1

Hi

I have been working in desktop support for around 3 years now for a few companies. Besides the usual day-to-day desktop support, I have had the opportunities to get involved in various projects. E.g. hardware, OS, MS Office, messaging, application upgrades, etc.

I still get job satisfaction from desktop support but I feel like I am ready to take the next step in my career. I feel that desktop support is very much a launchpad for my career.

Does anyone have any advice for taking the next step? E.g. to infrastructure, messaging, application support?

I have worked hard the past couple of years to gain 7 or so industry certs.

In your experience, do you think it is best to look around to see if I can land my next job sooner at another company or continue working hard in desktop and hope that something comes up in my current company?

15 Spice ups
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If you’ve been there for 3 years, have you seen other people in your position get promoted or moved to something close to what you want to do?

My opinion is that it’s never a bad thing to see what’s out there.

3 Spice ups
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If you really like where you work, then ask your manager if you can start working with the Server or Network team (wherever your interests lie). This show the desire to better yourself in the company so they start thinking about you as someone to promote, plus gives you experience. Else I would try checking the outside world.

1 Spice up
4

Without server or network on-the-job experience, it’s going to be hard to find a job outside your company. No harm in looking, though.

Best bet is to let your team and the team you want to move into know that you’re interested in moving into a different area of expertise. Be patient, it could take a while.

Moving away from desktop(did it for about a decade) was just as hard as it was for me to get a desktop job with no on-the-job experience. I actually really miss desktop. At least there, I was a guru. As a sys admin, I feel like I’m a jack of all trades. Good at everything, master at nothing.

3 Spice ups
5

You say you have certs - are any of them for Windows Server, etc, that would help you land the job you want? If so, I don’t think it’s unrealistic at all for you to land a position at another company. Your best bet would be to land a job with a smaller sized company where they have the infamous “1 or 2 man IT shop”, and become a jack of all trades like afeitguy. If you like where you’re at, though, I would try to move up there first.

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I think your best bet would be to first express your interest to grow into server or network administration to your current company. They can help to ease you into one of those roles. If that doesn’t happen, then I would look around for an entry-level or junior-level systems admin role for another company. It would be good to have another or several other system administrators that you can learn from and collaborate with until you are ready to move on to a more senior system administration role.

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What do you want to do?

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I want to do Server work, but I have not experience for the same. Plz Suggest.