Help desk assistants are responsible for providing technical assistance and support for customer issues related to computer systems, hardware, and software. They also write training manuals, train computer users, and perform daily maintenance of computer systems.
Help desk assistants support customers by responding to email messages of customers seeking help, asking questions to determine the nature of the problem, walking customers through problem-solving processes in diagnostic programs, and following up to ensure the issue has been resolved.
Some of the skills needed for a role as a help desk assistant include an advanced knowledge of help desk software and remote access systems, the ability to troubleshoot complex hardware and software systems including databases, office applications, and operating systems, and excellent analytical, diagnostic, communication, and customer service skills, as well as patience and understanding.
Help desk assistants need a bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field. They typically earn about $49,218 per year, which breaks down to $23.66 per hour. The career is expected to grow by 10% between 2018 and 2028, creating 83,100 new jobs.
Help Desk Specialist Overview
Working as a Help Desk Specialist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a help desk specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.66 an hour? That's $49,218 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 83,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Help Desk Specialist Do
There are certain skills that many help desk specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, listening skills and speaking skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a help desk specialist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 10.7% of help desk specialists included customer service, while 8.2% of resumes included technical support, and 7.1% of resumes included email. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the help desk specialist job title. But what industry to start with? Most help desk specialists actually find jobs in the technology and finance industries.
How To Become a Help Desk Specialist
If you're interested in becoming a help desk specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 41.3% of help desk specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.8% of help desk specialists have master's degrees. Even though most help desk specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a help desk specialist. When we researched the most common majors for a help desk specialist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on help desk specialist resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a help desk specialist. In fact, many help desk specialist jobs require experience in a role such as technical support specialist. Meanwhile, many help desk specialists also have previous career experience in roles such as computer technician or help desk analyst.
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Help Desk Specialist Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a help desk specialist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as systems administrator, progress to a title such as information technology manager and then eventually end up with the title information technology director.
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Average Salary for a Help Desk Specialist
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Horizontal Help Desk/Desk Side Specialist Help Desk/Desk Side Specialist | Horizontal Horizontal | 01/31/2021 01/31/2021 | $41,13501/31/2021 $41,135 |
University of Tennessee Help Desk Specialist-Its Customer Technical Support Help Desk Specialist-Its Customer Technical Support | University of Tennessee University of Tennessee | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $35,12401/29/2021 $35,124 |
County of Merced Elections Specialist I/II-Extra-Help Elections Specialist I/II Elections Specialist I/II-Extra-Help Elections Specialist I/II | County of Merced County of Merced | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $33,45501/28/2021 $33,455 |
State of Virginia Help Desk Specialist Help Desk Specialist | State of Virginia State of Virginia | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $50,00001/28/2021 $50,000 |
Randstad Desktop Support Engineer Desktop Support Engineer | Randstad Randstad | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $52,17501/28/2021 $52,175 |
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Help Desk Specialist Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Help Desk Specialist. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Help Desk Specialist Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Help Desk Specialist resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Help Desk Specialists
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
3. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
4. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
6. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Public
7. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY • Private
8. George Washington University, The
Washington, DC • Private
9. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
10. Saint Ambrose University
Davenport, IA • Private
Top Skills For a Help Desk Specialist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.7% of help desk specialists listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and listening skills are important as well.
- Customer Service, 10.7%
- Technical Support, 8.2%
- Email, 7.1%
- Troubleshoot, 5.9%
- Hardware, 5.4%
- Other Skills, 62.7% See All Help Desk Specialist Skills
Best States For a Help Desk Specialist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a help desk specialist. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Alaska. Help desk specialists make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $67,050. Whereas in New York and Delaware, they would average $62,831 and $58,634, respectively. While help desk specialists would only make an average of $58,012 in Alaska, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. District of Columbia
$71,136
Avg. Salary
2. Alaska
$58,012
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
$52,731
Avg. Salary
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