How To Become A Lead Help Desk Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead help desk technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Babak Beheshti Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a lead help desk technician. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.84 an hour? That's $59,992 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 83,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a lead help desk technician?

Babak Beheshti Ph.D.

Dean, Professor, New York Institute of Technology

As most economies in the world have moved towards a "gig economy" paradigm, it is essential for graduates beginning their careers to adopt an entrepreneurial and self-guided career mindset. Young professionals would need to take charge of their professional development. This means that they must continually remind themselves that the knowledge learned shelf life is reducing more and more every year. New skills and technologies come into the picture. They must know these new skills on their own to maintain their competitive edge in the job market. Moreover, young professionals must view every position they hold to be an added chapter in their portfolio - every position held should be considered an experiential skill added to the resume.

ScoreLead Help Desk TechnicianUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $59,992

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 10.53%

Black or African American 12.54%

Hispanic or Latino 15.46%

Unknown 5.33%

White 55.73%

Gender

female 19.06%

male 80.94%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead help desk technician

Explore lead help desk technician education requirements

Most common lead help desk technician degrees

Bachelor's

50.0 %

Associate

35.9 %

High School Diploma

5.6 %

Start to develop specific lead help desk technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Printers	8.81%
Technical Support	6.95%
Phone Calls	4.07%
Desk Support	4.02%
Remote Desktop	3.88%

Complete relevant lead help desk technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead help desk technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead help desk technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead help desk technician resumes.

Research lead help desk technician duties and responsibilities

Manage user application access through Citrix.
Utilize remedy ticket system to create trouble tickets
Enter, troubleshoot, update and route trouble tickets for residential internet support customers.
Used SQL to test updates to the software.

Get lead help desk technician experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a lead help desk technician. The most common roles before becoming a lead help desk technician include technical support specialist, help desk analyst team lead and technical support technician.

Apply for lead help desk technician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a lead help desk technician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do lead help desk technicians rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Lead help desk technician reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2023

Pros

You get to help a lot of people in many different ways as well as learning new things about technology

Cons

I have aids now due to the painfulness of sitting down all day

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2022

Pros

Working with The people

Cons

There was nothing to like. Everyone was polite an hard workers

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020

Pros

I decided to go to technical support because I've been fascinated by technology all my life and I love working with the people as well. I want to use my technical know-how to solve directly the problems that customers have. I want to be the person who makes life easier and more enjoyable for people who have had a problem. This is what I like most as a technical Support.

Cons

I don't like sitting around being inactive. So I'll keep my self always busy

What is a lead help desk technician and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a lead help desk technician?

Lead help desk technician career paths

Key steps to become a lead help desk technician

Explore lead help desk technician education requirements

Most common lead help desk technician degrees

Start to develop specific lead help desk technician skills

Complete relevant lead help desk technician training and internships

Research lead help desk technician duties and responsibilities

Get lead help desk technician experience

Apply for lead help desk technician jobs

How did you land your first lead help desk technician job

Average lead help desk technician salary

How do lead help desk technicians rate their job?

Lead help desk technician reviews