What does an IT support do in a.......

burutos08

What does an IT support do?

Im applying for a new open factory and it has a network, many users and server. And they will have proxy server. So what are the usual job of an IT support. Because Im just newly grad and have no idea. Although I know about IT, but i want to know what are the jobs?

Anyone experienced or working in an IT support job? Share your experience hehe....

TIA!

Gaz

Depends on the level of the position , a deskside support person will go around working on users issues, setting up printers, setting up new pcs. They will have limited access to the servers, perhaps only setting up new accounts etc.

A systems/network admin will be responsible for everything from data recovery, licensing, server maintenace , wan maintanence. Ensuring zero down time.

How big is the organisation ? Is this position part of a team ?

You dont sound ready to be honest.

docentore

Well, first of all they don't say "hello" or "good morning", they main line is "Did you try to switch it off and on again?".

At least I do.

burutos08

hello tnx for the replies....

hmm my friend is employed to that company. Well the organization is big, and he said there is already an IT supervisor and he needs IT support. So im wondering what jobs will do an IT support. I ask my friend he said about IT....LOL!! I just want to know the experience of others in this job situation..

TIA guys!

ronkmonster

What did you graduate in?

You'll be fixing PC issues, network issues and printer issues mainly.
Each of those cover a lot of different things and problems.

Quandary

Hi OP,

I worked in IT for 6 years -

1 year as phone support
2 years as desktop support
3 years as a Sys Admin

By the sound of the position you will be having a fairly junior role, which is a very very very good thing - you definitely dont want to bite off more than you can chew straight out of college!

If its a small IT department then you could be doing a huge range of things i.e.

Server backups
Desktop setup/configuration
Printer management
Antivirus management
Comms work like cable patching, possibly helping with switch installation/config
Account management in Active Directory like, password resetting...
Email management - configuring outlook/lotus notes whatever the company uses

and a whole load more i cant think of off hand!

If you are part of a very big IT team/dept then your role will probably be much more limited -

You probably would have little or nothing to do with anything on the server side, mainly all end user stuff like responding to helpdesk calls, calling to users desks to help with problems.

It really does depend on a lot of things but if a company is willing to hire you straight out of college they will not expect you to be able to do the work of a sys admin.

Best of luck with it....

Spear

burutos08 wrote: »

Anyone experienced or working in an IT support job? Share your experience hehe....

TIA!

Always remember this: users always lie.

The bitterness/coffee dependence/troubleshooting instincts will come with time.

burutos08

@quandary wow thanks for your experience. So what exactly do you do as Sys Admin?

thanks for the replies guys i really appreciate it.

Yes im a fresh grad hehe.....I guess I'll give it a shot. Everyone starts from 0.....:eek:

Quandary

burutos08 wrote: »

@quandary wow thanks for your experience. So what exactly do you do as Sys Admin?

thanks for the replies guys i really appreciate it.

Yes im a fresh grad hehe.....I guess I'll give it a shot. Everyone starts from 0.....:eek:

When I was a sys admin i was pretty much responsible for maintaining every software system in the company -

Sophos Antivirus
Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory management (group policy stuff, a/c creation etc...)
Symantec Netbackup - software which ran backups for almost 70 servers(Windows based, Linux and AIX)
I had to deal with escalated help desk problems which the help desk staff either couldnt solve or didnt have the required security access levels
Microsoft Sharepoint management
I had quite a bit of work to do with installing and configuring client side applications which tied into SAP and some custom designed in-house software systems.
SQL database management - the company had a lot of SQL servers which required careful monitoring and maintenance.
Co-ordinating downtime in order to do software updates to various systems so as to cause as little interruption to company operations as possible (this was painful sometimes :mad: )

There are quite a few more areas im sure im forgetting but its been over 2 years since i worked as a sys admin so thats all i can remember off hand

Just to give you an idea of scale - the company in which I worked contained over 500 people. Its main base is Dublin but there were other offices around Europe which meant I sometimes had to travel.

My advice to you would be this...

- if you feel overwhelmed by workload, say it, dont just sit there and struggle quietly
- an obvious one but a very important one, stay positive!
- if possible, try and get proper training in the systems you will be using
- Dont get sucked into working too late on too regular a basis, this is not good for you. Coming in a half hour early when possible I have found to be very handy, as it gives you time to have your coffee/tea whatever and get your self ready.
- Ask as many questions as you can think of, you're just learning your trade after all!
- If you find yourself needing to ask the same question more than once or twice make sure to keep notes of the answer/solution.
- Use some type of task management system for yourself - like outlook tasks or maybe if you're like me you can create a Microsoft Access database to log everything you do. This will let you run reports if your boss asks you what you did yesterday/last week etc
- This is important - keep a paper trail!!!. If people ring/ask you to do something for them, try to get them into the habit of sending the request to you in an email.
- Arrange to have a progress/update meeting with your boss at least once a month (preferably once every 2 weeks). This will give you and you're boss a chance to address concerns and plan ahead.
- When given a deadline make sure to meet it. If it looks like this wont happen then let your boss know as early as possible.
- This is another big one - if you make a mistake, own up straight away, dont try to cover up/hide and always clean up your own mess if you can
- Finally, try to stay relaxed :cool: - easier said than done i know but the calmer you are the less mistakes you'll make!

If you heed this advice you will get off to a great start I think! It took me a while to learn some of these things

Best of luck in your career, im sure you'll enjoy it!

burutos08

@quandary wow thanks again for sharing your experience! I will try my best and think positive! As long I will learn from the heart I can make it hehe...and of course with the use of my brain LOL!

Because not all they will teach in school, so I have to explore other things by myself now. Good thing I've read this from you....thanks!!

AND thanks to all that replied to my thread