Not the Worst IT Job There Is

There are a lot of unflattering depictions of technical support and help desk employment — and employees — both in the realm of pop culture and in the world at large. The picture of surly geeks, both disdainful of and disinterested in your problem, picking up the phone or logging you into the ticket queue is so ingrained that a lot of people staring at a tech snafu would rather try almost anything else than, you know, ask the help desk for some, uh, help.

By the same token, a bright young man or woman with solid IT skills probably imagines landing almost any other kind of job than sitting at a workstation and talking people through their hopelessly mundane IT misadventures for eight hours a day. Tech support, in the eyes of many, is the IT equivalent of flipping burgers at McDonald's, or standing behind a register at Walmart. Maybe it's better than sleeping under a bench in the city park, but not by much.

Yes, there are probably more engaging IT jobs than helping people unfreeze Windows, or locate the file that disappeared from their word processor. Help desk and tech support positions often pay much, much better, however, than the mundane professional dead-ends in other service industries that they're compared to. And they can be a great launch pad to bigger and better things further up the IT career ladder.

There's also plenty of need: Almost every industry in the modern world requires some level of computer support, and smart, reliable support technicians can be hard to find. What's more, that trend is moving in the direction of increased computerization — there's going to be more demand, not less, in the future. There's a great new article at GoCertify that discusses tech support as a profession and points to some certifications that can get you started.

So don't hold your nose the next time that you click over to the IT employment listings and see a long list of "support personnel needed" entries. And if you're looking for the right training to get a top tech support job, then quit reading this article and start your TestOut Continuing Education subscription today. Our CompTIA A+ or Network+ training will have you ready for your next job in no time at all.