Situation I am currently in as a Sysadmin with 10+ years experience.
Posted by SpecialistTeach9302@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 65 comments
Hello all,
I am in the upper midwest, been at this company for about 6 years now. Have 10 years overall experience in the IT world.
I am currently making $78k a year, working for a company with about 50 people. I am the sole IT person managining EVERYTHING and also providing user support.
We have a local MBS who manages our 365 licenses and assists with large upgrades or other issues we run across, which is not often but, they are great.
My job is super comfy but I am wondering if I am stagnant here, or if this is normal?
My days are slow, at times rarely there will be fire drills or times where I am super busy, but not often.
Anyone else part of a small team or even the sole IT person for their company and how do you like it?
My goal is to officially pursue a more IT Manager/Director role, although I practically already am here at current role, although I don't have anyone who reports to me or anything as I am the only IT person.
ilikecomputerslel@reddit
I feel like you misunderstand what IT Manager / Director means. You keep thinking those jobs are easy like yours, but “just” managing other people. It is a hell of lot easier to get a system to do something right, than trying to motivate an employee to get that system to do something. Even if you no longer have that 50 tasks to complete for a project, managing all projects, vision and all that is much harder with much less constant dopamine hits from tiny wins.
Also, this all depends on you. I had a job just like this, and to me it was great for a while, but after a year i was like Fuck scrolling on Reddit and watching youtube all day. My brain was rotting. I was much happier taking on more challenging work.
wild-hectare@reddit
I'll never understand people that chase titles instead of learning new skills
invest in yourself if you plan to continue in IT...the titles will come with time, experience and exposure. after nearly 40 years I'm happy to just be a "Sr. Analyst" in Fortune 100 clearing $250k with base & bonus...not counting my options
Roland_Bodel_the_2nd@reddit
as a baby step, try to work through some free cloud admin courses, e.g. the free GCP trainings from Google
No_Promotion451@reddit
There's tonnes of ppl working in more stressful environments yet make way less.
CountGeoffrey@reddit
yes you are stagnant and yes it's normal. you serve 50 people. you've been there 6 years. i'm not sure what you expect it to be like.
if your goal is to be IT Director, you need to find a new job. should be obvious.
Velo_Dinosir@reddit
What I’ve done is learn to specialize and use my downtime as a testbed for the things I want to be better at, or seen as an expert in.
In a similar position as you, but at an MSP. My days are not dull or quiet and there is rarely a moment I am not doing something- BUT that’s because I want it to be that way. I have two major clients I manage. A ~130 user non-profit and a 650+ user org that is vastly outgrowing what an MSP our size can provide realistically. They’re the kind of org I could see having a headcount in the 10k+ count in 10 years.
I use the smaller org to test and learn things to use at the other client. For instance the volunteer department transitioned to a new scheduling software that didn’t have some basic functionality (the ability to automatically create volunteers and schedule them for those shifts). So In order to tackle that problem I created an azure logic app to make a series of API calls to emulate that function with a CSV from SharePoint.
What I learned there I turned into a custom application to do network monitoring based on ARP tables and DHCP leases for the larger org using that same logic of azure logic apps, power automate, and some handy powershell scripting.
This eventually lead to other opportunities that I’m still learning from, using those two clients as the Guinea pigs for learning various skills to deploy elsewhere.
At the end of the day, I’m out looking for ways to make mountains out of molehills so I can learn to tackle actual mountains and that has been serving me pretty well.
MFAKilledTheRadioStr@reddit
I'm assuming you're rural, which means limited growth/pay but great job security.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
not neccisarily, I am outside of Chicago but yes the company is small with just about 50 people.
Its great, but I am confused if work is meant to be this dull and boring, and quiet.
jsand2@reddit
This means you are likely doing your job properly. You are likely more preventative than reactive which is why your days can be dull and boring.
New-Department8406@reddit
Are you my alt account? I'm very close to that salary, right outside Chicago, with 52 people. Same situation. We also have an MSP for major upgrades and for our ERP (you can't pay me enough to touch that). Dull, boring, and quiet is how I stumbled across this.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
The hell lol such similarities.
