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IT Support Technician Career

The route into IT support from CSEC IT or a first course through a home lab, an entry certification, the help desk interview and the first 90 days, to second line, systems work or team leadership, as 50 practical projects.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Then open the Marketplace in the app, search for IT Support Technician Career, and click Install. It goes into your own files, and works offline from then on.

What it installs.

1

Pillar

1

Area

50

Projects

195

Starter tasks

🧰 Professions & Trades

IT Support Technician Career

Starting in IT support: help desk skills, entry certifications, hardware and networking basics, the first job and paths into systems or security.

  1. Testing whether IT support suits you
  2. School subjects and entry qualifications for IT
  3. Mapping the IT support career ladder
  4. Choosing a training route into IT support
  5. Choosing your first IT certification
  6. Exam voucher and training budget
  7. Home practice lab on a budget
  8. Technician's starter toolkit
  9. A technical CV for a first help desk role
  10. Weekly certification study routine
  11. Personal fix log and knowledge base
  12. Monthly lab scenario practice
  13. Help desk job application pipeline
  14. Monthly patch and vendor update reading
  15. Certification renewal and continuing education log
  16. Quarterly skills matrix review
  17. Local tech community and networking
  18. Monthly service desk metrics review
  19. PC hardware assembly and repair
  20. Windows troubleshooting fundamentals
  21. Networking basics for support technicians
  22. User accounts, groups and permissions in a directory
  23. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace administration basics
  24. Printers, scanners and peripherals troubleshooting
  25. Mobile devices and device management basics
  26. Calm phone and chat support with frustrated users
  27. PowerShell and command line for support tasks
  28. Linux basics for help desk technicians
  29. Ticketing, SLAs and ITIL service basics
  30. Verifying callers and spotting social engineering
  31. A written troubleshooting method you follow every time
  32. In-house IT, managed service provider or field technician
  33. Lab write-ups that prove what you can do
  34. Pay research and negotiating your first offer
  35. Choosing your direction after the help desk
  36. Help desk interview preparation
  37. Sitting your first certification exam
  38. First 90 days on the service desk
  39. Handling your first major outage
  40. Annual review and case for promotion to second line
  41. Student volunteer in the school computer lab
  42. Moving into IT support from retail or call centres
  43. Studying for IT around children and a job
  44. Weekend IT help for households and small businesses
  45. Remote and overseas IT support roles
  46. Coming home to the Caribbean with overseas IT experience
  47. Leading a laptop refresh and imaging rollout
  48. Automating repetitive tickets with scripts
  49. Stepping up to service desk team lead
  50. Building a systems administration foundation

Where it starts.

Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.

Testing whether IT support suits you

Help desk work is mostly people, not machines: you spend the day with someone whose laptop died an hour before a deadline, and you are expected to stay patient while you work out why. Before paying for a course or an exam, a few weeks of real exposure tells you whether you enjoy that mix of puzzles and service. It also shows which corner appeals, from fixing hardware on a bench to supporting a whole office remotely.

First tasks

  • Write down in fifteen minutes why IT support appeals to you
  • Ask two people who work in IT support for a twenty-minute conversation
  • Fix three computer or phone problems for people you know and note what you did
  • Record your decision and what tipped it

School subjects and entry qualifications for IT

Employers hiring for a first support role rarely ask for a degree, but they do look for passes in English and mathematics and some evidence of technical study.

First tasks

  • Gather your exam certificates and results slips into one folder
  • Note the entry requirements for three IT courses or apprenticeships near you
  • Mark which requirement you do not yet meet
  • Book a resit or evening class for any missing core subject

Mapping the IT support career ladder

Job titles in IT support are a muddle: service desk analyst, help desk technician, desktop support, field engineer and first line support can all mean the same job, or very different ones.

First tasks

  • Collect ten IT support job adverts from boards in your country and abroad
  • Sort each advert into first, second or third line by its duties
  • Draw the ladder on one page with the titles you found
  • Circle the role you want to hold in two years

Make it yours.

Install IT Support Technician Career, then tell Aurum the date you're aiming for. It checks whether the plan fits the weeks you actually have.

Free · Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows · v1.0.0 · Other platforms

Blueprints are general information to help you organise your own work. They are not medical, financial, legal or other professional advice. See the Terms.