As a help desk manager, articulating the breadth of your technical expertise and leadership skills in a concise resume can be a significant challenge. Our guide provides targeted advice and examples to showcase your accomplishments effectively, ensuring your resume stands out to potential employers.
- Sample industry-leading professional resumes for inspiration and help desk manager resume-writing know-how.
- Focus recruiters' attention on what matters most - your unique experience, achievements, and skills.
- Write various resume sections to ensure you meet at least 95% of all job requirements.
- Balance your help desk manager technical expertise with personality to stand out amongst candidates.
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Optimize your help desk manager resume format to pass the recruiters' assessment
You may be wondering just how much time you need to spend on designing your help desk manager resume.
What recruiters are looking for is systematised content that is clear and coherent. Thus, your help desk manager resume needs to answer requirements and why you're the best candidate for the role from the get-go.
Often, a clear layout consists of:
- Sorting your experience in the reverse chronological order - starting with your most recent and relevant roles. This is an excellent choice for more experienced professionals;
- Writing your contact information (e.g. personal phone number and email address) and your portfolio or LinkedIn link in your help desk manager resume header. If you're wondering to include a photo or not, always make sure that it's appropriate for the country you're applying in;
- Use the basic, most important help desk manager resume sections - your experience, education, summary, etc. Use your resume's real estate wisely to tell a compelling, professional story and match job description's keywords;
- Don't go overboard with the length of your resume. One page is absolutely fine if you happen to have under a decade of relevant experience.
Are you still wondering if you should submit your help desk manager resume in PDF or Word format ? The PDF has a few more advantages, as it doesn't change the format and the text can't be altered upon application.
Format matters most when your help desk manager resume is assessed by the Applicant Tracker System (or the ATS).
The ATS parses resumes, looking for specific keywords, skills or experience that match the job description.
P.S. We recently did a study on how the ATS works and were able to demystify three of the biggest misconceptions about how it assesses candidate resumes.
To pass the ATS evaluation, select any of the serif or sans-serif fonts. Popular choices that would help your help desk manager resume stand out include Raleway, Exo 2, Montserrat, etc.
Most traditionalists go for Arial or Times New Roman, but it's often the case that many candidates choose these fonts, and you'd thus lose points on the uniqueness front.
Think about the location of your application – Canadian resumes, for instance, might follow a different structure.
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PRO TIP
Showcase any ongoing or recent educational efforts to stay updated in your field.
Don't forget to include these six sections on your help desk manager resume:
- Header and summary for your contact details and to highlight your alignment with the help desk manager job you're applying for
- Experience section to get into specific technologies you're apt at using and personal skills to deliver successful results
- Skills section to further highlight how your profile matches the job requirements
- Education section to provide your academic background
- Achievements to mention any career highlights that may be impressive, or that you might have missed so far in other resume sections
What recruiters want to see on your resume:
- Proven experience in managing a help desk team and overseeing all operations, including staff performance and customer service standards.
- Strong technical knowledge and understanding of help desk software, databases, and remote control.
- Excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to analyze situations, identify existing or potential problems, and recommend solutions.
- Experience in developing and implementing help desk procedures, policies, and systems to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction.
- Track record of setting specific customer service standards and monitoring and reporting on support effectiveness through metrics such as first-call resolution and ticket turnaround times.
Adding your relevant experience to your help desk manager resume
If you're looking for a way to show recruiters that your expertise is credible, look no further than the resume experience section.
Your help desk manager resume experience can be best curated in a structured, bulleted list detailing the particulars of your career:
- Always integrate metrics of success - what did you actually achieve in the role?
- Scan the help desk manager advert for your dream role in search of keywords in the job requirements - feature those all through your past/current experience;
- Dedicate a bullet (or two) to spotlight your technical capabilities and how you're able to use the particular software/technology in your day-to-day roles;
- Write simple by including your responsibility, a job advert keyword or skill, and a tangible outcome of your success;
- Use the experience section to also define the unique value of working with you in the form of soft skills, relevant feedback, and the company culture you best thrive in.