Are you the only IT guy in your company and also what is your goal ahead and how much experience do you have if I may ask?
I’m getting tired of the technical aspect of things and dealing with user and support, but I’d much rather deal with overlooking a team and making sure my team has what they need to do good and that whole 9 yards.
IT manager/Director you get the comfy chair in the high salary without having to deal with all the technical day-to-day chaos in my opinion
GhostNode@reddit
Flip side. Im probably in your city (cheese, beer, and baseball?) in the MSP space and make a little over 2x your salary, but work 10 hour days, nights, weekends, am on call, and am the end all responsible for literally fucking anything. The money is good, but I’d kill to take a vacation and let an outside firm handle anything that comes up.
If you want a challenge or to learn and grow, look for jobs. If you’re older, and work is work, keep the job, maintain your peace and sanity, and find fulfillment in live through other avenues.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
how much of a paycut would you take if you were mainly able to browse reddit and twitter most of the time? lol
GhostNode@reddit
Riiiight about where you’re at 😉. Have you thought about asking your employer for training materials or to cover certification costs? If they’ll throw down the $400/year for PluralSight and reimburse you for certs, maybe hang back a bit longer and use some of the downtime to study and lab to scratch that ambition itch?
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
they would cover any certs i get easily, any certs you advise i look into with all this AI and stuff taking over?
GhostNode@reddit
AZ-900 is a great place to start. It’s informative, and will be a good foothold for anything MS cloud based, which I don’t see going away any time soon (changing every week *ShakesFistAtMicrosoft, but not going away).
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
question, not sure what your actual position is, and perhaps this is a lazy way of me looking at things, but my goal would be to go into a IT Manager or IT Director role, as I dont want to have to deal with the nuts and bolts and would rather deal with the politics and stuff. Any input on that?
GhostNode@reddit
If you got into the field because you like tech and you like problem solving, I’d pursue larger standing or engineering instead. Moving into a Director / CIO role will shift most of your day to managing people (think, weekly one on ones to discuss how they’re feeling about their jobs, and about life, and babysitting their workload and monitoring developmental progress, etc) and budgeting and vendor management. For some people, it’s great, but in my own experience, management is often seen as the next rung up on the ladder, but a lot of people with technical drive and mindsets dont love the management roles. A job as a team lead or escalation point can help offer some of the leadership aspects while maintaining technical day to day, though, if teaching and helping people grow does motivate you.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
Honestly, I’d prefer that management type role. I think it pays the big bucks and at the same time as you mentioned, you’re just dealing with the bureaucracy of the workplace and making sure things get done.
Cheomesh@reddit
That's not great wages for outside Chicago is it? I was making more than that in a rural community a few years back as the only guy for a team of 50-ish (though mostly a dozen-ish on-site).
New-Department8406@reddit
I'm slightly above that salary just outside Chicago. Last year it was the same. My official title is "IT Manager" which might be good for resume? But, it's glorified support with the same number of users and a handful of servers.
MFAKilledTheRadioStr@reddit
If everything's working fine and things are quiet, I wouldn't worry. There are many jobs like yours that lack action. Some people like this, while others don't.
If I'm remote, I enjoy things being quiet since I can work on other things while being available for emergencies/calls. But if I'm in the office, I want things to do so I don't get bored.
InverseFundamentals@reddit
These are the good times. Enjoy it. And live within your means. Quiet, you can't buy that.
HerfDog58@reddit
You could utilize your "free" time in a multitude of ways to improve your skill set:
Make sure you know your systems inside and out, so that when the boss comes to you and says "Nothing ever breaks, what do I pay you for?" your response will be "Knowing how everything works together so well that I can make sure nothing will break."
I've got a job kind of like that - I'm not a single admin for a whole company, but I can go a couple days without people requesting assistance from me. I try to use that time to learn new applications and technology that we're moving toward, or to brush up on the stuff we have in place, and digging into things I need to be better at.
Intelligent-Pause260@reddit
$78K for this role is not a salary you should be happy with, so yes, you are stagnant. Unfortunately the market is trash, the time to hop was 3 years ago.
