Help desk vs Sysadmin

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SnakeySnek7@reddit

How long have you been at this job? Are you in Wisconsin?

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Trust_8067@reddit

That's pretty normal working at a mom and pop shop.

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Designer_Airport8658@reddit

Jr sysadmin = T1 helpdesk. MSP’s use the two terms interchangeably, but they don’t technically mean the same thing.

Perfect example: I am, by definition, a sysadmin. But, because my workplace needed to sell me with something unique, they call my position “network engineer” even though I am not an engineer and don’t do any networking.

Welcome to IT!

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hihcadore@reddit

Def not true. A jr sysadmin isn’t taking initial response / triage calls like T1

They’re more like a T2+

Just mature enough to be trusted with things that can affect 100s of users (like altering a GPO or config profile) but not at the point they can design or be trusted to head their own project. So they float between taking tier 2 type tickets and doing project work.

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MayBallsBeWithYou@reddit

Last week I told Nancy to turn on monitor and troubleshooted ARP drops on dev server in same day. Where'd I fit.

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chron67@reddit

Last week I told Nancy to turn on monitor and troubleshooted ARP drops on dev server in same day. Where'd I fit.

I'm currently working on a project to bring about 2200 endpoints into intune MDM and I spent an hour this morning with a lady in HR that insisted that displayport cables have always been able to plug into USB ports despite them physically not fitting.

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timbotheny26@reddit

How big of a company do you work for? If it's small enough, then unfortunately that's just to be expected from what I've heard/read.

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hihcadore@reddit

Hahaha I’ve had to figure out how to tell someone nicely either a) their monitor wasn’t on or b) they can’t connect to the wifi while their laptop is on airplane mode and ethernet cable is unplugged so many times.

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ElectionElectrical11@reddit

God i feel this on a spiritual level.

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NSFW_IT_Account@reddit

At an MSP that position could mean: Helpdesk, Server admin, Network admin, Consultant, Account Manager, and more. Most days I don't know what to call myself.

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b3b0p831@reddit (OP)

Thanks for the replies everyone, definitely helps put things into perspective. While I don’t mind helping users, the constant help desk grind makes it hard to dive deep into other projects with all the context switching. Any advice on managing this?

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Jeff-J777@reddit

I try and get all the low hanging stuff that is on my plate done and then spend time focusing on my big ticket items. It is something you will just have to adapt to, issues always come up, I try to take care of everything else this way I have nothing waiting while I work on my stuff. If I have some super critical items I might work from home for a day to two.

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Jeff-J777@reddit

It is common in small teams. We are a team of 3 for 260 users. I still do the low level work. Just the other day I was crawling under a desk to replace a bad UPS.

I do it all from programming our firewalls, configuring our network, so much M365, down to replacing keyboards and mice.

In small places you are always helpdesk in some way.

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Rawme9@reddit

If it's a small company you will always be doing some help desk work, from the lowest IT hire to the CTO.

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Wynter_born@reddit

I have a friend who is a technical senior VP at a Very Large media company. Asked him this once, and he was like "Yeah bro, I had a C-level come to me after a meeting to set up his new iPhone. It Never ends."

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jlharper@reddit

I am a middle manager (IT) these days to be entirely honest, and I still spent my morning today helping the helpdesk. I wouldn't normally get directly involved but I do manage the helpdesk as part of my duties and we just moved to a new building this week.

I was shifting stock, helping walkups and doing all the fun stuff I used to do on the helpdesk. It's pretty all hands on deck right now until everything is set up.

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DimensionSuitable919@reddit

In a small shop, your job title is basically just a suggestion. One hour you're mapping out the security infrastructure, and the next you're resetting a password because there simply isn't anyone else to do it. It keeps you humble, but man, it's exhausting.

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arvidsem@reddit

This. OP is in a team of 5. You can't possibly cover everything at that size unless everyone wears multiple hats.

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MyWifesBoyfriend_@reddit

Jr sysadmin is helpdesk with more responsibilities.

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Stonewalled9999@reddit

Senior engineer here. Still patching up PCs remotely because desktop team would rather I spend an hour on it then them taking 15 minutes to check before deploying a PC

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Happy_Kale888@reddit

Almost like everyone has the incentive to get the tickets ourt of there queue and no one cares about solving / preventing it.

