Moving from helpdesk to Jr Sysadmin

Hey guys, I was wondering if any SA or JR SA's could give me some advice moving from help-desk to a Jr Sysadmin. Right now I do almost everything that was listed in the help desk thread.Re-imagingRebooting, Reset passwords,Unlock AccountsUn-installing/installing applications, IE settings to proxy etc. Printer/fax/scanner setup,Documentation writing Hardware upgrades or replacementand specifics to my job would beRemoting there computer via SCCM or Desktopdirector(Citrix) to view various problemsAdding users to appropriate AD groups to give them access to what they need.Troubleshooting CPS/EMR/Centricity errorsThe only major flaw I see trying to move out of Help desk is besides the experience I have here I have no certs/college degree except for an XenDesktop 6 cert. ( I got this out cert solely practicing at home on a virtual box i made considering the only thing i touch at work involving XenApp/Citrix here is Desktopdirector. I also don't touch Exchange or VMware, I have heard these terms before and feel they are probably important in getting a jr sysadmin job correct?What certs would be a good idea to get when applying for a JR Sysadmin position and what can I do at home(Like what type of workstations/software) can i setup to help get me acquainted since I don't touch anything sysadmin related other then what i put above. Also I am currently getting paid under 11/hr and work 50~ hours a week. Would you guys consider this a fair wage considering what my current exp/certs were prior to joining(Which was none).

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Comments

kohr-ah

Exchange experience helps but isn't totally necessary. It can be learned at the position if you get a Jr Job and isn't terribly hard to learn. Otherwise can always just spin it up on a VM and learn it that way in spare time.

However, by what you said above the first thing I can recommend you do is you need to do is certify. Get your MCSA (or whatever Microsoft renamed it to again). That will help a lot in getting that next level job as a Sys Admin when you look. Without it you are going to have trouble.

As for fair pay, I would say for the experience you are getting it isn't a bad start. Help desk is a rough start pay wise and work wise but it is how you get a lot of experience to move up.

rsutton

It will really depend on the company you are applying at. At my company we support about 15 Exchange servers so any SA would need to be very comfortable in Exchange, Active Directory and VMware. If you are shooting for a bigger company they will likely have SA's dedicated to specific functions and you may be able to get away with a more narrow skill set. If you are working on the Windows side the most important skill for a Windows sys admin is Active Directory so I would start there.

cruwl

Studying for the 70-640(server 2008 Active Directory) was the single most important thing I did personally to move out of a help desk role. I was lucky in the place I worked had positions I could move into, but studying for that cert is what gave me the knowledge and skills for my former boss to be confident that I knew what I was doing and wanted to learn more.

coreyb80

Glad I seen this thread. I currently do Desktop Support and I would like for my next step to be Systems Admin as well. Thought about networking, but my heart is saying System Admin so I'm going to follow.

ScrawnyRonnie

I'm in the same position right now and want that to be my next step as well. I do help desk/desktop support and basic AD tasks right now. My sig says I'm working (slowly) towards MCSA. I have too many weak areas to try to take it, but I also think that'll help. It covers so much information and depending on the company/environment I'm guessing I won't use some of what is covered.

I also would like to hear from more people who have made this transition