SysAdmin

Our current SysAdmin is going to move over to another group and become a C# programmer. Which leaves a hole in our group of five geeks at the company, so today I let the powers that be know that I was interested in the SysAdmin position. Currently I do a fair amount of Sysadmin work, monitoring and trouble shooting load on servers and updating packages and servers here and there. I implemented our SNMP monitoring system and am probably the most active person watching the the ebb and flows within their world. On the downside my network knowledge is fairly limited. I know the difference between a switch, hub, router and firewall but I’d have a tough time telling you the difference between what network Layer 3 and 2 were if you stopped me cold on the street. Recently I’ve been doing a lot of mulling over where I want to head in my career and whether it would be best served to do so with the company or head elsewhere. There are a lot of things on the plus side where I work at, but it’s a small company and there isn’t much room to move up. I imagine in the move to SysAdminship I would still be the DBA, while we have a fairly active database at this point it is also not a very complex setup ( Thank you MySQL!!! ), but my programming duties would be curtailed. Samuel who we brought on recently has really stepped up to the plate and added to the already great team so losing me as a programmer wouldn’t be nearly as painful as trying to fully replace the SysAdmin position. Taking on SysAdmin full time would add nicely to the set of skills I’ve been hoarding over the years and help me round out my experience in the tech world. The guys I work with think there is no way I wouldn’t get the job, but I’m not sure on how easily it is for me to be had with no college degree nor certs to my name. If someone is stuck on my education I have none, but my work experience is great and I have yet to find the challenge I haven’t met head on and overcome.

In talks recently I’ve also mentioned that I’m much more interested in the business side. Over that last few years it’s been a point I’ve been trying to drive home repeatedly but I don’t think anyone takes me seriously. I don’t have any business background so I have the feeling that the many ideas I present are passed over and I won’t gain any traction there. That’s why I think the SysAdmin thing would work out very well for me, it’s the one area I can’t really put down that I’ve held the reigns of and surpassed all expectations in; Client Support .. check, Desktop Support .. check, Programmer .. check, DBA.. check. So I say bring it on and let me kick some ass in yet another position.