Laid off January. Passed A+ in March. Landed first helpdesk job at a MSP and my first days have been a huge struggle, to the point where I’m wondering if this career change is right for me.

Edit: thanks everyone for your support and stories. As I suspected I am likely just having an emotional reaction to the new environment and situation. I’ll check back in with myself in 60 - 90 days and assess. Time to power through....

I’m in my mid 20s. No technical experience, and my only professional experience is with customer support and admin tasks at a small startup company.

I was really discouraged after being laid off, so I studied my ass off and earned my A+. I’m well on my way to sec+ and net+ too, and I’ve finally landed a tier 1 helpdesk job. Company culture is awesome, well managed, CEO is business minded and really seems to care about employees and their comfort / workload. But I am having a really hard time getting used to the tools that they use. When I’ve shadowed a couple of people, the solutions that they come up with are things that I would never think of!

Tasks include remotely managing systems using active directory, troubleshooting software drivers, file permissions, stuff that should be quite basic in the helpdesk realm. Many of my coworkers either have tons of technical experience, or they went to school for comp sci or IT, or both. I’m feeling like I’m out of my league.

I have a feeling that my reaction is just some cold water shock of jumping back into a new job, new tools, new work environment, etc, and this will pass as I grind through the first month or two. however: what are some signs I should look out for, good or bad, that will tell me this job is a good fit? I hate feeling like I’m not of value to this company, and like I don’t know what I’m doing.