Helpdesk right now — Manager told me I could become a SysAdmin, but I do not know if I should believe it

Posted by ImainKled@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 43 comments

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working at my company for about a year now, doing Level 1 and Level 2 helpdesk support.

I’m not sure whether I should stay and wait for an opportunity to move into a SysAdmin role. My manager has mentioned that it could happen, but honestly, I sometimes feel like he says that to everyone.

The good part is that my team likes me and trusts me. I’m basically the go-to guy for Ivanti and imaging/master deployment, and I know Lenovo hardware pretty well. I’ve also created a lot of PowerShell automations to help the team, so I know I’m bringing real value.

The problem is that I do not have a strong academic background. One of the newer guys told me the company would probably prioritize someone with higher qualifications over someone without a degree. Right now, I only have the Cisco Networking Basics certification, which is pretty small compared to a CCNA or CCNP.

Another issue is salary. I’ve been on €27k for the past year, which feels low. Some friends of mine with similar experience are already making around €34k at other companies.

So my question is: should I stay and wait for an internal opportunity, or should I leave?

I know one guy who moved from helpdesk to admin after 3 years because a system administrator left the company, but I really do not want to wait 3 years for that kind of move. I feel like 2 years would already be a fair amount of time, depending on the company.

I also have plans to leave Europe in the future, so I need to make money faster. That is another reason why I feel like this company may not be the best place for me long term.

I even asked the big boss about moving toward sysadmin when I had only been there for 5 months. I told him I did not want to stay stuck forever in the same position and wanted to grow. He basically said that since I had joined recently, they would prioritize people who had been in the company longer.

So right now I feel stuck, and I’m already looking for other opportunities.

What would you do in my position?

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Content-Local7704@reddit

I suggest you study up with all your downtime at the help desk. I was one of those trusted help desk employees years ago and moved my way up through multiple positions finally landing a network engineer/sys admin role. The work load 10x'd and is 1000x more frustrating. Luckily my work pays for stormwind and I was able to take courses while on the job. If you aren't experienced in a sysadmin role and you take the position it's possible you'll hate your life if you're not able to "catch up" while on the job.

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Sunsparc@reddit

I was making $45k as level II Desktop Technician about 6 years ago, so the fact that you're making a little over half that is shocking. Even then I was technically being underpaid compared to market.

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

Yeah bro, but I guess it depends on the country you live in.

By the way, the sysadmin here with us earns 41k, and he’s been an admin for 3 years. He started on the helpdesk in the same company at 24k.

So basically, he went from 24k as a helpdesk technician to 41k as an admin in the same company.

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Sunsparc@reddit

Yeah I've heard that UK and European counterparts get paid less.

As the senior, I'm making over double what your Sysadmin is. Started at Desktop I, went to II, then III, then Sysadmin I, and now II.

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Soundy106@reddit

Why settle for sysadmin when you could become a BOFH?

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aitaix@reddit

Bastard Operator from Hell?

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Soundy106@reddit

I was thinking of the original... but yes.

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Kwinza@reddit

In my experience the difference between sysadmin and help desk is the pay. The role itself was nearly identical across multiple businesses.

That said, help desk is really the entry level of the entry level. With your Cisco cert you should have no issues moving into at least junior sysadmin roles.

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i8noodles@reddit

i disagree. in my persona experience sys admin and help desk is different enough i would consider it a different role. this is mostly because I worked in larger companies that can afford distinct roles and teams. the smaller it is the more muddy it becomes so i can see a company that has less then 2k employees have them do similar things

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

I think it depends of the company, for example in mine, we dont have access to Azure Admin Portal while the admins got access to it.

But ye, helpdesk is really the lowest job in the IT. I'm planning to move out asap !

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toilet-breath@reddit

Do they not have Gdap in place for azure roles? Read into that and suggest that

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BadSausageFactory@reddit

I've been a system admin and a lot of other things since the mid 90s. I'm currently sort of the sysadmin helpdesk security facilities IT analyst, plus I recently got put in charge of AI something. My advice is don't worry about titles, worry about what you're being paid versus what you know how to do. That's the only thing that matters in this industry. It sure isn't titles.

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Lucky__Flamingo@reddit

You can apply for a sysadmin position when one comes open. I've hired off the help desk in the past, but that only works if there's an opening.

