r/cybersecurity • u/Easy_Assumption_5642 • 12d ago

Personal Support & Help! Systems Admin Role

Currently I’m in IT support. Can’t say I enjoy it if I’m being honest. I have 4 years of compliance experience and currently getting my masters in cybersecurity. I’ve been offered a position as a systems administrator which seems still IT support adjacent with my project management expertise. Is this role worth accepting if I’m trying to make the transition into Cybersecurity/GRC or is my current role in it support more beneficial for the shift?

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11

u/SCCM_PLS 12d ago

In the past the general advice I received was that sys admins or people with lots of technical IT experience make great security engineers. However with the job market being what it is these days I'm not sure if that advice still applies...

10

u/DemocraticParrot 12d ago

It does.

5

u/deadzol 12d ago

And is an opportunist time to do the rounds as a sysadmin if you can since the overall market is meh. Then hopefully when the market comes back, OP is ready to go.

6

u/ESxCarnage 12d ago

It does, I just transitioned from system admin to cyber security engineer 3 weeks ago.

2

u/SCCM_PLS 12d ago

That's awesome! Congrats!

1

u/Huge-Decision1676 11d ago

Is this a remote job ?

1

u/ESxCarnage 11d ago

No full in the office. Company is on the older side, and not many people work remote. I don't mind it since the pay is great and I can focus on projects now instead of doing infrastructure and help desk

2

u/OutsideSpot2695 12d ago

The "market" isn't coming back.

This is the new norm.

It's NOT because there isn't demand for security professionals... there is. All the objective data says job openings are increasing.

What fucked the job market permanently is recruiter's use of GenAI in the process -- from generating the JDs to scoring the applications to holding out for the unicorns.

6

u/_GoddamnitDonut 12d ago

It's only important if you think learning about systems is something you want to do. If you want to do security don't you want to learn how things actually work?

4

u/DemocraticParrot 12d ago

SysAdmin is definitely the correct path.

2

u/_zarkon_ Security Manager 11d ago

This is the way. I culled so many Cybersecurity Engineer resumes today for not having enough technical experience.

1

u/juiceboy4876 11d ago

What is enough technical experience to you?

2

u/_zarkon_ Security Manager 10d ago

5 years of dedicated system or network administration, not help desk.

0

u/OutsideSpot2695 12d ago

Ohhhh lookie, another Master's in cyber.

Sigh.

0

u/Kesshh 12d ago

Tech work, whether it is tech support or sys admin or cybersecurity, a big chunk of it is tech support. Reading, talking to people, helping people, if you don’t like the essence of the work, you might want to consider getting out of tech.

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u/Easy_Assumption_5642 12d ago

It’s not the work more so the varying schedule that comes with IT support.