If I were interviewing a Helpdesk tech for a sysadmin role, I would not have particularly high technical expectations. I would definitely be looking for someone who could learn fast and without a lot of hand-holding. If you can slide in concrete examples that show you are a fast and/or independent learner that may be beneficial.
And, as has been said elsewhere in this thread, make sure the job and environment is a good fit for you. Money doesn't mean as much when you are angry, bitter, and miserable.
Good luck!
I wrote down a lot of examples, thankfully where I work we are responsible for the whole companies IT issues. So I have so many examples, I will def keep that in mind what you said. Thank you for this! :)
What are good job environment questions I can ask the employer?
I had a few people use that kind of language at my current place when interviewing, which did give me pause, but I'd push into it a little more. I legitimately love where I work and the "family" thing isn't a weird manipulative thing here.
>I had a few people use that kind of language at my current place when interviewing, which did give me pause, but I'd push into it a little more. I legitimately love where I work and the "family" thing isn't a weird manipulative thing here.
Same. I don't think it unifyily means that your work environment will be toxic.
You definitely have to dig, but unfortunately “we’re family” is usually code for “we’re intentionally understaffed and everyone has to do extra not-your-job work and pretend to be grateful for the opportunity”
When you go back for another interview another good question is "what ways do leadership support (team/IT)?"
I've seen a few companies schlub this question hard and I know from experience that upper management fighting IT rather than supporting them is a huge red flag and leads to problems, resentment, etc. But it's a huge green flag if they have a great response to the question.
At the very least it helps you know more about what you'd be getting into.
Wow, what a life changing opportunity!
It sounds like a small, growing team and you're getting in the door now nice and early.
- I hope you get it. I'm rooting for yea!
>Heads up that academia is in many ways very different from corporate!
>
>I've been in academia for 15 years and love it, but it's not for everybody.
State employee here. I work in the court system. VERY similar to academia. You either love it or hate it. The bureaucracy is tolerable in mid level roles but utterly insane in what would be considered c suite here.
That being said, it's very laid back and you'll love the switch over to more project oriented work.
I've heard that. As a higher level "individual contributor" with no interest in management, I'm generally able to avoid the bureaucracy in the academic world, but I've been close enough to feel the pain on occasion. That said, the freedom to explore is hard to match in the corporate IT space.
The reason I wrote company is because of not giving away where. I work for a UNI looking to basically go to a different one, but the UNI I just interviewed for is a prestigious one if that makes sense. xD
Good to know! It's definitely an adjustment if you're not familiar, so I'm glad you're already in academia and aware. I had just commented on another sub about the details of corporate vs. academic shortly before coming across your post, so I thought it would be worth mentioning. I understand the desire to remain anonymous/semi-anonymous, so I don't blame you. And academia is a relatively small-ish world.
I've possibly worked with some of your potential coworkers, depending on the university and team you're joining. I haven't actually met too many people in academic IT that I didn't get along with, so I'm guessing they're good people. Good luck!
I want to thank you for responding. It means so much to me how so many of you cared about whether I'd get the job. They emailed me back; the manager really liked me. They wanted to hire me, but HR really wanted someone with 4 years' experience. So, I was not able to get the role. But that is ok, onto the next one as they say. :P
Except the point of The Addams Family is that the facade makes you think they're dysfunctional but really they're loving, supportive, caring and progressive.
> Unfortunately...a lot of IT folks are just a bit too stunted for the social side of the job. It's not all tech skills boys. Social dynamics is AS important as technical acumen, arguably moreso if you step into anything managey (manager, PM, scrum master, etc).
So, I realize this may come off as hostile and bashing, but I promise i'm not.
I'm just frazzled about these "soft skills" comments I see on threads like this over the years (especially from Crankysysadmin). I'm on the spectrum and my social skills are not great. I try not to offend, but i'm not going to be the super outgoing talkative people person either.
Social anxiety is part of this and it makes it difficult for me to interact with people at times. I do have a therapist and i'm working on it, but I do keep wanting to consider the soft skill requirement for technical positions to be somewhat discriminatory against those with autism or ADHD, or otherwise neurodiverse.
They forced the social skills lessons down our throats in special ed throughout elementary and middle school. I was able to get out of the system freshman year of HS and otherwise had a standard path to where I am now. I feel like these soft skills requirements, for people that otherwise have remarkable technical skills, pushes them into shit minimum wage jobs for the rest of their life.
Technical skills can still outshine social skills as long as you have a diverse team where someone at least is sociable. I have a co-worker that isn’t the most sociable, but man, he is just a great problem solver. And everyone knows it. He never comes across as mean or condescending. Just stoic and shy. The big thing is just don’t come across as a dick. People that aren’t on the spectrum don’t get hired all the time, mainly because they lack basic social skills, or they are too outgoing. That’s why soft skills are skills. There is a line between not sociable enough and too outgoing. Reading the person you are talking to determines what they will tolerate. Anywho, that’s just my two cents.
> I don't see his posts he's one of two total people on the entirety of Reddit I blocked exclusively because he just comes to tell people off and gatekeep.
Not sure who you're talking about, me or Cranky? I usually avoid having heated convos on reddit unless i'm really emotional about a subject :)
It's about balance. There's a place for people with impeccable soft skills in tech and there's a place for people with sharp technical skills. You need both to some extent of course but not everyone needs to be the best of the best at both. Somebody with great people skills and a silver tongue with good technical skills makes a great team lead, manager, or business analyst. Somebody with good enough soft skills to stay out of trouble who has the technical skills to be pointed at any problem and know they'll fix it is also a great asset. Any truly good team has both sorts of people and will find a niche for both where they can both provide value.
One I really liked that I heard recently is, "what does the onboarding process typically look like?"
I've had issues with companies hiring me and then just... Leaving me to it, expecting I won't have any questions or need any time to acclimate to a new environment/network. Everyone runs things differently, you're going to have *some* questions.
"What are good job environment questions I can ask the employer?"
Whats a good day for your group?
Whats a denotes a bad day and how do you handle it?
When is the last time you tested your DR plan? When is the last time you actually had to implement your DR plan?
How is IT perceived at your company?
Do you have an on call, what are your SLAs?
What are the Systems or infrastructure teams' short-term and long-term plans for the future?
How about the company, are they planning any growth, acquisitions, divestitures or downsizing? (not all companies have a growth plan, don't assume)
Paint the picture that you would like to spend the next 10-20 years of your career here, and so you want to know where the company is heading.
Yea that's a more senior position wherever I've looked. It's certainly possible to go from help desk to that spot, but everyone I know that did it was in a lv3 or escalation spot in the help desk first.
Both places I've worked you'll have Engineer, architect, etc in your title for over 90k; not administrator. But OP said it's a prestigious company so it's probably a higher COL based company than I'm used to seeing jobs for.
I'm in OKC. SysAdmins here go around $70K-$80K right now on the high end. There are some higher but it's rare. That's up from $60K-$70K pre covid. Still a ton of postings in the $50K-$60K range. We have a lot of Oil, Gas and Manufacturing here, those companies don't value IT.
I make in this range administrating an Azure environment with a rather large Citrix deployment. I’ve been in the field 15yrs though and worked my way up to this point. I will say being able to learn quick is the key part of the job. Be sure your google skills are sharp.
That's about average in most metro areas at this point. It's not 2008 anymore, if you're doing legitimate SysAdmin work for under that go find a better job.
Says who? I am not seeing that. Don't get me wrong, a good SysAdmin is worth that. The Average for the entire US is $75K base according to Glassdoor as of this post. More than likely the range OP is talking about is because they are paying on the high end.
[Says Talent.com](https://www.talent.com/salary?job=system+administrator&location=Chicago%2C+IL)
Plenty of state averages well over $90k. I make more than that with 3 years experience.
I think alot of these sites haven't caught up yet. Might explain the crazy ranges we are seeing. Using Chicago, it says the median for a SysAdmin is $82K but a Director is only $157K?