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Stonewalled9999@reddit

Exactly. They get credit for 100 tickets a week (password resets) but I do 10-12 that can involve days babsitting the NOC and hours on customer and vendor calls but "stone doesn't do much"

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DimensionSuitable919@reddit

This hits too close to home. The desktop support team gets to hit resolve and close their day, while the senior engineers inherit the technical debt and spend 4 hours in a vendor escalation call. It’s wild how ticket count still rules the world over ticket complexity.

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Kramatas@reddit

In this position rn how are you guys trying to prevent it / get the recognition for the complexity if you can’t put it down in number or metrics ? 🥲

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mrtuna@reddit

Jr sysadmin is helpdesk with more responsibilities. But there's no difference.

i woudln't expcet the 'jr sysadmin' to be answering the phone

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MyWifesBoyfriend_@reddit

Doesn't matter what role you are. If you're at the bottom of the totem pole on a 5 person team, you're T1 helpdesk lol. If your title says jr in it, I'm willing to bet you're at the bottom.

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mrtuna@reddit

If you're at the bottom of the totem pole on a 5 person team

they didnt say they were?

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Werekolache@reddit

Yup.

I've been a sysadmin for over a decade and I'm the primary helpdesk person at my small IT firm because *sigh* I'm good at explaining things at a really basic level and walking people through troubleshooting steps.

I don't mind doing it. I like helping people, and our client satisfaction ratings look great because I'm good at making people not feel stupid. I genuinely LIKE teaching people how to do things they need to do. But it gets no respect, the pay is comparatively sucky, and it is INFURIATING to have a client who I had to teach how to do simple things like changing her signature in Outlook and accessing their private cloud dismiss my rates as "It's just helpdesk."

I think helpdesk is a necessary skill along the way but for the love of god do waht you can to get the experience in other areas and move over.

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RandyCoreyLahey@reddit

what are the other job titles in the 5 and user base numbers? it's all about the % split of the lowest level tickets wherever you go but helpdesk is never 0 imo.

when ive started new 'sysadmin' jobs at smaller companies ive basically spent the first period putting things in place so that % of shity helpdesk tickets comes way down (in general) and the helpdesk are able to do as much of the low level stuff and a bit more without needing me involved but it takes a bit of time. might be documentation (it and user), might be catching trends of repeating annoying tickets and fixing those, might be workflows, might be visibility of work happening, might be some of the actual helpdesk need a slight kick up the arse in work ethic

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No_Promotion451@reddit

Get ready to wear multiple hats

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Sin2K@reddit

Being reluctant to help a user because it might hurt your career in IT is a good way to hurt your career in IT.

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404338@reddit

In small companies, everyone who works in tech usually does help desk roles too. I know some positions listed as a director often work the help desk since their organization is so small.

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Designer_Airport8658@reddit

This. Our VP doubles as a consultant, technician, and IT director. The man is unstoppable - we are convinced that he has whatever the Limitless drug was, because idk how he works like that.

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NotTodayGlowies@reddit

You are in ITOps.... that's exactly what IT Operations is. You would need to move to an engineering / architect role to get out of the ticket queue.... and even then you're trading one hell for another (tickets vs. Jira stories, Kanban, or Agile).

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Exalting_Peasant@reddit

Eh, tickets are a slightly worse hell thanks to end users

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awetsasquatch@reddit

Idk, been on both sides, the product managers make things awful on the jira board side. "Hey, I know you said we were working on this feature this sprint and it ends in 2 days, but I want you to drop it all for this other gimmicky feature I saw on tiktok. Made me want to scream. Left both and now I am much happier lol

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ferb@reddit

And if you moved to a specialized role, you can be both engineering and ops!

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BoltActionRifleman@reddit

Same region, same size team and been in this for over 20 years. Been doing some level of help desk the entire time. It’s just the way it is at a small org sometimes.

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AllergicToPecans@reddit

If you're in IT, you're always help desk.

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goatsinhats@reddit

Right now your role hasn’t changed from before, jr system admin is just a made up title.

Where this changes is in a reasonable amount of time you title changes again, and after that again. If you can show consistent progression in your career, and back that up with skill growth (ie certs) can do whatever you want.

