Tips for moving beyond help desk into Jr Admin role

I've been having a tough time finding jobs in this vein.... I have my CCNA, Net+ and am beginning my MCSA... but with 3 years of experience most positions I never get call backs. Does anyone have any advice for things to learn on my own outside of certifications or of other sites besides monster? I suppose it is worth mentioning I live in Denver as well. Any input is really appreciated!

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AwesomeGarrett

Are you trying to become a System Administrator or Systems Engineer?

Nemowolf

blatini wrote: »

I've been having a tough time finding jobs in this vein.... I have my CCNA, Net+ and am beginning my MCSA... but with 3 years of experience most positions I never get call backs.

Does anyone have any advice for things to learn on my own outside of certifications or of other sites besides monster?

I suppose it is worth mentioning I live in Denver as well. Any input is really appreciated!

1. CCNA and Net+ lead toward a network engineer type role more so than an a System Admin role. Have you taken any of the cert tests required for the MCSA? If you want to go down the System Administration path, the CCNA and Net+ will only help a bit as you lack the server side experience to say you can confidently do that aspect of the job. With three years of experience doing a non-system admin type role, you really dont have anything on paper to say you can do the job in the eyes of an employer.

2. Self study is going to be your best option. Check your local library and look for any books you can get to study. Setup a server and start trying to break and fix it. Use VM's to build out a network of servers and see if you can build a functional domain to play with ... and break and fix.

3. I dont live in Denver but your going to have to expand beyond Monster and search engines in general. My opinion is that sites like Monster and HotJobs are a waste of time because they dont specialize in IT/Tech type jobs, Dice.com does. I find that you get more tech oriented companies on Dice.

I personally recommend Ramit Sethi's blog to help with the job search, specifically that too many people expect jobs to appear out of thin air and land in their laps. You know your area best, what company do you want to work for? Take some time to explore options and get to know people ...

Check out this article ...Ramit's latest blog entry basically points out the flawed logic that many job seekers have when it comes to their job search.

blatini

AwesomeGarrett wrote: »

Are you trying to become a System Administrator or Systems Engineer?

Both are really intriguing to me... I kind of feel I'd go for whichever appeared first.

Sounds Good

blatini wrote: »

Both are really intriguing to me... I kind of feel I'd go for whichever appeared first.

I feel like the progression is from HD -> DS -> Jr. Admin -> Admin -> Engineer

There are ways and occurrences where people skip steps, but this I feel is the general progression

blatini

I'm sorry I am not familiar with the DS abbreviation?

Also yes I am just beginning my MCSA now. I'm hoping after I finish those 3 exams to reup my CCNA with the Voice specialization.

traceyke

blatini wrote: »

I'm sorry I am not familiar with the DS abbreviation?

DS = Desktop Support

DoubleNNs

W/ a CCNA, wouldn't a NOC tech or Jr. Network Admin position be a good next step?

Also, how would advice be diff if OP wanted to be an Admin vs an Engineer?

Sounds Good

DoubleNNs wrote: »

W/ a CCNA, wouldn't a NOC tech or Jr. Network Admin position be a good next step?

Also, how would advice be diff if OP wanted to be an Admin vs an Engineer?

The advice isn't different, but expectations should be. Based on the comment below, it sounds like he thinks they are on the same "level", which they usually aren't.

blatini wrote: »

Both are really intriguing to me... I kind of feel I'd go for whichever appeared first.

blatini

I definitely do not imagine them to be the same at all. I feel like moving on from the position I am at is enticing enough, in addition to finding the work interesting in both cases. I would gladly put forth the work needed in either situation to make it happen. However the larger issue is the collective inexperience I have, and only a limited amount of free time to gain it. What I was hoping to get are blogs, online groups, certification or training exercises that people feel like would help the most. Resources and advice in general are what I am looking for. Whether it be places to apply online or places to train.

coreyb80

Sounds Good wrote: »

I feel like the progression is from HD -> DS -> Jr. Admin -> Admin -> Engineer

There are ways and occurrences where people skip steps, but this I feel is the general progression

Funny thing is that I recently landed my first gig in IT. It was advertised as Help Desk, but once I started I realized it was Desktop Support and that was confirmed by my lead. I've been here only 2 months and learned a ton. My next stop is definitely to be an Jr. Admin.

kriscamaro68

Check out itfreetraining.com as they have free training for mcsa 2008r2. Also check Dice.com, indeed.com, craigslist.com for your local and surrounding areas. Also there are tons of videos on youtube.com on how to setup labs, and server related tech.