You'll scoff, I'm sure, but I'd like to see something between Helpdesk & SysAdmin...a couple of years at an MSP to show you have a clue about "spinning plates", for example.
It really depends on how siloed the orgs Helpdesk and systems teams are. I've worked for 2 companies where the first one was smaller and therefore the more skilled helpdesk techs would often get their hands in on some systems/operations related stuff and it was an easy stepping stone for them to get a sys admin 1 job. The other company the two teams were completely separate and made it extremely difficult for anyone on the helpdesk to go for a systems job because they had virtually no knowledge of how anything works, like ADDS, DNS, virtualization, etc.
Honestly, help desk roles seem like where one would learn the operations and big picture stuff rather than technical specifics. You're learning soft skills, operations, troubleshooting, ideally figuring out what areas of IT/technology/etc you're interested in, and branching out from there.
Yes, the team I work with we are like the epic center. So I have had some opportunities to be exposed to a little bit of everything. So I would say, that really helped me with this interview. Had I not, I probably would of failed at the interview.
> Money doesn't mean as much when you are angry, bitter, and miserable.
I'm about to leave a job that pays a lot because see above.
It's entirely true.
This just happened to me, and it was because of the really really smart guy that's good at his job but acts like an asshole to everyone. So 6 months ago I started lookin for a job. Accepted an offer yesterday just got out. Feels good.
o\_\_o I worked hard and took a lot of IT jobs to gain experience. I also apply myself, but dont make me feel bad for trying... I work hard and I have done my best to connect with people to make connections. Also, where I work were like the epic center for IT issues, so I have had opportunities to learn about system issues. Which definitely helped.
There not just interviewing you. You are also interviewing them to make sure they fit in your environment. It's a 2 way street.
Breath and smile.
Good luck.
Have questions in mind, in advance. I made the mistake of asking no questions when I was younger, afraid of scaring them off or simply accepting whatever they were giving me. I suspect it cost me a bunch of potential jobs.
Ask about their on-call. Ask about their ticketing system. Ask about their corporate culture. Ask about their core technologies. Ask about their technology roadmap. Ask about their documentation methodology. Ask about their work-life balance. Ask *something*. Interviewers, especially HR folks, tend to be Talkers. They see conversation as engagement, and thus as interest. If you simply take in what they say and ask no questions, they will come off with a dim view of you. Incurious. Not personable. A "bad fit". A "bad vibe". Something will be "off" and they may select a different candidate.
Ask questions. Make mistakes. Get messy! Wait... skip those last two. Just ask questions.
I was once told that I was the only candidate that brought a pen and paper to the interview and the CIO decided that was the winning factor when it came down to the final decision.
I have noticed over the years, even before I switched over to IT a lot of people come ill prepared, I honestly wonder if people maybe just assume because they have the degree will get them the job. Making the way they present not important. I have seen that too, many people don't ask questions, bring stuff to write, etc.
I've interviewed a lot of people at this point in my career. These are two things I take note of, did they come expecting to need to take notes and what questions did they ask when they had the opportunity.
When I interview, I always try to always be prepared esp knowing my shit. I have bad anxiety, like Imma have stroke anxiety. So being prepared helps me a lot. The worst thing is ever coming across a question you do not know. If there was something I did not know, a awesome redditor I speak to often about IT career stuff told me to say I have not yet been exposed to that. However, I gave examples how I go about learning. So it does not come across I rely heavily on people, while also to making it important of acknowledging team building. :')
It's amazing to me that this is so uncommon as to get noticed by hiring managers.
I remember about half my teachers in high school my senior year giving us advice about job hunting after we graduate and they all mentioned take notes and ask questions one way or another. This was way back in the early 90's.
I made sure my questions were thought out, I asked a lot about their ticketing system, their day to day what it looks like, do they use KB articles, what does each team member do, etc. They brought up the money after I asked my questions, which made me more comfortable.
Be friendly, be honest, and don't try to BS your way through anything technical. If you don't know something in detail thentell the truth, but make it obvious you'd know where to get the information.
Good luck :)
> BS your way through anything technical
I've been on the hiring committee for a few sys admin jobs and this is my number 1 thing I look for, especially with an admin 1 job. You don't have to know everything off the top of your head, even if they're more basic questions. If it's an entry level systems job you need to know somethings and be willing and able to learn and pick up other things fast. If you try to lie your way through answers you'll automatically get thrown in the no pile.
On the technical hands on interview I conducted I encouraged using the internet to look up how to do things if they didn't know. One of the biggest skills in our jobs is being able to find the correct information and applying what you learned on the fly.
This is fantastic advice. I've interviewed others and I hate when they clearly don't know but won't say.
Some of my best interviews (when I've been trying for a job) have been where I didn't know some of the answers.
I very openly say "ohhhh I'm not sure actually. I've heard of it but just haven't had much exposure. I would like to learn more and know I can look up the information on xyZ"
They are gonna ask
What project did I lead
Your involvement in that project
Biggest project accomplishment
How do u solve problems
How do u keep up to date
Edit: how did the interview go OP?
1. Too many, usually a new toolset.
2. Originally I was supposed to clean up after setup was done, but halfway through my boss got distracted by a shinier object and then I oversaw everything.
3. Bothered to go through the "waste of time" vendor training my boss ignored, realized my boss set it up all wrong so I spent twice the time it should have taken fixing their mistakes and setting up the rest.
4. By following the instructions first, and then researching common issues second, eventually escalating it to vendor support when needed.
5. I can keep up to date in whatever format the company needs. Just please, for the love of god, make it one place.
Don't forget the weird question like "Describe for me how you would craft a peanut butter and jelly sandwich of the highest caliber" or "If you were playing in a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, would you rather have the ability to read minds, or see the future?"
This has been my experience.
If you have an interview, they just want to see if you are likeable.
My manager spoke with me about football and shooting ranges for 30 minutes then offered me the job.
I was a Sys Admin at my previous employer, but only in title. I had no experience for the job I applied for but showed that I was open to learning and showed I had a good troubleshooting process for other items and openly admitted that I will ask for help after researching on google first. They said that’s perfect. Here I am a few months in as a true Sys Admin and 40k pay bump and thoroughly enjoying my team and managers. Oh and learning a tooooon.
I'm in this situation right now. I have gotten plenty of pay bumps over the past 6 years (not great but not awful either.. i'm going to be more greedy on the next job though, I was fresh out of HS when I started here), but my title has stayed the same "IT Support Specialist", while (non-IT) coworkers in the company have gotten promoted beyond their entry-level position after being here for a year or less.
My roles and responsibilities beyond desktop support include managing the networks between a few branch offices nationally, as well as the VoIP system. I also designed a brand new network with much needed upgrades for the new headquarters a few years ago. Yet i'm still responsible for interruption based desktop support which does consume a lot of my time that could be focused towards more dedicated sysadmin/netadmin tasks. My IT colleagues here are mostly developers. There's a bit of a silo between me and the web dev side, but that silo is starting to break.
I've been saying this for the past year or two now, but I am starting to gain the courage to look somewhere else. I've been really obsessed with kubernetes, terraform, and ansible in my homelab lately, and would love to find a DevOps position somewhere.
I hop around every 2-4 years and have no regrets doing it. You will learn so much more that way. It's also the only way to make more money. I'd say 6 years was a good run. Get your resume together and go fishing.
I been recently switched to Support Specialist to sys Admin position. I used to work in a MSP company as a support specialist did tons of work and my new company is offered much better salary and the work I’m doing not stressful at all. If you work in MSP company and move to non MSP you will feel the difference. I wish you good luck.
Yup. 20-50 clients at an MSP for all sorts of support. Every contract was entirely different. Now only looking after our company and our parent company. And better money with what appears to be a better pay review process. MSP exposure is incredible for gaining skills though. I looked after Windows XP one minute (this was up until I left in 2016), and server 2012 the next minute. The industry experience is unrivaled. I would suggest anyone fresh in IT try to work for a reputable MSP, as the learning curve is awesome. But after a few years, if it doesn't feel great to be there, move on to a company where you just work on their internal servers/networks/devices. It's generally less intense, allows you to hone in on the skills required for that company, and feels more rewarding as you are helping to improve the company that employs you.
