Last man standing, everyone else quit and now all eyes on me.

I've been working help desk for almost 2 years now. I've moved into a jr system engineer position in the last two months and have been trying to learn as much as I can about our environment. I have ("had" until now) some awesome coworkers, but unfortunately for me (I'm happy for them though) they have all recently moved on to bigger and better positions at other companies.

The last one is leaving next Friday. Now my boss and the other three help desk guys as well as a couple devs are looking to me to step up. My ex-coworkers have stated its a great opportunity to learn as much as I can and maybe move on to something else down the road.

I'm kind of freaking out because I don't have near enough the experience those guys had. I have learned a lot since moving into my new position (as backup for the three of them). I was to learn to backup each of their specialties when they needed assistance with administration for networking/phones, vmware and storage administration.

Now my boss doesn't expect me instantly become a guru in all three, but it doesn't help that I am already getting advanced requests on vpn tunnels, spinning up new VMs, right-sizing datastores, and I keep thinking I am gonna crack.

Any advice or anyone get in a similar situation? How did you handle it?

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Comments

elTorito

When I was promoted to Jr. Sysadmin (coming from a desktop support role) a couple of years ago, they simply gave me the password file with all the relevant login credentials, and I was left to figure things out for myself.

While this may be a bit overwhelming at first, you'll soon get the hang of it, trust me. Use Google often to validate or verify. Use downtime to research and read user guides and white papers (you can download most of these for free). Furthermore, if possible, always test things on a non-production system first - even the changes which at first may seem innocent enough.

I would also suggest to speak to your boss about getting some formal training (certifications or training courses), and to work out some kind of career development plan for the long run. You'll definitely want to be compensated for the extra responsibilities.

tpatt100

Ask for some training, a raise, a bonus lol

colemic

You need to have a discussion with your boss about expectations... it isn't reasonabe to expect a jr. engineer to fill all three roles, plus his own.

If you don't, you will have a conversation similar to this with your boss: OK, I have the ability to spin 6 plates in the air, and all spots are taken... which ones (i.e., projects, tasks, etc.) do you want me to drop on the floor, to get these other ones done that you want? He needs to be setting your priorities, or you will get blamed for not completing the tasks.

redz

My advice:
Have the expectations talk with your boss like colemic said. That's hugely important to your success.

You also need to understand the business prioritization of every issue you deal with, and the different levels of criticality of different problems. As a junior, this may be beyond you right now, I don't know your background or knowledge level, so ask your boss for help with prioritization (and his/her criteria for prioritization). You'll get the hang of it pretty quick, and it will make you way more valuable to the company in the long run (even once you aren't working alone).

Second, I'd ask for two things: Training and a nice steak dinner. There's a reason for each of these, and they should be discussed during different conversations. I would avoid requesting a bonus or a raise (I'll explain).

You want to bring up training as a "once things settle down" request in your expectations discussion with your boss. I wouldn't ask for a raise or bonus right now because of the financial requirements involved in the hiring process. It's not an ideal time for them to shell out a decent bonus, nor to permanently increase your pay - these are points you should bring up in your (annual, semi-annual, etc) review, and leverage them then.

Depending on your relationship with your boss, and the size of the company, it isn't out of line to ask for something like a nice steak dinner. That's an example, but it's a request that I've used a few times. You want this to be a lot more human. At some point (after a couple weeks), if you're doing well, your boss will tell you that you're doing a great job. Positive reinforcement is like, Management 101. Respond by saying "I really appreciate that, blah blah blah blah. I am really stressed out with the extra hours, the heavy workload, and the high expectations; do you think the company would spring for a nice steak dinner or something?" (Note: I've tried this with deep tissue massage, it doesn't work. I have had better luck getting a company to cover a $250 dinner than a $70 massage. I don't really know why.)

EDIT: I really want steak right now.

DevilWAH

I always think a little bit of apprehension is healthy, it tells you that you are keeping the pressure on and pushing forward. On the other hand to much is dangerous and puts the company and your position in it at risk.

2 years as a junior engineer you should have a fair bit of knowledge how the business works and the technologies it uses. just because you job title says your a jr engineer does not mean you have to be one, this is a great opportunity so be careful how you approach management.

Coming across like "its not my job" or "I am not ready" and you might find them hiring a new person to lead the team and dropping you back to a jr engineer position. Instead look for the areas you do need support and focus on them, can you spend a few hours each night beefing up your skills, or is another member of the team more skilled and could help out.

If you go saying "i can't cope" you wont get much support, you should be saying "here are the issue areas that I can't yet fully support due to my experiences, and this is what we could do about it...." setting out how you think best to deal and fill in the gaps. You manager might not agree and might suggest some thing else, but at least you will have shown you have thought about it and understand that by staying quiet you risk the company.

Claymoore

A steak dinner? The company just lost 3 $100k guys and replaced them with a $50k guy. That's a new car for your boss, his boss, and the CIO. Or a lot of extra money lying around that can go to training and your pocket. Take this opportunity to learn as much as you can as fast as you can because you won't be there long.

Why did all of your coworkers leave? It's probably a combination of things - and a different combination for each employee - but it's important to keep all those reasons in mind. Company things like politics, budgets, expectations, pay and advancement are not going to change overnight and will soon affect you more.

What is the short-term plan? Are you going to keep the lights on while they try to hire replacements, or will you be expected to take over one or more of the roles full-time positions if you survive? How will they support you short-term? Will they purchase a block of hours from a managed service provider to give you assistance, bring in a temp for a few months, rely on vendor support, or see how you Google and throw you to the wolves?

What is the long-term plan? If you are expected to fill one of the roles long-term, what training and compensation will they provide to get and keep you there? Will they just burn you out with low pay and high expectations while they pocket the remaining salaries for their year-end bonus? When they hire the 3 replacements, will they expect you to go back to your Jr Admin role? Will this temporary staffing change become a permanent reorganization?

It's an opportunity, and one that can change your career. I found myself in a similar situation at the start of my career and seizing that opportunity made all the difference. Of course I did have to move on in order to move up. That year or so I spent in that position advanced my career 5 years and almost tripled my pay when I left and joined a consulting firm.

GarudaMin

The questions you need to ask are:
Why did they quit (underlying reason)? Is the company going to hire people to replace? Is the company going under? etc... It's a decision time. You need to figure out the reasons and see if it make sense for you to stay (you could potentially become the MAN down the road but at what cost) or time to start updating resume.

redz

Claymoore wrote: »

A steak dinner? The company just lost 3 $100k guys and replaced them with a $50k guy. That's a new car for your boss, his boss, and the CIO. Or a lot of extra money lying around that can go to training and your pocket.

Generally, prior to seeing any ROI on a new hire, you can anticipate anywhere between six months and two years from date of hire, based on the scope of the job. HR is expensive; that money doesn't just magically appear in your boss's wallet, contrary to what we'd like to believe. It can be assumed that he isn't going to be handling the full workload of three people forever, and new hires will be brought in - the previous employees moved on to "bigger and better things", the company didn't downsize employ to maximize profitability. So yes, a small thing in the interim until you can leverage the value you brought to the table for a raise, bonus, and training, as I rather thoroughly explained, is something logical to request and fair to both parties.

EDIT: Anticipating a substantial raise immediately is just not going to happen, unless you've proven that value already. My understanding is that he moved to this position two months ago, therefore has probably not had time to develop and prove the value of bringing him to a higher rate.