you DON'T need helpdesk!!! 

The only point I will add is that I stayed at a help desk role for 6 months just so I could add it to my resume. I had no prior IT experience before it. That little bit of experience got me a job in Cybersecurity.

You and Unix-Guy are on one today lol

5 years in the hell desk still trying to escape.

I'd like to add that some jobs can be 'titled' as "helpdesk I.T technician" but in reality, you're more like a sys admin.This was the case for me with my first "helpdesk" role. I did a lot of networking and security cases and was literally part of the NOC unit despite having the title "helpdesk technician". If the "Helpdesk" role offers unusually high pay for "helpdesk" and it's at a tech company such as mine was, be aware of this as I think it was a great initial start for myself having no prior I.T work experience.

"We're breaking the conditioning!" Rips shirt off, balls up help desk résumé, and throws it at boss.

I really appreciate how even your humorous rant vids are actually informative. The editing is awesome.

I was just looking for one of your videos yesterday. Glad you made another one.

For me help desk and specifically the IT Specialist role has helped me find my niche by exposing me to every department such as Cybersecurity, Cloud Engineering, Network Engineering, Data Science, SWE, SRE, Product, and many more. If you have a specific path you know you like then focus on that of course, but if you’re like me and you’ve transitioned into tech then it’s a great way to find what specific tech field really speaks to you!

Thank you for the Information!! love the edits 🤣😅😆 especially in the beginning !

I jumped straight into being a Sysadmin right out of HighSchool. Now I made my way to a Senior Penetration tester 🙏

Wish I saw this before having started a position w Geek Squad 😅… but in all fairness I unknowingly went from help desk to desktop support essentially and as someone with zero knowledge (I just learned all the parts of a motherboard!!) I’ve been enjoying gaining and learning knowledge from my coworkers and as a 24 yr old, I’m hopeful for where these experiences will get me in a year or less!

Helpdesk is ok to put in a resume for 0 experience guys, but meanwhile study and apply for something bigger

I’m currently going to school for my bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity and I’ve been back and forth in my head whether to try for an IT job first or just shoot for what I really want which is cybersecurity. I have foundational and network knowledge so this video helps with my decision. Thanks Mad Hat

I love your channel bro! You give great advice! Back in 2021 I worked on the help desk at an MSP with many guys that had cyber security degrees. I was like "why are you here"? They said they couldn't find Soc jobs without some type of IT experience. I don't know if that was because it was 2021 compared to 2024 or what. I was always taught that experience was king when it comes to IT but I'm not sure now. Maybe you can immediately specialize and get on with the companies now.

if your in help desk for 10 years you chose that path. the point of help desk is not to learn computers. it is to learn the people you have to support your customer is every level of the workforce and it is not a lack of skill in most cases but a lack of care they don't care about the risks. they need to do X or want to take an extra break. learn the skills of interacting with the angry, impatient and helpful so you can pitch them the things they need even if they don't understand.

So true! There's a handful of help desk peeps where I work that have been in these positions for years, don't take the time to learn new skills and wonder why they're Still in help desk. I don't think it's bad to start there at all, just don't sell yourself short and stay stagnant

I got my first helpdesk job a few months ago and I lasted 3 days. My training consisted of access to the company knowledge base where most of the links consistently timed out and it went downhill from there. I should've known something was up when the interview sounded like a sales pitch read from a script and it wasn't until after I'd accepted the job that I was told the salary was based on "performance modifiers" and $50 an hour was the average pay for "top performers" instead of the base rate which was what the job posting said. Due to budget issues i still haven't taken my A+ 1102 exam but I've basically switched over to studying cyber security exclusively and looking for some kind of internship.

Great videos, long time fan. and great to see your progress. I can't wait to hear about the new job. Did you move from a SOC to another SOC position in a different company or a different role entirely? Very interested to hear more (maybe even a video 😅🤞) I am a System Admin and currently building up my Security certifications, as well as focusing on Security Projects like configuring Keycloak IAM and Wazuh.