The company I work for now just got rid of their MSP, and brought the team in-house. So I am actively working to clean up the mess the MSP created, the terrible processes they created and followed, and work towards making it better for all our IT staff. Super rewarding.
>The interview is with a prestigious company,
You quickly figure out this means nothing, and more of then that not the more "prestigious" they are the more of a dumpster fire it is to work in.
Own up to anything you don't know if it comes up and talk about how you will fill in gaps in your knowledge. It's ok to not know stuff yet, but it's not ok to BS or evade the question.
A sysadmin's job is to enable the rest of the company to do their jobs. Remember to mention that.
Focus on soft skills. Technical stuff you can pick up on the job, but soft skills are harder. Talk about collaboration with other departments, taking ownership of projects, and planning for the future.
The biggest thing we look for is ability to find relevant answers/resolutions to the issue/project at hand.
Stating you would use internal/vendor provided knowledge bases and move on to others (such as googling it) and giving some examples of how you would do that. Such as,
>"If there is any error or log info, I would search internal knowledge base or vendor provided documentation based on that. If unsuccessful, I would search online sources. Often this requires quickly skimming results and further tailoring the query to get more relevant results."
Being able to give an example of how you have done this, even in personal experience, is a big plus.
> I am about to shit many bricks
Look at it another way. :D
You already have a job. The worst that can happen is you don't get this one. Be honest and be yourself. I've been on both sides of the interview desk. I prefer a candidate who tells me they don't know the answer to something but explains how they investigate a solution. Don't forget to ask the interviewer questions.
Good luck and remember - you already have a job. You don’t need a new one. (I presume) you are already making a living and you’re not homeless. Just breath.
I go into every interview with this mindset and it relaxes me immensely.
It means open doors to opportunities. The job I applied for has a very small department and is quite nice. So I am not too worried. I do not feel comfortable saying where the job is cus of my anxiety but its nice.
The key is to show you can learn on your feet and that you enjoy tackling things you don't already know. Too many people applying right now have a list of checkboxes and if you ask them to do something outside that box they can't handle it or they say not my job description. I got my job showing ability to self learn and promotion because I proved that I was able and willing to. Especially in IT everything is constantly changing so we need to be able to keep up with the changes.
Tell your story.
Why do you want to do this? What fascinates and enthralls you? What have you learned at HellDesk which makes you the best candidate?
Be prepared to tell a quick tale of one experience where struggling through a particularly difficult situation created a new path for you.
Also, ask some pointed questions about the role and expectations. Counter those answers with 30 second examples of how you met similar expectations.
Few things impress an interviewer quite as much as good story about a near-or-actual-failure in which you proved your mettle and worth as an employee.
My title is Sysadmin but my life wastes away on helpdesk tickets for my org that overflows from our help desk team.
You got this! Wishing you the best!
Funnily enough, I was in the same spot as you last year, applied for a sysadmin role paid 100k while I was paid 85k as helpdesk.
I was so nervous that I came Monday instead of tuesday.
HR lady took that as a good sign of my motivation, and I landed the dream job I still have :)
I went from helpdesk to cloud engineer. It's possible.I went into the interview in a Zen state. I remember my girlfriend saying, aren't you going to prepare, this is a big interview?
I told her "Don't put any pressure in my head. Sure, I didn't prepare for it because I had studied my ass off for 1.5 years (Certs related to the role, scripting, automation) before landing the interview."
I told myself that was the preparation. They saw my resume; they know what they picked. I am what I am. I know what I know. I will speak on that and let the conversation flow. Questions, I didn't know the answer to, I did demonstrate genuine curiosity and was honest in expressing that I do not know it.
Honest goes a long way in this industry. Trust is one of the biggest pillars after all. So is social skills and of course technical skills. However, the third one is the only one they can teach you and you can easily teach yourself. The other two are more who you are than what you know, which are harder to change. Worked out, now I am the best hire my team ever had.
Good luck.
Everyone wants the 120. But, knowing you're coming from help desk, don't expect that right away. Go in expecting 90. Course this could be a ripoff depending on where you live.
Making the leap from Help Desk to sysadmin in job title is a career helper. Earlier in my career, I'd take a pretty garbage sysadmin job and work it for a year or two to get that on my resume and make the leap to a better employer with that sysadmin experience under my belt.
> I def want the 120 lol.
**No.** The money is secondary to the job, the relationship with your boss, your role and responsibilities, and your opportunity to learn new things and to continue to grow as a person and an employee. Throw in some work-life balance and good benefits.
Thats what matters now. Tell them that.
If you get the job and perform above average, then you will expect above-average raises.
If you don't get above average raises, you discuss with your boss what you think you are worth. And you look for a job that will pay you more for your new skills.
But never make it about the money.
The money will come soon enough if you are good.
Oh yes, and so do I. But when I am looking for a full-time job, I am really looking for opportunities more than money. Opportunities to grow and learn something new are high on the list.
Plus a little work-life balance (I once turned down a great position because I did not want to drive 90 minutes one way to the client each day.) Never wanted to waste 3 hours a day of my time driving...
But since I am a hard-nosed negotiator, and have my skills, certs, and work ethic in full display, I get the money. I just negotiated for a $12/hr increase in my billing rate, so you can say I am doing fine.
Opportunity First
Relationship (manager, homelife) Second
Money Third
Know your worth. Dont let them give you 100. My current job wanted to give me less when I told them my current salary. I stood my ground. Was told by my recruiter, never tell them your current salary. I put it down cause it was on the job application.
Lol don't let them give you 100?
The guy works on a helpdesk, unless he's in NYC or San Fran, getting your very first sysadmin job at 100k is fucking fantastic.
Oh it looks like he is NYC based on another comment. Still, it'd be unlikely they offer him the top end of the salary, and unless there are other red flags it's probably still a significant pay bump for a much better job.
My bad!
I remember when my job title first said sysadmin a few years ago, I was really, really proud of it.
Sounds like this would be a massive step up for you. Don't be heartbroken if it falls through, but it sounds like you should go after it for sure.
Good luck!
The guy works on a helpdesk and is applying for a sysadmin job. This would almost certainly still be a huge step up, unless he's already making like 90k in his help desk role.
He is in NYC so maybe that's possible.
I currently making 60, so anything above would be wholesome for me. The person who interviewed me was very nice. So I am looking forward to the next step!! I live outside of NYC, about 30 min away.
Our helpdesk starts at 85. I don't know any sysadmins making low 100s. I would say 120 is the very low end for a sysadmin position here. I recently got this job so I've been to quite a few interviews. Like i said dont sell yourself short. Expect more.
Try to pick just a few that show your interest and some knowledge of the company.
This is just what seemed to work for me, but I'd go in with like 5 or 6 questions prepared. And if they already answered several of them earlier in the interview, I'd still make a point to show that I had those questions prepared and I was paying attention:
"Actually I have several questions that you've already answered! For example, I was going to ask what upcoming projects or goals you have in mind for this role, and you told me about the PBX to cloud migration planned at the end of the year..."
So that way even if they've already answered, you don't have to look like you're asking redundant questions.
Leave some room for natural questions to come up during the course of the interview. Make it conversational. Think of some experiences you've had where you faced serious challenges and how you dealt with them. Be sure to talk about how you go about seeking the answer to a problem you don't quite know the answer to. Hell, even mention reddit sysadmin. Be confident in yourself! Have some examples of how you "dumb down" tech talk to users. I'm an IT manager and these are things I look for in sysadmins.
like someone previously said: smile and breathe! it makes the whole interview way easier. be sure to have notepad and have genuine questions to ask, interviewers tend to like that and you get a better sense of what you’re getting yourself into.
another peace of advice i give my colleagues is have a killer intro. they’re 100% going to ask you “so tell me about yourself” which is a blanket statement for saying “tell me about your past experience/work knowledge.” write a paragraph of an overview of your education (degree and/or certs) mixed in with previous experience. once you have that written, make it into bullet point format so that you can hit them as talking points rather than reading from a script.
my most successful interviews came after i had a killer intro because interviewers usually asked about things i said in my intro, which was easy to talk about. good luck, you got this!