As for if it’s helping or hurting, if your employed in IT your miles ahead of most, just don’t want to sit for 5 years on a help desk type role

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TerrificVixen5693@reddit

Dude, it’s all just help desk.

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weHaveThoughts@reddit

If in a team of 5 you are responsible for carrying anything heavy for the office staff, adjusting thermostats, unclogging toilets, calling plumbers, overseeing any contractors, dog sitting, entertaining g children, and of course help desk.

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AmiDeplorabilis@reddit

At a small company, you're gonna wear lots of hats, and help desk will be the most common.

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Jazzlike-Vacation230@reddit

I would say you're in the perfect spot to learn up much as you can. Jr. Sys Admin imo was the old monicker getting out of hte final tier 3 helpdesk role before being a full on sys admin

though things aren't as sectioned off as they used to be anymore

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itishowitisanditbad@reddit

before being a full on sys admin

Whoa whoa whoa.

Jr Sys Admin

Sr Jr Sysadmin

Sysadmin

Jr Sr Sysadmin

Sr Sysadmin

Obviously each has its own 1 through 5.

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hurkwurk@reddit

good friend of mine worked for an international car redistribution network. (back end for car dealerships and used car sales/lots etc) his title was "General Monkey in Charge of Everything".

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musiquededemain@reddit

Job titles are total bullshit in IT. Sysadmins of smaller companies wear more hats. Those in bigger companies can have more specialized roles. This is not uncommon. This is an entry level sysadmin role - you will be learning the basics of operations.

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bit0n@reddit

All our roles start sys- and a sysadmin is towards the bottom with sysengineer and sysarchitech being the higher levels. Even the architects have to get their hands dirty if the issue is complex enough.

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essxjay@reddit

Consider yourself lucky. Jr. sys is more like T2 with benefits. You'll learn a ton in a small place, which will be invaluable as you take on more responsibility. My mantra has always been, no learning goes wasted.

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ITAdministratorHB@reddit

I cover anything from T1-T3 in my 200 person company. We actually have a 4 person team so its not too crazy now.

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kiddj1@reddit

In my experience, depending on how bit the company is, sysadmin just means 3rd line support

Get it on the CV and use as much time to learn automation for your move into platform engineering in the future

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Secret_Account07@reddit

Yes, based on your orgs sizes it’s normal.

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PinaColadaSalad@reddit

Pretty much all titles in IT are just made up.

I didn't even know my title for several years until I got hired with the public sector

Otherwise I've been everything from IT technician to system administrator even though none of my job duties have ever changed

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Stonewalled9999@reddit

I am director of mushroomology here they keep me in the dark and feed me horse sh#t

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Quirky-Fun-9901@reddit

I worked at a privately held bank where I was VP of Network Services, but still filling my old role of Network Administrator where I had been doing Network Engineer work and still worked tickets at times due to volume or incompetence. I believe that was covered under the 10% other duties in my job description.

Most people who advertise these jobs either have no idea what they really are or purposely create more enticing position descriptions to lure people into jobs they might not take a look at otherwise. Smoke and mirrors.

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buds4hugs@reddit

I'm in a large enterprise organization as a Jr Network Admin. My hats are network, server, & system administration. Whatever our tech support team can't handle (level 1 & level 2), we take care of (level 3).

Job titles & definitions vary widely in IT and typically the smaller your org, the more condensed your responsibilities will likely be.

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signal_empath@reddit

For teams that size, everyone is likely taking tickets. I've been on 5 man teams and even the IT Director did tickets. On the bright side, you usually get to touch more technology even as a Jr in those environments.

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HerfDog58@reddit

I think every Sysadmin role has a small amount of helpdesk type work, depending on experience/time in service and "rank" within the support team. My position title is Systems Administrator. The bulk of my work in Windows Servers, Microsoft 365 services, and Identity Management. I'm level 3 support for our helpdesk/desktop groups.

I get a fair number of tickets assigned to me where there's been ZERO troubleshooting or information collection done. If I'm busy, I send them back to the appropriate group and tell them "Check A-B-C and ask them for " and then put it out of my mind.

I still end up dealing with end users a few times a week, but almost always thru the ticketing system rather than over the phone/Zoom or in-person. I'll do a Zoom call so they can share their screen, and only if that doesn't work do I meet them face to face. The latter happens maybe once every 3-4 months.