You may have to look externally.

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Master-IT-All@reddit

You have 1 year of experience, you're 4 years short of the minimum requirement to be considered for a Level 2 System Administrator role at a larger business. I wouldn't consider someone as ready for Level 3 until they were at least 35 years old (or married with children) and had 7 years of experience.

So yes, after four years you'll be eligible to be promoted to one of those roles. So the truth is that yes, you could be a system administrator. But also, you could be the next president of France. You shouldn't hold your breath for either unless you're exceptional beyond your experience.

Small business, medium business, the help desk and sys admin are one and the same, so it's really just whether they're paying you to have full stack knowledge or not.

- Your pay is fine for the role you are in. You're paid for the role you're hired for, not for the potential of what you can do.

- It's true about IT, you have to move to get promotions and large salary

- Now that you're got a year at least, get your applications out there!!! Your best bet for a big jump is going to be more stressful 1-person IT for SMB

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StarSlayerX@reddit

You are a legal nightmare...
1) It is illegal to discriminate based on age
2) It is illegal to discriminate based on marriage and/or children

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Master-IT-All@reddit

I'm not doing the hiring, just the advising. You want to get ahead, you have to look like someone that is getting ahead.

It's perfectly fine to discriminate based on experience. None of which the OP has.

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

So if I listen to you, I will be 40 before I ever get a real career, lmao.

So your point is that I have to stay in a company and in a job that pays me like a pakistan refugee cleaning bathrooms for minimum wage in a European country, and I have to wait until I get married and have kids to make a decent amount of money? I already have all of that, by the way.

That is not going to happen, bro. Sorry. But thanks for commenting :D

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Master-IT-All@reddit

You're reading comprehension is terrible. You actually seem to have read maybe the first sentence, then jumped to to the speed of stupidity.

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MedicatedDeveloper@reddit

You're correct in ascertaining that the person you're replying to is an idiot.

You do need more experience but you can find that while moving to a new, better paying, job.

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MedicatedDeveloper@reddit

In most developed countries it's illegal to use someone's age, martial status, or family status as a determining factor when hiring.

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Drakoolya@reddit

Sysadmin after a year? Sorry not going to happen unless you are exceptional, you can chase the title elsewhere if you are desperate enough and hope someone takes a chance on you. The other side of the story also is bosses don't promote so quickly because they know people go hunting elsewhere for a better paying job with a newer title. They usually wait for a minimum of 2 years.

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manilove__frogs@reddit

Don't stay.

Companies either have a culture of honouring their word and giving internal promotions (has this happened to other people? Does it happen on a regular basis?) or they string people along and take advantage of them.

Move to a new job using the experience you've now gained. Repeat again if you have to, only stay when you find one of those companies.

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0XPYTHONIC@reddit

27k is very low. You should try to apply for a sysadmin role in a different company, if you already have 5 years experience. With no education the only thing left is experience.

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

I have 1 year of experience. I was thinking about doing 1 year in another company and then going to a new sysadmin job.

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SalzigHund@reddit

While you’re underpaid, there are extremely few IT people I’ve met that are capable of being called a sysadmin with 2 years of experience, or even 3 years.

I’d definitely try to find a job with better pay, but expecting a sysadmin role within the next year is probably entitlement or not understanding the difference between a sysadmin and a help desk role.

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SystemGardener@reddit

This is good advice, very very few people become true qualified sys admins within 3 years.

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TerrorToadx@reddit

We don’t know where he lives. Throwing out salaries without including the country is so fucking pointless.

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

I’m from France and based in Paris, which is one of the best cities for higher salaries. The salary for a junior helpdesk role is usually between €22k and €27k.

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poizone68@reddit

There are many decent, honest and reliable people out there who are managers. However, the thing to bear in mind is that any offer or promise you don't have in writing cannot be taken for granted, and that your immediate manager is often not the one who can deliver on promises made in any case.
What you would need to get from your manager is a sense of the following:
- What's stopping me from getting that opportunity to move into a new role?
- If it's qualifications or know-how, when could I move to the new role after demonstrating my skills?
- If it's because they already have people in those roles, are they looking to expand and if so, when?

If you don't get encouraging answers to the above, it might be time to move on. Just know that moving to the same position in another company is usually not the issue, but trying to join another company at a more senior level can be quite hard to negotiate.

