Have you considered working in IT support?

If the widespread perception among those outside IT is that it simply involves turning computers on and off, they may especially think that of IT support. However, there's much more to an IT support role, which may be for you if you are the person that friends and family approach when they have technology problems. Other qualities in the best candidates for a technical support role include a logical mind and excellent problem-solving skills.

Contact the Webrecruit recruitment agency for advice on finding an IT support job, which could be as a helpdesk operator or in technical support. IT support workers are very much at the front line, directly assisting employees or customers with such technical issues as viruses, email problems or forgotten passwords. You may find yourself diagnosing and solving faults with hardware/software, installing and configuring computer systems, logging the queries of customers and employees and carrying out call log analysis to identify trends and underlying issues.

Different IT support jobs bring different working hours, with working shifts on a helpdesk likely if you are solving customer issues. Employee support roles, meanwhile, tend to involve normal office hours, with little need to work longer. The popularity of IT support among candidates using a recruitment agency can be partly explained by the wide range of opportunities and roles on offer, ranging from IT maintenance or in-house work to employment in the after-sales support departments of software or equipment suppliers.

Salaries are good, with those starting out in technical support able to expect a £15,000 to £21,000 pay packet, while 10 to 15 years' experience brings wages as high as £47,000 a year for technical support managers. There are also many further jobs within IT that can be found via a recruitment agency for those working initially in technical support, including technical sales, programming or systems administration. Even those who remain within technical support can aspire to senior technical support and a position as a team, section or department leader.

Nor is technical support as inaccessible a job sector as one might initially think, with even those only having good English, Maths and IT or Science GCSE grades able to begin training for such a role. Good computing courses for those looking for a competitive advantage include the BTEC (Edexcel) National Certificate and Diploma IT Practitioners, City & Guilds (E-Quals) IT Practitioners Certificate and Advanced Diploma and OCR (iPRO) Certificate for IT Practitioners. Graduate training schemes are an option for those who already hold a computing degree, while ongoing training to keep up with the latest technology is a fact of life for even the most established IT support workers.

All and all, for logical thinkers with strong analytical and problem-solving skills and the ability to explain technology in simple terms, there can be few better-suited roles than IT support. Combine these traits with good customer service and interpersonal skills, together with the right recruitment agency like Webrecruit, and you're in an even stronger position to land your dream role.

Editor’s Note: Webrecruit (http://www.webrecruit.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.