Hey, Mad Hat! I am a high school Junior and am looking at majoring in/getting into the Cybersecurity industry when I go to college. I have other options, but Cybersecurity interests me and I think I may want to do this as my career. I really enjoy your videos-thanks for giving us this free content to learn about the field and what we need to do to prepare for a career in Cyber. Means a lot!

I’m a college student in my third year. I started at a community college first so I get my Associates in Cybersecurity any day now. I want to get an entry level job and I want it to be my only job. I can’t seem to find a real entry level job. Every job u see says “entry level” yet want u to have experience. I guess these companies don’t know the definition of entry level and are just doing whatever. When I ask, all I ever hear is that I can only start at help desk. The help desk jobs also want u to have experience and they pay like crap. Some literally pay less than Burger King yet want u to have experience and atleast an associates degree. Idk where they get that crap from. I search indeed several times a day. Are there companies that actually train students? Because it seems like all these companies are lazy and no one wants to train us. Like wth. I’m at a point where by if I’m not gonna get a job then I don’t see the point in finishing my Bachelor’s. How do I go about getting a job?

Salute to you mad hat , love the channel, very informative, it help me choose where I wanted to go in this career field because before I found this video , I was confused on what I wanted to do, I’m currently in school now for my A.S and then I’ll go for the bachelor, by the way I subscribed and I joined the discord, again awesome channel

Mad hat, it’s time for you to do cybersecurity meme reviews, it is the way of the internet.

Love your content

MSP i feel is the worst part of starting off. I am doing helpdesk and do a bit of everything along with stuff on servers. Working towards networking, I feel helpdesk/desktop support is a good place to start to build a resume as you continually specialize to apply else where ASAP. If your in a helpdesk role type for more than a year or 2 and you complain you cant get out ask yourself what am I specializing in. Me taking a bit longer but am working towards network engineering

I used the Help Desk to get me to this video.

Been at the Helpdesk for a little under a year now. Getting burnt out from the politics more so than the actual work. I’ve got my CCNA and I’m looking to transition to cloud/network roles once my year is up

I NEEDED THIS! Thanks! I would hate the help desk. I'm the type of guy you want on the frontline. I need to battle unique problems, or else I get bored and start to hate my life. I would have fun at the help desk, but for 2-3 months until the novelty disappeared. I'm pretty sure that any job has its routine, and I know I would despise that part really quick, but I need to find something in my life that throws new challenges every time. I also need to not get bored while studying cause that also affects me. 😂

Holy shit Mad Hat thank you for this video, there was so much in here that I needed to hear as someone who is working towards going to school for cybersec analysis. THANK YOU FOR DOING WHAT YOU DO!!

Helpdesks seems easy. If you're young you could do it for a year to get experience until you hate yourself and then look the next level up.

I am consistently amazed at the quality of the information that you put out! Overall video quality is great but it’s refreshing to hear someone say “helpdesk and desktop support don’t really prepare you for SOC analyst or more specialized positions” I mean really: are ticketing systems THAT hard to learn, to the point we need a year of experience with them?

Most Level 3 jobs do require an x amount experience esp roles like Sysadmin, Network Engineer, DevOps Engineer. Is rare for some one to land a job as DevOps Engineer or Sysadmin as their very first I.T with no experience. The benefit starting in a support role gaining trouble shooting experience as well as having an opportunity to job shadow The network, server, cloud or security team. That's exactly what Network Chuck did that started on the Help Desk and then moved up as a Network Engineer without a college degree. I worked in a support role that was exposed to Linux and now I'm a Red Hat Linux Admin without a degree or certifications. I also had a home lab as well.

I started my IT Specialist job at a university about year ago thinking that it was a nice salary. A year in, im thinking I should be paid more. I : - Manage tickets and provide Helpdesk support -Manage MECM/Munki for Windows and Macs -Fix computers/onboard computers -Manage an inventory system for students to checkout equipment (That's an entire headache on its own) -Spin up/recover/manage websites for faculty -network troubleshoot (which requires basic knowledge of switches/ports/etc_ -VR stuff - Other stuff im forgetting Honestly, I kind of love it but, my time here will be up in a year or two one I use my provided resources im offered as an employee of the university.

