Hello everyone, I will take this chance to reintroduce myself to the community. I was a member on the Daniweb forums back in 2006 and 2007. I can see a lot has changed on the site since then, and its great to see that the community is still alive. In the past 10 years a lot has happened in my life. I have started and stopped school several times, eventually earning a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree from Iowa State University last year. I recently left a job as a machine operator in a factory, and I am trying to secure an entry level position as a desktop support technician. The job is for a part-time desktop support role at a medical clinic briefly summarized as: "Technician responsible for imaging, configuring, deploying, and supporting new desktops and laptops as part of a Windows 10 enterprise deployment/migration"
My question to those who have worked in a similar role, or who hire candidates for roles like this is about my qualifications for this position, and how to best present my skills. I feel very comfortable troubleshooting Windows software and hardware problems, and my customer service skills are adequate. My problem is, I have sporadic training in different technologies that aren't necessarily relevant to this role. For example, I have used imaging software to create and mount .iso files, but I have no experience with Windows SCCM. In college I did well in two Java programming classes, and I was trained to use an SSH client. I am great with Microsoft office, and I know the basics of managing data in Access, but beyond that, I don't have much formal training in enterprise tools. Although about 1/3 of my college credits were towards an MIS major, I ended up also concentrated on psychology and art, and it's difficult to sell my education during an interview.
As I put together my resume and prepare for the interview, I am feeling some doubt as to whether my background is adequate for this role. Besides having relevant experience, I do meet the other requirements. I live in a small market, and opportunites like this are few and far between. If my near term goal is to get hired in a desktop support role, would it help to get CompTIA certifications to bolster my resume? What are some good ways that I can sell my education and limited experience in an interview? I gave up on being a computer science major 10 years ago in order to be a musician, and here I am 10 years later back on Daniweb asking for career advice. I am passionate about working with technology, but I don't know what I should be doing to break into the industry. I would be grateful to hear any interview tips you have, as well as suggestions for gaining experience. Is there another job that is more entry level than this?