I have nine years of IT experience, mainly in second-line support, although I've handled many third-line responsibilities. For the past two years my job title was Systems Engineer, supporting around 400 users across 11 international sites. In practice, the role included a lot of first- and second-line support, along with infrastructure work and projects.
My experience includes endpoint management, administering PRTG, Windows Server 2016–2022, Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, Group Policy, Hyper-V, joining roughly 200 devices to Entra ID, enrolling devices into Intune, onboarding them to Defender, auditing the company against Cyber Essentials, and upgrading some licensing servers. My weaker areas are advanced infrastructure troubleshooting, networking, backups, and PowerShell.
I've been unemployed for two months and have been rejected after six interviews. Sometimes I don't even reach the technical assessment stage. I find interviews much harder than normal workplace communication, and English is my second language, so that may be affecting my results.
I'm worried that my experience and communication style aren't strong enough for third-line or systems engineering roles. I'd prefer not to return permanently to second-line support, and I'm also concerned that being 46 puts me at a disadvantage. Has anyone been in a similar position and managed to move forward? What helped you improve your applications or interview performance?
4 Answers
Your experience sounds relevant to systems administration, but the job market is difficult right now. It may help to choose one area to specialise in, such as Microsoft cloud, Intune and Defender, Windows infrastructure, or networking. Build deeper practical experience there and consider a focused certification. Also ask for feedback after every interview; the issue might be something specific and fixable rather than your overall technical ability.
Your background is much closer to systems administration than pure second-line support. Make sure your CV and interview answers show what you owned, changed, and improved instead of describing yourself as someone who only assisted with tasks. Quantify the results where possible—for example, how many devices you migrated, what downtime you avoided, or how a project improved security or reliability.
Getting six interviews is actually evidence that your CV is getting you into the right conversation. The main problem may be interview performance rather than your age or technical background. Interviews get easier with practice, so rehearse common technical and behavioural questions and prepare concise examples using a situation, action, and result structure.
It’s also fine to say that you’re nervous or to take a few seconds before answering. Accept the drink, keep a notebook, write down keywords, and slow the conversation down slightly. That can help you organise your thoughts and express yourself clearly, especially when English is your second language. If you get stuck, explain how you would investigate the problem rather than trying to guess a perfect answer.
For third-line roles, try to emphasise the bigger picture: not just resolving a ticket, but finding the underlying cause, preventing repeat incidents, improving monitoring, documenting changes, and making systems more reliable. Practising mock interviews with someone you trust could make a significant difference.
Thanks, that makes sense. I’m comfortable communicating at work, but interviews create a lot more pressure, so I’ll focus on practising and giving more structured answers.
You’re definitely not alone. The technology job market has been weak in many countries, with more applicants competing for fewer roles. That means several rejections don’t necessarily indicate that you’re unqualified. Keep applying, but tailor each CV toward the actual role and target positions where your Microsoft, endpoint, identity, and Windows Server experience is a clear match.
That’s a useful point. I probably describe my work too much as general support instead of explaining the infrastructure responsibility and outcomes.