From IT support technician to systems and network administrator: which skills should you develop?

Moving from support into systems and network administration means taking greater responsibility for availability, access and service continuity. Prepare gradually, with evidence of practice and a clear scope of responsibility.

1. Strengthen your support foundation

Incident assessment, documentation and user communication remain important. Identify recurring issues and propose improvements to your manager rather than making improvised production changes.

2. Build a practical skills pathway

Area	Possible lab evidence
Systems	Virtual-machine installation, updates and documented checks.
Identities and permissions	Fictional accounts, groups and access tests against defined needs.
Networks	Tested IP plan, DNS, DHCP and segmentation.
Backup	Backup of fictional data and a verified restoration.
Monitoring	Log review and handling of a simulated alert.
Automation	Small script tested on fictional data, with explanations and error handling.

3. Design a progression project

Fictional example: create a file-sharing service in an isolated lab, define three access profiles, test permissions, back up a test folder and restore a deleted file. Document results, errors and limitations. A virtual-machine snapshot and a complete backup strategy are not interchangeable.

4. Learn change management habits

Before a professional intervention, clarify approval, maintenance window, impact, checks and rollback. Administrator privileges are not an achievement in themselves: request access appropriate to the task and follow team procedures.

CV wording, if accurate: “Support technician developing administration skills: personal lab covering access permissions, backup and restoration, with documented tests.”

5. Choose the next step

Discuss a supervised responsibility with your manager, such as backup follow-up, network documentation or alert review. Separate production duties from personal projects in applications. Your next role should involve responsibilities you understand and skills you can demonstrate.

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Cover and illustration: Pexels / Pexels.

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The Kamerjob team