How do you find true technical roles anymore?
Posted by CrazedNarwhaI@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 25 comments
I started my IT career at an MSP 2 months ago doing L1 help desk.
I've advanced VERY quickly within the company since then, as I've almost been taken off tickets entirely and put solely on technical projects and infrastructure work save for a P2/P1 ticket here and there or specific tickets where I've become an internal SME on (anything Linux basically). The company is very happy with my progress and I'm very proud of myself for proving my capabilities early on such that they trust me with those projects. And I enjoy that work so much more than tickets.
They plan to give me a significant raise at my 3 month review but even with that I still feel underpaid, so this was always going to be a job where I move on after getting some time in.
I'm not planning on leaving yet but I have looked at job listings just for curiosity and I have noticed that every sysadmin, systems engineer, or any other job along those lines is really just help desk and help desk\^2. Job listing sites get saturated with these and it seems impossible to find true on prem/hybrid admin, engineer, or infrastructure jobs unless you go straight to cloud or you dive into the Linux side. Where do people get these technical jobs?
uptimefordays@reddit
In today’s world, most existing organizations run hybrid infrastructure and as ever the vast majority of servers are Linux. There’s just not much demand for sysadmins who only know on prem Windows in 2026. If you want to do technical infrastructure work you really need to know Linux, networking, object oriented programming, a public cloud platform, and containers/Kubernetes.
Modern infrastructure teams generally own “all the core infrastructure” and the expectation is “everyone on the team can manage servers, containers, orchestration, networking, storage, configuration management, and help other teams with anything peripheral.”
BugTerrible2695@reddit
Might be true for smaller orgs but larger F500s still have dedicated teams for these roles. Still need people who can manage Windows Server at scale with automation tools.
uptimefordays@reddit
Having worked core infra in the F500, I can tell you my team ran "everything in the global network of datacenters and the AWS/Azure tenants." We had a couple mainframe specialists and DBAs but the rest of us ran Windows/Linux, directory service, DNS/DHCP, core and campus networking, ESXi then OpenShift, Kubernetes, storage, and of course all the hardware--granted we had on site DC techs to actually change cables, rack and stack, etc. Our dedicated team is "infrastructure."
progenyofeniac@reddit
I think there are just far fewer full on prem engineer roles these days. Even orgs that are/were traditional on prem are now looking for a cloud-skilled engineer for backfill just to be prepared.
uptimefordays@reddit
Exactly, the same infrastructure as code approaches required for cloud infra work on prem. A lot of today's experienced cloud engineers started on prem, so it's not a huge hurdle building and running hybrid platforms or systems.
containsMilk_@reddit
"True on prem / hybrid admin" roles don't really exist in an MSP. It's just the nature of the job. Unless you are an MSP that has tons of clients and it makes sense to have dedicated admins like that, its very unlikely you'll find an MSP that has that type of hyper focused role.
That said not all MSP roles are help desk. I'm on the project team at my MSP, so I will design and implement networks, do 365 and on prem server administration, but also do workstation setups. Whatever projects come my way.
Job roles and I guess "job description creep" for lack of a better way to put it is unfortunately real and common. That you're actually doing more work than what your job should be. But that's part of weeding out good MSPs and bad ones.
CrazedNarwhaI@reddit (OP)
We do have a ton of clients and we did have a dedicated "infrastructure" guy but he ended up leaving so the company is trying to groom people to fill his role I guess.
The problem is that we have a couple of big clients who are relying on very specific systems like Linux-based ERPs and the clients don't have any DBAs or IT people to oversee those, and the one guy who knew anything about them left. My responsibilities just ended up slowly drifting towards those since my Linux skills were already very strong to begin with.
containsMilk_@reddit
Yeah thats the unfortunate common practice in MSPs. If supporting something lands solely on one person and nobody else knows how to support or manage it, thats not a good trait in an MSP. It leads to employee burn out, and you need this particular guy to work on it so when he's out or when he leaves, you're left with the consequences. Documentation is super important. If the documentation isn't at a point where other techs can pick up where someone leaves off, there's something to be desired there.
I wouldnt consider it something to leave the company over. Lots of MSPs have that practice so if you leave one for it and you go look for other MSPs, its very possible youll find the same thing at a different company.
Techs at MSPs need to be jack of all trades in a sense. Its the nature of the job, you don't hone in on one thing, you learn all the various and different technologies that are out there.
CrazedNarwhaI@reddit (OP)
We do have good documentation. Its more of a people problem, I think? A lot of our techs just end up doing the bare minimum and then escalate, often times breaking things in the process. People seem like they don't really want to learn, so the company has this imbalance where 3 people handle anything remotely technical because nobody else can be trusted with it.
As an example, 2 days ago one of our techs got a ticket to make a login on MSSQL. Somehow that ended up in dropping a critical table for the client's ERP. Not a massive deal since they have a replication server, but said tech just left it in the queue to escalate and didn't bother following up or asking for help etc. This is a pattern in my company I've noticed.
-ThesuarusRex-@reddit
You started your IT career two months ago and are already looking for an engineering role?
You will be eaten alive.
CrazedNarwhaI@reddit (OP)
If you read the last paragraph, I said I'm not leaving yet and I was just looking for curiosity.
-ThesuarusRex-@reddit
I read the whole thing. I also forgot more IT in that reply than you have learned in your two month career.
Ambition is good when it's tempered correctly. Recklessness costs livlihoods.
UpsetBar@reddit
2 months into the career and OP is the Linux SME? I feel bad for this MSPs customers.
node77@reddit
Indeed works, but maybe rephrase your searches. For example be specific that only someone further up the chain would know and maybe Level 1 people wouldn’t. For example, FSMO, SAML, PowerShell. If you drill with searches like the ones I mentioned, you are more likely find what you’re looking for. That includes LinkedIN and DICE.
MushyBeees@reddit
2 months…
I’ve had shits that have taken longer than that.
Top-Perspective-4069@reddit
You should eat more leafy greens.
W3tTaint@reddit
MSP titles are also largely bullshit so they can appear to have better staff for their clients.
igiveupmakinganame@reddit
wanting to job hop after this short of a time frame will look terrible
ejfree@reddit
Never Stop Learning.
Your next step is to start adding cloud and more linux. Start reading about interesting things. Start using technology to solve your problems. Start going WAY deeper into stuff. Start meeting other industry & vendor contacts, local & online at first, then nationally or internationally later. Learn a lot more. Make it known you are looking for a new gig. Get a few warm introductions. Get a new job. Go be really good at a that new job. Beware the peter principle. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Never Stop Learning. Good luck. Peace.
vantasmer@reddit
You need different search terms. Platform engineer, infrastructure engineer, sre, or even more specific like Kubernetes engineer
darth_skipicious@reddit
when you leave that job might as well say career over
darth_skipicious@reddit
xD
MissionBusiness7560@reddit
I'm a technical engineer and we're still basically L3 help desk. Sounds like you're making good progress with your first job in the field, do the time and keep learning.
900cacti@reddit
depending on where you live, job titles might be different - EU vs US. I’d go through all the job postings that have somewhat of a relevant title (discard anything that has helpdesk) and see the actual job description. I’d bet you would be interested in something like 'IAM engineer' despite 'sysadmin' not being there in the job title. I'd look through big enterprises near you job postings
itishowitisanditbad@reddit
DK Curve going wild here.