Help Desk Certification

Help desk certification will enhance your resume. But what can be classed as “help desk certification”? It’s certainly not an MCSE or any other high level qualification.

If you’re shooting for entry level IT jobs it’s safe to assume that you won’t be configuring many servers or network peripherals for some time to come.

Preparing for the technical side of help desk work is best done by getting into that environment and just learning and doing as much as you can. I started by going in at the deep end, it was a 2 week work experience placement that turned into a job.

The trick is to make yourself as useful as possible even if you don’t know anything. Do that by getting non technical helpdesk training – if you haven’t read about developing non technical skills please click here (opens in new window) then come back and find out about technical certification.

Technical Certification

So what technical certifications can improve your chances of landing a help desk role without burning a large hole in your wallet and making you appear overqualified (read fast track MCSE – don’t do it!!) for this type of work?

For helpdesk and 1st line work a lot of your technical requirements will be in resetting passwords, using call logging software, operating system and office software faults, hardware problems and the general joys of user problems.

To be best prepared for this your first stops should be in CompTIA A+ and Microsoft’s MCDST. Unless of course you are following the pure networking path in which you’ll want to look into CompTIA A+, Network+ and Cisco’s CCNA INTRO.

CompTIA A+

Whatever your direction, technically the beginning of all roads is A+. This is the number 1 starting point help desk certification for anyone. A+ covers basic hardware and operating systems regardless of version or vendor.

Getting this certification is no small feat, it consist of two exams (hardware and operating systems) and when completed qualifies you as a hardware engineer. Some large hardware vendors are now making this certification a requirement for their staff.

A+ is not only a very good help desk certification it also lays foundations for more advanced qualifications further up the road. I remember studying for more advanced networking and Microsoft operating system exams and reading the same sentences over and over again because I had no grounding in hardware and OS technologies.

CompTIA Network+

Network+ is a natural progression after completing A+. Whether it is a better idea to take this one next or start concentrating on vendor specific software or networking certifications is down to the career progression you have in mind.

If you are looking to go down the office environment direction one day to lead into Microsoft networking I’d skip this and look into the MCP and MCDST help desk certification track.

If you are looking to get work in a NOC (network operations center) with a view to becoming a network admin looking after routers, switches, firewalls etc. then Network+ should be your next step.

I’ve heard it said that Network+ crosses over a lot of material with the INTRO exam if Cisco’s CCNA certification. The CCNA is vendor specific whereas Network+ isn’t, many people have both, which one you do (or do first of you’re going to get both) is up to you.

Network+ is more generic, but if you want to get into Cisco networking specifically do INTRO.

MCP and MCDST

The MCDST is a help desk certification developed specifically by Microsoft for entry level help desk work. It consists of two exams, one for operating system troubleshooting and one for office application troubleshooting.

Each individual exam grants MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) status and MCDST (Microsoft Certified Desktop Service Technician) on completion of both.

Combine MCP/MCDST with A+ and some non technical help desk training and you should get an excellent help desk job in no time.

MS Office Certifications - MOS

A lot of help desk calls involve the Microsoft Office Suite. The MCDST teaches how to install, configure and troubleshoot these apps but does not go into any depth about using them to their full potential.

Users will often request help and guidance on how to perform certain tasks. Because you’re on the help desk and an IT person they normally assume that you know everything there is to know about this suite of applications.

I’ve seen help desk jobs advertised that require in depth knowledge of MS Office ‘to the macro level’. The help desk certification best suited to this is the Microsoft Office Specialist qualification. There are varying levels of this qualification that you can read more about here.

Specialising in MS Office gives you an opportunity to branch out into different fields such as development (start learning VB through macros) and database administration (become a master of MS Access) should they be your career progressions of choice.

Conclusion

The help desk certification for you depends on the type of career you want to follow. Get some help desk non technical training, the right technical certification for you and your prospective employers.

Avoid irrelevant, expensive, high level certifications (‘fast track’ MCSE) that training companies are touting as shortcuts to highly paid work and you’ll leap ahead of your competition.

My advice? – Start with A+ and get help desk training. From there you can get a foot in the door and make an informed decision and what you’d like to do next, be it networking with Microsoft, Cisco, Novell – or development, database administration, project management – become a hardware engineer or whatever you want to be.