Top 12 Desktop Support Analyst Skills to Put on Your Resume

A strong resume is crucial for landing a role as a Desktop Support Analyst, and the skills you spotlight matter more than fluff. Show depth, show range, show you can keep systems humming and users calm. Below you’ll find twelve skill areas that consistently prove their worth in real environments, not just on paper.

Desktop Support Analyst Skills

1. Windows 10/11
2. Active Directory
3. Microsoft 365
4. macOS
5. Linux
6. VMware
7. PowerShell
8. SCCM
9. Networking
10. ITIL
11. Citrix
12. ServiceNow

1. Windows 10/11

Windows 10 and Windows 11 power the bulk of enterprise desktops. They bring a familiar GUI, modern security, and management hooks admins rely on. Windows 11 adds a refreshed interface, stronger security baselines, and hardware-aware performance boosts. Note: Windows 10 reaches end of support on October 14, 2025, so plan upgrades and lifecycles accordingly.

Why It's Important

Most corporate fleets run Windows. Knowing how to configure, harden, and troubleshoot it quickly keeps people productive and incidents short.

How to Improve Windows 10/11 Skills

1. Stay current: Apply OS updates and vendor drivers on a cadence. Validate on pilot rings before broad rollout.

2. Trim startup impact: Disable unneeded startup apps and scheduled tasks. Faster boots, fewer hangs.

3. Storage hygiene: Run Disk Cleanup, clear temp caches, and optimize drives. Watch for low free space thresholds.

4. Tune visuals: Adjust performance settings for responsiveness on lower-spec hardware.

5. Security baselines: Enforce Windows Security, SmartScreen, Credential Guard (where supported), and controlled folder access.

6. Power profiles: Match power plans to usage—balanced for most, high performance for specialized work.

7. Health repairs: Use SFC and DISM to repair system files and component store issues.

8. Backups: Standardize user data backups and test restores. No backups, no mercy.

How to Display Windows 10/11 Skills on Your Resume

2. Active Directory

Active Directory stores identities and governs access across Windows domains. It’s the backbone for logons, policies, and permissions that keep order on busy networks.

Why It's Important

Centralized control. Consistent policy. Quick user provisioning and access fixes when things go sideways.

How to Improve Active Directory Skills

1. Patch and harden: Keep domain controllers updated and follow secure tiering practices.

2. Strong password and lockout policies: Balance security with usability; review regularly.

3. Audit and monitor: Track changes, successful/failed logons, and privilege use. Alert on anomalies.

4. Housekeeping: Disable stale accounts, expire temp access, and keep OUs structured and sane.

5. Least privilege: Limit admin rights, break-glass accounts with MFA, and time-bound elevation.

6. Group Policy discipline: Fewer, well-documented GPOs. Test in staging, link thoughtfully.

7. Backups and recovery: Regular system state backups and a practiced forest/domain recovery plan.

8. User education: Phishing awareness and safe password habits reduce tickets and risk.

9. MFA everywhere possible: Especially for admins and remote access.

10. Use management tools: Scripts and admin consoles to standardize repetitive tasks.

How to Display Active Directory Skills on Your Resume

3. Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) blends productivity apps with cloud services—Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and the Microsoft 365 Apps suite.

Why It's Important

It’s where users live. Mail, meetings, files, chat—supporting it well means fewer disruptions and faster collaboration.

How to Improve Microsoft 365 Skills

1. Keep tenants healthy: Track service health, message center updates, and apply changes with change control.

2. Admin center mastery: Users, licenses, mail flow, retention, and compliance—know the knobs.

3. PowerShell fluency: Automate license assignment, reporting, and bulk fixes.

4. Security first: Enforce MFA, Conditional Access, and baseline policies. Review audit logs and sign-in risk.

5. Data governance: Sensitivity labels, DLP, retention. Keep data safe and searchable.

6. Champion training: Short, targeted user tips reduce tickets and boost adoption.

How to Display Microsoft 365 Skills on Your Resume

4. macOS

macOS drives Apple’s desktops and laptops. Polished UI, strong security posture, and tight ecosystem integration make it a common sight in creative and executive teams.

Why It's Important

Mixed environments are the norm. Fluency with macOS means smoother onboarding, better cross-platform troubleshooting, and fewer escalations.

