Top 10 Skills for a System Administrator?

I want to apply for an entry-level position in System Administration (Unix/Linux, Lighttpd, MySQL). I have extensive private experience but almost no on-the-job experience. What are, in you opinion, the Top 10 Skills a pro system admin should absolutely have?

Also, are certifications worth anything?

Thanks.

Solution 1:

1. Be courteous and polite to people at all times. No matter how hard that gets.
2. Strive to be a person people turn to when they are in trouble. Like Winston Wolf - Solve Problems.
3. Be an expert in something such as apache configuration or tomcat. Something you really enjoy doing or something lucrative and in demand by businesses. Build a rep by answering questions on serverfault. If somebody asks what you know about tomcat, you can tell them your sf handle and they can look up your chops there.
4. Be a generalist e.g. know a little about Solaris, Linux, BSD, nginx.
5. Learn bash scripting.
6. Learn perl or python or ruby enough to make spreadsheets.
7. Do a certification like RHCE or CCNA. When you've done it you can decide for yourself whether they are worthwhile. Some are, some are not. Some are easy some are hard.
8. Keep up with what's going on in tech and how it relates to the business you work in.
9. Don't make the same mistake twice.
10. Be courteous and polite to people at all times. No matter how hard that gets.

Solution 2:

• Patience
• Willingness to learn
• Touch typing

Solution 3:

Read the admin zen: http://www.adminzen.org/adminzen.png And try to stick to it's advises.