From the course: Career Essentials in System Administration by Microsoft and LinkedIn

A week in the life

From the course: Career Essentials in System Administration by Microsoft and LinkedIn

A week in the life

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- A week in the life of a CIS admin can be quite mundane one week and filled with excitement and challenges the next. How you choose to handle the situations in both cases can make the difference between a CIS admin who burns out in a few years or stays in for the life of their career. When I was working as a CIS admin for a large company in a small team of five CIS admins, my day started out before I ever got to the office. Checking my phone or computer for emergency outages was part of a typical day. Even on the weekends. If there was an outage of a server or critical system, I had to determine who would be the best at fixing the issue in the best way possible. Getting to the office was usually followed by multiple people asking for assistance. I always kept a pad of paper with me so I could write down issues as most staff didn't want to be told to open a ticket. I would end up doing that for them many times myself. On a slow week, I would read the latest technology news and trends and find out the latest security threats. I would also study for whatever certification I was planning on earning. A CIS admin should always have a test they're studying, even after they've completed college. Things change too quickly to rely on technology from the past. In an average year, I suggest earning at least two certifications. Next, I would check the backups to ensure the data is there in case it's needed and then open and resolve tickets. A good ticketing system is crucial for all organizations. It tracks what you've done and what you plan to do. It helps justify salary, raises, and staff. The end of each day would be spent confirming no new emergency tickets were entered prior to leaving. In between, I would schedule vendor and department head appointments and plan for systems upgrades if needed. At lunch, we would usually eat while playing a network game like Halo or Call of Duty. Because we do need to have fun sometimes. A busy week usually means there was an outage, virus, outbreak, large update that caused issues or a security threat. This means you need to be available to jump on a conference call with the team or a vendor or get down to work to resolve the problem. There is no leaving when these issues happen. There is only the end of the project. You leave when the systems are back up and running. This is one of the reasons you always need to have the latest technology news and education on the systems you manage. What are the results? A very rewarding career that includes a great paycheck and the feeling of accomplishment that you worked as part of a team to keep your organization thriving and secure. Although you shouldn't get into this business for the money, it does pay better than most industries. Pacing yourself will keep you in the business a long time with even better rewards when working for the right company. Panicking when there's an outage or threat will cause you to lose any love for the job and you'll end up leaving for other industries that may pay less for having less stress. You may meet a CIS admin who has been doing this for decades. They are likely not easily flustered as they have probably seen just about every scenario.

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