Do I have "Proficiency in Microsoft Windows and Server administration"

Posted by AdminBenjamin@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 16 comments

Been doing IT for 25 years. Help desk & and advanced night shift server room/batch scheduling/help desk type job for 15 years and now IT guy at a small company where I do a little bit of everything. When I browse jobs and see things like **"Proficiency in Microsoft Windows and Server administration, MCSA (Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022)"** I'm always at a loss for whether or not I know that. The first employer was really large and there were entire departments of people that did specific things with servers. We'd use VM or physical access to reboot them if they failed or restart failed services or whatever. I could do anything that was asked of me or that I had authorization to do but lots of things weren't asked of me and we had very specifically written directions. I know that if System X went down with message Y I'd page Tim and he'd say "I'll look into it" and then he'd call me back 15 minutes later and say "I restarted Apache on the server." I wasn't allowed to freelance it and just go to the server myself and restart things unless Tim decided to hand that process over to us and document it. And at my new job we're all cloud based so we have no servers. I have no doubts that if we did decide to go away from the cloud based stuff and buy a server I'd be able to figure it out and handle all the things needed in a relatively short amount of time as we're a small place and the new systems are usually my responsibility. But I still don't know if I could confidently answer "Yes, I'm proficient with servers" to an HR flunkie... could I? I've worked for two places my whole 25 years and never needed to dive deep into it. I've mostly been involved with the software that the servers run or the users that use the software.

Reply to Post

16 Comments

[-]

MrGuvernment@reddit

If shit hit the fan and systems went down, could you fix it yourself, or find the information to fix it (outside of paging co-workers who are proficient with said systems already?) If no, then no... I always say, "Anyone can install basic MS Exchange server and send themselves an email internally, it is a a couple clicks of the mouse..but, when shit hits the fan and things stop working...can you fix it?"

[-]

SensitiveFirefly@reddit

>I know that if System X went down with message Y I'd page Tim and he'd say "I'll look into it" and then he'd call me back 15 minutes later and say "I restarted Apache on the server." So have you actually had experience troubleshooting?

[-]

AdminBenjamin@reddit (OP)

Yeah, because we had maybe 20 different departments that we could page depending on what specifically went down so I'd have to figure out if it's hardware, software, network, dns, etc. I worked night shift and know the system at Company X well enough to not page the wrong guy at 11pm at home. But every company is different I feel...

[-]

13Krytical@reddit

Depending on your depth of knowledge on any particular subject, I might call that more “triage” than troubleshooting

[-]

Caldazar22@reddit

GENERALLY (because no one can read the mind of every HR flunky or manager out there), "proficiency in Microsoft Windows and Server Administration" would mean: - Can you install a Windows Server OS from scratch? - Do you know how to join to it an Active Directory domain and configure local permissions using AD user and group security principals? - Do you know basic configurations of core components (TCP/IP settings, patching/auto-update settings, how to add/remove/configure various common features, etc...) - If there's a problem, do you know how to read and search the event logs for errors, and then interpret (read: do a sensible web search for) those errors? In other words, if I have a Windows Server with a core component that is "not working as expected", can I dump it in your lap and come back a few hours later expecting that it will be working as expected? FYI, there is no MCSA Server 2019 and Server 2022. If you want to get a feel for the expectation, do a web search some MCSA 2016 practices questions, with the understanding that the MCSA 2016 test questions generally represent some of the more complex challenges that a "proficient sysadmin" would typically run across; the real job would be easier.

[-]

thortgot@reddit

Proficiency would generally imply that you are comfortable being the primary admin. You wouldn't have explicit written directions, approval for specific actions etc. An example interview question could be: "The web server isn't responding (404), restarting the services allows it recover temporarily but it fails within a few minutes. What would your first several steps be?"

[-]

AdminBenjamin@reddit (OP)

Yeah, I'd bomb that question pretty fast. It was for a generalist IT guy to do everything at a factory that had the HQ in Japan & a few other facilities in the US. At my first place we had local people at all our facilities where you could call them at 10pm and say "x is offline" and they'd go in and fix it. But they never unboxed new servers and installed the stuff themselves, etc. So I kind of assume that's what the actual job was doing? But I can't say for sure. The recruiter asked me about it and I said my experience with servers was limited to whatever I was asked to do and there were specific people who did specialist things but other than that it looked good on paper. And he called me back the next day and said they already had a really strong candidate and weren't taking new ones. But I was curious anyway how big of a deal the server info would be.   https://preview.redd.it/ez64upjz53ac1.png?width=521&format=png&auto=webp&s=f2c1c2492d36b02f1d56964b0e5a230dcfb9ebdc

