Help Desk Computing Assistant Program
- What is a Help Desk Computing Assistant?
What's involved in being a Help Desk Computing Assistant?
Position Requirements
Helpful Knowledge
How can you become a Help Desk Computing Assistant?
Help Desk Computing Assistants are students who have been hired and trained by the OIT. These students are hired to help their fellow Notre Dame classmates, faculty and staff with computing problems or issues. Help Desk Computing Assistants also make onsite visits to the campus residence halls to assist our on-campus student population. Each assistant works between 8 and 20 hours per week. The main responsibility of an assistant is to diagnose problems that individuals may have either connecting to the network, network software (e.g., email clients and browsers), assisting with virus/worm and spam-related issues, or using Microsoft Office Suite software (not including Access). The assistants determine whether a problem is software, hardware, or network related, and are trained to solve common problems.
What's involved in being a Help Desk Computing Assistant?
Those hired as a Help Desk Computing Assistant will receive training in diagnosing and solving network related problems before beginning work. Work for the assistant begins at the Back to School (BTS) Configuration Fair during the first few days of school. Once the fair has ended, the assistants will work from the central Help Desk office in DeBartolo and will be dispatched to students needing assistance in residence halls, if necessary. Most requests for assistance are resolved over the phone. Assistants average around 10 hours of work per week after the fair has completed. Help Desk Computing Assistants are available for appointments:
Monday – Thursday: 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Sunday 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
You may contact them by calling 574-631-8111.
Position Requirements
- Attend annual training
- Customer service attitude
- Communicate clearly in writing, in person and on the telephone
- Ability to communicate instructions clearly to a varied audience
- Ability to manage time based on work priorities
- Ability to work at least 6 hours per week which may include evenings and/or Sunday
- Ability to learn quickly
Helpful Knowledge
- Windows XP/Vista
- Mac OS (helpful but not required)
- Internet Protocol
- Browser applications
- Email application (in addition to Webmail)
- Malware eradication techniques
- Microsoft Office applications
- Wired/Wireless network
- Webfile
This is not an exhaustive list, only a sampling of the types of calls a Help Desk Computing Assistant might encounter when working at the Help Desk.
How can you become a Help Desk Computing Assistant?
If you are interested in becoming a Help Desk Computing Assistant, please fill out an application by going to the Help Desk Student Applications web page. If you need more information about becoming an assistant, contact the Help Desk Student Supervisor at 574-631-8417.