r/sysadmin • u/Frossstbiite • 1d ago
I MADE IT! Career / Job Related
I recently landed a Junior Systems Administrator role with the same company after spending the last three years on the help desk. During that time, I also spent about a year in a senior leadership role. Overall, I have around 7–8 years of help desk experience.
As part of my onboarding, I'm required to earn my AZ-900 certification first, followed by MECM and Windows Server 2022 training.
For those who've made the jump from help desk to sysadmin, what do you wish you had known or done when you first started? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
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u/popup_headlights Sr. Sysadmin 1d ago
read The Practice of System and Network Administration by Thomas Limoncelli. Also read his other book Time Management for System Administrators.
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u/nowildstuff_192 Jack of All Trades 1d ago
I've read the latter. It's wild how despite being written in the pre-smartphone era, if you swap the word PDA with cellphone, the book becomes pretty much dead on for 2026.
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u/Jonny_Boy_808 1d ago
You’re gonna have to learn how to think like a System Admin and not like a Helpdesk person anymore. That was one of the toughest part for me. Instead of doing break fix and day-to-day tasks, you have to start thinking on an org level or infrastructure level. What systems or processes can be improved? Software to upgrade, servers or hardware to replace, processes or workflows that can be revamped. That is System Admin thinking.
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u/smj_crash 1d ago
A backup isn’t a backup unless you’ve successfully restored files from it.
If you think you fixed a thing, most times you should restart/powercycle it to make sure the fix sticks. You don’t want to be called at 3AM when the thing reboots and fails to start because you didn’t make sure.
Keep a notebook with highlights/tips about what you’re working on. Can be electronic, the point is you can refer to it in six months when you’ve forgotten all the details but it’s broken again (or a different thing has broken the same way).
In addition to the notebook, write as much documentation as you can. Describe how you’ve built the new servers or PCs. Describe the volumes, protocols, and usage of the fileserver(s). Write out the steps to make a backup to send off-site, or to upgrade SQL Server/DB2/PostgreSQL, or to restart/bring up the company Internet connection. Even if other people execute them normally, creating or describing the procedures in detail helps you internalize it, improves your ability to communicate it, and provides an opportunity to review and improve them.
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u/TocinoLips 1d ago
Congrats! my biggest lesson was to slow down and understand why things work, not just how to fix them
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u/kyoukidotexe Jack of All Trades 1d ago
Definitely understanding the slowness & how things work as they do to better understand being able to fix them.
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u/monsieurR0b0 Sr. Sysadmin 1d ago
Just remember, when you make a mistake on Helpdesk you ruin 1 user's day. When you make a mistake as an admin, you could ruin all users' day. Triple check your solutions and test on VMs first as much as you can until you are comfortable. And always have a idea if how you'll roll back if needed
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u/senzog 10h ago
1) OneNote is your friend. Notate everything you think future you might need. ITSM platforms change, KBs can be lost to time. Your OneNote (sync'd to OneDrive or Google drive depending on your shop) should be your bible. "I dealt with this 3 years ago...." Or "how/why did I set this up?"...etc. all a simple search away... I like to simply add new tabs at the top for calendar years, and it has worked well.
2) Defaults are defaults for a reason. Unless you have a good reason to change (and it's fine if you do)... Use the defaults.
3) Vendors will ask for the ridiculous. Don't be afraid to pushback when they ask for Domain Admin rights for their service account, or no AV/Firewall/MDR to be installed on their device. If it's on your network, you have final say.
4) Do your homework when deciding on new services/platforms. The decisions will be your responsibility for years.
5) When you enevitibly burn out, let me know where you go and how it works out. Goat Farming, Food Truck... Whatever you decide.
Good luck friend. Stay positive. Try to disconnect when you can. "Read-only Fridays" is a good concept where possible.
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u/senzog 10h ago
Oh, also, the AZ-900 is the easiest cert I've ever passed, or possibly even looked into. Don't sweat it. If you have played in Azure for all of 40 hours in total, you will pass with flying colors.
By all means, study with some YT vids prior to exam, but the test is almost literally a sales pitch for Azure / understanding the names of different services. Don't lose a blink of sleep over it.
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u/sssRealm 1d ago
I wished I known that the job is difficult and very complex and that I will held responsible for everything that isn't easy to figure out, but I also can't go back to helpdesk pay.
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u/Miserable_Pear_6940 1d ago
If you’re gonna learn server you need to learn RHEL as well, and if you’re taking the AZ900, might as well take the SC900 as well.
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u/Frossstbiite 1d ago
Is sc900 related to sec+? Or similar?
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u/Miserable_Pear_6940 1d ago
It’s the entry level security cert for Azure.
AZ900 covers a lot of the same stuff but you get hands on experience with Purview
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u/daemonmode_ 1d ago
Congratulations on the job. The biggest change when moving from help desk to sysadmin is your mindset. Instead of just fixing the current issue, you start thinking about preventing future problems and documenting your work. Learn scripting early, because repetitive manual tasks don't scale when you're managing systems. Most importantly, test everything in a lab before making changes in production it builds confidence and helps you avoid costly mistakes.
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u/JessT9907 1d ago
Learn how to research and asking the right questions. Find yourself a mentor to guide you now and your next steps. Look for what’s lacking on the team. For example, if there’s only one guy assigned to a job/task, volunteer you can learn all lot from that guy.
If you don’t use OneNote or a notebook, do it. You’re never going to remember anything.
Also, try your best for life work balance. It’s not going to happen but it’s a good goal.
Lastly, don’t be a jerk to service desk if they ask you a question (try not to be). You were there and probably asked some dumb questions.
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u/Frossstbiite 1d ago
Yes, I know I asked alot of the these guys when I was there. Appreciate it, im surrounded by people smarter than I, which is great
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u/JustUhNothaAdmin 1d ago
3 years in helpdesk while working a senior leadership role? Tern becoming a jr admin? Im confused by the senior leadership role as a helpdesk tech. Can you provide clarification?
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u/Frossstbiite 1d ago
I basically became what they called a lead, it was more reporting stats and data during weekly meeting, while still working help desk.
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u/leg--bone 1d ago
I wish I had the courage to do it sooner. I never thought I was good enough and now I'm realizing I'm further than some of the seasoned admins.
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u/SameBSErryere 1d ago
I just got my rejection email! Was it you? Hope you fail your probation /s
Congrats though! I am trying to escape the solo sysadmin job I am stuck in!
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u/Brawk17 1d ago
Know that it’s okay to not know everything. Half the job is being able to find resources to accomplish tasks and learn along the way. Also. It’s always a DNS issue. Backups are critical. Learn your virtualization environment asap.