Help Desk Tier 1

[Shawn Badger]

I know a person that makes their income just doing bug bounties. No resume
needed, just some documentation skills (which I don't have)

On Tue, Oct 31, 2017 at 7:30 AM, <techlists at phpcoderusa.com> wrote:

>
> How to you feel about being self-employed?  If you think that might be for
> you, pick your niche, and make a plan.  If you can generate business leads
> and can weed out the bad  projects and unethical people, you can make an
> above average income and have limited interface with others.  If you use a
> contract, and I strongly suggest you do, everything is spelled out.  If the
> client decides on a deviation it can be handled by an addendum and an
> adjustment to the fees and payment schedule as may be necessary.
>
> And you can start learning and doing while employed.  The experts say you
> should "moonlight" until your business is doing good enough to replace your
> day job.
>
>
>
> On 2017-10-31 00:06, trent shipley wrote:
>
> Well, as you may recall from my last installment about career options, I
> am bipolar, have autism spectrum disorder, and I have attention deficit
> disorder. Another disability is that I'm 50. After working with my "job
> coach" it turns out that if you are both ASD and ADD the intersection of
> viable, suggested career options comes down to "computers".  If you are
> ASD, something terrible uncreative and repetitive like QA. If you are ADD
> something terribly creative like greenfield development or web development.
> I like to try development/programming, and I like data, and have had
> success working with SQL, but that was between 2000 and 2002.
>
> So after researching, my options I have reached the following conclusions:
>
> To get an entry level job with programming or data you need.
>
> 1) Recent, diverse experience bringing you close to a plug-n-play employee.
>
> 2) Failing 1, a portfolio. If you are a self-studier who starts their own
> projects you have a good chance at an entry-level start that you can build
> on.
>
> 3) Failing 1 or 2, If you have a BS in Computer Science or Software
> Engineering, you need to have graduated with honors from a prestigious
> school or done at least a year of internships, because odds are you won't
> get work in your field.
>
> 4) Given 1, 2, 3 I qualify for telephone IT help desk. Help desk jobs with
> no requirements like A+ or Net+ or knowing Active Directory.
>
> I currently work in customer service, no sales. They like high quality and
> low handle times, but it's pretty low pressure. I get $13 & change an hour;
> plus, a $4 & change allowance for benefits. Not bad. The downside is
> people, phones, and dead-end McJob, oh and it's seasonal. Thirty-two hours
> a week for about eight months out of the year.  I also can't sell at all,
> and my average, normalized, handle time is on the order of 1.8 standard
> deviations above the mean, and rising. (My speed is measured as being in
> the lower quartile for almost everything for which they measure
> speed--math, reading, manual dexterity, typing, everything.)
>
> The big advantage I see working help desk is that there is room for
> promotion to tier II and beyond.  On rare occasions, help desk people may
> even get promoted to something more interesting, better paying, more
> prestigious, and less dehumanizing than help desk.
>
> On the other hand I expect that most help desk jobs will emphasize sales,
> short phone calls, high levels of quality, and have very stressful, high
> pressure work environments, where the workers are treated like eminently
> replaceable manure, that pay $10 to $13 an hour to start. I expect that if
> I change jobs, there is a very, very good chance I will be a failure at
> telephone IT help desk. Unfortunately, telephone help desk, tier I or my
> current job are the only options I see myself as having.
>
> Anyway I'd be happy to hear any feedback the list might have.
>
> I'd love to conduct a couple of interviews with people who have worked, or
> are working unskilled tier I IT help desk. However, be forewarned, the last
> such interviews I did lasted an hour. My vocational rehab working says most
> such interviews last WELL under 20 minutes, but did the last ones after
> work hours, and have an advanced degree in anthropology, so I kinda draw
> out interviews.
>
> Also, If you can send any prospects my way, I'd appreciate it.
>
> Regards,
>
>
> Trent.
>
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