How to Improve macOS Skills

1. Update rhythm: Keep macOS and apps current. Validate critical workflows before major upgrades.

2. Login Items cleanup: Manage login items and background services to speed startups.

3. Harden devices: Enable FileVault, firewall, and privacy controls. Restrict kernel/system extensions when possible.

4. First Aid regularly: Use Disk Utility First Aid to catch disk issues early.

5. Backups: Time Machine or enterprise backup. Test restores, not just backups.

6. Navigation efficiency: Spotlight, shortcuts, and trackpad gestures save minutes every hour.

How to Display macOS Skills on Your Resume

5. Linux

Linux offers a stable, secure, and flexible platform across desktops, servers, and embedded devices. Tools galore, strong scripting, and fine-grained control.

Why It's Important

Even in Windows-heavy shops, Linux pops up—developers, appliances, WSL, labs. Knowing your way around accelerates fixes and broadens your reach.

How to Improve Linux Skills

1. Stay patched: Regularly update packages (apt, dnf, zypper) and the kernel as needed.

2. Hardware sanity: Verify drivers and firmware. Check compatibility before big changes.

3. Desktop polish: Pick a DE (GNOME, KDE, etc.) and tune it for your users’ workflow.

4. Package management: Be comfortable with CLI and GUI package tools for quick installs and rollbacks.

5. Modern networking tools: Prefer ip over ifconfig, and ss over netstat. Use nmcli when applicable.

6. Logs and services: journalctl and systemctl are your daily drivers for troubleshooting.

7. Security: Firewalls (ufw or firewalld), permissions, and regular audits. Principle of least privilege.

8. Filesystem fluency: Permissions, ACLs, links, mounts, and disk checks. Understand the hierarchy.

9. Backup and restore: rsync, tar, and snapshot strategies. Practice restores.

10. Community and docs: Read man pages and distro wikis; they’re often the quickest path to answers.

How to Display Linux Skills on Your Resume

6. VMware

VMware’s virtualization platform lets you run multiple OSes on shared hardware. Great for labs, app testing, and isolating risky changes from production machines.

Why It's Important

Spin up, snapshot, roll back—troubleshooting and deployments get safer and faster, with less hardware clutter.

How to Improve VMware Skills

1. Right-size VMs: Allocate CPU and RAM to match workload. Avoid overcommitting without monitoring.

2. Keep VMware Tools current: Better drivers, smoother performance, cleaner shutdowns.

3. Storage choices: Favor SSD-backed datastores. Use paravirtual SCSI where it fits. Be mindful of thin vs. thick provisioning.

4. Network adapters: Use VMXNET3 for performance. Segment lab networks for isolation.

5. Snapshot discipline: Short-lived snapshots only. Consolidate regularly.

6. Watch performance: Track CPU ready, memory ballooning, latency. Fix bottlenecks before users feel them.

How to Display VMware Skills on Your Resume

7. PowerShell

PowerShell is a command shell and scripting language built for automation and administration. It shines at scale, especially across Windows and Microsoft cloud services.

Why It's Important

Automate the repetitive. Standardize fixes. Pull data fast. That’s time back to solve the gnarly problems.

How to Improve PowerShell Skills

1. Foundations: Master the pipeline, objects, and help system (Get-Help, Get-Command, Get-Member).

2. Editor choice: Use VS Code with the PowerShell extension. The ISE is in maintenance mode and not for PowerShell 7.

3. Modules: Learn core modules—ActiveDirectory, Microsoft.Graph, ExchangeOnline, and PackageManagement.

4. Remoting: Configure WinRM securely, then manage systems in bulk.

5. Error handling: Try/catch, error action preferences, and robust logging make scripts reliable.

6. Script hygiene: Parameters, comments, functions, and reusable modules. Test with small, safe targets first.

How to Display PowerShell Skills on Your Resume

8. SCCM

SCCM (Microsoft Configuration Manager), now part of the Microsoft Intune family, manages OS deployment, application delivery, updates, inventory, and compliance at scale.

Why It's Important

Consistent builds, timely patches, fewer manual touches. Your endpoints stay healthy and predictable.

