SysAdmin career help and questions

[Neuro42]

Hi! I'm about to restart school at 31 and I was hoping some of y'all in Systems admin could answer some questions I have. I wasn't sure if this is the right place to ask but I didn't see any other related forum sections.

 

I'm looking at a CIS degree because I'd like to get into the I.T. field. I shadowed a person in 6th grade and kinda loved what he did but I can't remember what his position/degree would have been. He worked in I.T. at a local college and was going around helping fix computers but also helped out in the server room. I like problem solving and the feeling I'm helping out something important like teaching the newest gen by keeping their tools sharp. 

 

I just have some questions. What exactly would that position be? Is taking a CIS program really the best way to get into it, and are there certificates that are related that would be good to boost my resume? What are some lesser known "tips" that many might not know that I should know about a Sys Admin job. What are some things in the future of that position I might need to watch out for?

Some of these questions I'm finding online of course but I'd also like to get in depth knowledge from those who do it as to what your day to day is like. What is your main task, what problems tend to come up often? 

For those of you who work at a community college what is that like? Just give me anything you know about it

 

Any answers are greatly appreciated. I thought coming here would be a good idea because I figured y'all would be helpful in helping someone further their life. Thank you! Please point me to any megathreads about this subject. I looked around, I'm probably about to search the forums for topics of this nature.

Edited March 7 by Neuro42
Adding more questions

[SignatureSigner]

The job that the guy may have had could have either been a helpdesk position (of different levels) or a general IT position. The fixing stuff makes me lean more toward the helpdesk.

[Agall]

7 minutes ago, Neuro42 said:

Hi! I'm about to restart school at 31 and I was hoping some of y'all in Systems admin could answer some questions I have. I wasn't sure if this is the right place to ask but I didn't see any other related forum sections.

 

I'm looking at a CIS degree because I'd like to get into the I.T. field. I shadowed a person in 6th grade and kinda loved what he did but I can't remember what his position/degree would have been. He worked in I.T. at a local college and was going around helping fix computers but also helped out in the server room. I like problem solving and the feeling I'm helping out something important like teaching the newest gen by keeping their tools sharp. 

 

I just have some questions. What exactly would that position be? Is taking a CIS program really the best way to get into it, and are there certificates that are related that would be good to boost my resume? What are some lesser known "tips" that many might not know that I should know about a Sys Admin job. What are some things in the future of that position I might need to watch out for?

 

Any answers are greatly appreciated. I thought coming here would be a good idea because I figured y'all would be helpful in helping someone further their life. Thank you! Please point me to any megathreads about this subject. I looked around, I'm probably about to search the forums for topics of this nature.

The field in general prioritizes certifications and experience over degree programs from what I've seen, so it might be worth reconsidering unless you're looking at a value orientated community college program. 

 

The scope depends on the size of the organization. The larger the organization, the more distributed the work is and the more robust the concept of 'least privileges' are applied. Smaller companies might only have 1-3 IT personnel who either share responsibilities doing everything or each have their focus. Larger companies will distribute admin permissions so much that it requires 3-4 different departments to do basic functions.

 

A lot of companies do a terrible job at marketing the responsibilities of the position they're hiring for, usually underselling what the expectations are. I imagine it has to do with the people listing the job aren't given the whole story or the position has been grossly under serviced by an IT person who hasn't evolved.

 

Really the nature of IT and sysadmin is having a base level of understanding of how things work but then being able to figure out the rest. Unless the training program you end up doing is based exclusively off a specific organization that you then go to work for, you're going to have to adapt almost all of the applicable skills you're going to learn.

 

Regarding actual programs, most places want ComptTIA Security+ at a minimum, but that's not even a requirement. There's a lot of unnecessary aspects of that certification in my opinion, but its an arbitrary checkbox in some places. 

 

Experience still seems to win out in the private sector, some companies though might require 5+ years and/or degrees though for a lot of positions that aren't bottom barrel entry. The goal in that case would be to find someone on the verge of retiring and either assume their place or challenge them to a duel to the death for their position.

[aggie113]

Depending on the size of the school the person could have just had general IT knowledge to get a position.  Such things are usually more codified now with minimum skill or experience requirements.  This is where certs come in handy as you can swap one for the other (knowledge/experience) especially with lower IT positions such as help desk.  I put in about 6-8 years of mostly call center/helpdesk work before getting the chance to act as multiple small business's generalized IT support that did desktop as well as server support (certs to also back up some of it).  While certs are great, a ton of IT knowledge is going to come mainly from experience or formal training.  If you have a position in mind, look at what they are asking for in terms of qualification.  Some may want specific certs for specific software (Microsoft/RedHat/...) and you can get the position by steering your training and certs in those specific directions.  

[wasab]

actually, what does a sysadmin do? i have never seen one. 

[12345678]

Don't it's just a fancy wording for a call center/customer support at the end of the day, or work that nobody wants to do like finding solutions for the most crappy products out the market

 

Certifications are paid by any serious company, they're often colpusory due to regulations that either lawmakers or manufacturer/distributors put in place. 

 

Schools (and business for that end) push for fancy wording to get people in, cap the market with lobbying and pay the less amount of money possible, interns are free workforce that's hired over a job promise that may never be met

 

[LAwLz]

On 3/8/2024 at 3:18 AM, wasab said:

actually, what does a sysadmin do? i have never seen one. 

It's a pretty broad term and people may give you different answers, but if you ask me I'd say it is someone who manages computer systems, usually more infrastructure-related than helpdesk personnel. 

In smaller places, the sysadmin might also double as a helpdesk person though. But when I think sysadmin, I think mostly server-related stuff. Doing operational tasks like configuring systems (like ESX/HyperV, O365, AD, DNS, and other server software), maybe making decisions about client management (which software should be installed, how should it be installed, etc).

 

Oftentimes it ends up being a jack-of-all-trades IT person at smaller companies. At larger companies, it might just be the person who patches stuff and does daily tasks, while system architects and engineers make most of the decisions.