I spent about nine months as an IT support intern at my current company and was recently promoted to junior IT administrator. I'm pleased with the progress, but my current salary isn't enough for my goals. I'd like to build stronger skills, earn useful certifications, and eventually move into a better-paying role. Which areas should I focus on next, and how should I plan my career development?
4 Answers
Choose two or three areas that genuinely interest you and explore them deeply. Good options could include networking, server and cloud infrastructure, identity, security, or automation. Once one area stands out, work toward a relevant certification and try to gain hands-on experience. You can also look for a weakness or unmet need on your current team, then develop the skills to help solve it. A supportive manager may give you time and projects to practice.
Don’t wait too long to test the job market. Early in an IT career, changing companies can produce a much larger salary increase than waiting for internal raises. Keep building experience, but apply for roles periodically so you understand what your skills are worth. Staying in one role for too many years can also limit your exposure to different tools and ways of working.
Agreed. People in equivalent positions can earn dramatically different salaries at different companies, so it’s worth comparing opportunities instead of assuming loyalty will automatically be rewarded.
Since you didn’t mention your current certifications or technical experience, start by listing the platforms and tasks you already handle. Then compare that list with job postings for the roles you want. Use the gaps to choose certifications and projects rather than collecting credentials randomly. Keep gaining practical experience while preparing, and treat certifications as support for your hands-on skills—not a substitute for them.
Identity and access management would be a strong direction. Learn traditional Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, authentication, permissions, and the security practices used to protect identities. This knowledge connects support, administration, cloud services, and security, so it can open several career paths. Automation with PowerShell or similar tools would also help you eliminate repetitive work and take on larger projects.
I’d add responsible use of AI tools as well. They won’t replace understanding the systems, but used carefully they can speed up research, troubleshooting, documentation, and scripting.
That’s especially important early on. Try not to get too comfortable doing things only one way—moving between environments can make you much more versatile.