Industry leaders always ensure that their resume experience section offers an enticing glimpse at their expertise, while telling a career narrative. Explore these sample help desk manager resumes on how to best create your resume experience section.
- Led a team of 15 help desk analysts to provide 24/7 support for over 10,000 global users, reducing ticket resolution time by 25%.
- Implemented a new ITSM platform that optimized workflow processes and enhanced tracking of KPIs including first call resolution, leading to a 10% increase in customer satisfaction.
- Developed and executed a comprehensive training program that increased staff technical proficiency and ensured cross-departmental IT support alignment.
- Managed critical IT support incidents for enterprise-level clients, streamlining the escalation process and reducing system downtime by 15%.
- Collaborated with systems engineers to integrate customer feedback into the continuous improvement of help desk tools and protocols.
- Oversaw the migration of help desk services to a cloud-based infrastructure which improved remote support capabilities and scalability.
- Introduced an AI-driven ticketing system that automated routine inquiries, allowing staff to focus on complex technical issues.
- Monitored and analyzed performance data to identify trends and develop strategies for reducing recurrent IT issues by 20%.
- Coordinated with the cybersecurity team to incorporate best practices into help desk operations, significantly mitigating risk exposure.
- Implemented a customer feedback loop that increased the help desk’s ability to respond to user needs, improving service customization.
- Enhanced IT help desk service levels by recruiting, training, and developing a high-performing team focused on customer service excellence.
- Spearheaded the development of a self-service portal, which empowered users to resolve simple issues and reduced overall ticket volume by 30%.
- Directing the global help desk operations with a focus on leveraging automation tools to elevate user satisfaction and reduce response times.
- Spearheading the integration of chatbot technology that effectively handles 40% of initial customer interactions, freeing up resources for critical support areas.
- Conducting regular performance assessments using analytics to continuously refine the support model and align with evolving business requirements.
- Revamped the help desk ticketing process which resulted in a 35% improvement in response times and a 50% reduction in backlogged tickets.
- Managed cross-functional teams to resolve complex IT problems, cutting the mean time to resolution by 20% and enhancing system availability.
- Pioneered the adoption of a remote support policy which increased flexibility for staff and ensured uninterrupted customer service during remote work transitions.
- Oversaw a period of significant expansion of help desk services, including a 50% increase in support staff to handle growing customer demand.
- Played a key role in the company-wide adoption of Agile methodologies which improved inter-departmental collaboration and accelerated problem-solving.
- Championed the implementation of advanced monitoring tools that proactively identified potential issues, reducing downtime by 18%.
- Developed and maintained an IT help desk knowledge base that reduced ticket resolution time and enhanced internal training processes.
- Forged strong vendor relationships that improved the quality of technical support tools and reduced software procurement costs by 12%.
- Coordinated with IT leadership to align help desk activities with strategic business initiatives, ensuring adaptive support for new technologies.
- Increased the IT department’s operational efficiency by implementing strategic staffing models that optimized round-the-clock support coverage.
- Conceptualized and launched a cross-training program that resulted in a more versatile help desk team able to address a broader range of technical issues.
- Established a program for tracking and responding to user satisfaction metrics, leading to a 15% improvement in perceived IT support quality.
- Orchestrated a seamless transition for the help desk team to a comprehensive remote work model while maintaining 99% SLA adherence.
- Implemented a tiered support strategy that maximized the efficient use of skilled resources and reduced average handle time by 22%.
- Championed the development and integration of predictive analysis tools into support practices, significantly lowering incident recurrence rates.
Quantifying impact on your resume
- Highlight the number of support tickets resolved per day to demonstrate efficiency in handling customer issues.
- Quantify the size of the help desk team you have managed to showcase leadership and team management skills.
- Include the percentage reduction in ticket resolution time to emphasize process improvement capabilities.
- Mention the number of training sessions conducted for help desk staff to illustrate commitment to team development.
- Detail the increase in customer satisfaction scores to reflect the impact of service quality enhancements.
