Top 12 Help Desk Skills to Put on Your Resume
In a world that runs on tickets, logins, and blinking status lights, help desk pros keep the wheels from wobbling. A resume that pairs technical depth with cool-headed communication cuts through the noise and nudges hiring managers to call.
Help Desk Skills
- Zendesk
- ServiceNow
- Active Directory
- Jira
- Salesforce
- Microsoft 365 (Office)
- Slack
- Freshdesk
- PowerShell
- Linux
- Cisco
- AWS
1. Zendesk
Zendesk is a cloud-based customer service platform for ticketing, support, and multichannel conversations, helping teams handle requests efficiently and consistently.
Why It's Important
It streamlines ticket intake and routing, supports email/chat/voice in one place, and gives clear reporting, so customers get faster, more personal help.
How to Improve Zendesk Skills
Quick wins and durable habits both matter:
Customize the workspace: Tailor fields, forms, and views to your workflows so agents see exactly what they need.
Connect your tools: Add integrations from the marketplace to sync chat, CRM, and dev tools and cut context switching.
Automate the grind: Use triggers, automations, and macros to handle repetitive updates, routing, and follow-ups.
Lean on analytics: Build Explore dashboards for SLAs, backlog, and first-contact resolution; iterate based on the data.
Strengthen self-service: Maintain a searchable knowledge base and community; deflect common issues with clear, short articles.
Coach continuously: Schedule feature refreshers and practice sessions; certify team members where it helps.
Close the loop: Gather CSAT/NPS and verbatims; feed insights into training and article updates.
How to Display Zendesk Skills on Your Resume
2. ServiceNow
ServiceNow is a cloud platform for IT service management and beyond, automating workflows from incident to change while unifying requests, approvals, and knowledge.
Why It's Important
It accelerates incident resolution, enforces SLAs, and standardizes processes, which lifts service quality and trims response times.
How to Improve ServiceNow Skills
Tune incident workflows: Standardize categories, priorities, and assignments; auto-route common issues.
Build knowledge: Author articles tied to tickets; promote deflection via portal search and related items.
Refine the service catalog: Clear forms, simple approvals, predictable delivery times.
Use Performance Analytics: Track trends, SLA breaches, and bottlenecks; act on what the numbers say.
Deploy Virtual Agent: Offload common requests with conversational flows; escalate seamlessly.
Go mobile: Enable on-the-go approvals and updates for agents and managers.
Polish the UI: Tailor workspaces so agents can triage fast with fewer clicks.
Train and iterate: Regular enablement, plus a feedback loop from agents and requesters.
How to Display ServiceNow Skills on Your Resume
3. Active Directory
Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft’s directory service for on-prem Windows domains, centralizing users, groups, devices, and access policies. (For cloud identity, many orgs also rely on Entra ID, formerly Azure AD.)
Why It's Important
It lets help desks reset passwords, manage access, enforce policy, and keep authentication secure across the environment.
How to Improve Active Directory Skills
Automate with PowerShell: Script account lifecycle tasks and bulk updates to cut errors and speed responses.
Harden access: Apply least privilege, review group memberships, and enable MFA where applicable.
Audit and monitor: Track changes, sign-in failures, and DC health; alert on anomalies.
Clean up GPOs: Consolidate and document; test changes in a safe OU before broad rollout.
Design OUs for delegation: Mirror business structure and align permissions for clear ownership.
Educate users: Security basics, password hygiene, phishing awareness—reduce preventable tickets.
Patch and back up: Keep DCs current; test restores so recovery is boring, not heroic.
How to Display Active Directory Skills on Your Resume
4. Jira
Jira, from Atlassian, is work management and issue tracking software. Help desks use it to intake requests, track fixes, and coordinate across teams.
Why It's Important
It organizes work, makes status visible, and pushes tickets to resolution without guesswork.
How to Improve Jira Skills
Shape workflows: Customize statuses, transitions, and screens; keep them simple and enforce SLAs.
Use the right issue types: Requests, incidents, changes—separate flows, clearer reports.
Integrate smartly: Connect chat, email, and dev tools to cut swivel-chair time.
Automate routine steps: Auto-assign, comment, label, and nudge when SLAs slip.
Template responses: Canned comments and checklists speed consistent fixes.
Teach the team: Short training, quick reference guides, practice with new features.
How to Display Jira Skills on Your Resume
5. Salesforce
Salesforce is a CRM platform with Service Cloud for case management, omnichannel support, knowledge, and automation—all under one roof.
Why It's Important
It centralizes every customer touchpoint, speeds up resolution, and reveals patterns that improve service.
How to Improve Salesforce Skills
Lean into Service Cloud: Set up queues, entitlements, and Knowledge; route work with Omni-Channel.
Automate with Flow: Standardize escalations, updates, and email alerts; remove manual busywork.
Integrate comms: Tie in email, chat, and telephony for full context in each case.
Sharpen data quality: Validation rules, clear picklists, and ownership conventions.
Grow skills with training: Use guided learning paths and internal enablement to keep the team sharp.
How to Display Salesforce Skills on Your Resume
6. Microsoft 365 (Office)
Microsoft 365 delivers Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and admin tools that power communication and productivity across the org.
Why It's Important
Help desks live here—email issues, document access, macros, meetings—and need to resolve them quickly and safely.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Upskill intentionally: Encourage certifications and bite-sized training focused on common ticket themes.
Use Office Scripts and macros: Automate repetitive Excel and Outlook tasks to save hours.
Build a knowledge hub: SharePoint or OneNote with step-by-steps, screenshots, and known errors.
Collect feedback: Simple Microsoft Forms surveys highlight gaps and recurring pain points.