How to Improve SCCM Skills

1. Standardize apps: Create reliable application and package models with detection rules and supersedence.

2. Automate patching: Use Automatic Deployment Rules and maintenance windows. Report on compliance.

3. Inventory clarity: Tune hardware/software inventory for accuracy without overloading clients.

4. Endpoint protection: Manage Defender policies centrally and review threat status regularly.

5. Role-based access: Scope permissions tightly. Separate duties for safety.

6. Reporting: Build SSRS or Power BI Report Server views for compliance, deployment status, and client health.

7. Client health: Baseline checks, remediation scripts, and monitoring to keep agents talking.

8. Cloud assist: Consider Cloud Management Gateway and co-management to reach roaming devices.

How to Display SCCM Skills on Your Resume

9. Networking

Networking ties devices, apps, and services together—switches, routers, Wi‑Fi, DNS, DHCP, VLANs, VPNs, the works. When it breaks, everything feels broken.

Why It's Important

Most “computer problems” have a network twist. Understanding layers, protocols, and common failure points slashes resolution time.

How to Improve Networking Skills

1. Core concepts: OSI model, TCP vs UDP, subnets, routing basics, NAT, and VLANs.

2. Hands-on tools: ping, tracert/traceroute, ipconfig/ip, arp, nslookup/dig, and packet captures with Wireshark.

3. Services that matter: DHCP scopes, DNS records, certificate chains, and time sync. Small misconfigs, big headaches.

4. Wi‑Fi realities: Channel planning, 2.4 vs 5/6 GHz tradeoffs, roaming behavior, and interference hunting.

5. Lab it: Simulate topologies with virtualization. Reproduce issues safely, then fix with confidence.

How to Display Networking Skills on Your Resume

10. ITIL

ITIL is a framework for delivering reliable, user-centered IT services. ITIL 4 emphasizes value, continual improvement, and practical workflows over rigid checklists.

Why It's Important

Clear processes mean predictable support. Faster resolutions, better handoffs, cleaner metrics.

How to Improve ITIL Skills

1. Know the basics: Incident vs request, problem management, change enablement, SLAs/OLAs.

2. Right-size processes: Keep workflows lean. Automate triage and routing where it helps.

3. Customer focus: Measure satisfaction, not just closure. Use feedback to refine services.

4. Knowledge first: Shift left with solid articles, templates, and known error databases.

5. Continual improvement: Review trends, pick small wins, iterate often.

How to Display ITIL Skills on Your Resume

11. Citrix

Citrix delivers virtual apps and desktops so users can work from almost anywhere, on almost anything. Centralized, performant, and controllable.

Why It's Important

Remote access without chaos. Desktop Support can troubleshoot sessions, not just devices, and keep people moving.

How to Improve Citrix Skills

1. Network tuning: Prioritize ICA/EDT traffic, manage bandwidth, and watch latency/jitter.

2. Stay updated: Keep delivery controllers, VDAs, and Workspace app on supported versions.

3. Monitor smart: Use Director-style insights—logon times, profile load, and session performance.

4. Endpoint readiness: Ensure clients are current, graphics offload configured where available, and peripherals properly mapped.

5. Policy balance: Session reliability, visual settings, and printing rules tuned for your network conditions.

6. Profiles and cache: Optimize profiles (consider modern profile solutions) and manage caches to curb long logons.

How to Display Citrix Skills on Your Resume

12. ServiceNow

ServiceNow centralizes service management—incidents, requests, changes, knowledge—so support work is trackable, measurable, and improvable.

Why It's Important

Tickets flow to the right queues, updates are visible, and analytics reveal what needs attention. Less chaos, more clarity.

How to Improve ServiceNow Skills

1. Automate the routine: Flows for account unlocks, software requests, and status updates. Free your hands for the tricky stuff.

2. Self-service that works: A clean portal, strong catalog items, and clear request forms.

3. Knowledge first: Well-written articles linked to incidents to drive deflection and faster resolution.

4. Dashboards: Role-based views for open tickets, SLAs, trends, and workloads.

5. Performance analytics: Track MTTR, backlog age, reopen rates. Act on the signals.

6. Collaboration: Integrate with chat tools for swarming and faster handoffs.

7. Training and governance: Consistent categories, templates, and naming keep data clean and reports trustworthy.

How to Display ServiceNow Skills on Your Resume