- Specify the volume of calls and emails managed to show the ability to handle high workloads effectively.
- Report on the percentage of issues resolved on the first call to highlight proficiency in problem-solving.
- Indicate the dollar value of the IT assets you were responsible for to establish financial accountability and asset management skills.
Action verbs for your help desk manager resume
Experience section for candidates with zero-to-none experience
While you may have less professional experience in the field, that doesn't mean you should leave this section of your resume empty or blank.
Consider these four strategies on how to substitute the lack of experience with:
- Volunteer roles - as part of the community, you've probably gained valuable people (and sometimes even technological capabilities) that could answer the job requirements
- Research projects - while in your university days, you may have been part of some cutting-edge project to benefit the field. Curate this within your experience section as a substitute for real-world experience
- Internships - while you may consider that that summer internship in New York was solely mandatory to your degree, make sure to include it as part of your experience, if it's relevant to the role
- Irrelevant previous jobs - instead of detailing the technologies you've learned, think about the transferable skills you've gained.
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PRO TIP
Showcase any ongoing or recent educational efforts to stay updated in your field.
Shining a light on your help desk manager hard skills and soft skills
To win recruiters over, you must really have a breadth of skill set presented and supported within your help desk manager resume.
On hiring managers' checklists, you'd initially discover hard or technical skills. Those are the technology (and software) that help you perform on the job. Hard skills are easy to quantify via your education, certificates, and on-the-job success.
Another main criterion recruiters are always assessing your help desk manager resume on is soft skills. That is your ability to communicate, adapt, and grow in new environments. Soft skills are a bit harder to measure, as they are gained both thanks to your personal and professional experience.
Showcase you have the ideal skill set for the role by:
- Dedicating both a skills box (for your technical capabilities) and an achievements or strengths section (to detail your personal skills).
- When listing your skills, be specific about your hard skills (name the precise technology you're able to use) and soft skills (aim to always demonstrate what the outcomes were).
- Avoid listing overused cliches in the skills section (e.g. Microsoft Office and Communication), unless they're otherwise specified as prominent for the role.
- Select up to ten skills which should be defined via various sections in your resume skills sidebar (e.g. a technical skills box, industry expertise box with sliders, strengths section with bullets).
Spice up your resume with leading technical and people skills, that'd help you get noticed by recruiters.
Top skills for your help desk manager resume:
ITIL Framework
Help Desk Software (e.g., Zendesk, ServiceNow)
Remote Support Tools (e.g., TeamViewer, LogMeIn)
Ticketing Systems
Network Troubleshooting
Hardware Diagnostics
Operating Systems (Windows, macOS, Linux)
Database Management
VoIP Technologies
Cybersecurity Fundamentals
Communication
Problem-Solving
Leadership
Customer Service
Time Management
Conflict Resolution
Team Collaboration
Adaptability
Analytical Thinking
Empathy
PRO TIP
Highlight any significant extracurricular activities that demonstrate valuable skills or leadership.
Help desk manager-specific certifications and education for your resume
Place emphasis on your resume education section . It can suggest a plethora of skills and experiences that are apt for the role.
- Feature only higher-level qualifications, with details about the institution and tenure.
- If your degree is in progress, state your projected graduation date.
- Think about excluding degrees that don't fit the job's context.
- Elaborate on your education if it accentuates your accomplishments in a research-driven setting.
On the other hand, showcasing your unique and applicable industry know-how can be a literal walk in the park, even if you don't have a lot of work experience.
Include your accreditation in the certification and education sections as so:
- Important industry certificates should be listed towards the top of your resume in a separate section
- If your accreditation is really noteworthy, you could include it in the top one-third of your resume following your name or in the header, summary, or objective
- Potentially include details about your certificates or degrees (within the description) to show further alignment to the role with the skills you've attained
- The more recent your professional certificate is, the more prominence it should have within your certification sections. This shows recruiters you have recent knowledge and expertise
At the end of the day, both the education and certification sections hint at the initial and continuous progress you've made in the field.
And, honestly - that's important for any company.