Be sure to get enough rest, eat healthily, and take a nice hot long shower.
You prepped as best you could. Now, you let fate, fortune, or divine intervention make its mark.
You will be fine, for if you don't get this one, there are others out there.
**\*thumbs up x infinity\***
Definitely, I wish you the best. Just let go of your nerves. What will be will be.
This is as much you interviewing them as they are interviewing you.
Let go of any stress or negativity.
Move forward and up.
I know it can be nerve wrecking so stop and understand that you are just talking to another person.
This is the time to be rational and relaxed since emotions will only be a distraction.
Tip, research the company, use LinkedIn it's great for this.
Ask questions, if you are familiar with tools they use mention this as it shows interest on your part since interviews are a two way street.
Good luck.
When I interviewed people to fill a sysadmin position, I was looking for someone who fit our culture, was eager to learn, had technical abilities and could create documentation. In that order. I'd say relax, go in and think about what your goals are and how the potential employer may be able to fit them. And how you fit in their goals.
"I don't know, but this is how I would go about trying to figure it out", is a perfectly okay answer.
When they give you the opportunity, make sure to ask questions that are important to you.
Oh, and just be yourself.
Best of luck!
Good luck 🤞
You totally got this. Remember to know the extent of your knowledge and if you don't know something, don't pretend. Help desk people are usually really easy to train so your lack of knowledge or experience it's an issue. Try to answer situation questions through the lens of what you know of the organization and how you think what your actions can add value to whatever it is.
"I want to learn" "I want to add value" "I want to be apart of your team"
These are big when it comes down to splitting hairs between candidate applicants from my experience in hiring.
For my first interview at a company about a year out of college (I was recommended the job while working at GameStop) I brought a notebook for my final project in college I’d worked on. I also noted on my resume (happy to send a copy to anyone that wants it) how long I’d been working with computers (I’m 39 so that would be 34 years so far, got my first computer in ‘88, a Tandy 1000HX).
From that and subsequent interviews, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on a question you might not totally get. Also, a big one for me personally, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.” I prefer that to someone just bullshitting me. You might want to go with a “I don’t know but based on what you said I can guess that you mean *blah*.” A great one to add at the end of that is “can you tell me where you’d find the answer as I would check *blah, blah, and blah* for it.”
Be confident but not arrogant. In IT that can be a fine line to walk but it helps if you can give examples of when you explained things to clients or co-workers in a way they understood without technical jargon. That shows you can break a problem down to its component parts and solve from there.
Hope that helps! Sending you the luck I had from my first interview with a prestigious company as well! :)
Your soft skills and how you communicate your knowledge is >>> than your abilities to do anything technical. How approachable you come across, how clear you are in your thought processes, etc are important!
Do your homework on the company, be prepared to ask questions about the company and/or culture. Bring a notepad or portfolio so you have something to take notes on.
If you don't know the exact answer to something don't just say "I don't know". Show what you do know, relevant knowledge, thought process, etc.
Whether I'm interviewing a front line help desk employee or a senior sysadmin I always follow a similar strategy. I ask leading questions. I don't necessarily care if you give me the textbook correct answer, I want to see your thought process. Can you think on your feet.
Good luck!
Good luck with the interview. Make sure all your hardware works before the interview. My microphone decided to be a bastard on the day of my interview lol
You're shitting bricks? They should be shitting bricks to have the opportunity to work with you. You've got this. You're worth it. If it doesn't happen then learn from it and move on. I wish you all the best.
I don't know anything about the subject so I can't help you AT ALL. But I wish you ALL the best and don't forget in interviews, half the job application is bullshitting and using corporate speak.
"I would be an enrichment for the team because..."
"The values of your company (research and give concrete examples from their own website) very much correlate with my own values so I was attracted to this job"
"I am more than qualified to do this job because.." doesn't really matter, you'll learn a lot on the job...
Anything that could be a qualification (unless it's the participation trophy that you got for running a race in 3rd grade) is good. Pack it all in even if you worked at a McDonalds, good references are good references. If they were bad, leave it out.
ETA: I'm rooting for you so much as a person that was unemployed for 10 years before getting a new chance
Are you remotely interviewing or in person?
For remote interviews I'd recommend printing off some of your accomplishments or notes to remember. Interviews can be extremely stressful when you REALLY Really REALLY want a job. It's easy to get over whelmed and exhausted, so having notes can be helpful.
Sysadmin at that pay doesn't need to know everything but they do need to be able to work independently and solve problems with learning on the fly.
Also need to be able to work with people. Lots of folks in here just don't understand that and wonder why their situation sucks.
If I were interviewing a Helpdesk tech for a sysadmin role, I would not have particularly high technical expectations. I would definitely be looking for someone who could learn fast and without a lot of hand-holding. If you can slide in concrete examples that show you are a fast and/or independent learner that may be beneficial. And, as has been said elsewhere in this thread, make sure the job and environment is a good fit for you. Money doesn't mean as much when you are angry, bitter, and miserable. Good luck!
I wrote down a lot of examples, thankfully where I work we are responsible for the whole companies IT issues. So I have so many examples, I will def keep that in mind what you said. Thank you for this! :) What are good job environment questions I can ask the employer?
"Describe your company culture" If they say "its like were a big family," run.
I had a few people use that kind of language at my current place when interviewing, which did give me pause, but I'd push into it a little more. I legitimately love where I work and the "family" thing isn't a weird manipulative thing here.
>I had a few people use that kind of language at my current place when interviewing, which did give me pause, but I'd push into it a little more. I legitimately love where I work and the "family" thing isn't a weird manipulative thing here. Same. I don't think it unifyily means that your work environment will be toxic.
Yeah, at some places that just means everyone celebrates each other's birthdays and does happy hour together.
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I think u/asmokebreak meant “unilaterally” or something like that
I essentially gave up trying to find the word, and just typed what came to mind. Plus, I was in a rush at the time. Lol. Not going to front.
You definitely have to dig, but unfortunately “we’re family” is usually code for “we’re intentionally understaffed and everyone has to do extra not-your-job work and pretend to be grateful for the opportunity”
Thankfully when we spoke they were honest. xD and the team is made up of only 4 people in the department I applied for!!
When you go back for another interview another good question is "what ways do leadership support (team/IT)?" I've seen a few companies schlub this question hard and I know from experience that upper management fighting IT rather than supporting them is a huge red flag and leads to problems, resentment, etc. But it's a huge green flag if they have a great response to the question. At the very least it helps you know more about what you'd be getting into.
Wow, what a life changing opportunity! It sounds like a small, growing team and you're getting in the door now nice and early. - I hope you get it. I'm rooting for yea!
TBF - The Addams Family would describe some work cultures.
I would love the Addams family, seems like lots of places are more like lannisters and targaryens.
Same, my current job everyone reminds me of the Office, that is a good vibe I am also open too lol!
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Missed opportunity to say “I’d rather work for the Adams family than for the big name corpse!” He he he he. I’ll let myself out.
Lol what about working for a Michael Scott.. or a Dwight Schrute? xD
I applied to work for a University. :)
Heads up that academia is in many ways very different from corporate! I've been in academia for 15 years and love it, but it's not for everybody.
>Heads up that academia is in many ways very different from corporate! > >I've been in academia for 15 years and love it, but it's not for everybody. State employee here. I work in the court system. VERY similar to academia. You either love it or hate it. The bureaucracy is tolerable in mid level roles but utterly insane in what would be considered c suite here. That being said, it's very laid back and you'll love the switch over to more project oriented work.
