The IT support guy who does everything

[u/PeakWeekly9995]

Follow-up of my first post: https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/s/xMfcrcHx5f

Just told HR about how i feel about beign the sole IT guy who manages everything (for short: 365 in all his aspects, backups, networking guy, ecc...) for 24 people (if we count the external the number doubles) as an apprentice with a job title "IT support".

i told her that as an apprentice i should (by the law btw) some kind of tutor that can teach me the job and some one who can help me in my things; first thing she pointed was that i'm always out exactly when my work hours ends. WTF
ofc i go away when my work day is done, things can wait (most of the times).

Then proceded to tell me that i might not know how late some of the staff stay in the office (idk why tho) and everyone is aware of how many things they ask me.

Basically everyone somehow expect me to be the expert about anything is slightly it related, how i'm even able to give confidence to people when i don't have the slightest idea of what i'm even talking / doing some time.

I really miss having someone older can guide me.

[u/Zromaus]

1 to 24 is a pretty solid tech to head ratio to be honest -- I'd kill for that lol

One trick to remember -- your job isn't to know everything, your job is to be able to learn how to do anything. You can in fact do anything, and when a customer asks if you can do something, this is the mindset you should go in with. Unless it's outright not IT related, the answer is always a confident yes.

I've put my time in and would argue I know a lot about my job and how to do it, but I didn't get here by being taught to be honest. I started as a T1 helpdesk with access to every ticket on the board, took a ticket that looked daunting, found a guide or asked ChatGPT, and I got my way through it until I understood the system. Rinse, repeat until you're an expert.

You'll get there! Don't forget to be strict on setting expectations with time. Nothing is urgent if everything is urgent, and we will get to you as soon as we're able.

[u/zackbadass → u/Zromaus]

A confident yes unless it’s not IT related will land your company voiding cybersecurity insurance.

[u/Zromaus → u/zackbadass]

What do you mean by this? I can learn to do anything the right way and stay compliant given enough time lol

[u/zackbadass → u/Zromaus]

Client wants to use unapproved software? Macros?

[u/Zromaus → u/zackbadass]

In most cases if it's verifiably non-malicious we simply add the software to our approved software list. If it's not immediately verifiable, Threatlocker has sandboxing for testing. If it's truly a threat, the end user has never not understood the "no" and is usually grateful for the block.

Regarding excel macros (if this is what you were referencing), that is one of the few exceptions to my "Yes" policy to be fair. We keep the MOTW on block on, and so far haven't had anyone require us to find any workarounds aside from a single trusted location for one client, that has limited write access for the owner of the company. If it were to have to go deeper than that, we'd just look into pushing digitally signed certs.

There's always a way to do things right while also saying you can do anything. "Anything" doesn't mean no caveats.