IT Support is a vital part of every business. The majority of businesses will use some sort of technology to run their business, whether this is running an online website or using tech to communicate with suppliers and clients. The point is that in this modern age, we are surrounded by tech, and when we are so reliant on technology it can cause major disruptions if things go wrong. This is where IT Support and IT Support Professionals come in, ensuring that all things tech-related are running smoothly.
Here we look at what is IT Support and who needs it.
What is IT Support?
IT support is self-explanatory, you provide support with any technical or IT-related issues to a company’s employees or its customers. IT Support is a huge field with a variety of roles and jobs within it, making it a diverse field which has a lot to offer. Every IT Support Person will have a different role and have different responsibilities and this will depend on a number of factors such as the company they work for, the size of the company, the size of the IT Support department within that company as well as if the support is being provided internally or externally.
Who needs IT Support?
Businesses require IT support so they will hire IT Support Professionals that then provide the support internally to the company’s staff or externally to a company’s customer. This is where the different levels of IT support come in. For example, there are three main levels of IT support; 1st line support, 2nd line support and 3rd line support. The following is a summary of what each line of support does:
- 1st line support – usually the first point of contact and will try to deal with any basic, simple issues.
- 2nd line support – if 1st line support are not able to deal with the issues, they will pass on to 2nd line support. They will deal with more complex issues.
- 3rd line support – this will be the specialist and niche level of support that 1st line and 2nd line don’t have the expertise to provide.
The roles within IT Support
There are different roles for each stage of your career in IT Support. For example, some of the entry level IT Support roles are, Helpdesk Support, Entry-level IT Support and Trainee IT Support Technician. Some of the more senior and advanced roles are IT Support Engineer, Senior IT Support and Senior IT infrastructure Support Analyst.
How to secure a role in IT Support
There are a number of ways of ensuring that you secure the right role within any field in IT Support. The following are some ways you can secure the right IT Support role:
- Getting the right IT Support qualifications
- Getting the right IT Support experience
- Making sure your CV portrays your skills and expertise accurately
- Look for IT Support jobs on specialist sites
- Sign up to for job alerts
- Sign up to IT specialist job board database so the recruiters can come to you
More on IT Support jobs and a guide to working in IT Support.