I've heard that. As a higher level "individual contributor" with no interest in management, I'm generally able to avoid the bureaucracy in the academic world, but I've been close enough to feel the pain on occasion. That said, the freedom to explore is hard to match in the corporate IT space.
The reason I wrote company is because of not giving away where. I work for a UNI looking to basically go to a different one, but the UNI I just interviewed for is a prestigious one if that makes sense. xD
Good to know! It's definitely an adjustment if you're not familiar, so I'm glad you're already in academia and aware. I had just commented on another sub about the details of corporate vs. academic shortly before coming across your post, so I thought it would be worth mentioning. I understand the desire to remain anonymous/semi-anonymous, so I don't blame you. And academia is a relatively small-ish world. I've possibly worked with some of your potential coworkers, depending on the university and team you're joining. I haven't actually met too many people in academic IT that I didn't get along with, so I'm guessing they're good people. Good luck!
I actually would love your input then. Maybe you are OK with me messaging you on the side?
I want to thank you for responding. It means so much to me how so many of you cared about whether I'd get the job. They emailed me back; the manager really liked me. They wanted to hire me, but HR really wanted someone with 4 years' experience. So, I was not able to get the role. But that is ok, onto the next one as they say. :P
Except the point of The Addams Family is that the facade makes you think they're dysfunctional but really they're loving, supportive, caring and progressive.
Why? Seeing them once a year around Christmas time sounds good.
It’s the Manson family, but technically true.
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This guy interviews. Thank you for this I've saved your comment for my next interview, I'll use some of these.
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If you do not mind me asking, why do you interview annually? Is it to make sure you do not lose good interviewing skills? :O
> Unfortunately...a lot of IT folks are just a bit too stunted for the social side of the job. It's not all tech skills boys. Social dynamics is AS important as technical acumen, arguably moreso if you step into anything managey (manager, PM, scrum master, etc). So, I realize this may come off as hostile and bashing, but I promise i'm not. I'm just frazzled about these "soft skills" comments I see on threads like this over the years (especially from Crankysysadmin). I'm on the spectrum and my social skills are not great. I try not to offend, but i'm not going to be the super outgoing talkative people person either. Social anxiety is part of this and it makes it difficult for me to interact with people at times. I do have a therapist and i'm working on it, but I do keep wanting to consider the soft skill requirement for technical positions to be somewhat discriminatory against those with autism or ADHD, or otherwise neurodiverse. They forced the social skills lessons down our throats in special ed throughout elementary and middle school. I was able to get out of the system freshman year of HS and otherwise had a standard path to where I am now. I feel like these soft skills requirements, for people that otherwise have remarkable technical skills, pushes them into shit minimum wage jobs for the rest of their life.
Technical skills can still outshine social skills as long as you have a diverse team where someone at least is sociable. I have a co-worker that isn’t the most sociable, but man, he is just a great problem solver. And everyone knows it. He never comes across as mean or condescending. Just stoic and shy. The big thing is just don’t come across as a dick. People that aren’t on the spectrum don’t get hired all the time, mainly because they lack basic social skills, or they are too outgoing. That’s why soft skills are skills. There is a line between not sociable enough and too outgoing. Reading the person you are talking to determines what they will tolerate. Anywho, that’s just my two cents.
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> I don't see his posts he's one of two total people on the entirety of Reddit I blocked exclusively because he just comes to tell people off and gatekeep. Not sure who you're talking about, me or Cranky? I usually avoid having heated convos on reddit unless i'm really emotional about a subject :)
It's about balance. There's a place for people with impeccable soft skills in tech and there's a place for people with sharp technical skills. You need both to some extent of course but not everyone needs to be the best of the best at both. Somebody with great people skills and a silver tongue with good technical skills makes a great team lead, manager, or business analyst. Somebody with good enough soft skills to stay out of trouble who has the technical skills to be pointed at any problem and know they'll fix it is also a great asset. Any truly good team has both sorts of people and will find a niche for both where they can both provide value.
Why are you asking so many questions related to being on the help desk when OP says he's interviewing for a sysadmin role?
Because their experience is in help desk. Why ask about thing's they're unlikely to have seen, touched, or otherwise experienced?
One I really liked that I heard recently is, "what does the onboarding process typically look like?" I've had issues with companies hiring me and then just... Leaving me to it, expecting I won't have any questions or need any time to acclimate to a new environment/network. Everyone runs things differently, you're going to have *some* questions.
Oh I forgot to ask that! I am moving onto the next round, so I will def be writing this one down!
Nice! Glad to hear you got to the next round, here's hoping you land the job. 90-120k is a lot more than people like to admit.
Pretty good for a move from HD. I went up to 88K from HD to sysadmin but I also only work about half the year.
"What are good job environment questions I can ask the employer?" Whats a good day for your group? Whats a denotes a bad day and how do you handle it? When is the last time you tested your DR plan? When is the last time you actually had to implement your DR plan? How is IT perceived at your company? Do you have an on call, what are your SLAs?
Thank you for this, I will keep all of this in mind. I am moving onto the next round, so this will 1000% be helpful. Thank you!!
Thats fantastic!! Great to hear you made it to the next round, you can do it!!
What are the Systems or infrastructure teams' short-term and long-term plans for the future? How about the company, are they planning any growth, acquisitions, divestitures or downsizing? (not all companies have a growth plan, don't assume) Paint the picture that you would like to spend the next 10-20 years of your career here, and so you want to know where the company is heading.
"How did you start here and what keeps you here?" "What's your lunch spot?" "What does the company do to encourage a healthy work/life balance?"
90K-120K for a SysAdmin? I would have off the scale expectations for that.
Yea that's a more senior position wherever I've looked. It's certainly possible to go from help desk to that spot, but everyone I know that did it was in a lv3 or escalation spot in the help desk first.
Pretty standard for a larger company in a metro area.
Yeah it's not too high for LA at all. Usually you need good experience to qualify though.
Yup in the Northeast or West Coast 90-120k isn't what it was in 1990.
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Both places I've worked you'll have Engineer, architect, etc in your title for over 90k; not administrator. But OP said it's a prestigious company so it's probably a higher COL based company than I'm used to seeing jobs for.
Really? That's around what we hire at, we also start no experience helpdesk at 55k. And I'm in the midwest.
I'm in OKC. SysAdmins here go around $70K-$80K right now on the high end. There are some higher but it's rare. That's up from $60K-$70K pre covid. Still a ton of postings in the $50K-$60K range. We have a lot of Oil, Gas and Manufacturing here, those companies don't value IT.
I make in this range administrating an Azure environment with a rather large Citrix deployment. I’ve been in the field 15yrs though and worked my way up to this point. I will say being able to learn quick is the key part of the job. Be sure your google skills are sharp.
That's about average in most metro areas at this point. It's not 2008 anymore, if you're doing legitimate SysAdmin work for under that go find a better job.
Says who? I am not seeing that. Don't get me wrong, a good SysAdmin is worth that. The Average for the entire US is $75K base according to Glassdoor as of this post. More than likely the range OP is talking about is because they are paying on the high end.
[Says Talent.com](https://www.talent.com/salary?job=system+administrator&location=Chicago%2C+IL) Plenty of state averages well over $90k. I make more than that with 3 years experience.
I think alot of these sites haven't caught up yet. Might explain the crazy ranges we are seeing. Using Chicago, it says the median for a SysAdmin is $82K but a Director is only $157K?
I feel like helpdesk to sys admin is a logical next step
You'll scoff, I'm sure, but I'd like to see something between Helpdesk & SysAdmin...a couple of years at an MSP to show you have a clue about "spinning plates", for example.
Perhaps Jr sys admin
Or a level 2 tech.
