#ITJob #CareerAdvice #JobSearch #ITSpecialist #ProfessionalExperience #CareerDevelopment
👩💼 Nabbing an IT Specialist position with very little professional experience can definitely be nerve-wracking. You may feel underqualified and wonder if you’re in over your head, but rest assured, it’s possible to excel in this role with the right approach and mindset. Here are some tips to help you navigate your new position and build up your confidence:
Understanding Your Role and Responsibilities
As an IT Specialist, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of your role and responsibilities. Take the time to review the job description and familiarize yourself with the expectations and tasks that come with the position. This will help you gain clarity on what is expected of you and allow you to set realistic goals for your professional development.
Leveraging Your Skills and Certifications
While you may have limited professional experience, it’s important to recognize the value of your skills and certifications. Your knowledge of hardware, Windows, and your Sec+ certification demonstrate your competency in the IT field. Additionally, your passion for computers and previous ad-hoc troubleshooting and volunteer work at a computer repair shop are valuable experiences that have equipped you with practical skills that will contribute to your success in your new role.
Seeking Mentorship and Guidance
It’s beneficial to seek mentorship and guidance from experienced professionals in the IT industry. Consider reaching out to your colleagues and superiors for advice, insights, and support. Building relationships with your peers and learning from their experiences can provide you with valuable knowledge and help you gain confidence as you navigate your new position.
Embracing Learning Opportunities
Embrace every learning opportunity that comes your way. Take advantage of any training programs, workshops, and resources provided by your employer to enhance your skills and knowledge. Stay updated with the latest industry trends and technologies, and be proactive in expanding your expertise in areas relevant to your role as an IT Specialist.
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
Feeling underqualified or like you don’t belong in your new role is a common experience known as imposter syndrome. Remember that landing the IT Specialist position was not a fluke, and you were chosen for a reason. Acknowledge your achievements, focus on your strengths, and remind yourself that it’s okay to ask for help and learn as you go.
Seeking Constructive Feedback
Don’t be afraid to seek constructive feedback from your supervisor and colleagues. Asking for feedback shows your commitment to growth and improvement, and it can provide you with valuable insights on areas where you can enhance your performance and skills.
Final Thoughts
It’s natural to feel nervous and underqualified when starting a new job, especially in a field where you have limited professional experience. However, with the right mindset, a willingness to learn, and a proactive approach to your professional development, you can overcome these feelings and thrive in your new role as an IT Specialist. Embrace the learning opportunities that come your way, leverage your skills and certifications, seek mentorship, and remember that it’s okay to ask for help. You’ve got this! 🌟
In conclusion, the key to excelling in your new IT Specialist position is to understand your role and responsibilities, leverage your skills and certifications, seek mentorship and guidance, embrace learning opportunities, overcome imposter syndrome, and seek constructive feedback. With these strategies in mind, you can build confidence and navigate your new role with ease. Remember, it’s okay to feel nervous, but believe in yourself and your abilities to succeed in your new position. Good luck! 🖥️
Find out what solution they are using to deploy machines.
As long as you can take the computer and figure out what’s going on without the person starring at you the whole time you should be fine.
90% of us are just winging it everyday.
The description doesn’t sound like you skipped help desk but rather your role sounds like an in-person/on-call help desk.
This is desktop support, sounds like a great opportunity to get your feet wet(with great entry level pay).
Just accept it now that you won’t always have a solution at the top of your head.
However, we are paid to figure it out lol. So google/gpt will be your friend, reach out to senior team members if you have any and you’re stuck.
I don’t think you’re in over your head, you’ll be able to figure it out
Naw. I’d agree with others who say “90% of us wing it every day”.
* Take lots of notes
* observe what your coworkers do (assuming you have coworkers ?)
* Google search a lot.
I’m 50 yrs old.. and started a new job about 6 months ago.. I still feel pretty lost and fumbling around. Not because I “don’t know the skills”.. but because any time you join a new company, you have to learn their “internal culture”. You’ll likely find lots of ,. shall we say.. “backwards things” (stuff that was done sloppy or incompletely). . which is nice because it’s also lots of opportunities to improve things.
At any new job,.. if it’s a reasonable Employer,.. they’re not going to expect you to “hit the ground running on Day 1”. That’s just not humanly possible. You’ll have some amount of time (weeks to months?).. where you can basically ask as many dumb questions as you want. (I’m still using the line “Hey.. I’ve only been here about 6 months”. .. I generally don’t feel comfortable in a place till I’ve been there 2 to 5 years.
