ICT help desk agent to ICT help desk manager
An ICT help desk agent already meets 58% of what the ICT help desk manager role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
41.9/ 100
1 How much of what an ICT help desk manager is expected to do is already part of an ICT help desk agent’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the ICT help desk manager role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
An ICT help desk manager role treats 10 of its required skills as things an ICT help desk agent already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- characteristics of products
- characteristics of services
- communicate with customers
- create solutions to problems
- educate on data confidentiality
- keep up to date on product knowledge
What stands in the way is 6 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 15 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An ICT help desk manager role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an ICT help desk agent background worth leading with.
- already held provide ICT support working with computers
- already held ICT help platforms information and communication technologies (icts)
- already held prioritise requests management skills
- already held educate on data confidentiality communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held keep up to date on product knowledge information skills
- already held use ICT hardware working with computers
All 15 carried skills, including the 10 the ICT help desk manager role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 13 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn analyse staff capacity required
- still to learn forecast workload required
- still to learn manage staff required
- optional, not held perform project management optional
- still to learn organisational structure required
- optional, not held ICT market optional
- optional, not held ICT quality policy optional
- optional, not held call quality assurance management optional
- still to learn secure sensitive customer's information required
- still to learn supervise data entry required
- optional, not held coach employees optional
- optional, not held train employees optional
- optional, not held ICT process quality models optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries an ICT help desk manager role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 secure sensitive customer's information practise this
- 02 analyse staff capacity practise this
- 03 forecast workload practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 15 skills that carry over
- already held characteristics of products knowledge
- already held characteristics of services knowledge
- already held communicate with customers skill
- already held create solutions to problems skill
- already held educate on data confidentiality skill
- already held keep up to date on product knowledge skill
- already held product comprehension knowledge
- already held provide ICT support skill
- already held use ICT hardware skill
- already held use ICT ticketing system skill
- already held ICT help platforms knowledge
- already held manage schedule of tasks skill
- already held prioritise requests skill
- already held provide customer follow-up services skill
- already held use customer relationship management software skill
7 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held ICT market optional
- optional, not held ICT process quality models optional
- optional, not held ICT quality policy optional
- optional, not held call quality assurance management optional
- optional, not held coach employees optional
- optional, not held perform project management optional
- optional, not held train employees optional
17 held skills the ICT help desk manager role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role ICT infrastructure knowledge
- not needed by the target role ICT system user requirements knowledge
- not needed by the target role answer incoming calls skill
- not needed by the target role assist customers skill
- not needed by the target role guarantee customer satisfaction skill
- not needed by the target role handle helpdesk problems skill
- not needed by the target role identify customer's needs skill
- not needed by the target role implement a virtual private network skill
- not needed by the target role implement anti-virus software skill
- not needed by the target role information confidentiality knowledge
- not needed by the target role keep task records skill
- not needed by the target role knowledge base knowledge
- not needed by the target role perform data analysis skill
- not needed by the target role perform escalation procedure skill
- not needed by the target role solve ICT system problems skill
- not needed by the target role support ICT system users skill
- not needed by the target role use e-services skill
5 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn organisational structure required
- optional, not held ICT market optional
- optional, not held ICT process quality models optional
- optional, not held ICT quality policy optional
- optional, not held call quality assurance management optional
Other moves recorded from ICT help desk agent
- call centre agent 41% covered · substantial
- live chat operator 38% covered · substantial
- after-sales service technician 36% covered · substantial
- customer service representative 31% covered · substantial
- customer contact centre information clerk 30% covered · substantial
- technical sales representative in office machinery and equipment 28% covered · career change
- technical sales representative in chemical products 28% covered · career change
- technical sales representative in agricultural machinery and equipment 28% covered · career change
Common questions about this move
Can an ICT help desk agent become an ICT help desk manager?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. An ICT help desk agent already covers 58% of what an ICT help desk manager is expected to do: 15 skills carry over, 10 of which the ICT help desk manager role treats as required.
What skills does an ICT help desk agent need to become an ICT help desk manager?
6 required skills are missing, plus 7 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is secure sensitive customer's information.
How hard is the move from ICT help desk agent to ICT help desk manager?
Its learning distance is 41.9 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.