Securing an Entry-Level Admin Job [duplicate]

Solution 1:

For an entry level admin position, most companies will be looking for someone with at least a few years experience, as you've noticed...

My recommendation would be to look for a higher level / more technical help desk position and clearly state you're looking to move up to a Jr. Admin position. If you already have a technical helpdesk position, talk to your supervisor & the sysadmin supervisor and let them know you're interested in becoming an admin.

Use the helpdesk position to get a feel for the company's systems and policies - go above & beyond "just doing the job", offer to help out the sysadmin group in exchange for training when you have spare time during the work day or in the evenings. See if you can take responsibility for some of the sysadmin group's basic daily tasks. (Swapping backup tapes, reviewing logs, etc)

Take every opportunity to learn from them, and there's a very good chance you'll be considered for the next opening. After a couple years, if it doesn't look like you'll have the opportunity to move up, ask your current employer if they'd be willing to recommend you for a jr. admin position elsewhere. On your resume, highlight the work you did with the sysadmin group and the training you received. If you can show you've done the work, but just didn't have the title, you'll have a much better chance of being considered.

Certifications are nice, but practical experience is priceless...

Solution 2:

Switching hats for a minute here, if you're not getting interviews you need to focus on that resume. I've seen and talked to very motivated, talented people whose resumes told their stories terribly. Take the time to learn about good resume writing or work with someone to make this piece of paper something that doesn't get pitched.

Solution 3:

When I got out of school I wasn't even a comp sci major. What helped me was creating a blog with solutions to various issues, projects, and scripts. I think this can help a lot if you write thorough articles. A blog that just links to other sites probably won't get you anywhere. I did get feedback from the jobs I got saying the blog was a major factor in their choice. It won't always help because employers may not bother, but some will. You can mention it in your cover 'letter'.

Also, if you find a way to contribute to some open source, that might help too.

With this you can show a skill set more than you can with your resume. Lastly, its not true work experience, so don't try pass it off as that. But it can show that you know things, and that you are highly motivated.

Best of luck!

Solution 4:

I was hired on at a semiconductor company 2 months out of a technical school with an Associates in cns with a specialization in unix and my A+, Network+ and Linux+. The fact is, I completely expected to be running wires through attics for a few years before being able to work on the other side of a computer. It sounds like you have the same skills I stepped out of college with.

Back at the dorm I setup a PXE boot environment, which coincidentally is the same method kickstart uses to install a red hat machine. Having the keyword "PXE" in my resume and being able to walk the interviewer through the process step by step was what tipped the scales in my favor. The position was for a 3 month contract to re-image red hat desktops. That 3 month contract has been renewed continuously for 4 years now, and re-imaging is only a small part of what I do now.

You definitely need to start a lab at home with several dissimilar machines and OSes. Don't put a monitor on your server, make yourself do it all command line. Ditch windows if you really want to learn everything about linux. Don't use ubuntu, it's too easy. Use fedora or centOS, they're akin to Red Hat. Don't ever reboot your server, pull your hair out for 3 or 4 hours until you fix it without any downtime. Setup LDAP, setup active directory, setup a mysql db for your mp3 collection, figure out how to integrate that with Apache. Volunteer your computer skills at a church, even if it's helping someone setup gmail. Review a dozen resumes and make sure you put a "keywords" section at the bottom that includes acronyms that only a geek would know; a lot of companies parse through resumes looking for keywords (pxe thank you).

Join your local LUG.

Be likable, read Dale Carnegie book: How To Win Friends and Influence People. I was hired on with another contractor of higher technical expertise, after 3 months they kept me and let him go. Why? I would sit with the manager and let him tell me about his kids, motorcycle, martial arts, asking questions and being genuinely interested. Most of all, learn how to deal with technically challenged users.

Setup your linked-in, it should be professional but it should show your personality too. In my linked in picture I'm holding a German Shepherd... every recruiter that contacts me now asks about the dog, and they remember me. Facebook should be very, very private even if there's nothing to hide. Recruiters sift through hundreds of these, so it's easy for them to skip to the next one.

I get all of my hits from linked-in and I'm in a town that's big, big, big, into the semiconductor industry and linux. If my location was Nebraska, I might not have as many hits as say... Austin, TX.