First IT job - Network Administrator?

Question

First IT job - Network Administrator?

Answer 1

1) You should expect to meet your boss and the rest of the team. One or more of those individuals will serve as your mentor to guarantee that you are not put in a position to fail. Remember, its their job to make sure that you learn your job, because if you screw up, their boss will blame them.



2 + 3) Ask your trainer what books you should be reading to learn your job. Follow through by reading those books and ask the questions about topics that you do not understand. Ask about coursework that the company might pay for to aid in your advancement.



4) IT is a constant learning curve. When you stop trying, you get left behind. The more you learn, the quicker you learn it, the better equipped you will be to be the boss one day. When you can afford it, set up your own network at home.... so you can make mistakes on your time and learn how to avoid them on the company's time.

Answer 2

Unless they're either really cruel or were desperate for IT help your first week probably won't be that bad. The first thing you should be asking is what's expected of you service wise. Like how are support requests received, processed and responded to? How fast are you expected to respond? IT questions you might ask are: Are all the sites connected, and, if so, how (site to site VPN)? How many servers are you supporting? Is there a remote support solution (i.e. LogMeIn, VNC, etc.) in place for end users? How and when are backups performed? Just find out as much as you can about the infrastructure.

Answer 3

Well I suppose I'm not really sure what you'd expect because every boss is different... -___-

You should ask your trainer anything you're not sure of. Mistakes can be severe depending on what you're doing but better safe than sorry.

Answer 4

1. Chaos. At least in your head, but don't show it. First week is learning more about where you work than what you'll be doing.



2. Find out how things are done now, especially concerning support for the remote locations and the employees.



3. Ask for the diagram of the network - see what monitoring tools they have and get familiar. Look at the service history of the network and see what areas are problematic and get your skills together for that. Ask about policies and security - learn them all better than anyone else, and enforce them religiously.



4. You should get a feel for how "tight" a shop they run rather quickly. Understand what makes your boss(es) successful and be sure you are doing those things that will support their efforts. Always be ready to learn something new and NEVER turn down an opportunity - even if it's beyond your immediate scope, you can make your limitations known and still be offered opportunities to be involved in what's next and what's cool.



Be calm, cool and collected and watch what goes on, then insert yourself where you see a maximum benefit for you and your group - everyone loves it when everyone is successful. Your place in the pack will define itself.



And don't be a dinkus to your end users - remember, if they've had to reach out to you, their job is messed up because of "your" systems. A little grace under pressure goes light-years. You'd be surprised how many remote users with business-level responsibilities will drop your name - good or bad - to the people they work for.



Good luck!!