Below, discover some of the most recent and popular help desk manager certificates to make your resume even more prominent in the applicant pool:
The top 5 certifications for your help desk manager resume:
- Help Desk Institute (HDI) Support Center Manager (SCM) — HDI
- Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) — Microsoft
- Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundation — AXELOS
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) — (ISC)²
- Project Management Professional (PMP) — Project Management Institute (PMI)
PRO TIP
List your educational qualifications and certifications in reverse chronological order.
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Should you write a resume summary or an objective?
No need to research social media or ask ChatGPT to find out if the summary or objective is right for your help desk manager resume.
- Experienced candidates always tend to go for resume summaries. The summary is a three to five sentence long paragraph that narrates your career highlights and aligns your experience to the role. In it you can add your top skills and career achievements that are most impressive.
- Junior professionals or those making a career change, should write a resume objective. These shouldn't be longer than five sentences and should detail your career goals . Basically, how you see yourself growing in the current position and how would your experience or skill set could help out your potential employers.
Think of both the resume summary and objective as your opportunity to put your best foot forward - from the get go - answering job requirements with skills.
Use the below real-world help desk manager professional statements as inspiration for writing your resume summary or objective.
Resume summaries for a help desk manager job
- With over 7 years of experience in IT support, a seasoned help desk manager adept at streamlining help desk operations, reducing downtime, and enhancing user satisfaction. Proficient in ITIL methodologies and Microsoft Office Suite, boasting a record of reducing ticket resolution times by 30% at TechGenix Solutions.
- Former customer service supervisor with 5 years of leadership experience, transitioning to the tech sector as a help desk manager, bringing exceptional problem-solving abilities and a commitment to improving service response times. Skilled in communication and team coordination, eager to apply transferable skills to achieve high customer service ratings in a tech environment.
- Eager to leverage a 10-year background in operations management within the retail industry to the tech sphere, where customer support and efficient resolution are paramount. Bringing to bear extensive experience in team leadership and process optimization, aiming to drive excellence in a new role as a help desk manager.
- A dynamic professional with 8 years guiding high-performance help desk teams for SaaS companies. Specializes in SAFe Agile methodologies and is a certified ITIL v4 practitioner. Achieved a 97% customer satisfaction rate through innovative support strategies and dedication to service excellence at CloudTech Enterprises.
- Seeking a challenging entry-level opportunity to apply my keen interest in technology and strong interpersonal skills. Enthusiastic about developing a deep understanding of technical support processes and contributing to improved customer service experiences. Motivated to learn rapidly and make a significant impact in a dynamic tech support environment.
- Recent IT graduate motivated to begin a career in tech support, aiming to apply theoretical knowledge from a BSc in Information Technology and hands-on internship experience. Focused on mastering help desk management tools and protocols to facilitate effective customer service in a high-paced tech firm.
Showcasing your personality with these four help desk manager resume sections
Enhance your help desk manager expertise with additional resume sections that spotlight both your professional skills and personal traits. Choose options that not only present you in a professional light but also reveal why colleagues enjoy working with you:
- My time - a pie chart infographic detailing your daily personal and professional priorities, showcasing a blend of hard and soft skills;
- Hobbies and interests - share your engagement in sports, fandoms, or other interests, whether in your local community or during personal time;
- Quotes - what motivates and inspires you as a professional;
- Books - indicating your reading and comprehension skills, a definite plus for employers, particularly when your reading interests align with your professional field.
Key takeaways
Securing your ideal job starts with crafting a compelling help desk manager resume. It should not only highlight your professional strengths but also reflect your personality. Key aspects to remember include:
- Choose a clear, easily editable format, allowing more time to focus on the content of your resume;
- Emphasize experience relevant to the job, focusing on your impact on the team;
- Opt for a resume summary if you have extensive professional experience, and a resume objective if you're just starting out;
- Include technical skills in the skills section and interpersonal skills in the achievements section;
- Recognize the importance of various resume sections (e.g., My Time, Projects) in showcasing both your professional abilities and personal traits.
