The Taggart InstituteJun 12, 2023

A lot of people starting out in #IT view Helpdesk/Desktop Support as a slog to endure before making it to "real" jobs.

This is not a very useful perspective.

While Helpdesk is a common entrypoint to the industry, it is also the clearest connection between technology and people. This is its greatest challenge, and its greatest value to anyone starting their career.

It's easy and lazy to be frustrated by users who "don't know better." Sure, many requests can be shockingly banal or outlandish. But every time someone needs _your_ help with technology, you have the opportunity to use your skills to make someone else's life better.

Ironically, it's not your technical skill your users will ultimately remember. They will remember whether you treated them with kindness, patience, and empathy. These are your greatest assets in the role—and all others in technology and life.

It's about service. I don't mean in the corpo "customer service" sort of way. However you slice it, Helpdesk is an opportunity to be of service to someone else. You can do with that as you wish, but I encourage you to take that chance to exercise those three assets: kindness, patience, and empathy.

Show threadHaegar
@thetaggartinstitute "clearest connection between technology and people" - I think this is also the problem, not few persons go into IT to "not have to deal with people", aka "if I would have wanted people I would have gone to sales".
Jun 12, 2023 at 9:57pmWeb
Show threadThe Taggart InstituteJun 12, 2023
@haegar They should, I'm not kidding, change that perspective or exit the industry as quickly as possible. We have more than enough toxic people who forget that all the electrons zipping through sand is for the benefit of people. That's the job. Always has been.
Show thread4emili4Jun 13, 2023

@thetaggartinstitute @haegar

There's a lot of perspectives that need to change about IT.

IT has always been about the people who use your infrastructure. You don't build an environment for no reason, you build it because someone has to use it. As a company, you don't have a IT department for no reason, you have an IT department because they maintain the tools you need to do your work.

Technology is a enabler, it enables us to do more than we could without it.