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Desktop support specialist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Jennifer Richardson Ph.D.,

Anthony Baron

Desktop support specialist example skills

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical desktop support specialist skills. We ranked the top skills for desktop support specialists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 10.0% of desktop support specialist resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a desktop support specialist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 desktop support specialist skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how desktop support specialists use customer service:

Provided excellent communication and customer service skills to end-users and colleagues over ServiceNow, e-mails, phones and face-to-face encounters.
Delivered elite customer service through responsive interfacing, problem assessment, prompt determination of corrective actions and comprehensive follow-up.

2. Desktop Support

Here's how desktop support specialists use desktop support:

Level 2 Distributed Desktop Support Lead responsible for infrastructure maintenance and installation services within Microsoft Windows XP environment.
Provided primary line-of-business application and desktop support for University's Occupational Health Clinic and affiliated counseling center.

3. Troubleshoot

Troubleshooting is the process of analyzing and fixing any kind of problem in a system or a machine. Troubleshooting is the detailed yet quick search in the system for the main source of an issue and solving it.

Here's how desktop support specialists use troubleshoot:

Applied knowledge of state-of-the-art software, hardware, network infrastructure, and information technology to troubleshoot user/system problems.
Escalate tickets to appropriate department for resolution Troubleshoot software and hardware failures.

4. PC

Here's how desktop support specialists use pc:

Standardized PC imaging according to departmental specifications, which resulted in streamlined deployment and support processes.
Provided professional end-user support on issues with PC applications and telephony.

5. Technical Support

Technical support or tech support are the services provided by any hardware or software company to users. They help in solving the technical difficulties the customers face with their products or services. Moreover, the tech support employees maintain, manage, and repair the IT faults. They are also responsible for resolving the network problems, installing and configuring hardware and software.

Here's how desktop support specialists use technical support:

Provided technical support to multiple hospital and clinic facilities, troubleshooting and repairing hardware/software issues on desktops and laptops computers.
Provided second level technical support via telephone and email to a national physician network for our pharmaceutical promotion research organization.

6. SCCM

Here's how desktop support specialists use sccm:

Manage scheduled software/Security patch upgrades via SCCM.
Assisted with the automation of applications used in our corporation to be less interactive during the installation process through SCCM.

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7. Remote Desktop

Here's how desktop support specialists use remote desktop:

Utilized Remote Desktop/NetMeeting to support customers.
Utilized remote tools such as GoToAssist, GoToMeeting, and Microsoft Remote Desktop to trouble shoot issues at remote locations.

8. Mac

A media access control or simply MAC is a network policy that identifies or determines how the data is being transferred in two particular servers through a network cable. The purpose of a MAC protocol is to prevent network or technical issues and simplify transferring the information or data.

Here's how desktop support specialists use mac:

Provide hardware support to end users (laptop, desktop, Mac, related accessories, printers MFD, etc.)
Install and repair OS and applications on desktops, laptops (Windows & Mac), and mobile computing devices.

9. Network Printers

Here's how desktop support specialists use network printers:

Repair local and network printers with hardware/software configuration issues.
Installed and configured desktop hardware/software and network printers.

10. OS

In technical terms, OS stands for "Operating System". It is a software that is used to run programs on the computer. An operating system acts as a link between the user and the hardware components. Windows, macOS, iOS, Linux are examples of an operating system.

Here's how desktop support specialists use os:

Loaded and configured desktop OS for standalone operation and basic network connectivity.
Installed/updated desktop software applications and OS security patches.

11. Laptop Computers

Here's how desktop support specialists use laptop computers:

Assisted clients with the installation, configuration and ongoing support of desktop/laptop computers, applications and related technology.
Configure desktop and laptop computers using imaging solutions.

12. Computer System

Here's how desktop support specialists use computer system:

Performed general maintenance tasks, troubleshooting and repairs of computer system and peripheral equipment located throughout plant locations.
Provide software updates and modifications over the network to maintain efficient operation of computer systems.

13. User Support

Here's how desktop support specialists use user support:

Utilized Remedy Ticketing for trouble ticket prioritization and tracking regarding personal computer user support.
Provide third level user support to troubleshoot/resolve end user software/hardware issues.

14. VPN

A Virtual Private Network, VPN encrypts a device's internet access, activity, and identity through a secure server, making data theft and third-party traceability more difficult, and increasing the privacy and security of public and private networks, the internet, and Wi-Fi hotspots. The VPN is designed to protect one's system and network from being compromised.

Here's how desktop support specialists use vpn:

Assisted remote users with all aspects of connectivity including home network troubleshooting and VPN connectivity.
Configured and ensured Wireless and VPN connectivity for Laptop customers.

