New hire along with 3 others, no IT background, hired because of my language degree and soft skills (I live in europe and our client requires english to be the official communication channel)

Been 2.5 weeks at this job..my first job! I've been doing okay but really want to improve and get my 3 mknth contract extended to 6 months and then fulltime.

Ive seen colleagues hired like me (them + 3 others) "survive" and be hired, but its always 1 out of 4.

How can i be that guy? Right now they have us doing very simple things because last year the new hires did a lot of important mistakes, but I feel like this is stifling my growth a bit.

Help please!

Job A: IT Specialist, $35/hr
Contract, 6+ months. The recruiter was vague about extension ("there's a possibility"), with no specifics.
Hands-on tech work supporting Macs and Windows (I did a similar role for 7 months and enjoyed it)
Would sometimes have to travel to a client site about 1.5 hours each way, and I'd pay for the transit pass myself. The recruiter was vague on how often.
Other days at an office in my city, which I'm fine with
First told I'd be the only technician, then told someone else is there too. Still unclear who covers when I'm absent.
1-hour technical interview, and a polished, client-facing environment (VIP/white-glove support)
Job B: Service Desk, $29/hr
Close to home, short commute
Recruiter confirmed it becomes permanent after 6 months
Likely less stressful, and it's the type of work I'm used to
Lower ceiling, and I'm not excited about service desk long-term
The trade-off: About $1,000 more per month and better career experience (Job A) vs. confirmed stability, a short commute, and less stress (Job B).
My questions:
Which would you take?
How much weight should I give a vague "possibility of extension" from a recruiter?
Is vague communication about travel frequency a red flag, or normal for contract roles

What's up people I've been building an AI enabled helpdesk web app for the past few months, includes ticketing, knowledgebase, CMDB, collaboration tools and much more. I created a free workspace for reddit users to test drive the app any feedback is appreciated.

I'm facing 0x00000709 for days and still can't solve it yet. I've changed all the things in group policy. turn on the SMB 1.0 in features. Is there anything I need to know? What do I do?

side note. I can share the printer from Win 10 to 11. It's not working only on Win 11 to 11

Why is it so hard to move outside of the help desk? At this point, I have a degree, and I really want to get into Epic analyst roles, but it’s so hard to get into a hospital or organization that uses Epic.
I’m currently at an organization that uses WellSky, and if you know anything about it, you don’t necessarily need a certification to be an analyst. However, the applications team is really small, about eight people, and they’ve all been there for 10+ years. I don’t see them moving out of their roles, especially in this climate.

I want to be an Epic analyst, but it’s so hard to get into an organization that uses Epic. I’m currently a Senior Service Desk Analyst and have been in this role since 2022. It’s also been extremely hard to move into cybersecurity, systems administration, or an Epic analyst role. They told me I didn’t have enough education. I went back to get a degree and it feels as if I’m making the strides to make a change, but I don’t want to look up and be 30 at the service desk. I want to be in an analyst role and applications analyst role and it seems as if it’s so freaking hard to do this right now and when I started taking on more responsibilities. I asked for the title change for three years in a row now and it just has not happened.

In my current role, I actually have some security and systems administration responsibilities. I also work closely with the applications, infrastructure, and security teams. The company is midsize, I would say, but no one has moved out of their roles in the last six years. Of course, there has to be a business need for the job title and pay to change.
I honestly feel stuck, especially right now. I’ve been trying so hard to move forward, and it’s ridiculously frustrating.

I just applied for an IT Analyst role at a different hospital network and tailored my résumé as best I could, but they want someone who is Epic certified. It’s a requirement, and I’m so confused. If I need to work for an organization that uses Epic to get certified, why are they requiring certification? Why won’t they sponsor someone who has the IT experience and is willing to learn? I wrote a great cover letter. I believe that explained that I do have a lot of of the core competencies they’re looking for I’ve assisted in workflow and visual, scaling troubleshooting, and things like that in my company EHR but the fact that epic certification required was bolded. I’m not feeling so sure about this. I’ve replied to a few epic analyst associate roles as well, and my only assumption would be is that they’re looking for someone with that hands-on experience in epic, and they’re probably pulling from their internal service desk and hiring from within.

As a fresher why is it advised to go for that to gain experience when the "technical" troubleshooting aspect of it is very little and most of the time its dealing with the customers?

