Moving from Helpdesk to Sysadmin - need advice

RedGaiter

Hi guys, I recently was hired at a company as an "IT Technician". The company has about 70 employees, but no more than 30 are ever in the office at any given time.


Most of my duties are hardware database tracking, helpdesk tickets (level 1 and some level 2 that I can handle), and workstation setup/teardown for new and exiting employees. However, most of my days are very slow, and a lot of the tickets I get are "I need Dropbox access to this folder". Most of my days are very slow. For example: I haven't received a single ticket for the past two working days.


The office is entirely an Apple office, which is okay, but I'd be a lot happier in a Microsoft environment.
I currently possess the A+ and Network+ certifications, and I'm currently studying for LPIC-1/Linux+ to gain some Linux knowledge. Once I get that I'll begin studying for MCSA/E. Or should I be focusing on MCSA and going for Linux+ afterwards?


Anyway, I was wondering if there is any advice you guys can give me that will help me move up from the helpdesk and gain valuable experience and knowledge, even in such a slow environment.


I should mention that this is my first full-time IT job, and I've been here for 3 months. (Salary is $40k).

Fidelity

I think you need to figure out where you want to go. It doesn't really matter if you do MCSA or Linux first. What matters is what kind of environment you want to work in. If you want to work in a Windows shops and therefore never touch Linux equipment then the Linux+ cert would be useless. Decide where you want to end up and then plan your certs to get you to that goal. Don't just shotgun it.

If you want to be a SysAdmin then you better start learning how to answer every level 2 and 3 ticket. You will be expected to be an expert and know the answers to these questions (or at least be capable of finding the answer within a few hours).

All Apple equipment? Yuck. It's been my experience that Apple users tend to be the least computer literate people around. Doesn't help that I hate working on that overpriced garbage. I sort of feel bad for you. =(

By hardware database tracking do you mean doing inventory or something else?

On your slow days you should find something else to do. This can help you learn new things and get you experience that is above your current job. Just pick something that interests you and learn about it. See if there is someway you can improve it or make life easier for other people. Go ask your boss or an admin if they have any projects they'd like help with. You can gain a massive experience boost by doing this.

RedGaiter

Yeah, I'm not terrible happy about being in an Apple Environment, but at the time it was the only place that offered me a job because I had little experience. I definitely feel extremely at home whenever I'm working on a Windows machine, so I think I'll pursue the MCSA and look for the first Windows job I can get.

For hardware database tracking, it is just an inventory of which devices are assigned to which employees using FileMaker Pro

RHEL

TBH you might be bored in a sysadmin role as well... I've been a mid-senior sysadmin for about 5 years now at three different companies and typically have HOURS of downtime per day. ... and this is for companies ranging from 6,500-250,000 employees with thousands of servers.

I've learned that its just part of the job. However, that's a Linux/UNIX perspective. I bet the windows guys stay pretty busy -- but they're also often doing a lot of BS tedious work.

RedGaiter

RHEL,

Well personally, I just want the opportunity to really advance my career, and although I'm grateful to have an IT job, I feel that there isn't much room for growth in an Apple Environment. There are only 2 employees in the IT department here: me and my boss.

RHEL

RedGaiter wrote: »

RHEL,

Well personally, I just want the opportunity to really advance my career, and although I'm grateful to have an IT job, I feel that there isn't much room for growth in an Apple Environment. There are only 2 employees in the IT department here: me and my boss.

Yeah, I think you just need a change of environment. Even in help desk, a larger environment will open up so many doors and allow for learning. Actually, the help desk and desktop guys at the organizations I've worked for seem to get the bulk of the work. It's that way by design -- as the front line, they (1st and 2nd tier) take on 97%+ of the issues. While hectic at times, that really is the best way to develop diverse technical skills and to learn, greatly improve your patience, and learn to communicate with all walks of life.

RedGaiter

RHEL,

That actually sounds like the environment I want to be in. How else will I be able to advance my skills and experience without actually being busy all the time, rather than just looking to make work. Thanks. I'm gonna begin studying for MCSA and look for a position in a Microsoft Office the second I pass my first exam to get MCP. Thanks for the advice!

tkerber

RHEL wrote: »

TBH you might be bored in a sysadmin role as well... I've been a mid-senior sysadmin for about 5 years now at three different companies and typically have HOURS of downtime per day. ... and this is for companies ranging from 6,500-250,000 employees with thousands of servers.

I've learned that its just part of the job. However, that's a Linux/UNIX perspective. I bet the windows guys stay pretty busy -- but they're also often doing a lot of BS tedious work.

Agreed with RHEL,

I was in a similar situation to RedGaiter not too long ago and now I work for a managed service provider. It's great, the diversity of the work, the challenges I get faced with, and the variety of people and places I go to are awesome. Many of the people I work with used to be Systems Administrators for small to medium sized companies and just got too bored and left. Now 'Systems Administrator' is a very vague title and can differ greatly from company to company. However, if I were RedGaiter I would gain as much experience as I could from the current position and move towards a company that has a lot of variety and room for growth. Most importantly, make sure you find something that will constantly challenge your abilities and force you to learn--these are the jobs that will make you feel accomplished IMHO.

Success101

RedGaiter wrote: »

Hi guys, I recently was hired at a company as an "IT Technician". The company has about 70 employees, but no more than 30 are ever in the office at any given time.


Most of my duties are hardware database tracking, helpdesk tickets (level 1 and some level 2 that I can handle), and workstation setup/teardown for new and exiting employees. However, most of my days are very slow, and a lot of the tickets I get are "I need Dropbox access to this folder". Most of my days are very slow. For example: I haven't received a single ticket for the past two working days.


The office is entirely an Apple office, which is okay, but I'd be a lot happier in a Microsoft environment.
I currently possess the A+ and Network+ certifications, and I'm currently studying for LPIC-1/Linux+ to gain some Linux knowledge. Once I get that I'll begin studying for MCSA/E. Or should I be focusing on MCSA and going for Linux+ afterwards?


Anyway, I was wondering if there is any advice you guys can give me that will help me move up from the helpdesk and gain valuable experience and knowledge, even in such a slow environment.


I should mention that this is my first full-time IT job, and I've been here for 3 months. (Salary is $40k).

I don't know where you live, but $40k sounds great for your first tech job.

RedGaiter

Success101, I'm not complaining about the pay. I'm complaining about the lack of experience that will really build my career.

hell911

wow, 40k salary with A+ and Network+ certifications. I guess you already have some experience before having this full time job?

and, may i know on what place this work is?

Thanks

RHEL

Why is everyone getting caught up on salary? IMO it could pay 100K, but without learning anything new on the job, you'd have nothing to say or demonstrate during an interview for the next step up.

hell911

RHEL wrote: »

Why is everyone getting caught up on salary? IMO it could pay 100K, but without learning anything new on the job, you'd have nothing to say or demonstrate during an interview for the next step up.

Idk, maybe it's just a human way of reacting to such a thing.