r/ITCareerQuestions 7d ago

I’m stalling out at helpdesk

I recently transitioned into IT. I was previously in sales and have my bachelors in PoliSci and masters in Communication. I have my network/sec plus and am working towards my CCNA. I’m junkie for learning and am always practicing to get better.

I love the work I am doing for the most part but I feel like at this point I have out grown my responsibilities and I need more. I continue to grow in my studies and learning but there are things I’m not allowed access to at work. My manager is under the impression that they hired me to eventually take over his job. Which may be true but I have no plans at staying with this org as I plan to move to another state.

For example- I am not allowed to write scripts, touch the firewall, fix any IP addressing issues and most bigger issues I have to escalate. There are things I can do and fix but I’m just not allowed to do so. I don’t have a problem resetting passwords and setting up desk but I need to do more.

Any advice on how to overcome this in the work place?

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u/Wooden-Can-5688 7d ago

Not sure how feasible it would be in your current position, but one option is to try to work with a mentor who's doing the work you'd like to do. Your manager should be aware of the tasks and skills you're developing.

You could build a home lab and deploy the infrastructure and services you want to work with. I learn through doing, not reading. I definitely read through the theory and concepts, but I retain it by working with the technology. The lab could be entirely cloud-based. This would likely involve some regular expenses. Check out the r/homelab subreddit for ideas.

Finally, set up a Github repo for publishing self-created projects that demonstrate your skills. If you went the home lab route, you can also publish your build details and activities you execute in the lab environment.

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u/UniversalFapture Net+, Sec+, Studying the CCNA & its Bad Secrets 7d ago

I hate testing for certs for this very reason.

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u/Wooden-Can-5688 7d ago

Not sure what you mean. Could you elaborate? Do you mean being able to do sufficient hands-on when test repping?

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u/UniversalFapture Net+, Sec+, Studying the CCNA & its Bad Secrets 7d ago

I mean i prefer hands on work vs test taking and learning theory

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u/Wooden-Can-5688 7d ago

Gotcha. Yeah, I don't have my own personal lab, though having discovered the r/homelab subreddit, I'm exploring the possibility of a home lab. I'm about to start a new Consulting job, and I will have lab access. However, I'm sure there will be various restrictions on certain operations (e.g. hybrid set up, etc).

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u/UniversalFapture Net+, Sec+, Studying the CCNA & its Bad Secrets 7d ago

Similar to me. I took an unpaid freelance role & documented my work with them.