Pros
- The analysts are fantastic; despite everything that might happen, the volume of work and the stress that is involved with the role, the analysts with knowledge will always be willing to help those who ask for/require assistance. - There are/can a lot of chances for progression and opportunity, but this is largely outside the scope of the IT Service Desk. - bonuses and good benefits, including dental and health care plans
Cons
- Opportunity/Pay During my interview, during training and during my tenure at this company, I made it abundantly clear I was looking to progress and train when I could so I could make this role into a career. I was advised that opportunities, progression and promotions were extremely common. Once I was past my probation, outside a single paid course that gave a certification as a service desk analyst (a certificate that did not assist in day to day functions), I was not offered any further training despite constant requests to management. The only internal team opportunities available was senior analyst role which required training I could not get, and not enough of a raise to justify giving up so much free time, with only a few such roles being given out. As mentioned, although opportunity exists outside of the SD, it is not often encouraged and can be extremely difficult to get into. PDP was not done until a year of joining the company. Pay, when considering the time range the ITSD is open (shifts between 7am-9pm, 7 days a week), the amount of weekends you are required to work, as well as the amount of systems handled, amount of work required, call volume and responsibility expected, is extremely poor, especially when compared to other companies who offer more, with more reliable and better hours, and no weekend work; the pay being offered, especially for those with little to no IT experience, is considerably less for those who have no experience in service desk or IT work even after bonuses and raises. - Training:- In response to negative reviews, specifically numerous mentions that this role is only suited for people looking for a basic entry into the IT world, the ITSD released a hiring campaign that called that out, specifically mentioning that "you don't need a technical background to work in our IT department". However, this reaction seems ill thought-out. I have no issues about hiring people who have no knowledge of IT, but this needs to be balanced with significant and absolute training that the ITSD seems unwilling to offer; most tech companies will offer intensive training for those they feel suited for this role, even with lack of training, but since I joined, training has become significantly shorter (going from months to weeks to days) and support was largely placed on the shoulders of more experienced members, with the expectations newer members of the team asking for assistance on calls trying to fix basic systems they have no experience or training in, who are all leaving due to increasing pressure, stress and lack of progression. (For example, numerous fixes require SQL, all of which cannot be run due to the lack of trained members of staff; and staff who were able to run it were unable due to increased demands). This is mentioned in other reviews; in response a newer recruitment video was released, mentioning 6 weeks training scheme. Speaking with newer members, the idea of “6 weeks training” seems like a complete fabrication as the general consensus is that aside from a few days of powerpoint and a few sit-in sessions, most new members of staff are placed on the phones within the first few days with only pre-mentioned minute training offered, covering lines we/they had no training in when departments were closed and staff being expected to learn new sectors of the business whilst taking calls for said lines. - ROTA/Time Off Flexibility is not easily achieved, and getting time off can be extremely tough. When I joined I was made aware we would be working weekends, however I was not made aware that these cannot be booked off, the only way weekends can be taken off is if you are able to swap with a follow SD analyst. I often had witnessed fellow call agents having to take laptops to work whilst on holiday because they were unable to find someone who would be able swap weekends. (I am not sure if this has changed since my leaving). Also of note, as of my leaving a full 2021 schedule had not been released despite numerous requests and team leads having access to a full years schedule. - STATS Before leaving a new stat system was put into place. I have no issues with stats, as they are extremely important to make sure that a system and those within it are working to an officiant standard, however they have created stat system that concentrates on stats instead of fixes, and is seemingly a system that is designed around easy failure and really isn't representative of, nor is it taking into account or able to show individual strength and skills. The stats didn't take into account tickets estate wide issues, tickets that required extra care and would not have been resolved without a few extra minutes care/observation, tickets that were extremely high priority to keep stores functioning, or stores with multiple issues where multiple tickets might have to be written, but only time on the call is counted. The issue I see is that without the proper training when people join the team they will fall at the first hurdle and are turning the IT service desk into a call centre where we are expected to implement IT fixes. I feel like at some point management need to decide if the team will be a call centre with SD members who log the issues with a separate actioning team, or a team of IT experts who investigate who run fixes. Calls can run over from the end of the shift, or handover when the UK lines close (making sure that phone lines have changed from the UK to Australia) can overrun by an extended amount of time, but can be difficult to get compensated, however you can be called up if you are a second late logging in, even with computer issues (I often got told that 10 seconds late is unacceptable when, on the previous night, I had a call run over 20-50 minutes of my shift end, and the same situation where the handover ran over 45 minutes late). Workload can be unbearable at times, with calls being required to be wrapped up within 15 minutes, and tickets written within 1 minute. - HR Payroll have not sent out my P45, and I have been unable to contact anyone regarding this, nor have I received any further updates. Another former employee is also facing this problem, and has not had access to their P45 for over a month after leaving the company, despite daily attempts to make contact.
