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A senior system administrator oversees the systems administration department within an organization. They are responsible for overseeing the networks and computer systems a company uses to conduct business. They may map out improvements to established networks, help troubleshoot complicated issues, and manage systems administrators who oversee day-to-day problems and maintenance. This is a managerial role that requires leadership skills and demonstrated experience in systems administration.
To become a senior system administrator, you should have a relevant bachelor’s degree in IT or computer science. Hiring managers will be looking for several years of previous experience in related roles such as experience as a computer systems analyst or system administrator. Hiring managers will also be looking for someone with technical skills in repairing and troubleshooting network issues. The ideal candidate for this role will have important soft skills, such as leadership abilities, superb problem-solving skills, and communication skills.
The biggest difference when making a jump from a system administrator to a senior system administrator is that you will be responsible for overseeing a team of staff. For this reason, it’s important to demonstrate your leadership abilities, as well as previous experience hiring, training, and developing junior-level staff, on your resume.
As the senior system administrator, you will be responsible for communicating with other internal stakeholders about new initiatives or improvements that need to be made. As such, it’s important that senior system administrators are able to convey technical concepts to others with varying levels of comprehension. Showing that you have successfully collaborated internally to fix network issues in the past on your resume is important to land this role.
A Senior System Administrator is part technical expert and part manager. In this role you’ll be configuring new systems, monitoring progress and overseeing other employees and teams. Because this is a senior level role, you’ll want to draw attention to your career progression, emphasizing promotions and leadership experience. You should also focus on specific project experience that the job will require or that are transferable skills or areas.
When applying for senior and higher level positions, it’s important to use past promotions and growth to show your progression in the field. This will also show employers that you are serious about advancing in your career and will demonstrate your ability to take on additional responsibilities and continue to develop.
Sometimes, it’s useful to call out your most relevant or most high-profile experiences to the job you’re applying to. The “Selected Project Experience” highlights experience with specific systems and projects, like SuSE, RedHat, and Solaris.”
Here are examples of popular skills from Senior System Administrator job descriptions that you can include on your resume.
This word cloud highlights the important keywords that appear on Senior System Administrator job descriptions and resumes. The bigger the word, the more frequently it appears on job postings, and the more likely you should include it in your resume.
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