What is a helpdesk technician?

 it helpdesk technician

Help Desk Technicians provide technical support for IT end-users.

Help desk technicians are vital to the IT workforce, as they keep the technologies that organizations rely on to do business up-to-date and running smoothly.

IT help desk technicians provide technical support and troubleshooting services to end-users who need assistance with their computer hardware or software. There are two chief types of help desk technician: In-house and Remote. Remote help desk technicians support technology customers via phone, online and occasionally on-site. In-house technicians only provide support for internal employees.

Help desk technicians need a deep understanding of computer hardware and software. Strong communication skills are also essential, as help desk specialists must effectively communicate solutions to both technical and non-technical individuals. The IT help desk career path is ideal for methodical problem-solvers with an aptitude for learning and quickly adapting new skills. Patience, resourcefulness and a desire to help others are desirable virtues in technical support and help desk roles.

Many IT pros begin their career as help desk technicians because of the low experience and education requirements, then as they're exposed to new IT disciplines and technologies they discover their niche and branch out into other IT careers, such as network administrator, DBA or IT security specialist. Other technicians will remain at the help desk and leverage their experience to become a help desk technician manager.

a.k.a. Desktop Support Technician | Technical Support Specialist | Computer Support Engineer | IT Support Specialist | Field Service Technician | Desktop Support Analyst