[-]

thortgot@reddit

Fair enough. Everyone has to start somewhere. Practical experience is helpful but something like an MCSA would help you bridge the gap with some technical knowledge if you need it. 90% of tech interviews at this level are about your ability to troubleshoot and analyze a problem. You don't need to know the answer, just the thought process is what they are asking for. All of the below are decent answers. "Check the event log for errors, what do I see? Does this server have a history of this issue? Is the problem occurring for all users? Are there other servers on the same Hypervisor?" These are better answers in my opinion: "Is the service crashing or just hanging? Any recent changes to the server? Is the memory and/or disk utilization maxed out? Is the workload significantly different than usual (a spike of users)? Are the underyling environments healthy (disk, network, hypervisor)"

[-]

krattalak@reddit

Most job openings say things like 'MSCA' required because they don't know what kind of questions to actually ask. That said, As a non-windows admin, couple of things I always ask a potential 'MCSA' equiv candidate are: 1: Name the five FSMO roles and explain where and how you'd deploy them. And I'd be surprised if I get any one answering more than one, most people I've interviewed can't even do that (I've had some people get angry). I ask this because as a small shop, I'd want to hire someone that's had to deal with replication issues and/or having to decom DCs, and the only people that would know this answer (besides the Eidetic memory sorts), are people that have actually done these things. 2: While I'm at it, I'd ask them how specifically to decom a DC. 3: I'd ask questions about using the CA. Generating certs, migrating the CA, etc. 4: I'd ask questions about Group policy and inheritance. Everything else is stuff a 'general' person could know, but if I'm looking for an MCSA level person those are the questions I'd ask.

[-]

JMDTMH@reddit

I guess I read "Proficiency in Microsoft Windows and Server Administration" as more of a confidence than anything.  I ask myself "Do I feel confident enough having these server hardware, and their respective OSes, and doing day to day functions?" And if the answer is Yes, then I consider myself proficient. Sure there are areas where I could be stronger, and I work to strengthen those areas. But I see it as a overall, "how comfortable do I feel being the main contact?" Do I feel like I have the knowledge to effectively troubleshoot an issue?  When it comes down to it, yes there are changes from Server OS to Server OS, but the main meat and potatoes remain. You're gonna need to be able to add or remove servers, printers, users, machines, manage DNS, and DHCP, typical administration jazz.  Do you feel comfortable doing so? If so, I say you're proficient! It's your responsibility to cover any gaps in your understanding though. And I think that at this point, of being in the industry for 25 years, I would say you can definitely adapt, and grow appropriately.  IT sounds to me like you definitely have the basics down. But how afraid are you to get in there and document and make changes?  Just my two cents! Best of luck!

[-]

AdminBenjamin@reddit (OP)

>IT sounds to me like you definitely have the basics down. But how afraid are you to get in there and document and make changes? Not as afraid as I should be sometimes... :) Going from a 40000 endpoint company to 500 has taught me that I know a lot more than I'd previously given myself credit for. But still zero servers. At my new place we basically started out with 300 PCs from dell (and handful of Chromebooks) & an email accounts and we've built it up over the last 3 years into a proper system where we can remotely manage & monitor all the PCs and routers and such. I'm proud of the progress & all the systems and technologies I've deployed or helped deploy. And I think from last year to the next few we're tripling in size and I'll personally be a huge part of that growth as we expand in other states (but zero servers!). I like where I'm at and I'm not really looking for a job, I'm just not in the habit of hanging up on recruiters and was curious about that aspect of IT. I tend to compare myself to the best guy at one specific department that handled spinning up new servers worldwide or something.

[-]

Thiccpharm@reddit

If you are interested in the job and you think you check some boxes for them you should apply. Let them tell you if you are proficient enough for them or not.

[-]

Firefox005@reddit

If you have to ask...

[-]

AdminBenjamin@reddit (OP)

Fair enough. I certainly wouldn't apply for jobs where it was the core duty. But being at only one place my whole career that wasn't cloud based is a pretty narrow window into what people mean when they say "proficient".

[-]

jtsa5@reddit

Proficiency in Microsoft Windows and Server administration could mean different things in different roles/companies. My guess is they mean managing the server OS side of things like Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, DHCP, networking, patch management, endpoint security, etc. Unless they have specifics about what the job entails there's no way to no for sure.

[-]

AdminBenjamin@reddit (OP)

The one specific job listed like 10 things including in person desktop support. It was a pretty basic generalist role at a manufacturing facility and I had everything else nailed down. I'm happy where I'm at and enjoying life but a recruiter I know asks me sometimes about if I'm interested in specific jobs and the server question always plagues me in the past. I feel like I have to be able to walk into a job and do every single thing that my last employer had whole departments of specialists doing to call myself an expert.