15. Workstations

Here's how desktop support specialists use workstations:

Performed installations of workstations with corporate approved software and hardware tests to determine device functionality and consistency.
Maintained Windows servers, network peripherals and workstations including workstation service contracts and hardware/software inventory.

5 Desktop Support Specialist resume examples

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What skills help Desktop Support Specialists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on desktop support specialist resumes?

Jennifer Richardson Ph.D.

Professor, Purdue University

Always the soft skills - they stand out I think first and foremost regardless of where you are coming from and where you are going to. Without the ability to communicate, collaborate, facilitate, and problem-solve it is tough to succeed in today's environment. Experience is also key no matter the position; without prior experience to demonstrate the skills you are indicating you have trained for it is hard for those doing the hiring to know if you have learned the skills or if you have learned and experienced (or applied) those skills. Students should seek out opportunities to apply their skills while still working through their program. I believe going forward with K-12 educators we will see that those that have training or professional development with teaching at a distance will go a long way. Before COVID-19 hit we were already planning a new offering for virtual instruction licensure, it is now garnering a lot of attention.

What soft skills should all desktop support specialists possess?

Anthony Baron

Teaching Assistant, Associate Software Engineer, American University

The main soft skills I would say are needed for Computer Science software engineering are patience, perseverance, creativity, respect, teamwork, and openness to learning and teaching. Programming involves a lot of trial and error, researching, and learning better techniques for solving a problem. Due to this, patience and perseverance to reach the final goal in mind are crucial. When it comes to the learning aspect, there are many languages, frameworks, and libraries, and working with them involves a steeper learning curve than others. On top of this, there are often more elegant ways to program a solution, and many new frameworks and libraries are released throughout the industry. This is where patience and perseverance is also a virtue. Lastly, programming and creating a product are often done in teams, where working together and learning from each other is important.

What hard/technical skills are most important for desktop support specialists?

Anthony Baron

Teaching Assistant, Associate Software Engineer, American University

The main technical/ hard skills, I would say, are mainly the same as in part 1. Another hard skill that will come through with experience in programming is learning how to Google, more specifically knowing exactly what to search to solve an issue in the code.

What desktop support specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Ranganathan Chandrasekaran

Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, University of Illinois

With remote-working and virtual collaborations becoming routine, more firms are increasing their investments in technology. In my opinion, irrespective of the location, many companies will seek to hire technology professionals.

What type of skills will young desktop support specialists need?

Joshua Davis Ph.D.

Lecturer, Carleton College

Studying mathematics is good practice for rigorous thinking and problem solving, which are valued across the workforce. For science and engineering applications, it is often also helpful to have R, Python, Matlab, or another popular programming language. But technical abilities get the graduate-only so far. They need interpersonal communication skills so that they can understand the needs of stakeholders and cooperate with colleagues. For this reason, many faculty at my school emphasize writing, speaking, listening, and teamwork skills.

What technical skills for a desktop support specialist stand out to employers?

Chirag Parikh Ph.D.

Computer Engineering Chair, Grand Valley State University

If you ask me, I consider valuable experience over good paycheck. Once you have gained that experience the paycheck will follow. As soon as you are out of college, the knowledge gained is very fresh and raring to go. If put into the right place can enhance your technical skills and you can do wonders.
As a Computer Engineering professor, I would say the job opportunities are tremendous for students out of college as they can venture into hardware field (technical support, hardware engineer, test engineer and much more) as well as software field (software engineer, software developer, software tester and much more). The possibilities are endless.
With COVID and employees working remotely there is still ample opportunity to enhance your technical and interpersonal skills as I believe remote working might stay for a while till things get back to normal.

Do you want to know more?

List of desktop support specialist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a desktop support specialist resume and required skills for a desktop support specialist to have include:

Customer Service
Desktop Support
Troubleshoot
PC
Technical Support
SCCM
Remote Desktop
Mac
Network Printers
OS
Laptop Computers
Computer System
User Support
VPN
Workstations
Remedy
Software Applications

Software Issues
Lan
Technical Problems
Tcp Ip
User Accounts
Strong Customer Service
Android
Windows XP
TCP/IP
Software Support
Technical Assistance
Microsoft Windows
Citrix
DHCP
Switches
Software Problems
VoIP

Video Conferencing
Linux
Help-Desk Support
SLA
Encryption
Problem Resolution
Application Support
Windows Server
DNS
Technical Issues
Computer Equipment
Software Installation
Trouble Tickets
Remote Support
PowerPoint

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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