From Helpdesk Intern to Helpdesk Manager, we sat down with Alex Tran to learn more about his career journey!
Q: How did you begin your career with Brown & Root?
Alex: I was sitting in my data mining class at LSU when I realized it was time for me to get an internship. As fate would have it, one of my advisors sent out internship opportunities that same day, including one at Brown & Root. When I started, the internship focused on answering phones, creating help tickets, and resetting passwords. I quickly realized I wanted to help employees directly when they had problems. I just kept helping people and learning more; the rest is history.
Q: How did you move from an intern role to your current role?
Alex: School teaches you 10% of what you leverage in the workplace. You learn the rest from hands-on experience, finding mentors, asking questions, and being put in the weeds. As an intern, I took advantage of every opportunity to learn whether it was spent Googling something or learning from my mentor, Dion Riley. I was eventually hired on full-time as a Help Desk Technician. I began training other new technicians and new interns. I took advantage of opportunities to learn and grow while supporting others. After being promoted within the technician roles, I was ultimately promoted to Help Desk Manager in 2022.
Q: What does your current role at Brown & Root entail?
Alex: As the Help Desk Manager, I manage our team of Help Desk Technicians and interns. I oversee the day-to-day tasks of our help desk team in ensuring that tickets are addressed, and critical or high-volume tickets are escalated. Additionally, I manage our third-party call center, lead our tablet deployments, and oversee our mobile device management systems.
Q: What is your advice to others looking to advance in their career?
Alex: Always ask questions and be willing to try something new, even if you think it is something small or something you won’t like to do.
