Getting an IT Help Desk Job For Dummies

Chapter 3

Why Starting at the Help Desk Is an Awesome Choice

In This Chapter

• Getting to know the U.S. job market
• Understanding the nuances of making your own opportunity
• Discovering how to make your mark, protect yourself, and expand your horizons

One of the questions people will likely ask themselves is “Where can I go from here?” I answer this excellent question in this chapter. For individuals interested in IT as a career path, starting at the help desk is a great way to develop a real foundation in how IT departments work and how businesses use technology.

IT is really the core of almost all business done in the world today. As a member of the IT department, you will not only build up your technical skill, but you will also learn much about how the industry your company operates in works.

In this chapter, I answer the question about where you can go in IT, but I also describe a number of the raw components you will need to see your goals from 10,000 feet. While all of these ideals are covered in much greater detail throughout this book, I feel you will benefit from the following summaries so that you can see the forest for the trees.

What the Bureau of Labor Statistics Has to Say about All This IT Stuff

There may not be a lot of love for the U.S. government these days, but it is really good at one thing: collecting statistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, is a government agency that tracks how people work in the United States of America, and that information is ...