The Help Desk Specialist is a vital position that most all Law Firms have today. The Help Desk belongs to the IT department or Management Information Systems used as a central location for gathering all IT related problems that need attention. The staff is delegated as requests come in according to their urgency. Research has shown 70% to 80% of help desk requests in Law Firms are repetitive and routine.
What are some of the Duties of the Help Desk Specialist?
- Law Firms can be using many different software packages like MS Office, Window XP workstations, legal research software, document software, and some tracking systems like Interwoven/Imanage. The Help Desk Specialist will be called to troubleshoot the user issues and provide the best resolution.
- The software industry provides more efficient software with fewer bugs in their products. According to a survey of Help Desk calls, most Help Desk Specialists spend time resolving application-related issues and user-related problems more than 50% of the time in Law Firms.
- The Help Desk Specialist collaborates with other IT employees to use a team dynamic that assists in resolving technological problems faster. Interpersonal communication skills are vital for this type of work to be successful.
- The Help Desk Specialist repairs or replaces computer hardware.
- The Help Desk Specialist coordinates the replacement of hardware in the user's computer.
- Help Desk Specialists are involved when software updates are installed.
- When the Help Desk Specialists suspects a bug in the software he will call the software company to report the issue and obtain any fixes.
- The Help Desk Specialist can also provide “hands on” training to end users.
- The Specialist creates documentation for similar issues in the future.
- The Help Desk Specialist oversees the schedule for video conferences and ensures the system functions are set up to go when scheduled for use.
Beyond the user-related assistance provided there are responsibilities to monitor the system and its performance and capacity. The Help Desk Specialist will also be involved in maintaining adequate security at the network level.
Education, Experience, and Salary in Law Firms.
The education required for a help desk specialist is often a minimum of an associate's degree or 2 to 3 years of college education. There are post secondary schools that offer training to certify help desk specialists. The preferred education is a bachelor's degree in science or information technology. Most Law Firms look for experience in addition to the education requirement. Usually two to three years experience is required.
Salaries for Help Desk Specialists vary according to education and experience. The location shows some influence on the salary but reports indicate they are very close all around the country. The salaries begin at $47K and go up to $60K plus. The expected mean is probably around $50K to $53K.
In conclusion, a Help Desk Specialist is necessary for the day to day business working environment in Law Firms. This is a career that will remain stable in light of economic difficulties since Help Desk Specialists offer services which directly enable a Law Firm to produce income.
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