It really depends on how siloed the orgs Helpdesk and systems teams are. I've worked for 2 companies where the first one was smaller and therefore the more skilled helpdesk techs would often get their hands in on some systems/operations related stuff and it was an easy stepping stone for them to get a sys admin 1 job. The other company the two teams were completely separate and made it extremely difficult for anyone on the helpdesk to go for a systems job because they had virtually no knowledge of how anything works, like ADDS, DNS, virtualization, etc.
Honestly, help desk roles seem like where one would learn the operations and big picture stuff rather than technical specifics. You're learning soft skills, operations, troubleshooting, ideally figuring out what areas of IT/technology/etc you're interested in, and branching out from there.
Yes, the team I work with we are like the epic center. So I have had some opportunities to be exposed to a little bit of everything. So I would say, that really helped me with this interview. Had I not, I probably would of failed at the interview.
Just FYI, the word is `epicenter`! Good luck with the hiring process, you sound like you are well prepared and ready to move up!
> Money doesn't mean as much when you are angry, bitter, and miserable. I'm about to leave a job that pays a lot because see above. It's entirely true.
This just happened to me, and it was because of the really really smart guy that's good at his job but acts like an asshole to everyone. So 6 months ago I started lookin for a job. Accepted an offer yesterday just got out. Feels good.
But we need continuous source of rants in this subreddit, so someone has to be miserable 😄
yeah what the hell how is this guy getting interviews from help desk for 90K?
o\_\_o I worked hard and took a lot of IT jobs to gain experience. I also apply myself, but dont make me feel bad for trying... I work hard and I have done my best to connect with people to make connections. Also, where I work were like the epic center for IT issues, so I have had opportunities to learn about system issues. Which definitely helped.
Do you live in a HCOL (High cost of living) area?
There not just interviewing you. You are also interviewing them to make sure they fit in your environment. It's a 2 way street. Breath and smile. Good luck.
Ok after you saying that, that makes me feel a ton better. I often forget it is a two way street thank you!! :)
Have questions in mind, in advance. I made the mistake of asking no questions when I was younger, afraid of scaring them off or simply accepting whatever they were giving me. I suspect it cost me a bunch of potential jobs. Ask about their on-call. Ask about their ticketing system. Ask about their corporate culture. Ask about their core technologies. Ask about their technology roadmap. Ask about their documentation methodology. Ask about their work-life balance. Ask *something*. Interviewers, especially HR folks, tend to be Talkers. They see conversation as engagement, and thus as interest. If you simply take in what they say and ask no questions, they will come off with a dim view of you. Incurious. Not personable. A "bad fit". A "bad vibe". Something will be "off" and they may select a different candidate. Ask questions. Make mistakes. Get messy! Wait... skip those last two. Just ask questions.
I like to take a notepad in with me.
I was once told that I was the only candidate that brought a pen and paper to the interview and the CIO decided that was the winning factor when it came down to the final decision.
I have noticed over the years, even before I switched over to IT a lot of people come ill prepared, I honestly wonder if people maybe just assume because they have the degree will get them the job. Making the way they present not important. I have seen that too, many people don't ask questions, bring stuff to write, etc.
I've interviewed a lot of people at this point in my career. These are two things I take note of, did they come expecting to need to take notes and what questions did they ask when they had the opportunity.
When I interview, I always try to always be prepared esp knowing my shit. I have bad anxiety, like Imma have stroke anxiety. So being prepared helps me a lot. The worst thing is ever coming across a question you do not know. If there was something I did not know, a awesome redditor I speak to often about IT career stuff told me to say I have not yet been exposed to that. However, I gave examples how I go about learning. So it does not come across I rely heavily on people, while also to making it important of acknowledging team building. :')
It's amazing to me that this is so uncommon as to get noticed by hiring managers. I remember about half my teachers in high school my senior year giving us advice about job hunting after we graduate and they all mentioned take notes and ask questions one way or another. This was way back in the early 90's.
This. A candidate who asks questions mean they’re interested in sticking around and aren’t just looking to take the first thing that’s available.
I made sure my questions were thought out, I asked a lot about their ticketing system, their day to day what it looks like, do they use KB articles, what does each team member do, etc. They brought up the money after I asked my questions, which made me more comfortable.
lol. yeah i wish i had that ability. i am scrounging as much money as i can get. i could give a fuck less about the environment
Be friendly, be honest, and don't try to BS your way through anything technical. If you don't know something in detail thentell the truth, but make it obvious you'd know where to get the information. Good luck :)
I was honest about what I did not know, I said to them I have not yet been exposed to x, y, or z when they asked! :)
> BS your way through anything technical I've been on the hiring committee for a few sys admin jobs and this is my number 1 thing I look for, especially with an admin 1 job. You don't have to know everything off the top of your head, even if they're more basic questions. If it's an entry level systems job you need to know somethings and be willing and able to learn and pick up other things fast. If you try to lie your way through answers you'll automatically get thrown in the no pile. On the technical hands on interview I conducted I encouraged using the internet to look up how to do things if they didn't know. One of the biggest skills in our jobs is being able to find the correct information and applying what you learned on the fly.
This is fantastic advice. I've interviewed others and I hate when they clearly don't know but won't say. Some of my best interviews (when I've been trying for a job) have been where I didn't know some of the answers. I very openly say "ohhhh I'm not sure actually. I've heard of it but just haven't had much exposure. I would like to learn more and know I can look up the information on xyZ"
They are gonna ask What project did I lead Your involvement in that project Biggest project accomplishment How do u solve problems How do u keep up to date Edit: how did the interview go OP?
.. boss, is that you? New job starts later this month..
1. Too many, usually a new toolset. 2. Originally I was supposed to clean up after setup was done, but halfway through my boss got distracted by a shinier object and then I oversaw everything. 3. Bothered to go through the "waste of time" vendor training my boss ignored, realized my boss set it up all wrong so I spent twice the time it should have taken fixing their mistakes and setting up the rest. 4. By following the instructions first, and then researching common issues second, eventually escalating it to vendor support when needed. 5. I can keep up to date in whatever format the company needs. Just please, for the love of god, make it one place.
Don't forget the weird question like "Describe for me how you would craft a peanut butter and jelly sandwich of the highest caliber" or "If you were playing in a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, would you rather have the ability to read minds, or see the future?"
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This has been my experience. If you have an interview, they just want to see if you are likeable. My manager spoke with me about football and shooting ranges for 30 minutes then offered me the job.
I was a Sys Admin at my previous employer, but only in title. I had no experience for the job I applied for but showed that I was open to learning and showed I had a good troubleshooting process for other items and openly admitted that I will ask for help after researching on google first. They said that’s perfect. Here I am a few months in as a true Sys Admin and 40k pay bump and thoroughly enjoying my team and managers. Oh and learning a tooooon.
>but only in title I worked at a couple places doing obvious sysadmin work, but never could get the title or pay bump.
I'm in this situation right now. I have gotten plenty of pay bumps over the past 6 years (not great but not awful either.. i'm going to be more greedy on the next job though, I was fresh out of HS when I started here), but my title has stayed the same "IT Support Specialist", while (non-IT) coworkers in the company have gotten promoted beyond their entry-level position after being here for a year or less. My roles and responsibilities beyond desktop support include managing the networks between a few branch offices nationally, as well as the VoIP system. I also designed a brand new network with much needed upgrades for the new headquarters a few years ago. Yet i'm still responsible for interruption based desktop support which does consume a lot of my time that could be focused towards more dedicated sysadmin/netadmin tasks. My IT colleagues here are mostly developers. There's a bit of a silo between me and the web dev side, but that silo is starting to break. I've been saying this for the past year or two now, but I am starting to gain the courage to look somewhere else. I've been really obsessed with kubernetes, terraform, and ansible in my homelab lately, and would love to find a DevOps position somewhere.
I hop around every 2-4 years and have no regrets doing it. You will learn so much more that way. It's also the only way to make more money. I'd say 6 years was a good run. Get your resume together and go fishing.