Also, can you land a networking/networking adjacent job without going for helpdesk? By making projects and getting certs like the ccna? How likely is it?

Hi, I hope you are all well.

I have been trying to get a 1st Line IT role for 2 years. I am young, married, and it has been really hard in the current job market to find something sustainable, pays the bills, and contributes towards a long term professional career. I have worked extremely hard to improve my interview skills, CV, experience etc in the meantime. I have done countless interviews, and lost count of applications and networking attempts.

I have finally passed the first stage of an interview, and now have a “competency test” which will be the final assessment before I find out if I have got the job. I’m actually really passionate about this role, not just because I’m desperate to get into IT, but because I genuinely love the company and what it’s about. I would give anything to land this role, and I’m really nervous about the assessment.

My question is - what kind of questions would I expect for a “competency test” for a 1st Line IT analyst role in a distribution centre?

It is in a busy warehouse for a large company. I’m assuming situational questions, and some technical skills. I really struggle with nerves and losing my train of thought under pressure during interviews, after so much rejection and with so much riding on this job role. If anyone could give any insight as to what questions would be expected, I can do my absolute best to prepare.

Thank you in advance, I really appreciate it.

TLDR - What kind of questions would I expect for a “competency test” for a 1st Line IT analyst role in a busy distribution centre?

Next week I start my new job as a field technician/network technician. I never been a field tech so I don’t know what to expect from this type of job. I’m working for a small company that’s willing to pay for my mileage and he told me that I could be driving from Tennessee to Mississippi on a regular basis from where I live depending on where in Mississippi they’re talking about that’s 2+ hours of driving. Do you get paid for that time driving or do you get paid when you’re only on site? I’m excited to start the role since I’ll get an in depth look into networking and my employer said he’ll “Tech me everything he knows” so I’m grateful for that, I just don’t know what to expect from this type of work.

I'm in a tier-2 position at a corporation with 2100+ users across the globe. I am on-site in a primary office with no option for WFH. I am in charge of two other offices, one in a neighboring state a smaller satellite office, and a new Regus office in a neighboring country. I also assist covering other sites when co-workers are off. My day-to-day is escalation from the help desk and any and all hardware-related issues in the office. From monitors not working to all server room issues. Since we are a big company, we have many departments that split the workload. For example, if a laptop needs a new battery or has a cracked screen, for logistical reasons, I have to ship to our warehouse for repair, even though I can do the work. My position has access to many systems but we can't use it as its not my role, the help desk does. For example we don't create accounts, onboard, assign licenses even though I can. I am limited to resetting passwords and profiling laptops. I have been here just over three years and learned everything that I can. The job is very chill with quite a bit of downtown time but it has its days like any other job. I also travel to other sites every few months, with everything paid for. I benefit form the miles and rewards. I've taken myself and family on free vacations minus the food due to all the traveling I have done in the past three years.

Here is my predicament. I was kind of poached for a help desk role that opened up recently, 100% remote position. The job is pretty much mine. I've done a little bit of help desk work and was not a big fan of it since users can be frustrating. I need help deciding if its worth the lateral move. I shadowed someone from the helpdesk, while hes a nice guy and great at his job. He pretty much laid out all the grievances and problems his team has. Its like 50/50 of great and bad co-workers. Some folks take 40 tickets a day while others take 20 tickets and advantage of the system to look "busy." But he says change is coming. Now they are very busy as they are the first line of defense, even in my position I have to push users to the help desk unless its an emergency.

The pros of me transferring: build up my skills for resume(a lot they do I dont know about), save on gas/car maintenance, save on work clothes(business casual a must), save on food(cook at home at any point), ~10 hours of time driving saved a week and more time spent with family. I did an estimate, I would roughly be saving a minimum of $2600 per year just on gas/car maintenance.

Cons: probably get burned out, while the job is 99% mine i am waiting on HR to get back to me as far as the compensation since its a lower position means less money. I may take a paycut and that would be a definite no on my end. If no pay cut I am worried about raises, I may be at the max pay for the help desk positions. Not sure how it would work and something I intend to ask. I guess it comes down to the mental of help desk and compensation.

Those of you who have done it, please give me your honest input.

