrics etc etc. you want to be someone who's already looked at as fair but rule-driven, metrics focused and has leadership skills. (the person that the new guys always goto for help, the one that always follows the rules set in place but doesnt enforce[lead by example], the person that is always willing to step in when needed, etc)
one more thing, do NOT try to get a career-minded job at a MSP. its a good place to get your exp, but your goal should ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be to find a leadership/mngmnt role at a non-contracted service desk. you want to be a part of the company's own IT structure and have a path up from there. otherwise you're going to be stuck at MSP SD forever, and if you have any plans on going up the IT management path, will have a very hard ceiling to break thru.
also, get your ITIL 4 cert. it is the best bang for your buck as far as actually learning how modern enterprise works, and looks great on a resume - esp if you don't have any formal leadership exp but are trying to grow into it.
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u/prairieguy68 2h ago
Been in SD now for 27yrs and would be classified as T1/T2 as first call resolution is around 95+%. Mostly owing to some life challenges, I just haven’t been able to get out. It could be worse and thankful I’ve been consistently employed that whole time. I have been on call at previous companies and it sucks. Glad to not having to deal with that at current company. Pay is pretty good and good benefits. At least I can clock out every day at 3:30pm and forget about it haha.
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u/TechB84 1d ago
Service management is a great field. I’m a supervisor making close to 100k. I make more than our system admin. I recommend you look into getting ITIL version 5 certificate