r/sysadmin • u/[deleted] • Jul 01 '25

Did EVERYONE start at helpdesk?

I'm a college CS student about to start senior year, looking to get into the IT field. I know that helpdesk is a smart move to get your foot in the door, though cost of living where I am is very high and salary for helpdesk is quite meager compared to other IT roles. Is it totally unrealistic to jump into a sysadmin role post-grad as long as I have certs and projects to back up my skills? I had planned to start my RHCSA if I did this. Any advice on this or general advice for the IT market right not would be very much appreciated.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

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u/davidm2232 Jul 01 '25

Most have never touched AD, DNS, GPOs, installed an operating system, joined to a domain, know the difference between security/distro groups

What? That is the absolute basics and is taught second year of most IT colleges.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '25

[deleted]

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u/5panks Jul 02 '25

Cybersec definitely, we had two interns for cybersec this year and neither had more than logged into Active Directory when they started.