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techretort@reddit

In my mind there's a Help Desk level 1, help desk level 2, helpdesk level 3 is when you become more of a junior sysadmin.

Helpdesk is user facing and dealing with end user devices that may be impacted by systems changes. SysAdmin is when you start messing with servers and infrastructure gear at a deeper level.

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adams_unique_name@reddit

I'm in a small team of five so while I am "system administrator", sometimes, I have to take the tier 1 calls if others are out of the office, at lunch, or in meetings. I don't mind it really.

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OneSeaworthiness7768@reddit

That’s only the ‘norm’ at small businesses (I don’t think it should be normalized, but it is the reality.) I was never doing help desk work in my sysadmin position.

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Guilty_Eggplant_3529@reddit

Even after almost 30 years in the business, it is fairly common to get helpdesk type questions as a "Senior DevSecOps Engineer" or "Senior Cloud Engineer" position. Not sure about large companies, but the smaller places, even when they have a dedicated guy for that role. You'll still generally field those kinds of questions from everyone. And, from friends and family, always. Get used to it.

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ReptilianLaserbeam@reddit

I guess it depends how big the company is. The smaller the company the more hats you will have to wear. One day I can be migrating a bare metal hypervisor, the other I can be replacing mouse and keyboard from a desk that needs to be moved.

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skidleydee@reddit

First and foremost titles in IT mean absolutely nothing. I'm an "Engineer" currently and im less technically chalanged then I ever have been. I've been a big job hopper and every place just kinda has a dick measuring hierarchy per skill this is especially the case in small shops.

What your describing is perfectly normal, can i suggest that you take the initiative and look at streamline solutions for whatever is taking up most of the help desk's time and come up with a suggestion? It's probably something stupid that needs someone who isn't bombarded by password reset tickets. This is what the type of work your looking for is all about, its also boss bait as well.

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Mysterious-Print9737@reddit

In a small place, we call this being a generalist by necessity. While it feels like you're just doing Help Desk++, the fact that you’re touching IAM, servers, and Incident Response means you're building the exact knowledge needed for SRE or DevOps roles. To move toward DevOps, focus on automating those repetitive help desk tasks with scripts like turning a manual fix into infrastructure as code, because it's the best way to bridge the gap between Tier 2 and true engineering. Don't let the title discourage you since having sysadmin on your resume while actually managing services is a massive stepping stone, provided you don't let the daily ticket grind stop you from building out your automation portfolio.

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Helpjuice@reddit

In smaller shops you might be apart of the helpdesk, in more established organizations you normally only work with systems that run the business and users only interface with the helpdesk. The people interfacing with you the SysAdmin in well established businesses are normally internal stakeholders. If you do show up in a user ticket it is normally to put out a huge fire for a VIP customer.

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SuccessfulLime2641@reddit

Junior Sysadmin is just overpaid T2 at an MSP.

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borider22@reddit

just IT. we do it all.

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GhostNode@reddit

The biggest thing id use to draw the line between the two is the amount of access / responsibility you have, and the amount of time they give you to provide proactive management.

If you don’t have admin creds, or the rights to automate process, and especially if you aren’t given the time to automate processes, maintain and keep systems up to date, and create efficiencies in your workflows, then I’d consider that “helpdesk with a fancy title” and look for work elsewhere. If you want to grow and have the ambition to do so, you need to be in an environment that fosters that.

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Mehere_64@reddit

For the company I work for we have 5 in the IT department. Most issues the HD takes care but there can be times where it is busy so IT director HD manager and me sysadmin will jump in and help out on standard tickets. But rarely does that happen where I or the IT director is doing front line support.

With that the HD people don't make changes to the servers, they have to escalate to the HD manager, IT director or myself.

Smaller operation where we all chip in to help out our users. Providing prompt support for our users is our priority over title.

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poolmanjim@reddit

This is how a lot of smaller companies operate. Sysadmin is often just a slightly more experienced help desk admin to them, even though the roles can be very different.

As far as the value of the experience, that is up to you. You have a job title that says sysadmin, I presume, and that alone will help your future.

Most organizations don't really invest in their people, whether or not they should or not. If you want to do more, learn more and then use your experience to leverage your next role.

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AegorBlake@reddit

Its helping. Junior sys admin is a weired area between the two.