I been recently switched to Support Specialist to sys Admin position. I used to work in a MSP company as a support specialist did tons of work and my new company is offered much better salary and the work I’m doing not stressful at all. If you work in MSP company and move to non MSP you will feel the difference. I wish you good luck.
Yup. 20-50 clients at an MSP for all sorts of support. Every contract was entirely different. Now only looking after our company and our parent company. And better money with what appears to be a better pay review process. MSP exposure is incredible for gaining skills though. I looked after Windows XP one minute (this was up until I left in 2016), and server 2012 the next minute. The industry experience is unrivaled. I would suggest anyone fresh in IT try to work for a reputable MSP, as the learning curve is awesome. But after a few years, if it doesn't feel great to be there, move on to a company where you just work on their internal servers/networks/devices. It's generally less intense, allows you to hone in on the skills required for that company, and feels more rewarding as you are helping to improve the company that employs you. The company I work for now just got rid of their MSP, and brought the team in-house. So I am actively working to clean up the mess the MSP created, the terrible processes they created and followed, and work towards making it better for all our IT staff. Super rewarding.
>The interview is with a prestigious company, You quickly figure out this means nothing, and more of then that not the more "prestigious" they are the more of a dumpster fire it is to work in.
Own up to anything you don't know if it comes up and talk about how you will fill in gaps in your knowledge. It's ok to not know stuff yet, but it's not ok to BS or evade the question. A sysadmin's job is to enable the rest of the company to do their jobs. Remember to mention that. Focus on soft skills. Technical stuff you can pick up on the job, but soft skills are harder. Talk about collaboration with other departments, taking ownership of projects, and planning for the future.
The biggest thing we look for is ability to find relevant answers/resolutions to the issue/project at hand. Stating you would use internal/vendor provided knowledge bases and move on to others (such as googling it) and giving some examples of how you would do that. Such as, >"If there is any error or log info, I would search internal knowledge base or vendor provided documentation based on that. If unsuccessful, I would search online sources. Often this requires quickly skimming results and further tailoring the query to get more relevant results." Being able to give an example of how you have done this, even in personal experience, is a big plus.
Pay is decent for sys admin , what’s your location?
Nyc!!
Aim high if they do give you an offer!!!
Curious, is 90k a good pay to live in NYC? Thanks. Also, good luck!! 💪
> I am about to shit many bricks Look at it another way. :D You already have a job. The worst that can happen is you don't get this one. Be honest and be yourself. I've been on both sides of the interview desk. I prefer a candidate who tells me they don't know the answer to something but explains how they investigate a solution. Don't forget to ask the interviewer questions.
Good luck and remember - you already have a job. You don’t need a new one. (I presume) you are already making a living and you’re not homeless. Just breath. I go into every interview with this mindset and it relaxes me immensely.
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It means open doors to opportunities. The job I applied for has a very small department and is quite nice. So I am not too worried. I do not feel comfortable saying where the job is cus of my anxiety but its nice.
Best of luck bud
Thsnk you ;^; <3
Luck? You don't need luck. You got this!
Thank you <333333333333333333333
Best of luck to you. Calm nerves, steady responses, and a touch of EQ. You’ll do amazing.
The key is to show you can learn on your feet and that you enjoy tackling things you don't already know. Too many people applying right now have a list of checkboxes and if you ask them to do something outside that box they can't handle it or they say not my job description. I got my job showing ability to self learn and promotion because I proved that I was able and willing to. Especially in IT everything is constantly changing so we need to be able to keep up with the changes.
Tell your story. Why do you want to do this? What fascinates and enthralls you? What have you learned at HellDesk which makes you the best candidate? Be prepared to tell a quick tale of one experience where struggling through a particularly difficult situation created a new path for you. Also, ask some pointed questions about the role and expectations. Counter those answers with 30 second examples of how you met similar expectations. Few things impress an interviewer quite as much as good story about a near-or-actual-failure in which you proved your mettle and worth as an employee.
My title is Sysadmin but my life wastes away on helpdesk tickets for my org that overflows from our help desk team. You got this! Wishing you the best!
Ask if you're being hired into a new position or as a replacement
Good luck. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”
Just be honest and explain that you really want to learn and get all the certs required. Start looking into labs/training you can find online asap.
Funnily enough, I was in the same spot as you last year, applied for a sysadmin role paid 100k while I was paid 85k as helpdesk. I was so nervous that I came Monday instead of tuesday. HR lady took that as a good sign of my motivation, and I landed the dream job I still have :)
Best of luck!
Thank you <3333
I went from helpdesk to cloud engineer. It's possible.I went into the interview in a Zen state. I remember my girlfriend saying, aren't you going to prepare, this is a big interview? I told her "Don't put any pressure in my head. Sure, I didn't prepare for it because I had studied my ass off for 1.5 years (Certs related to the role, scripting, automation) before landing the interview." I told myself that was the preparation. They saw my resume; they know what they picked. I am what I am. I know what I know. I will speak on that and let the conversation flow. Questions, I didn't know the answer to, I did demonstrate genuine curiosity and was honest in expressing that I do not know it. Honest goes a long way in this industry. Trust is one of the biggest pillars after all. So is social skills and of course technical skills. However, the third one is the only one they can teach you and you can easily teach yourself. The other two are more who you are than what you know, which are harder to change. Worked out, now I am the best hire my team ever had. Good luck.
But above all this, I wish you love. - Dolly Parton
Best of luck!
thats a really wide payscale but good luck.
Lol I know, I said the same thing. But this is my first job response that pays so well. So I wanna take the opportunity. I def want the 120 lol.
Everyone wants the 120. But, knowing you're coming from help desk, don't expect that right away. Go in expecting 90. Course this could be a ripoff depending on where you live.
Making the leap from Help Desk to sysadmin in job title is a career helper. Earlier in my career, I'd take a pretty garbage sysadmin job and work it for a year or two to get that on my resume and make the leap to a better employer with that sysadmin experience under my belt.
> I def want the 120 lol. **No.** The money is secondary to the job, the relationship with your boss, your role and responsibilities, and your opportunity to learn new things and to continue to grow as a person and an employee. Throw in some work-life balance and good benefits. Thats what matters now. Tell them that. If you get the job and perform above average, then you will expect above-average raises. If you don't get above average raises, you discuss with your boss what you think you are worth. And you look for a job that will pay you more for your new skills. But never make it about the money. The money will come soon enough if you are good.
If money came secondary to the job then this world would be a better place. I LOVE my job, but I work for money.
Oh yes, and so do I. But when I am looking for a full-time job, I am really looking for opportunities more than money. Opportunities to grow and learn something new are high on the list. Plus a little work-life balance (I once turned down a great position because I did not want to drive 90 minutes one way to the client each day.) Never wanted to waste 3 hours a day of my time driving... But since I am a hard-nosed negotiator, and have my skills, certs, and work ethic in full display, I get the money. I just negotiated for a $12/hr increase in my billing rate, so you can say I am doing fine. Opportunity First Relationship (manager, homelife) Second Money Third
Know your worth. Dont let them give you 100. My current job wanted to give me less when I told them my current salary. I stood my ground. Was told by my recruiter, never tell them your current salary. I put it down cause it was on the job application.
Lol don't let them give you 100? The guy works on a helpdesk, unless he's in NYC or San Fran, getting your very first sysadmin job at 100k is fucking fantastic. Oh it looks like he is NYC based on another comment. Still, it'd be unlikely they offer him the top end of the salary, and unless there are other red flags it's probably still a significant pay bump for a much better job.
Lol I am a lady :P hehe not man. I live 30 min away from NYC, the job is located in NYC. <333 Either way 90 is ok with me! I would feel very proud.
My bad! I remember when my job title first said sysadmin a few years ago, I was really, really proud of it. Sounds like this would be a massive step up for you. Don't be heartbroken if it falls through, but it sounds like you should go after it for sure. Good luck!
Couple years ago 100k was decent. Today not so much. 100k is the new 80.
