Working in IT field, especially in Support Team requires patience and determination. I have been working in support line for a number of years. Started my career from 1st Level of Support, I can still remember those days where I was cursed by some end users who are totally inconsiderate.

Now, as a member of 3rd Level Support, I can see why some IT graduates prefer changing their field when it comes to work rather than doing what I have been doing many years ago. It is not easy for one to jump from 1st Level to the next level of support.

Example; if you are working as a Helpdesk Agent, you will someday realize that employee tend to choose other candidate when you want to apply for a position to move forward with your career. One thing you could do is by ‘upgrading’ yourself. Upgrading in a sense that you enrol yourself whether academically or technically.

If you are supporting network, try to find technical certificates or also called professional certification/vendor certification such as CCNA for Cisco and JNCIA for Juniper, to name a few. And if you are supporting Microsoft systems, you may want to acquire certificate like MCSE or MCITP.

My first IT-related certification besides my academic is MCSE. Then I sat for CCNA and 2 years later I passed my CCNP. That was over 5 years ago. Now I have earned myself other non-technical certifications such as ITIL and last year I earned my CISA. Additionally, I also attended courses offered by the organization that I worked for and have just completed my Project Management course.

Some of my colleague called me a certs collector. But to be honest with you, I am a kind of person who love to be rewarded after doing some ‘hardwork’. Not only in career, I also love activities that will present me with certificates as a proof of accomplishment such as long distance swimming, SCUBA diving and Triathlon.

This is a way for me to prove to myself that I can do something if I really want to do it!. So, if you think a scroll of bachelor degree will be enough to bring you anywhere you wanna go, think again!