CaleDestroys@reddit
Do differences in the cost of living play a factor? Upper Midwest outside of Chicago isn’t known as being expensive.
rosseloh@reddit
They always do. I get $70k. I'm much more rural than "outside of Chicago". I'm also comfortable (though less and less every year, with the way the economy is going).
Would I like to be making six figures, yeah, absolutely. Is that possible without moving? Well, back when the remote boom was happening, maybe...perhaps not so much anymore. But I also like where I'm at now.
SemicolonMIA@reddit
Hello friend!
You sound in a similar spot as myself, but slightly smaller scale.
I too am about 10 years into IT. I am also solely responsible for my work places IT with the CTO above me. I also work in the Chicago area. We also have a MSP helping occasionally. However the differences are I am supporting around 120 users at 2 sites and our MSP is terrible, other than them hosting some on prem infrastructure. We are eventually moving away from them.
I would recommend trying to peel some responsibility away from your MSP. Especially some of the project work, or at least get involved in it. If you could bring the cost your workplace pays the MSP down, you could easily justify a raise. 10 years in at 70k is somewhat low imo, you could be doing a lot better.
I also recommend that if you do not already, to advocate for yourself. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. I have been told by superiors they are impressed by my ability to advocate for myself and in turn I have received promotions and salary bumps. This also depends on how your relationship is with senior management and you absolutely have to phrase what you are saying carefully.
If advocating goes no where, and you are unable to up your responsibilities, I would consider looking around. Jumping ship usually gets you a much larger raise from my experience.
Lastly, if you want that manager or director title, go non profit. I currently hold a Director title and have also held a manager title at a different non profit. They throw titles around like crazy.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
can you dive into advocating for yourself a bit more?
SemicolonMIA@reddit
Sure, so where I work I have 1 on 1s with a few higher ups. In these I speak about what I am working on, my challenges, anything overwhelming, and plans going forward.
These meetings usually go in a way where I paint a clear picture of what is improving and why. Most of the time they are impressed. I also call out things that are not working or I think we could do better. This keeps things transparent.
I also keep a "brag sheet" where I just write out bigger items I have accomplished so when reviews come, I can directly point to improvements and changes I made that align with my goals for the year. Especially note anything outside your job description.
Its kinda hard to explain I guess. I never tell them "I want more money" or give them an ultimatum, I just have real conversations that speak on my work which eventually result in title changes or raises.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
nice, question, are yu typically busy all day or do you have lots of downtime at your job?
SemicolonMIA@reddit
I am very busy. Mainly with project work though, support is pretty easy with this group. This place needed to be brought into the 21st century when I got here haha. Lots of overdue work.
man__i__love__frogs@reddit
That sounds low. I live in rural Canada and our helpdesk approaches that salary though it is in CAD, not USD. But also we don't have to pay for insurance, copays, etc... here.
I also would not enjoy working as a sole admin unless they were big spenders for me to rely on a MSP for advice in fields a generalist can't possible be an expert in...most likely that'd be cybersecurity/soc/compliance/auditing.
And in general for software and things like that I'd be leaning into professional services from vendors.
If you don't get those things then I'd bounce.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
yeah the MSP does great for the "big boy stuff" like server upgrades and complex network/security stuff, although that is rare, but again they are always available and great to work with.
I think the best thing I can do is start pitching ideas and putting myself out there, which would have the pay raises and what not follow.
eman0821@reddit
I would stay where you are at now or look for another small company of similar size. Its a bit risky In this job market, because you are taking gamble with protentially getting laid off if you move to a larger company as larger companies continue to make cuts. Always research and be on the look out on WARN.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
yeah thats my gut as well, i am comfy here where I know they need me and the pay isn't bad, although I wish it were more, but at the same time I feel like there isnt a whole lot to do, but I feel like that is things are as IT Manager/Director?
Perhaps I need to start involving myself more here to pick up on new skills and tactics.
SpadeGrenade@reddit
Here's a serious question. Do you make enough money to support your lifestyle? If no, then you need to upskill.
If yes, then ask yourself if you want to inundate yourself with more work or coast along the easy path and leave work at the office.
If yes, then start working on upskilling, certifications, and learning IT Management.