That just sounds like help desk to me. Be thankful for the job and do your best
Holy sh*t 70k?? Where are you located?
Im in the same boat as you but hoping to score the 70k job, how was ur tech interview?
70k for helpdesk? Is this in a HCOL area?
You’re lucky take the job learn and grow I have 2+ years of IT experience A+ and about to finish a bachelor’s I can barely get above 45k
Relax, working at a help desk made me realize just how many people are barely able to do their job that theyve been doing for years. You shouldn’t feel bad just because you’re new to yours. They obviously saw something in you if they hired you so just do your best, fail, and do better next time.
how the hell did you do that i need to know
70k….how
Yep, that’s Workstation support.
Nobody skips helpdesk. ITCareers start with helpdesk, and its helpdesk positions ALL the way up.
Even roles that involve coding include skills that helpdesk uses. Its Helpdesk from here on out!
Where you located? $70K starting at 23 is amazing in most places. Good for you buddy!
You’ll be fine. If you wanna learn, the low level stuff is being good at Google. This looks like a humble brag, you should be really pumped to start at that much. Unless you are in NYC, Seattle, San Fran, etc…
Congrats! Keep at it and learn everyday. The really good IT folks will tell you it’s your entire life you spend learning, doing a lot at home. But there are successful people who don’t, they’re good at learning and logic as well, but they lean on social skills and specialization. So being the best isn’t always the same as being the most successful. Find a good life balance, it’s a journey.
Yeah to be fair most of the time is google those niche issues. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I just landed 6 figures and even the manager told me he can teach the tech but the personality needs to be a fit. This will be my 6th year in DecOps and I still use google/stack overflow since people love to use new tech without fully looking into it.
That’s pretty good starting pay. Just jump right in, don’t be afraid to ask “stupid” questions, document all the things people teach you so you don’t need to ask them again, and you’ll pick up on stuff faster than you would imagine. Bonus points if you can do this stuff while being likeable and personable and not an “IT Guy” stereotype. PS No one knows everything. I spent much of my early career just googling and finding threads of people who had the same problem I had.
If it makes you feel better you’ll have phases of feeling underqualified to apathetic.
I think you got hired because you’re tech savvy and young. Do your best and if this were me, I’d focus on learning. 70k is a pretty nice wage at your age.
A lot of people have trouble breaking into IT, so don’t short yourself
70k a year for helpdesk…..
damn. i dont make that as a network engineer in florida.
Consider yourself lucky pal, most of us started out making 40 to 50k then again the wages never went up, in your case they did! Also do not get emotionally involved in your job, show up do the job and leave do not go above and beyond for anyone since the company will not care in the end.
I don’t think you’re in over your head. I just had my first week as a t2 support analyst. I couldn’t believe I got the job I have 0 professional experience and 0 certs. I’m in school for an an associates IT degree but that’s it. They told me because I knew the answer to some basic questions and was eager to learn I bested other candidates. They’ll teach you what you need to know. It’s okay not to know things just be hungry for knowledge and you’ll be fine.
Let me introduce you to your new best friend: google.com
Enjoy the job and don’t sweat it, you got this.
70k at 23 years old just starting is sick. Ride the wave and do your best. Take lots of notes.
If you were in my company you would be in the Home Office department. My department (Help Desk) is literally next to theirs.
What they do is image computers for Home Office users (we use Altiris for this) and then set up their workstation/cubicle, follow up with DELL for hardware repairs, oversee hardware orders (we use something called Procurement), and for remote users they set up laptops at the home office and makes sure the user’s network credentials are cached onto the machine to ensure user can log into the PC for the first time successfully without being on our network.
I also assist with some issues that don’t necessarily need the Home Office team to troubleshoot – resetting passwords, reimagining corrupted OSs, installing miscellaneous software via Altiris, Installing corporate printers and I do troubleshoot their hardware if they are having issues just because I know the Home Office team has a lot on their plate so I coordinate my work with them as much as I can. Not everyone does this but I like to build a relationship with other departments so they’re easier to get a hold of if I need help here and there.
I don’t know everything they’re tasked for but I do know they deal with a lot of users at the office that don’t know how to cable in a docking station to have monitors working the way they want, loose cables, replacing ethernet cables, assigning loaner laptops whilst working on the affected one etc
“This includes setting up new workstations, reimaging, etc.” Did you do any lab work during your security+? the key responsibilities that you listed arn’t out of your league, you will do great in your current role. What are your future ambitions with certs/promotions?
Honestly, sounds like a really good job for that pay. I don’t think you’ll have many problems, if you don’t know just ask or google it. Good luck and congrats on the new job.