Interested in becoming a help desk administrator? Here’s what you need to know
What is a helpdesk administrator?
What is a help desk administrator?
A helpdesk administrator is someone who is primarily responsible for providing customer support and resolving customer problems. They also do this in the most knowledgeable and professional manner possible. In addition, helpdesk administrators are usually part of a company’s IT support team, where he or she provides technical assistance regarding hardware, software, and computer systems.
What does a helpdesk administrator do?
Helpdesk administrators are part of a company’s customer support department, so their main responsibility is to offer support to those who need it. Further, here are other responsibilities tasked to a helpdesk administrator:
- Walk customers through the problem-solving process
- Answer queries and provide technical assistance
- Diagnose and resolve issues
- Install, modify, or repair computer hardware
- Record a log of events and service failures
- Write training manuals
- Follow up with customers to ensure complete resolution of the issue
- Train computer users
- Redirect specific concerns to correct resource
- Come up with ways to improve the company’s support procedures
- Other related tasks as assigned
How to become a helpdesk administrator
Becoming a helpdesk administrator, however, isn’t a walk in the park. Further, aspiring candidates need to have a Bachelor’s degree, preferably in business or computer courses. They also need to have excellent oral and written communication skills, as they will be communicating with customers and resolving their problems via email, phone, or live chats.
However, being a helpdesk administrator is a career full of many opportunities. You may start with this role, and move on with more complex roles such as systems administrator, network administrator, consultant, information technology manager, to systems engineering manager.
Skills and traits needed to become a helpdesk administrator
To become a helpdesk administrator, they should also have the much-needed knowledge in information technology, hardware, software, and company systems. Further, here are the other skills and traits needed to become a helpdesk administrator:
- Prior experience in a related field is an advantage
- Excellent oral and written communication skills
- Customer service training
- Technology-savvy
- Telephone etiquette
- Systems and brand knowledge
- Problem-solving skills
- Empathy
- Organizational and time management skills
- Most important, customer-oriented and cool-tempered