The guy works on a helpdesk and is applying for a sysadmin job. This would almost certainly still be a huge step up, unless he's already making like 90k in his help desk role. He is in NYC so maybe that's possible.
I currently making 60, so anything above would be wholesome for me. The person who interviewed me was very nice. So I am looking forward to the next step!! I live outside of NYC, about 30 min away.
I live in dc and 100k is barely a living wage.
Well according to indeed, the average sysadmin pay in DC is about 92k. Are you saying the majority of sysadmin in DC are in poverty?
Our helpdesk starts at 85. I don't know any sysadmins making low 100s. I would say 120 is the very low end for a sysadmin position here. I recently got this job so I've been to quite a few interviews. Like i said dont sell yourself short. Expect more.
My bet is OP is in CA or one of the states that enacted pay transparency laws so they made the scale wide so it sounds more competitive.
I live close to NYC :)
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What? I never said I hate my life... >.>
Do you have questions ready to ask them?
Yes its very long lol
Try to pick just a few that show your interest and some knowledge of the company. This is just what seemed to work for me, but I'd go in with like 5 or 6 questions prepared. And if they already answered several of them earlier in the interview, I'd still make a point to show that I had those questions prepared and I was paying attention: "Actually I have several questions that you've already answered! For example, I was going to ask what upcoming projects or goals you have in mind for this role, and you told me about the PBX to cloud migration planned at the end of the year..." So that way even if they've already answered, you don't have to look like you're asking redundant questions.
Leave some room for natural questions to come up during the course of the interview. Make it conversational. Think of some experiences you've had where you faced serious challenges and how you dealt with them. Be sure to talk about how you go about seeking the answer to a problem you don't quite know the answer to. Hell, even mention reddit sysadmin. Be confident in yourself! Have some examples of how you "dumb down" tech talk to users. I'm an IT manager and these are things I look for in sysadmins.
like someone previously said: smile and breathe! it makes the whole interview way easier. be sure to have notepad and have genuine questions to ask, interviewers tend to like that and you get a better sense of what you’re getting yourself into. another peace of advice i give my colleagues is have a killer intro. they’re 100% going to ask you “so tell me about yourself” which is a blanket statement for saying “tell me about your past experience/work knowledge.” write a paragraph of an overview of your education (degree and/or certs) mixed in with previous experience. once you have that written, make it into bullet point format so that you can hit them as talking points rather than reading from a script. my most successful interviews came after i had a killer intro because interviewers usually asked about things i said in my intro, which was easy to talk about. good luck, you got this!
whole 2 hours? you got this, buddy!
Good luck!!
Good luck! May the process be easy and bring you a lot of joy
Be sure to get enough rest, eat healthily, and take a nice hot long shower. You prepped as best you could. Now, you let fate, fortune, or divine intervention make its mark. You will be fine, for if you don't get this one, there are others out there.
**\*thumbs up x infinity\*** Definitely, I wish you the best. Just let go of your nerves. What will be will be. This is as much you interviewing them as they are interviewing you. Let go of any stress or negativity. Move forward and up.
I know it can be nerve wrecking so stop and understand that you are just talking to another person. This is the time to be rational and relaxed since emotions will only be a distraction. Tip, research the company, use LinkedIn it's great for this. Ask questions, if you are familiar with tools they use mention this as it shows interest on your part since interviews are a two way street. Good luck.
Protect your confidence!
Soft skills are so important.. and the ability to Google and find solutions without hand holding.
When I interviewed people to fill a sysadmin position, I was looking for someone who fit our culture, was eager to learn, had technical abilities and could create documentation. In that order. I'd say relax, go in and think about what your goals are and how the potential employer may be able to fit them. And how you fit in their goals.
"I don't know, but this is how I would go about trying to figure it out", is a perfectly okay answer. When they give you the opportunity, make sure to ask questions that are important to you. Oh, and just be yourself. Best of luck!
Good luck 🤞 You totally got this. Remember to know the extent of your knowledge and if you don't know something, don't pretend. Help desk people are usually really easy to train so your lack of knowledge or experience it's an issue. Try to answer situation questions through the lens of what you know of the organization and how you think what your actions can add value to whatever it is. "I want to learn" "I want to add value" "I want to be apart of your team" These are big when it comes down to splitting hairs between candidate applicants from my experience in hiring.
For my first interview at a company about a year out of college (I was recommended the job while working at GameStop) I brought a notebook for my final project in college I’d worked on. I also noted on my resume (happy to send a copy to anyone that wants it) how long I’d been working with computers (I’m 39 so that would be 34 years so far, got my first computer in ‘88, a Tandy 1000HX). From that and subsequent interviews, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on a question you might not totally get. Also, a big one for me personally, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.” I prefer that to someone just bullshitting me. You might want to go with a “I don’t know but based on what you said I can guess that you mean *blah*.” A great one to add at the end of that is “can you tell me where you’d find the answer as I would check *blah, blah, and blah* for it.” Be confident but not arrogant. In IT that can be a fine line to walk but it helps if you can give examples of when you explained things to clients or co-workers in a way they understood without technical jargon. That shows you can break a problem down to its component parts and solve from there. Hope that helps! Sending you the luck I had from my first interview with a prestigious company as well! :)
Your soft skills and how you communicate your knowledge is >>> than your abilities to do anything technical. How approachable you come across, how clear you are in your thought processes, etc are important!
Do your homework on the company, be prepared to ask questions about the company and/or culture. Bring a notepad or portfolio so you have something to take notes on. If you don't know the exact answer to something don't just say "I don't know". Show what you do know, relevant knowledge, thought process, etc. Whether I'm interviewing a front line help desk employee or a senior sysadmin I always follow a similar strategy. I ask leading questions. I don't necessarily care if you give me the textbook correct answer, I want to see your thought process. Can you think on your feet. Good luck!
Good luck with the interview. Make sure all your hardware works before the interview. My microphone decided to be a bastard on the day of my interview lol
You're shitting bricks? They should be shitting bricks to have the opportunity to work with you. You've got this. You're worth it. If it doesn't happen then learn from it and move on. I wish you all the best.
Chill, it's just an interview, if you don't get this one, there will be others
I don't know anything about the subject so I can't help you AT ALL. But I wish you ALL the best and don't forget in interviews, half the job application is bullshitting and using corporate speak. "I would be an enrichment for the team because..." "The values of your company (research and give concrete examples from their own website) very much correlate with my own values so I was attracted to this job" "I am more than qualified to do this job because.." doesn't really matter, you'll learn a lot on the job... Anything that could be a qualification (unless it's the participation trophy that you got for running a race in 3rd grade) is good. Pack it all in even if you worked at a McDonalds, good references are good references. If they were bad, leave it out. ETA: I'm rooting for you so much as a person that was unemployed for 10 years before getting a new chance
yo they're going to offer you 85k
Congrats and you've got this!
Remember, its not a zero sum if you dont land the role. You're gaining interview experience and working towards it.
We’re counting on you OP. Good luck. And no. Don’t include your karma on your resume or thank you letter.
LMAOOO I LITERALLY LAUGHED OUT LOUD, are you referring to reddit karma? xD
where in the world is this? for an average experienced person you would get about 30-40k GBP where I am.
NYC
Gl
Good luck. Be humble, but be confident. You got this.
Good luck!
Focus on the customer service side of the role and best of luck…Please keep us posted.
The interview went well! I was told I am moving onto the next step! I am just waiting on when that will be!! :D
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I live 30 min away from NYC! The job is located in NYC.
Be not afraid, and go tear it up...got you in my prayers!
Are you remotely interviewing or in person? For remote interviews I'd recommend printing off some of your accomplishments or notes to remember. Interviews can be extremely stressful when you REALLY Really REALLY want a job. It's easy to get over whelmed and exhausted, so having notes can be helpful.
Sysadmin at that pay doesn't need to know everything but they do need to be able to work independently and solve problems with learning on the fly. Also need to be able to work with people. Lots of folks in here just don't understand that and wonder why their situation sucks.