If no, then take a breath and relax and enjoy what you have. Feel free to get certified, at your leisure, in different systems you touch. Or don't. Who cares?!
Niq22@reddit
Bingo. You're a little bored. You want more pay, but your company also hires an MSP to help with big projects. IMO, time to fill the knowledge gap where the MSP comes in. That way your company can let the MSP go, and you can negotiate a pay raise
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
its not that my company relies on them, even I do but we barely need them as it is. So they are not a roadblock in anyway.
And at the same time, maybe it is my ignorance, but there isnt a whole lot I can think of when it comes to "big projects" needing to get done.
Yes you have the security vulnerabilities you check on and stuff like that, replacing older hardware, but maybe that is how it is supposed to be and I am just complaining for no reason?
eman0821@reddit
Yeah just start getting more involved. Don't ruin your career switching to a larger company right now. The job market is bad right now. Smaller companies are much better to in this market for survival and you have more visibility and recognition. At large F500 companies, recognition gets lost because you are just a number to the CEO.
jcwrks@reddit
No need to jump ship just yet as the grass isn't always greener. When was your last pay increase,, and what was the %? Do a salary comp with other businesses in a 50 mi radius and see how you fare.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
i get yearly bumps but thats peanuts, my last noticeable increase was like 3 years ago. I started her at like 63k and am at 78k now.
RAMSxAI@reddit
I have lived both sides of it, largely depends on the industry and the SysAdmins that came prior.
Personally I would prefer to work for a clean working environment, maintaining it and making my own work, than working thankless hours trying to get to a clean working environment but never getting there. Yes you get a lot of experience but for what the next job?
If you are comfortable no harm in searching elsewhere but interview them as much as they interview you. Who knows if the company you work for now expands, demand increases.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
yes this is what I am leaning towards, if the company grows alot in the future, and I have been the IT guy, that would defacto make me the IT Manager/Director if we expand to an extend where we need more people.
a1155997@reddit
man lucky... if it were me. and was slow... I would upskill upskill upskill... Plenty of money to be made in Azure or DevOps type roles and plenty of those jobs out there
Master-IT-All@reddit
This is another thing I like about MSP life, I'm not upskilling, I'm learning technology that is actually being asked to implement. So I'm not guessing that a CCNA might help (it wouldn't in my case), I train up for a project. So if they are implementing a serverless 365 setup I'm going to focus on that for training (not so much now, but back in 2013-15 when I was learning)
It does result in a mountains and valleys education. I have mountains of information on M365 and a lot on Azure IaaS. But I've never setup Azure App services that wasn't at the direction of a vendor so I wouldn't be able to help anyone with that tech. But damn I can deep dive on SMTP.
INSPECTOR99@reddit
Very much that "upskill upskill upskill.." FIRST document everything, SIMPLE but descriptive. Then LEARN about Automating stuff from simple scripting to Enterprise tracking & implementing updates. Dip your educational toes into NetSEC and apply some beginning touches to present network. LEARN, LEARN, LEARN. :-) It will be FUN and will self groom you for future-proofing your career.
Master-IT-All@reddit
This is one of the reasons I like staying in the MSP space. I may get tired of doing the same task for dozens of customers, but I will never gather dust. And there's almost always something new happening.
My experience with SMB has been that it can take a lot of work to get right and then once you've setup your network to survive on its own. You don't really have much to do.
Basically at an MSP focused on small business I'm managing six customer of the same size and dozens of smaller, a few larger. So no matter how much I get closer to a %100% awesome setup, there's always something breaking or needing to be upgraded/replaced, or a new customer to bring on board and fix.
I guess I have a really strong need mentally to always feel like I have something to do tomorrow. otherwise I get crazy worried about my job status. Do good work, rewarded with more work.
cyberman0@reddit
Seriously enjoy the calm, maybe see if the company has something that can be used for new skill certification.
Rouxls__Kaard@reddit
Heh I’m actually in a director position in IT looking for a job doing what you’re doing. I’d love that kind of gig.
FlickKnocker@reddit
How much security hardening/baselining are you doing? If you start digging into CIS Controls/NIST for hardening, that should keep you plenty busy.
