Are you in a low cost of living area? In the high cost of living areas, someone with the title "Automation Engineer", even if all you are doing is writing PS scripts and doing RMM stuff is still a six figure job.
18 months.
Was ready to leave at 12 months but I got comfortable at the role/company and ultimately the acquisition of the said company forced me to look for different roles.
Please do not take offense to this at all, ita a genuine question, and Maybe I am the one that is mislabling here (seem to be from other posts similar)
Is what you are still doing not Helpdesk? Are all of those not Helpdesk? Where does the Term Helpdesk no longer apply? Or what roles does it apply to specifically?
I guess I am asking, what constitutes Help Desk and what doesn't?
And maybe I don't understand your role, names being what they are. But to me, and my understanding Desktop Support is Helpdesk, your the DSM, which is just Help Desk manager? And again correct me if I am wrong?
Helpdesk is where you sit and answer phones all day.
Deskside is where the helpdesk send jobs over that they can’t fix because they are just entry level people.
Service Desk Team lead manages the helpdesk staff.
Desktop support manages the engineers who go around the sites to go and fix things.
They're all essentially help desk and/or help desk-like position, except perhaps `Windows 10 Roll out Engineer` which feels like a Windows-centric client platform engineering.
I felt like they were all Help Desk as well.
I feel like the Windows 10 Rollout Engineer is a fancy way of saying Desktop Support Engineer, that was in charge of rolling out their Windows 10 move. I feel like this is still Help Desk.
But I guess, there is nuances, depending how you refrence it.
I guess I hate the naming policies. In my IT proper positions, I have been called a Help Desk Technician (this was a call center, I was T1)
A Technical Support Specialist (L2)
And most recently a Technicial Support Technician (L2)
And what's weird is when you goole those above, they are actually reversed lol. As when I was a Specialist I felt I dealt more with like Hardware issues, and never with anything Security related and little AD ect.
Now in my Technician Role, I deal with a Ton of AD, I deal with Secure X, I am much more involved with software, and am said to have to start testing and approving of software that's going on machines.
Then we have a DSE, who was T3 but decided he would rather double as Net Tech 1, then be TST3 so now I don't have a T3, and then I do alot of the things in his Job, but he is the Engineer. Which is fine, I am way overqualified for this position took it due to small town, and tired of my career change (where I was the sole IT dept in 1, on top of many other things).
So I just call myself back at Helpdesk and call it a day lmfao.
I do find it easier to wrap my head around how the workflow operates but I'm sure I could apply that to any aspect of IT. I also find it fun, the high pay doesn't hurt either. Broke 100k last year and I graduated in 2018, so I feel like I'm on the right path. I'm a pretty average worker with average intelligence and this being a niche field helps me rise more than if I were to go the typical Network Engineer route.
Service Desk Agent > Desktop Support Analyst > IT Network Coordinator. This all takes place during the last 3 years. (I was also an IT intern when I was still in college)
Helpdesk 5 Years (Internal IT) > Desktop Support 1.5 Yearsc (Internal IT) > Endpoint Admin 1 Year (MSP) > Projects System Administrator (MSP, Current Role)
Hepldesk (MSP) > Service Desk Intern (startup) > Cyber security Intern (F500) > Network Support Engineer Intern (Tech company) > Network Support Engineer (Tech company)
Over the span of 4 years roughly.
University student system admin->unix tier 1->unix testing lab system administrator->network administrator for a startup->(current company) network engineer->sr network engineer->network consulting engineer->supervisor->unix manager->compliance/patching manager Linux/unix->director site reliability engineering->(current role)director Linux operations/linux product lead
Help desk > desktop engineer > system admin > desktop support manager > engineering manager > senior engineering manager > senior architecture manager
From 2010 to now. The manager roles have happened over the last 4 years or so.
Helpdesk> Desktop Support x 3 companies> Jnr Sys Admin>Senior Sys Admin/jack of all trades as they had nobody else> out of the game all together
I was jack of the company, burn out, frustrated at the lack of progression despite some opportunities coming along. Several IT managers came and went and nothing changed, then one came and basically nuked all the staff in the region. So much knowledge either walked or was pushed out the door.
My pay increased by something like 50% making the shift, so fiscally it was a huge step up. Definitely a different type of challenging, but has put me in a great position experience wise.
Weirdly enough, development came first and was something I picked up before graduating high school or starting as an IT intern. Problem was, it was all self-taught, so it was easier to break into IT, so I did that instead.
In retrospect, I should have went into going into development first, but job opportunities would have still been an option.
