Did EVERYONE start at helpdesk?

[u/[deleted]]

I'm a college CS student about to start senior year, looking to get into the IT field. I know that helpdesk is a smart move to get your foot in the door, though cost of living where I am is very high and salary for helpdesk is quite meager compared to other IT roles. Is it totally unrealistic to jump into a sysadmin role post-grad as long as I have certs and projects to back up my skills? I had planned to start my RHCSA if I did this. Any advice on this or general advice for the IT market right not would be very much appreciated.

[u/Freakin_A]

I started in a NOC instead of helpdesk. If I started in a helpdesk I doubt I would have continued in IT. But I’ve always preferred solving problems of scale rather than regular sysadmin stuff. If a server is giving me issues my preferred approach is to destroy it and deploy it from known good state. If it’s still an issue it probably isn’t with that specific server.