How to become a Sr. Sysadmin?

Hello all,

I'd like to thank everyone in advance for the advice. I'm currently a Jr. Sysadmin, a few months out of school. Been at this job for 3 months. Before that, I was at a small MSP. 2-10 person companies with nothing that would actually be called a "network". I pretty much consider my current job my first real deal IT gig.

I've decided what I wanted to do. Being I'm a Jr. Sysadmin, it's half support and half server work. Things like GPO's, OU's, AD, exchange, ect. My goal in IT is to eventually become a Sr. Sysadmin Administrator/Sr. Engineer. My question is, where do I go from here? Besides working and gaining knowledge, what should I be doing at home? I've currently been going over CCNA/MCSA to even out my networking knowledge and gain more server knowledge with the MCSA.

I guess at the end of the day, I'm looking for a little direction. I can ask people at work, but eh. Managers are just going to tell me what they want me to be doing. I'd much rather hear from experienced people in the field. I'm 23 and eager to learn. I'm still young and have many years left in the field. I'm just hoping for some solid advice here.

Best regards,
Mike

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xnx

Senior can either mean 'experienced' or more technical when there are similar roles in the organisation.

I've had interviews for 'senior' positions based off my technical ability more than my relatively junior amounts of experience.

The 'senior' title definitely varies company by company

techML

xnx wrote: »

Senior can either mean 'experienced' or more technical when there are similar roles in the organisation.

I've had interviews for 'senior' positions based off my technical ability more than my relatively junior amounts of experience.

The 'senior' title definitely varies company by company

I would just like advice on progressing my skills to be in that Sr. Sysadmin role.

Deathmage

This may vary depending upon some but I to am a system administrator and I think personally that the top 3 to get a good footing into the realm of Sr. System Engineer would be 3 off the top of my head and you can go deeper after that depending upon what you need and if you need to venture out of your 4-walls at your company.

But inside the 4-walls these to me are the basic and of course as you go along expereince fills in the gaps:

1. VCP5-DCV
2. MCSA/MCSE:SI for Microsoft or Red Hat if your a Linux shop
3. CCNA
4. Optional: CompTIA Security +
5. Optional: CompTIA Project +.

When you get those your well on your way toward Sr. Level.

Hope this helps.

techML

Deathmage wrote: »

This may vary depending upon some but I to am a system administrator and I think personally that the top 3 to get a good footing into the realm of Sr. System Engineer would be 3 off the top of my head and you can go deeper after that depending upon what you need and if you need to venture out of your 4-walls at your company.

But inside the 4-walls these to me are the basic and of course as you go along expereince fills in the gaps:

1. VCP5-DCV
2. MCSA/MCSE:SI for Microsoft or Red Hat if your a Linux shop
3. CCNA
4. Optional: CompTIA Security +
5. Optional CompTIA Project +.

When you get those your well on your way toward Sr. Level.

Hope this helps.

I've never heard anyone refer to the VCP5 as basic, lol.

Deathmage

techML wrote: »

I've never heard anyone refer to the VCP5 as basic, lol.

for a typical system administrator it's not... but for a Sr. level a VMware Certified Advanced Professional Data Center Administration/Design aka 'VCAP5-DCA/DCD' is more in-line with a Sr. level.

techML

Deathmage wrote: »

for a typical system administrator it's not... but for a Sr. level a VMware Certified Advanced Professional Data Center Administration/Design aka 'VCAP5-DCA/DCD' is more in-line with a Sr. level.

Thanks for your help bro. I'm definitely going to keep at it for sure.

twodogs62

Sys admin may be next step.
senior System Admin could include being management.
Such as being project manager, supervisor, hiring supervisor.
Leadership position, so business and soft skills may be important
Also ability to help sys admins work thru their assignments

bmnaught

Take one step at a time,
Since you said you are new to IT, I guess you are still building up your foundation, which you need to get it right. Take the time to develope your basics properly as everything is based on this foundation which will come helpful
for the rest of your career.
Once you build your foundation which is the basics then you can look at what you want to do next.
Senior job title means nothing and it varies from company to company, role to role and team to team.
Job titles in general do not mean anything it is all about your salary, responsibility and what you do.
1 senior at 1 organzation maybe a junior at another.
1 junior in 1 organization might be a senior at another.
Take your time,
Be paintances,
Learn and continue to grow there is no such thing as fast tracking your career,
if you fast track without a foundation might come crumbling down.

alias454

To truely be a Senior anything is a lot more than just the title. Title has little to do with the quality and depth of knowledge required for a person to qualify. Don't forget there are many different tracks in IT as well. You can call me the cleaning lady if you want, that doesn't change what my responsibilities to myself and organization are.

A career in IT is a journey and by following what interests you eventually you will end up far past where you thought you would be.

Regards,

techML

I think everyone got a bit confused with how I worded the title. When I say Sr. Sysadmin, I mean how to get there. Okay, title doesn't matter, let's call it "seasoned sysadmin". That should clear up some confusion. I'm asking;

1. What should I be studying?
2. What should I be playing with?
3. What should I be striving for?

Should probably change this thread to "sysadmin career path"

techfiend

1. I'd suggest MCSA 2012 or RHCSA first then if you are getting exposure, CCNA or VCP.
2. windows or linux servers
3. Happiness? Probably MCSE or RHCE would be top priority.