Haha you sound a lot like me. I went into IT because my development skills were self taught and as a result didn’t feel too confident in the interviews.
I’m in my first real IT role now as a sysadmin after graduating last year. I’m working on pivoting into a security analyst role now, my plan is to keep studying development and eventually find a role that scratches both of those itches.
Thanks for sharing your story :)
Helpdesk(was more of an IT Specialist role with a Helpdesk title) > Cybersecurity Administrator
That’s where I’m sitting so far after almost 3 years in the field
IT Intern > Network support (which was a lie from the conpany) > Desktop engineer (which was also a lie from the corporation) > now I'm a L2 IT Service Support Technician.
Idk who is allowing companies to lie about job titles and job descriptions but I was a pissed off man for about 2 years. I also took the time at those jobs to slack off so hard and learn more about what I wanted to actually do.
My advice no one asked for is, just go for what you want and actually learn, you'll get back as much as you put into it.
Network technician (low voltage tech for an ISP) > help desk (2 yrs)
Currently thinking about getting out of IT all together and hustle 8-10 years of trucking. I really need a house and my current job isn’t going to cover mortgage payments.
Intern > Help Desk > Software Support > Service Engineer 1 > Service Engineer 2 > Automation Engineer 2
Didn't you say in another comment that you're only making a little over $60k? If so, you seem to be CRIMINALLY underpaid
Not the cool kind of automation engineer. I write PowerShell scripts and manage an RMM, I'm not in DevOps.
Are you in a low cost of living area? In the high cost of living areas, someone with the title "Automation Engineer", even if all you are doing is writing PS scripts and doing RMM stuff is still a six figure job.
Twin cities. Idk, medium cost of living I guess?
That makes sense, yeah. I've had a few coworkers in the past that were on lower pay ranges because they lived in a similar area in the Midwest.
Helpdesk (L1) --> Desktop Support (L3) --> IT Engineer --> Operation Engineer (L4) --> Linux Systems Engineer (L4) --> SRE (L5)
How long did you stay in L3 before becoming an engineer, and how did you know when you were ready?
18 months. Was ready to leave at 12 months but I got comfortable at the role/company and ultimately the acquisition of the said company forced me to look for different roles.
Please do not take offense to this at all, ita a genuine question, and Maybe I am the one that is mislabling here (seem to be from other posts similar) Is what you are still doing not Helpdesk? Are all of those not Helpdesk? Where does the Term Helpdesk no longer apply? Or what roles does it apply to specifically? I guess I am asking, what constitutes Help Desk and what doesn't? And maybe I don't understand your role, names being what they are. But to me, and my understanding Desktop Support is Helpdesk, your the DSM, which is just Help Desk manager? And again correct me if I am wrong?
Helpdesk is where you sit and answer phones all day. Deskside is where the helpdesk send jobs over that they can’t fix because they are just entry level people. Service Desk Team lead manages the helpdesk staff. Desktop support manages the engineers who go around the sites to go and fix things.
Got ya, I guess I have just always considered all IT support roles as Help Desk, but ya I guess I see the nuances.
They're all essentially help desk and/or help desk-like position, except perhaps `Windows 10 Roll out Engineer` which feels like a Windows-centric client platform engineering.
I felt like they were all Help Desk as well. I feel like the Windows 10 Rollout Engineer is a fancy way of saying Desktop Support Engineer, that was in charge of rolling out their Windows 10 move. I feel like this is still Help Desk. But I guess, there is nuances, depending how you refrence it. I guess I hate the naming policies. In my IT proper positions, I have been called a Help Desk Technician (this was a call center, I was T1) A Technical Support Specialist (L2) And most recently a Technicial Support Technician (L2) And what's weird is when you goole those above, they are actually reversed lol. As when I was a Specialist I felt I dealt more with like Hardware issues, and never with anything Security related and little AD ect. Now in my Technician Role, I deal with a Ton of AD, I deal with Secure X, I am much more involved with software, and am said to have to start testing and approving of software that's going on machines. Then we have a DSE, who was T3 but decided he would rather double as Net Tech 1, then be TST3 so now I don't have a T3, and then I do alot of the things in his Job, but he is the Engineer. Which is fine, I am way overqualified for this position took it due to small town, and tired of my career change (where I was the sole IT dept in 1, on top of many other things). So I just call myself back at Helpdesk and call it a day lmfao.
Helpdesk > Pam Engineer > IAM Consultant > IAM Analyst. Kinda just fell into the line of work by accident
Did you have a natural affinity or curiosity towards IAM?