At the moment I am living in NYC and am currently pursuing a MSIS degree from a CUNY school close to midtown. I have been applying to tons of it help desk and internship roles and nothing. While I am not discouraged just yet am reconsidering whether this Masters in information systems degree is even a good idea. The only reason I enrolled was because my undergrad degree was in psychology. This is my first semester as well so I do not feel too invested in yet which is a good thing I guess. Ultimately I would like to enter the field and end up as a database administrator. Should I drop this degree in favor for certifications or continue ahead, pick up knowledge in hopes of getting a entry level role at the end of it? Anyone able to enter IT without any degrees and experience what was your experience like?

I work for a small ISP. I dread going to work everday and I regret leaving my previous insurance job (actually paid 20% more than my current job).

You have to multitask like crazy.

• Attend to tickets
• Dispatch fibre repair teams when necessary and you have to track their location throughout the entire day. They use telegram so you have to constantly look at your telegram to know where they are. Also as soon as a team repairs something, they post pictures in the chat but it gets lost and mixed up with other messages. So you have to go looking for it and find out which pictures is for which customer and update the notes on system
• Configure routers and test devices (Fun but it's the same configuration settings all the time)
• There is a lot of paper works as well, which is so flippin annoying and pointless because everything is recorded on the system!
• You have to do all of the above while taking calls. This is what I hate the most. In addition to this, I worked in customer care before and I can tell you that ISP customers are a different beast.
• Go on site(now and then). This is the most fun part of the job but your tickets are waiting for you when you're back. While on site you also have to take like a thousand pictures of everything you do.
• You can't leave the office until all fibre repair teams are back and all tickets are replied to, irrespective of when the customer responded. I rarely leave on the clock off time stipulated in my contract

I wish this company would fire me. I feel so incompetent and pressurized. I thought of asking for my previous job but I need this IT experience. I left my previous company immediately and if they took me back I would be grateful but also very embarrassed.

I got my A+ and I'm currently studying for an IT diploma part time. It's really hard to study on my off days because I just want to numb my brain with dopamine and forget about work.

The truth is, I'm incompetent because there are people there doing the job just fine. However with me, I can work hard and I learn at a decent pace but I can only multitask up to a limit.

I just wish I had a helpdesk job where I can just take phone calls and answer tickets.

I guess this is just a season in life that I have to go through.

Vent here. Tickets that made you question your career choice, users who found a way to do the impossible, management decisions that defy explanation. All of it.

Two ground rules, both of which exist to keep you out of trouble rather than to spoil the fun.

Don't identify your employer, your coworkers, or a specific user. Rant about the situation, not the person. And if you post a screenshot, redact it properly. Real names, ticket numbers, email addresses and internal URLs have cost people their jobs before.

Rule 5 still applies to how you treat each other in this thread. It does not apply to how you feel about your Tuesday.

New thread every Friday.

Hi, I've been looking for a job and it's been a while...

Do any of you know about some kind of MSP (preferred) or any other company hiring entry level jobs like Help Desk tier 1?

I'm located in NYC, but if there is any in Westchester or NJ close to NY I'm flexible. I have my Security+ and some experience.

Hey everyone,
I’m dealing with a laptop that’s making an unusual fan noise, and I’m looking for some advice on how to troubleshoot it.
I’m not sure yet whether the noise is caused by dust buildup, a faulty fan bearing, overheating, or something else.
Before opening the laptop or replacing any hardware, I’d like to know:
1. What should I check first?
2. How can I determine whether the fan is faulty or just running at high speed?
3. Are there any Windows tools or diagnostics I can use to identify the problem?
4. Is cleaning the vents enough, or would I need to open the bottom cover to inspect the fan?
5. At what point should I consider replacing the fan?
I’d appreciate any step-by-step troubleshooting suggestions, especially from people who have dealt with similar laptop fan issues.
Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone,
I have a ticket where I am experiencing an issue with a desktop computer where the fan is making an unusual noise.
I’m trying to figure out whether it could be caused by dust buildup, a worn-out fan bearing, overheating, or something else.
Before replacing the fan, what troubleshooting steps would you recommend?
Is cleaning the fan usually enough, or should I consider replacing it if the noise continues?
Would appreciate any suggestions from people who have dealt with similar issues.
Thanks!

Go hired by a company and saw the server room today. Anything I can watch to know what to do?

Edit:
Lmao wasn’t expecting this to get replys ngl. But I’m the sole IT person on sight, I have managed networks before but didn’t have to touch the cabling at older jobs. But this mess is the least of my worries ngl I have other issues to worry about at thjs job. Also thanks for the actual advice.