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yumdumpster@reddit

Where are you located in Europe? 27K is less than I would expect to hire even a Junior with basically 0 experience at, but obviously every country has different pay scales for Juniors. I am looking to hire a junior in Germany and I would expect we are probably going to start around 40 minimum, but I still need to have a conversation with HR on that.

The industry tends to reward experience over academic qualification. Certifications are good for getting your foot in the door and supplementing a lack of experience, so I would say get as many as you can reasonably afford.

I would also encourage you to get as much hands on experience as possible with as many varying systems as possible. The current market we are in seems to want Sysadmins that can do everything and maybe have one area where they have a pretty solid foundation in.

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

I’m from France, bro.

From what I’ve heard, that salary is based on a junior helpdesk position.

One guy I know started at €24k in my company , and he already had a degree. The funny thing is that a new guy who joined about five months ago started at around €30k, even though he had no experience and only three years of studies plus a degree.

Meanwhile, another guy who has the same degree has been here for about two years and is only at €28k right now. Even my manager was shocked when he heard the new guy’s salary, considering he had zero experience.

I honestly don’t know how they decide these things.

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riazzzz@reddit

How they decide thesr things? Usually it's as simple as pay the minimum they can get away with to get the candidate they want.

Most likely the better paid employees negotiated harder to and more leverage during initial employment negotiations. It can be exceptionally hard or sometimes impossible to get fair salaries after the fact in some orgs as they withhold it until absolutely necessary (by which time you probably have an alternative offer on the table).

My advice is, job hunt, look for better paid alternatives, apply for senior help desk or sysadmin roles, or even very well paying junior roles. Don't settle down too long in any one place until you have stopped your "growth spurt" and your salary matches or exceeds your peers if you feel you are bringing more value than them.

Also: * Run a home lab * Take on projects to improve areas you can't get hands on in your current position * Build a small home lab with a virtualization layer (eg hyper v) * Build out vm's to learn stuff * Build a new windows domain controller and domain * Add a windows DHCP server * Add a file and print server * Add a monitoring system ( e.g. one of nagios, Zabbix, Prometheus, Icinga, and Checkmk ) * Build out technologies you see in the job markets where possible.

Make sure you have solid understanding of some old school tech such as: * IP address and subnetting * Layer 2 and layer 3 network and routing concepts * Vlans * Learn some basic around storage principles, iSCSI (generally windows) or NFS (generally Linux), at least get as far as provisioning storage over I e of these toa client and understanding how it gets mounted on boot etc.

The lists go on, but there is a near endless list of tech and skills going back 20 years which can still be relevant today and often will be expected to be understood for sysadmin roles, slowly expand your knowledge pool while finding new employers and challenges (along with overdue pay jumps) every year or two until you reach a level you are happy with (technologically, salary or both).

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Mysterious-Print9737@reddit

You've already outgrown the standard help desk ticket if you're writing PowerShell automations and managing master deployments. Internal promotions tend to stall because it's easier for a manager to keep a high performer exactly where they are. Don't let not having a degree hold you back, a documented list of your automations and a Github repo can carry more weight than a diploma, and I agree with the others, it's time to find a place that will give you what you've earned.

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

Thanks for your response, buddy. Do you think I should get some certifications that could help me land a better job or earn a higher salary? Right now, I’m thinking about AZ-900 and other Azure certifications.

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Mysterious-Print9737@reddit

That's a good one, so is AZ-104 if you wanna skip the line to admin because it shows you can manage a tenant and justifies a salary jump.

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denmicent@reddit

Unless there is an open position, your boss is basically telling you “maybe you could be a systems admin one day champ!”.

Apply elsewhere. If an opening comes up internally, apply to that too. If you get it and want to stay, no harm done.

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leboweyn@reddit

They'll tell you whatever you want to hear to keep you in your current role for as long as they can. It's cheaper for them to string you along than it is to backfill your role.

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

It’s crazy how manipulative they are, lol. They make you do a lot of work, underpay you, and keep you hoping you’ll move up.

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diskun83@reddit

Go for It. It's the Next step to evolve and grow your professional career

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ImainKled@reddit (OP)

That's what i'm planning to do but they are really viscious to let me believe i could become sysadmin to keep me longer in that company lol

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