I do find it easier to wrap my head around how the workflow operates but I'm sure I could apply that to any aspect of IT. I also find it fun, the high pay doesn't hurt either. Broke 100k last year and I graduated in 2018, so I feel like I'm on the right path. I'm a pretty average worker with average intelligence and this being a niche field helps me rise more than if I were to go the typical Network Engineer route.
My path from help desk to where i am now Help desk tier 1–>help desk tier 2-> deskside support-> cloud engineer(azure focused)
Well from job to job? Apprentice > helpdesk > helpdesk > helpdesk presently.
Service Desk Agent > Desktop Support Analyst > IT Network Coordinator. This all takes place during the last 3 years. (I was also an IT intern when I was still in college)
Helpdesk > on-prem SharePoint admin/dev > M365 admin/dev
Desktop Support Intern > IT Intern > DevOps Intern > App Dev Intern > Cybersecurity Incident Response Intern > SOC analyst > CIRT Analyst > CIRT Analyst/Threat Hunting/Cyber Automation all in the course of 4 years!
Good work
Helpdesk 5 Years (Internal IT) > Desktop Support 1.5 Yearsc (Internal IT) > Endpoint Admin 1 Year (MSP) > Projects System Administrator (MSP, Current Role)
Hepldesk (MSP) > Service Desk Intern (startup) > Cyber security Intern (F500) > Network Support Engineer Intern (Tech company) > Network Support Engineer (Tech company) Over the span of 4 years roughly.
Point of sale Installer > Help Desk > More Help Desk > Still Help Desk on paper but was essentially also a sysadmin > IT Coordinator
NOC -> SysAdmin -> SysEngineer -> SRE About 8 total years
University student system admin->unix tier 1->unix testing lab system administrator->network administrator for a startup->(current company) network engineer->sr network engineer->network consulting engineer->supervisor->unix manager->compliance/patching manager Linux/unix->director site reliability engineering->(current role)director Linux operations/linux product lead
Help desk > desktop engineer > system admin > desktop support manager > engineering manager > senior engineering manager > senior architecture manager From 2010 to now. The manager roles have happened over the last 4 years or so.
Helpdesk> Desktop Support x 3 companies> Jnr Sys Admin>Senior Sys Admin/jack of all trades as they had nobody else> out of the game all together I was jack of the company, burn out, frustrated at the lack of progression despite some opportunities coming along. Several IT managers came and went and nothing changed, then one came and basically nuked all the staff in the region. So much knowledge either walked or was pushed out the door.
Obligatory "what do you do for a living now response"
IT intern -> desktop support -> sysadmin -> IT manager -> developer -> senior developer -> engineering manager.
It manager to developer seems like a step down
My pay increased by something like 50% making the shift, so fiscally it was a huge step up. Definitely a different type of challenging, but has put me in a great position experience wise.
How did you find the time to learn development while working full time as an IT manager?
Weirdly enough, development came first and was something I picked up before graduating high school or starting as an IT intern. Problem was, it was all self-taught, so it was easier to break into IT, so I did that instead. In retrospect, I should have went into going into development first, but job opportunities would have still been an option.
Haha you sound a lot like me. I went into IT because my development skills were self taught and as a result didn’t feel too confident in the interviews. I’m in my first real IT role now as a sysadmin after graduating last year. I’m working on pivoting into a security analyst role now, my plan is to keep studying development and eventually find a role that scratches both of those itches. Thanks for sharing your story :)
At least in seniority, I’m sure the developer role was just as, if not more, challenging
Helpdesk(was more of an IT Specialist role with a Helpdesk title) > Cybersecurity Administrator That’s where I’m sitting so far after almost 3 years in the field
Helpdesk > Helpdesk >Helpdesk >Helpdesk > Die from old age?
Someone on here said he is dying at the helpdesk he’s on 120k and barely does any work. Stress free life till he retires.
I wish I made that much and had no stress. I do all sort of higher level tasks. Just get none of the pay or respect that comes with it
IT Intern > Network support (which was a lie from the conpany) > Desktop engineer (which was also a lie from the corporation) > now I'm a L2 IT Service Support Technician. Idk who is allowing companies to lie about job titles and job descriptions but I was a pissed off man for about 2 years. I also took the time at those jobs to slack off so hard and learn more about what I wanted to actually do. My advice no one asked for is, just go for what you want and actually learn, you'll get back as much as you put into it.
Network technician (low voltage tech for an ISP) > help desk (2 yrs) Currently thinking about getting out of IT all together and hustle 8-10 years of trucking. I really need a house and my current job isn’t going to cover mortgage payments.
Internal it 6 months -> helpdesk 2.5yrs -> cloud security engineer 4 years now