I'm currently a senior systems administrator at an MSP, but the company recently went through a leadership change and I'm concerned its future may be unstable. Most of my day-to-day work involves Entra, Intune, and Microsoft 365, and I'm already working on improving my PowerShell skills. What other technical or professional skills would be worth learning or brushing up on before I start looking for my next role?
5 Answers
Infrastructure as code would be a strong addition. Learn the fundamentals of Terraform and a platform for managing deployments or infrastructure workflows. Even basic experience with version control, reusable configuration, and automated changes can help you move toward cloud, DevOps, or platform engineering roles.
PowerShell is a great fit for Windows and endpoint administration, but adding Python and Jinja would broaden your options. They’re useful for automation, configuration management, and working with Linux or mixed environments. It’s also worth getting comfortable supporting macOS, since more organizations now use Macs alongside Windows rather than treating them as a niche platform.
If you work for an MSP, understanding how to explain business value and identify additional solutions can help. You don’t need to become overly sales-focused, but being able to connect technical recommendations to cost, risk, and customer outcomes is useful in senior positions.
Don’t overlook soft skills: communicating clearly with customers and coworkers, staying calm under pressure, adapting when priorities change, and setting boundaries instead of agreeing to everything. Those skills transfer well to almost any IT role.
Networking knowledge is valuable, even beyond configuring switches, firewalls, and cables. Building relationships, communicating with stakeholders, and knowing when to push back can make a big difference in your career.
So networking with people, not just devices? That’s probably an area I could improve too.