Advice and tips for a junior sysadmin straight out of college? [closed]
I've recently graduated and have got a job at a fast-growing dedicated/VPS hosting company as a junior sysadmin.
I'd like to know any tips or advice you more senior sysadmins have, e.g. what mistakes did you make when you were younger, certification, how to stay organised.
Thanks!
Solution 1:
My best piece of advice is to remember ignorance is not a sin. You don't know everything, nobody does. Read the documentation, ask for help. It is far better to spend some time and possibly a few shreds of credibility with your peers to find learn before you screw up, than to leap in and really mess something up. Everybody screws up sometime. Just don't be the one who screws up because they didn't RTFM or ask around first.
Solution 2:
Quit and take up a sane profession.
/utterly serious
Solution 3:
Since the technical bits seem well covered here, I'd like to give you the best non-technical advise no one ever gave me.
Don't be an ass.
Even when you don't think you are one.
My worst moments as a SysAdmin had nothing to do with the actual systems, but with the people around them. In the workplace, not everyone is there to do the job and do it well. You will be dealing with egos and fiefdoms. There will be co-workers who make a mission of pointing out the failings (perceived or real) of those around them. You will meet people in IT who haven't the technical chops to work a sandwich line, yet they will seem more valued by management.
We of the bit and baud can be so focused on doing our jobs, it can hurt us.
Not all of the negativity I've encountered has been undeserving. As a teenager and young 20-something during the DotCom, I spoke my mind often and with little regard for how I would be considered. I knew I was technically correct, but, in truth, I couldn't have been more socially or politically wrong.
Putting the vitriol aside, be certain to take stock not only of your technical skills, but your social skills as well. They say "perception is reality". Develop your "bedside manner" as much as you would your coding skills. Do everything you can to ensure that those around you perceive you as an ally, and never as a threat.
I love this work more than I can express. I've loved every job and am grateful to every employer I've ever had. And some of the people I've worked with can go to hell.