Im in college for cybersecurity right now and i pray i dont have to do helpdesk, i have certs and am working on projects to beef up my portfolio to give myself the best chance at skipping it, surely a degree, certs, and projects will count for something right? My cousin used to work support at a bank and ive heard quite the horror stories from her including a 3 hour call with a lady who instead of putting in the secuitty code kept trying to put in the phone number that sent the secuirty code.

The second helpdesk job you described has been my life last 9 months... And the cherry picking part hit way too hard ngl Hoping i can make it out of this sht like you my man...

This video showed up right on time in my algorithm

preach

hope you're having a good day mad hat

yea I have some red coat tell me to do customer support even though I have several years with it inside IT.

Thats what Im doing right now the ConnectWise Tier 1 Tech Support, but I also have to go onsite and do projects. Kinda what ever they think I can handle. Trying to get my Sec+ soon. I did Desktop Support prior to Help Desk. How is Desktop Support an upgrade from Help Desk??

Working on being my blue team certifications!

What specifically would you recommend, oh great one?

Either some experience or at least some projects you can show they need some form of proof of concept that you know what your doing

big ups to Coursera !

This man is speaking to my soul right now 😂😂. As a Systems Engineer this is so accurate. Studying Cybersecurity and I am gone asap I’m done.

I’m 20 years old studying for network tech certification and I want to start help desk or it tech is that okay?

Hey MH! July is approaching. Got plans to come to LA for AX 2024? If you are, I'm down to invite you lunch and give you a tour of the area

I'm a Freshman majoring in Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. How can I make the most of college? What skills should I focus on for Cyber security?

What about the ''experience needed'' requirement for everything beyond HelpDesk? I think that's why it's always recommended. Hell, even Helpdesk itself requires 'experience'

I'm in desktop support. I have to be in the office every day while everyone else is remote. It's not too bad until the users that have to come into the office get pissy, and they turn that emotion towards you.

Any projects/ to help build a portfolio ? Recommendations for a soc analyst ?

This is gold! 🤣🤣🙌🏽🙌🏽

COOL VIDEO!😃😎👍🎉

I swear I almost peed myself laughing at you!!! 😆😆😆This video has a lotta great information but DAMN it's hilarious!! Thanks for reminding me why I didn't want to get into Help Desk. Off to watch more of your shenanigans!!

This was hilarious 😂 but super encouraging! I’m currently working through the Google Cybersecurity certificate to get a foundation then will move forward from there with other learning, projects and experience.

Man you are funny af , “uninstall, reinstall” 😂😂😭😭😭

Good Stuff Man! Definitely Times have changed. Some companies have not caught up with the times and think because you are help desk you know everything. 😂 🤦🏽‍♂️ Its like asking a Generalist MD to do Shoulder Surgery. #PrinterSucks ✌🏽😎

I don’t think I have a choice. I have 6 months help desk experience and would’ve loved to avoid it again, but I’ve been unemployed since March 2020. I’ll be lucky if I can get another IT job at all.

any broad "advice" on your IT career is about 20% useful at best. Everyone's experience, resources, and accessibility is different. We all have dramatically different starts to our careers and move in different ways...

I made it from help desk to desktop support (geek squad), but I have little knowledge or experience of anything related to IT.. Where/how do I start learning for free to confidently keep moving up?

This guy is a hidden gem. Like it or not tech folk. I would give 1 finger to learn this advice. Uh, I would like it back after to stitch it back on, I still need a trigger finger. 5:55+ ahhahaha so true. passwords, vpn, ect so common for me, gets old but not a bad thing really. Tedious yes, experience yes.

Doesn’t seem like help desk, desktop support, etc. helps learn anything with Cybersecurity

Mad Hat is the 🐐 😊

I would love a remote help desk position. Too bad all the ones they post are hybrid or in office. Not worth it at all.

So funny... great personality

It sounds like helldesk 😅 but the humor is on point 😂

OUTRO GOES HARD 🔥

The mad lad is back! Now it's time to hack!

