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 about that goal, but budget limitations may prevent a formal move 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 an internal CSV file to determine which computer at each site receives the files. Clinical staff now want two computers at every location to receive them.
After testing and documenting the current setup, I found that it only supports one destination per site as written. The script is clean enough that I think I could modify it, along with the CSV format, to support multiple machines. My PowerShell skills are still fairly basic, although I understand the existing code and have successfully experimented with a small test script and sample CSV on my own computer.
I'm concerned about making changes because my director originally preferred not to modify the existing script, and I'm still officially an L1 technician. If a change disrupted the backup process, I would be taking on significant risk. I would test everything in a controlled environment and prepare a rollback plan, but I'm unsure how much responsibility I should accept without formal authority or support.
Our in-house systems administrators were replaced by an outsourced provider, and the provider either does not have access to this process or does not understand it. I also recently lost a senior device administrator who had been mentoring me. The company has posted a new position titled Senior Systems Administrator, but the listed duties appear to match the former device administrator role. I'm unsure whether to point that out, apply for it, or focus on finding opportunities elsewhere.
What would be the safest and smartest way to handle the script project while also using it to demonstrate that I'm ready for higher-level work?
5 Answers
Build a proof of concept using a copy of the script and test virtual machines. Once the multiple-destination logic works, you can validate it with additional hosts without touching production. Keep the current process intact, document your changes, and make rollback as simple as restoring the original destination configuration.
Do the technical work, but don’t accept the production risk alone. Prepare the modified script, test results, dry-run output, documentation, and a rollback plan, then present it to your director as a proposal. She can approve the production change and own the business decision. That approach demonstrates L2/L3 judgment without going rogue.
Try not to get too attached to the L1 label. Your actual knowledge and the quality of your work matter more than the title. Still, the company’s history of outsourcing and eliminating experienced IT staff suggests internal advancement may remain limited, so keep building your skills and apply elsewhere at the same time.
A safer design might leave the current transfer to the primary machine unchanged and add a separate transfer step for the secondary machines. Run the new portion in audit or dry-run mode first so you can confirm what it would do before allowing it to copy anything. Get written approval before releasing it.
You can ask about the job posting without correcting anyone: mention that the responsibilities look similar to the former device administrator role and ask whether that is intentional. You may not be the strongest candidate today, but applying or discussing the role can still signal interest and clarify what skills you need next.
That makes sense. Internal opportunities have been limited for a long time, so I’ll probably keep applying elsewhere while I continue developing the skills this project requires.