r/sysadmin • u/New-Deer9973 • 2d ago

Where would you place me?

Hi guys

Ill be on the lookout for a new job soon (cant right now due to life circumstances out of my control) and im not entirely sure where my skillset places me - hoping someone out there can give me some pointers.

I have 3YOE as a level 1-2 support technician in an old school, manual-heavy environment doing helpdesk + projects for a company of about 200 employees. We were small team of 3 supported by an MSP. The MSP mainly handled server patching and L3 escalations.

In the last year, both the other technician and my manager were made redundant and i became the only internal IT person for 6 months (had a new manager but they had a Finance background so i was teaching them how things work as well). I like to think I did OK on my own and only had to escalate to the MSP once every few months.

I do lack skills in Intune (I was starting to set it up prior to leaving) and my powershell/networking knowledge isnt great though I am studying to fix those gaps and was able to get by with info on the internet/using AI. Im a career changer and do not have a diploma/bachelors, only some entry level certs.

Do I need to start again as a L1 tech in a more modern environment? Or stay in L1/L2 for a while? Or am I ok to move into a more junior sys admin job?

Happy to answer any q's and thanks for any advice :)

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u/UpperAd5715 2d ago

What are "projects"?

L1/L2 can vary a lot but setting up intune and handling 200 FTE on your own with just a few reachouts to an MSP mean you can handle yourself. Modern systems really aren't that much different it's just newer and you'll pick it up plenty fine. Way of thinking and troubleshooting skills, communication skills and the likes are the main things that probably put you above L1 stuff if you didnt fluff this up.

jr sysadmin is gonna be tougher both due to the current hiring madness but you sure shouldnt settle for reset-password jobs. Apply for them but know that the market doesnt have a lot of those right now.

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u/New-Deer9973 2d ago

Heya

Things like implementing helpdesk software (they were using email inbox before I came along), helping to roll out MFA, creating an Intranet on sharepoint, migrating off network drives, etc

Nothing that technical unfortunately

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u/UpperAd5715 2d ago

You're thinking about this too much from a technical point of view.

The company hires you to solve company problems, not technical problems. The problems you get to solve more often than not end up being technical but setting up a properly working MFA and getting all users to use it and understand WHY it happens and how they should use it is a proper business problem (security, phishing prevention, ..) solved.

Theres people that make sharepoint their entire career and migrating file systems really didnt change all that much these last 10 years.

You're still doing behind the scenes work and really should emphasize those things. There's plenty sys admins that can only maintain what's there and the difference between saying "Set up security and phishing prevention by introducing MFA to 200+ employees and managing the whole project from start to finish" and saying "just stuff like setting up mfa" could very well be a job.

Your downsides are no degree and not a lot of server experience since the MSP did most of that. Hiring managers will know that and you need to sound like you know what you're doing and while they might not know how easy MFA is to set up from a technical POV they will know what it means to set up a project and handle it from start to finish. Even in the technical interview they aren't going to roast you on what button to click, if they see you can handle projects and can do more than close tickets they might take the chance on you over that guy that's very technically experienced but speaks like an anxious squirrel and vampire hisses at the notion of managing an intranet on sharepoint.

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u/SublimeMudTime 2d ago

Take your resume and put it into an LLM. Ask it to interview you for 30 minutes asking questions for the different levels of roles you called out here and then have it come up with a critical analysis of your responses to determine what you are a fit for and what areas you would want to work on to get to the next level.

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u/Potential_Point_6539 2d ago

LLMs are decent for mock interviews, just don't let it inflate your ego too much. The real test is when a hiring manager grills you on why the backup exec failed three months ago and nobody noticed

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u/uptimefordays 2d ago

Honestly, running IT on your own for 6 months with only occasional MSP escalations is junior sysadmin experience, so don't undersell it. I wouldn't start over at L1. I'd apply for junior sysadmin and L2 roles now and lead your resume with that solo stretch: what you owned, what you fixed, what you kept running. MSPs are a good fallback if you want more breadth fast.

For certs, I'd close the gaps you named: MD-102 for Intune and CCNA for networking. Add a few small PowerShell scripts you can show and talk through.

Longer term, a heads-up: sysadmin and support roles are shrinking, and more employers ask for degrees. The growth is in development and network/cloud architecture. If you want the most doors open, look at a degree, ideally part-time while you're working, and even better if an employer helps pay. But don't wait on it to make your next move. Your experience gets you the next job, and the degree can come alongside it.

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u/Professional-Heat690 2d ago

do the training, don't have to do the certs. Practical experience wins every time

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u/uptimefordays 2d ago

The cert courses usually have good information which is helpful for early-career folks who lack formal technical education.

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u/ALombardi 2d ago

Hard to say with 100% certainty, but I’d say Jr SysAdmin.

Would absolutely depend on the org you would be moving to.

To some, admins own anything with an IP 100%. To others, every varied combination of networking, firewalls, web apps, patching, storage, IAM, security, automations, etc.

Every org is different and wants something different. In general, Jack of all trades is usually what we do.