Your help desk career: Dead end or launching pad?

A role on an IT help desk is what you make of it, tech pros say -- just don't get too comfy.

Help desk managers typically move into more senior IT infrastructure positions in areas such as data center operations, desktop support, networking and telecommunications, says Ed Pospesil, chairman of Technology Executives Networking Group.

"I've seen IT executives who have started their careers on a help desk," says Pospesil, who has been a technical and IT executive recruiter for the past 32 years. "It cuts to their customer service and communications skills. They can follow a number of paths."

William Kyrouz is a prime example of this specialization. Since Kyrouz started in IT as a data-entry clerk at a legal publisher in 1995, he has taken his help desk experience and gravitated to roles in quality assurance and network management.

Kyrouz is currently a senior applications manager at Bingham McCutchen where he oversees a staff of 10 people who handle software deployment and application support. "I came into IT and gravitated towards the networking group," says Kyrouz. "That happened to be the right path for me."

Skills that translate

When help desk technicians do want to make a leap, what skills do they bring to the table? For starters: patience, depth of knowledge, inquisitiveness and a real connection with end users.

One of the biggest misconceptions about help desk professionals is that they're merely ticket-takers who don't have broad or deep technical knowledge. Most end users "don't see what's going on behind the scenes," says Stefano Stefan, assistant director of business, management, legal and IT programs at the University of California. "It takes an extraordinarily patient person to work on a help desk."

Many help desk employees have a technical inquisitiveness that inspires them to pursue other technical roles in the IT organization such as network management and data center operations, says Pospesil.

Kyrouz agrees. The first person he promoted out of a help desk role -- at a US manufacturer where they both worked -- was a technician at who moved into a Microsoft Exchange administration role within six months.

"He didn't come in with a lot of background in back-end systems, but he had the brains and the enthusiasm," says Kyrouz. At a different company, Kyrouz shifted two help desk analysts into network analyst roles. "Their institutional knowledge with the user community was invaluable," he says.

Don't overstay your welcome

IT professionals, or aspiring pros, who are considering working on a help desk should plan to be in their roles for no more than two years so they don't become typecast or burnt out, most experts agree.

"You shouldn't leave anyone on a help desk for more than two years. ... It isn't beneficial unless they're unmotivated or that's what their career ambition is," says David Lane, an infrastructure architect at a government contractor in the Washington area.

Others say it depends on the individual and that person's specific career goals.

"I've had people who have been on the help desk for 10 years. They're happy with what they do, they're very good at it, and they don't have aspirations to go into other areas," says Will Olive, director of IS technical support at Children's Hospital & Health System.

"I also have people who have been on the help desk for three to five years who are interested in going into other areas," says Olive, who is also past president of the Wisconsin chapter of the Society for Information Management.

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