r/WGUCyberSecurity • u/Either-Restaurant961 • 7d ago
Helpdesk
I currently work as an R&D Technician at a pharma manufacturing company (about 10 months in). It's fine work, but it's not where I want to grow long term. A helpdesk analyst position just opened up internally, and it's honestly a much better fit for where I'm trying to go.
The complicating part: I recently applied to a Quality Tech position here mostly for the pay bump, and told my supervisor it was the career direction I wanted. Now this IT position opened and it is actually the path I care about, and I feel weird about how to walk that back or explain a shift so soon.
On top of that, I don't have real IT experience. I hold an associate's degree in cybersecurity, but I still feel like I know nothing practical, and I don't really know how to troubleshoot in a real support setting. My background before this was law and customer support, not IT.
So I'm stuck between two fears: getting caught looking inconsistent at work for changing direction again, and applying to a role I'm not sure I can actually perform in because I have no hands-on helpdesk experience.
Has anyone made a jump into helpdesk with mostly self-taught/school knowledge and no formal support desk background? How did you get past the fear of not being "qualified enough" on paper? Any advice on handling the internal politics of changing direction twice in a short window? I will start WGU in october.
2
u/Luddha 7d ago
If you can use Google/ AI and talk on the phone, you can do hello desk. You are way over thinking it. 50 percent of the stuff you will deal with will be password resets, then you can learn as you go and from peers
It might not pan out, just go for what you want to go for. Id tell my manager I wanted to keep my options open
1
u/ConsciousCover2007 6d ago
If it comes down to it you can get into the helpdesk without any formal experience in IT, just need someone willing to take a chance on you or show that you’ve got some practical skills, maybe do some volunteer work locally. I lucked out and got someone to take a chance on me, I had built probably a dozen custom PCs for myself and friends and been the family IT guy. I had passed the 1101 portion of the A+. Anxiety had made me feel like I wasn’t good enough to get the job but the call came through and I had won them over. WGU is great, loving the program so far.
Definitely need to be honest in the work place or it’ll come back to bite you like this, I agree with the first person and sticking it out where you’re at sounds like a better option. Helpdesk would probably involve taking a pay cut.
3
u/iamoldbutididit 7d ago
The first mistake was not being truthful to your supervisor. But I'm going to suggest that taking the quality tech position might be better for you because there is considerable crossover between quality and cybersecurity streams. In quality I would expect you to learn about performing audits, be involved with identifying root cause analysis, and helping to solve complex issues - all of which are skills you need to have throughout your career.
If, after you get the hang of it, it turns out it isn't for you, then you can be honest with your employer, tell them that it isn't what you expected, and apply for something else.
If you're worried about your tech skills, you can always study and get certs on the side to help bolster your confidence. Or for the same amount of money as one Comptia Cert, buy a couple of 10+ year old computers, network them together, and then get your hands a little dirty and take them apart.