Just got a new job doing sysadmin (adjacent) things. Is this a good stepping stone?
Posted by Resident-Olive-5775@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 4 comments
Background: I have a few years of Helpdesk under my belt (Lvl 1 + 2, plus some light networking (3 years)) and recently got offered a job as a M365 Specialist. They need someone to help migrate from another cloud service over to Azure, as well as migrate a lot of on-prem stuff to Azure too. They’ll give me all the normal permissions for managing and editing information, groups, policies, etc. within Azure as well as creating documentation for the Helpdesk guys while also being a go-between for them (Helpdesk) and the back-end engineers. They also have an InTune project they’ll be implementing soon and plan on having me work on that as well. How much actual sysadmin experience do you think I could get in this role, and is it a decent stepping stone for me to come out of Helpdesk/Desktop Support? Also, any suggestions for resources to help sharpen my skillset while in this role? (For clarity I did not have permissions to edit anything in Azure as far as groups or policies due to that being another departments responsibility.)
kammerfruen@reddit
Sounds absolutely fantastic - the best of luck to you!
alphabetapolothology@reddit
This is a step out of help desk. In migrations you're going to learn the inner workings of those platforms. You're going to get the keys to more things. That's how it should be as you gain experience in the field.
I did my time in migrations and policy config, it can be hard work, and now I don't do them at all. But having that knowledge has been a good resource for myself and my teams.
Resident-Olive-5775@reddit (OP)
I should’ve also mentioned that I plan on getting a few basic certs while I’m here. AZ-900, AZ-104, CCST and maybe CCNA. You think that combination will be enough to get me a fully fledge sys admin role? Ultimate goal is to be either a cloud admin/engineer or network engineer.
alphabetapolothology@reddit
As a network engineer, if I'm evaluating someone that is wanting to break into the field, I'll take a strong look if there's a CCNA. I'm sure it's the same way in cloud certs. Pick one and you'll have it by the end of the year. Your company would probably pay for online training to get you your AZ certs, perhaps even pay for the exams since that seems to align with your role.