The job of a helpdesk engineer involves providing troubleshooting to consumer's problems and complaints about the computers or other such products. They may have to walk through the consumer either on the phone or via email, with the steps to be followed to solve their query. A help desk engineer might also be endowed with the responsibility of visiting a customer's residences or office for on-site support, in case of a problem that cannot be solved on the phone or online.
Ideally you need to have bachelor's degree in information technology or computer science. Many employers do not stress too much on the degree if you have a great knowledge about computer and if you possess good enough communication skills.
The skills required for this job includes sound computer knowledge required to provide technical support to the clients via telephone, email, or via remote assistance. A help desk manager should be very skilled and efficient in his way of creating a rapport with clients and customers. One should be able to log calls into the management system and also determine the priority of calls. Documentation work has to be done precisely and the capacity to analyze the problems and solving them plays an integral part in this job. Escalating calls to the field engineers is also necessary at times.
One must have some standard certifications to become a help desk engineer. You can go for the certifications from a computer technology institute or you can go for the Microsoft certified desktop support technician before you join in as the help desk engineer. All of these types of questions can be asked by the customers be it unusual or the common ones. Vendors and also the staff members can be on the questioning side. By thorough understanding of the products you will be in a better position to get the job of the help desk engineer. Be prepared to go through a pre recruitment test to get the job as the desk engineer which will tell the skills and the knowledge about all the products and how you can handle the customers using your knowledge and skills.
The experience required is usually 1 or 2 years in the same industry. Also experience in handling all of the software and everything related to it proves beneficial. Even a small mistake in operating the software can create a problem for the company and also for the people. So the engineer should be efficient enough in operating them. There should be a thorough understanding of the subject. The applicant should have prior experience in a helpdesk support role. As he is handling the software the way of handling the customers is also very important and he must have a very confident approach towards the customers as it creates a positive image about the company and the people.
Having a good academic record definitely helps a lot and if you are good in it then the career outlook for you is very bright. It is a booming sector and there is always something innovative coming up in the IT field so the career prospects are high and there are ample job opportunities for help desk engineers. Every company needs a help desk manager in order to handle the things in a more convenient way and provide proper help to the customers. Big companies need such people to support their customers as well as staff members. These big companies ensure long time support at a good post for the position of help desk engineers.
Salaries given to help desk engineers differ from country and places. In New York the average salary varies from $45,000 to $1,000,000. Similarly in developing nations the salaries range from US $15,000 to US $60,000.
The position of a help desk engineer is of high esteem and requires good credentials and it's a great career option. The earning status is quite remarkable so it's a good choice if you are choosing a help desk engineer as your designation to work.