What about on the identity side? Is your MBS (you mean MSP?) also managing 365 threats or are they just coasting along with add/move/changes?
Have you created a DR/continuity plan and are you actually testing it?
It's easy to slide into firehall mentality where you're sitting around waiting for somebody to bring up an issue, but that's not enough nowadays.
oddball667@reddit
I was in a similar situation, I had to go back to school to get a bachelors degree to move up
progenyofeniac@reddit
Sole IT for 50 people will be slow sometimes especially once you have a decent setup.
Use those times to improve things, organize things, learn new skills. Think of IT issues the business may face and plan to avoid or remedy them.
And it depends where you want to end up. Like others said, 78k isn’t great for outside Chicago. Start applying and see what’s out there. You don’t know if you don’t try.
MidgardDragon@reddit
Is 78k enough to live on and feel comfortable with all you plan to do in life? If so you are on a premium position, comfortable, cozy, can do what you want, make enough money. I wouldn't leave that until things (inevitably) change for the worse, personally.
Imhereforthechips@reddit
Buy goats.
Make big long walking stick.
During next recession or formula shortage, sell goats milk.
Prosper.
ImplodingDreams@reddit
Comfort is nice but long term it kinda dulls you. When one person does everything, it gets harder to prove yourself outside. Getting into something that challenges you once in a while might actually help.
sixblazingshotguns@reddit
There's not really a reason to pursue the role you're speaking of unless you are management material. It sounds like a good job. Stay at it.
Fuzzy_Paul@reddit
Take the time to educate and as i see it your betting on microsoft. Take a deep dive ai agents or powershell so you can automate stuff to the fullest. Goto Microsoft and tech events snif up the good stuff. Firewalling networking and security are hot items and as you have spare time look into those for the bennefit of your work. When loaded with those qualityies you might give managing a go. Cause as manager you need to be on specs on a variety of toppics. If you already have those in your pocket then try to lower the overall costs for all outsourced work. Maybe even insource some and automate it. When i was doing it my strength was to help automate repeating jobs. Now as IT manager i am glad to have a vast knowledge and that helps me with all external contracts to get the most out of it whilst saving on the costs.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
do you mind sharing some things you have automated for your workplace?
ninjaluvr@reddit
So manager and director are traditionally two very different positions with very different skill sets. Managers simply manage individual contributors and are responsible for the current successful operation of the company. Directors manage managers. And they bridge the gap between managers and executives.
Since you say things can be slow at time, have you displayed leadership and initiative? Do you have defined SLAs for all of your services and do you have monitoring in place that is tracking compliance with those SLAs? Do you have RTO/RPO defined for your core services and do you regularly test your recovery procedures? Do you conduct quarterly tabletops with stakeholders and your MBS? Are you tracking vulnerabilities and can you produce reports that highlight your risk and exposure? Have you created roadmaps for each of your core services? Do you have a tech dept management policy in place?
tensorfish@reddit
Comfy is fine. Stagnant usually starts when you still own everything from password resets to vendors, but none of it exists as roadmap, budget, risk, or project language on paper. Use the quiet days to formalise that stuff and push for the title change, because manager/director interviews care a lot more about those artefacts than
I kept the lights on solo.SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
true, the thing is, although i am the sole IT guy, there isnt anything about budgets or IT meetings or follow ups here, its on an as-needed basis.
LibtardsAreFunny@reddit
Enjoy the calm it won't always be that way. Learn, plan, prepare in the down times.
Substantial_Crazy499@reddit
It’s a great position to be in - the work experience is directly relevant to a future manager/director type role vs something like a technical individual contributor. Maybe ask them for a position title change so you can get that title formally on your resume. Use the downtime to study people management/project management skills and certs.
SpecialistTeach9302@reddit (OP)
thanks for the quick response.
Mind sharing what your situation is?
I don't mind be apart of a smaller company, heck, its probably better since there arent tons of other people that need to be dealt with, my duties are only IT, I guess I am questioning whether the downtime I have, which is alot, is normal? I am on Twitter (X) and Reddit practically all day long, minus a call or two or situation I need to patch or help a user.
Obviously, I would like to be paid more as I feel like I should be in the realm of close to or above 6 figures at this point.