I'm at a significant crossroads in my career as a Senior Sys Admin and the only one in my company. With both our Cloud Engineer and Azure Engineer leaving, my boss wants to know in about six months if I'm interested in stepping into those roles (or exploring something else). They're open to what I'd like to do, and since I've been here the longest, I've already taken on many of the responsibilities associated with those positions.
The plan is potentially to promote someone from helpdesk or hire a junior staff member to support me. However, I'm curious about whether I should consider other paths, like just hiring another cloud specialist instead. I'm okay with the workload, but I'm unsure about available options. Management is an avenue I've thought about, but given our small team, I'm not sure if that's viable. Right now, I'll be juggling the duties of three people for the next six months, and I'd like to know if I've overlooked any other paths or opportunities.
Just as a note, we operate in a hybrid Windows environment and might transition to full Entra. I work from home and have gained respect from my boss and coworkers, so I'm considering all my options as I weigh this decision.
3 Answers
Honestly, internal promotions can be rare in many companies. Keeping your skills sharp and learning as much as you can gives you leverage to seek promotions elsewhere if needed. Just make sure the company values internal growth.
That's great to hear! It shows that there are some companies that do support growth.
Moving towards Cloud or DevOps roles is definitely a smart move these days! The IT job market is evolving, and having skills in these areas can open up a lot of opportunities for you, especially since you're already familiar with some of the responsibilities.
Thanks for the insight!
Consider looking into Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) roles. Many companies have shifted away from traditional Sysadmin roles, and SREs are in high demand. This could really broaden your career options and offer a more exciting work experience.
SRE? You mean Senior Engineer positions?
Funny enough, I've been promoted twice here, starting from helpdesk!