Machinist here who is on 3/9 of his first cybersecurity cert, 2nd week of coursera wish me luck.

I was that guy in every job i got hired to that was not IT. Once they heard i was a cs major they are like "oh can you fix this".

I’m kinda confused on my label I work with network infrastructure I do deployments Meraki router , Cisco MX and GX routers , Aruba WAPS, Fortinet firewall troubleshoot and install on all these devices I’m a beginner in porting tho but I get to do it in the real world what am I? They call me network tech or network engineer . But sometimes I do electrical services for them also 😂😂😂 this is confusing because I don’t know what to apply to

Well I managed to get helpdesk work before I even started college so I guess I'm fine. I'm studying Computer Science with Cyber security speciality and thats my main goal. I'm about to pass first year and about to work in helpdesk for a year. I'm thinking about getting some certs before 2nd year start. Why am I writing this? Because please I need someone to tell me its not a waste of time.

Stayed in help desk just to get close to the SAs and SecOPs; I was in that role for less than a year to get myself into cyber security. Can't tell you how much uninstall and reinstall happened but I love meeting all kinds of people in help desk.

With how people talk about hell desk. It seems like you don't need any certs for it. Just know how to use computers which is hard to prove over paper but still

Mad had I just got my 1st Helpdesk job this week, give me a break

As an IT Person, it is best to rise through the ranks. It is more fun and more accomplished that way. Not saying you shouldn't hit straight for a major certification but those support experiences are golden.

Hey buddy how much did your salary increase when you left help desk and got a SOC analyst position? No need to give flat numbers, maybe you can give a percentage :)

1. Just because younger generations have grown up with technology doesn’t mean they know how to use a laptop and printer. Most people starting a career out of college these days spend most of their tech time on a mobile phone. Going back to school in my late 20’s showed me how tech illiterate Gen Z can be. 2. I don’t think many people expect 10 years of help desk or desktop support before specializing. However, I have seen a lot more people struggling to get into security because they’re unwilling to work in a generalized IT position while they’re looking for security work. This problem is being compounded by higher education and certification institutions pushing the bajillion open cybersecurity positions. It makes people think that getting a job after X degree or X certification with no prior IT experience will be easy. Through my experience, you don’t NEED to work in generalized IT, but it does help your resume more than a lot of other things will.

okay so no help desk. what would be the next entry level job? like for a guy who got some certifications and is applying for job? guys like so that he makes a video about this issue!

I recently passed OSCP can’t find a job

this is so relateable, worked help desk t1/t2 hybrid 1 year 5 months before I got a cyber job. everything you said was through I also had the same experience with colleagues too

Dude, why did the affiliate links come now? I signed up a month ago!

Uninstall and reinstall. Still not working, escalate that shit.

I was about to start a help desk course. Hopefully I didn't. Time is money. Don't waste your time.

What's your opinion of Geek Squad @Mad Hat?

What’s the song at the end?

no matter what job, dont we all check on that 1 colleague that literally doesnt do a f*ck?? 😅

Most people on Reddit don't even do i.t. Or they learned one theory based exam and think it's all they need. You need skills. Don't listen to reddit gate keepers. Majority don't do sht

Greatest Outro

Too bad the job market is dogshit right now

Need A+++ for bureau support.

man this video just stressed me out idk if this shts for me :(

I hate being help desking, or calling in because I'm not "authorized". Because most of the people who call in are dumb, I get treated alongside those morons

bro got 69k subscribers 👍

Ah man that coursea edit had me dying 😂😂

There’s too many fucking things to know in IT.

I appreciate this video.!I respect the help desk peeps but they can have that sht. They be wanting others to take that route because they did

Kevtech and Cobumann seething right now.

Most businesses has 15% of people doing most of the work, 15% actively making it harder. With the last 70 just doing jack shit and going where ever they get pulled

As someone about to graduate with a BS in cybersecurity, this video gives me 0 hope because the only jobs that are interested in me are general help desk.

song??? outro was was fire 🔥