Stay current: Track feature releases, roll out updates thoughtfully, and communicate changes.
Streamline workflows: Power Automate for approvals, notifications, and user provisioning handoffs.
Leverage the Admin Center: Manage licenses, policies, and service health from one pane.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume
7. Slack
Slack is team messaging for fast collaboration, file sharing, and app integrations—prime territory for triaging and solving internal issues.
Why It's Important
It shortens the distance between a problem and the person who can fix it, keeping context and history in the open.
How to Improve Slack Skills
Design channels with intent: #help-accounts, #help-hardware, #incidents—clear lanes, quicker answers.
Use bots and integrations: Auto-create tickets, acknowledge requests, and surface KB articles in-channel.
Keep snippets and replies: Canned answers for frequent questions; consistent and fast.
Schedule and remind: Use scheduled messages, reminders, and Workflow Builder to keep follow-ups on track.
Teach etiquette: Triage rules, emoji conventions, and escalation paths reduce noise.
Listen constantly: Polls and feedback channels reveal friction you can smooth.
How to Display Slack Skills on Your Resume
8. Freshdesk
Freshdesk is a cloud support platform for ticketing, knowledge, chat, and more, designed to simplify customer service.
Why It's Important
It centralizes conversations, prioritizes work, and measures performance, which keeps customers happy and teams organized.
How to Improve Freshdesk Skills
Automate routing and SLAs: Rules for priority, assignments, and escalations keep work flowing.
Expand self-service: Write tight FAQs, how-tos, and diagnostic checklists; link them from responses.
Integrate your stack: CRM, chat, and project tools connected for end-to-end context.
Collect and act on feedback: CSAT surveys and trend reviews drive coaching and content updates.
Train continuously: New features, soft skills, and product refreshers keep quality high.
Use analytics: Watch first response time, resolution time, backlog, and deflection; adjust resourcing accordingly.
Personalize intake: Tailor ticket forms and channels to capture just the right details upfront.
Foster community: Encourage peer-to-peer help through forums for faster answers.
How to Display Freshdesk Skills on Your Resume
9. PowerShell
PowerShell is Microsoft’s shell and scripting language for automation and configuration, essential for managing Windows at scale.
Why It's Important
It slices through repetitive tasks, standardizes fixes, and lets a small team manage a wide footprint without breaking stride.
How to Improve PowerShell Skills
Nail the fundamentals: Cmdlets, the pipeline, objects—not just strings.
Write reusable scripts: Parameterize, document, and store them in version control.
Adopt modules: Extend capabilities for AD, Exchange, M365, and more.
Handle errors well: Try/catch, robust logging, and graceful fallbacks.
Keep current: Update to the latest PowerShell and module versions; mind breaking changes.
Automate execution: Schedule tasks or event-driven runs for backups, cleanups, and audits.
Secure execution: Sensible execution policies and signed scripts from trusted sources.
Tune your profile: Load aliases, functions, and modules you rely on at startup.
Learn continuously: Practice kata-style challenges; review community examples and patterns.
How to Display PowerShell Skills on Your Resume
10. Linux
Linux is an open-source operating system prized for stability, security, and flexibility across servers, desktops, and embedded systems.
Why It's Important
Many back-end services and dev stacks run on Linux. A capable help desk needs enough fluency to troubleshoot quickly and safely.
How to Improve Linux Skills
Automate common fixes: Use tools like Ansible or shell scripts for updates, installs, and configuration baselines.
Grow a living knowledge base: Capture commands, logs, and resolutions with copy-paste-ready snippets.
Keep learning: Regular labs on systemd, networking, filesystems, and permissions.
Support remotely: Standardize secure remote access and, where appropriate, remote desktop tools.
Listen for pain: Short satisfaction surveys and post-ticket reviews surface patterns worth fixing.
Harden systems: Patch promptly; use Fail2Ban, firewalls, and antivirus like ClamAV where it fits.
Adopt ticketing discipline: Track every request in help desk software such as osTicket or Zammad.
How to Display Linux Skills on Your Resume
11. Cisco
Cisco provides networking, security, and collaboration technologies that underpin corporate connectivity and uptime.
Why It's Important
Reliable networks are the backbone of support. Cisco gear and software keep traffic flowing and threats at bay.
How to Improve Cisco Skills
Invest in training: CCNA/CCNP paths and hands-on labs build real troubleshooting muscle.
Standardize configurations: Templates, golden images, and documented change windows reduce surprises.
Automate where possible: Use platforms like Cisco DNA Center or Ansible to push consistent changes.
Monitor relentlessly: Syslog, SNMP, NetFlow, and clean dashboards to catch issues early.
Escalate smartly: Clear runbooks and vendor support engagement when signals go red.
How to Display Cisco Skills on Your Resume
12. AWS
AWS is a broad cloud platform offering compute, storage, databases, networking, analytics, and contact center services.
Why It's Important
Help desks supporting cloud workloads need reliable monitoring, sane permissions, and cost awareness—AWS makes all three achievable at scale.
How to Improve AWS Skills
Pick the right support plan: Ensure the escalation path fits your uptime needs and complexity.
Watch everything with CloudWatch: Metrics, logs, alarms; stop guessing and start alerting.
Automate with Lambda: Event-driven fixes, cleanup jobs, and lightweight integrations.
Lock down access: IAM least privilege, roles over keys, and continuous GuardDuty review.
Control spend: Budgets, Cost Explorer, and tag hygiene keep bills predictable.
Modernize support: Amazon Connect for contact centers that flex with demand.
Keep learning: Tap official docs and hands-on labs; fold lessons into runbooks.
How to Display AWS Skills on Your Resume
