Systems administrators are essential to most companies. So you could probably find a job almost anywhere. Which is great, especially if you're looking for a career with a lot of job opportunities. Of course, who's going to realistically turn down opportunity?
As a systems administrator, it's on your shoulders to keep the company servers up and working smoothly. Of course, there will be crashes you'll have to deal with. After all, that's why you're there in the first place.
When an employer looks for a systems administrator, they're usually looking for an individual who has a bachelor's degree. But that's not all. This isn't an entry-level position so you're going to need at least 3-5 years of experience under your belt as well. Once you get all of those checked off, you'll be well on your way to your dream career.
Systems Administrator Overview
Systems Administrator Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a systems administrator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $32.85 an hour? That's $68,324 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 18,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Systems Administrator Do
There are certain skills that many systems administrators have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and problem-solving skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a systems administrator, we found that a lot of resumes listed 8.0% of systems administrators included windows, while 6.8% of resumes included linux, and 6.7% of resumes included troubleshoot. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the systems administrator job title. But what industry to start with? Most systems administrators actually find jobs in the technology and finance industries.
How To Become a Systems Administrator
If you're interested in becoming a systems administrator, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 50.9% of systems administrators have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 15.5% of systems administrators have master's degrees. Even though most systems administrators have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a systems administrator. When we researched the most common majors for a systems administrator, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on systems administrator resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a systems administrator. In fact, many systems administrator jobs require experience in a role such as technical support specialist. Meanwhile, many systems administrators also have previous career experience in roles such as network administrator or network technician.
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Systems Administrator Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of network engineer you might progress to a role such as network administrator eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title manager, systems engineering.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Systems Administrator
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Parsons Corporation System Administrator, Staff System Administrator, Staff | Parsons Corporation Parsons Corporation | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $77,00001/29/2021 $77,000 |
Randstad G10 Rates Support Engineer G10 Rates Support Engineer | Randstad Randstad | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $156,52501/29/2021 $156,525 |
Linquest Corporation System Administrator-Gccs/Global Broadcast Services System Administrator-Gccs/Global Broadcast Services | Linquest Corporation Linquest Corporation | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $89,00001/29/2021 $89,000 |
Robert Half Systems Administrator Systems Administrator | Robert Half Robert Half | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $66,78401/29/2021 $66,784 |
Teksystems Systems Administrator Systems Administrator | Teksystems Teksystems | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $80,00001/29/2021 $80,000 |
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Systems Administrator Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Systems Administrator. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Systems Administrator Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Systems Administrator resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Systems Administrators
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
3. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
4. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
6. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Public
7. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
8. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
9. Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH • Private
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Top Skills For a Systems Administrator
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.0% of systems administrators listed windows on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.
- Windows, 8.0%
- Linux, 6.8%
- Troubleshoot, 6.7%
- Active Directory, 6.7%
- Technical Support, 4.7%
- Other Skills, 67.1% See All Systems Administrator Skills
Best States For a Systems Administrator
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a systems administrator. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Maryland, California, and Connecticut. Systems administrators make the most in Washington with an average salary of $80,310. Whereas in Maryland and California, they would average $80,299 and $79,868, respectively. While systems administrators would only make an average of $74,410 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Washington
$80,310
Avg. Salary
2. Maryland
$80,299
Avg. Salary
3. Vermont
$71,322
Avg. Salary
How Do Systems Administrator Rate Their Jobs?
Top Systems Administrator Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ systems administrators and discovered their number of systems administrator opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Wipro was the best, especially with an average salary of $66,454. Tata Consultancy Services follows up with an average salary of $67,176, and then comes Amazon.com with an average of $90,387. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a systems administrator. The employers include Science Applications International .., Robert Half International, and Rimini Street
Systems Administrator Videos
