I've been a Level 1 help desk technician at a corporate company for a little over three years, and I'm trying to move toward systems administration. Our new IT director knows that's my goal, but budget limitations probably mean there won't be an opening until next year.
She recently asked me to investigate a process that distributes backup medical files from a third-party relay to computers at each facility. A PowerShell script currently reads a CSV file to determine which computer at each site should receive the files. Clinical leadership now wants two computers at every facility to have them.
After testing and documenting the current setup, I found that it only supports one destination per site as written. I think I can modify the script and CSV format to support multiple machines. My PowerShell skills are still fairly basic, but I understand the existing code and have already built a small test version on my personal computer.
The problem is that my director originally preferred not to modify the existing script, and I'm worried about taking responsibility for breaking an important backup process. I would test everything in a controlled environment and create a rollback plan, but I'm still only classified as Level 1. The company's former systems administrators were replaced by an outsourced provider, and the provider either doesn't support this process or doesn't understand it well enough to help.
The company also recently let go of a senior device administrator who had been there for years. I had worked with him and have been shadowing the junior device administrator since then. A new job posting is open for a "Senior Systems Administrator," although the listed requirements sound much more like the former device administrator role. I'm interested in applying, but the junior administrator is more qualified and is located near the office where the position is based, while I've previously been denied promotions because I work elsewhere.
Should I build and propose the script change, or is this too far outside my role and pay grade? How can I protect myself while still getting credit for the work? And should I ask the director about the apparently mismatched job title?
5 Answers
Don’t take ownership of the risk alone. Document what you found, explain why the current setup can’t meet the requirement, and present the modified script as a proposal rather than deploying it yourself. Include test results, a dry-run mode if possible, a rollback plan, and a clear request for approval. That lets you demonstrate higher-level skills without going rogue.
A safer design might be to leave the existing transfer to the primary machine in place, then add a separate secondary transfer and auditing step. Run it in dry-run mode for a while so you can confirm the destinations and identify failures before anything changes in production.
This organization seems to have been cutting back on internal IT for a while, so advancement may remain limited regardless of how capable you are. Keep developing the skills, document this project for your résumé, and apply elsewhere for Level 2, device administration, or junior systems administration roles. Don’t wait indefinitely for this company to create a path that it has repeatedly blocked.
The job title may simply reflect the new director’s terminology, so I wouldn’t frame it as a correction. Ask whether the posting is intentionally focused on device administration and whether internal candidates are eligible. Even if you aren’t the strongest applicant, applying or expressing interest puts you on the director’s radar.
Build a proof of concept using copies of the script and CSV, and test it against two virtual machines or other non-production targets. Once the multiple-destination logic works, adding more hosts should be fairly straightforward. Keep the existing production process untouched until the change has been reviewed and approved.
That’s probably fair. Opportunities have been scarce since I started, and my previous supervisor tried unsuccessfully to get me into a Level 2 role before leaving. I’ll keep working on this project, but I should probably restart my job search too.