IT Administrator

Career Area: Information Technology

Occupation Group: Network and Systems Support

Salary

Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.

An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.

A typical IT Administrator earns the following wages (national and state):

State

The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $78,258

National

The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $74,746

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

Conducts administrative tasks designed to ensure a business' IT network, security systems and servers operate efficiently. Includes investigating and diagnosing network problems, configuring and installing updates. Provides first line IT help, sets up new users and manages security, passwords and backups. May collect IT usage statistics and monitor IT usage of business employees.

Employment Trends

The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.

Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:

Skills

A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:

Baseline Skills

The following are baseline skills every IT Administrator is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:

• Troubleshooting: Troubleshooting or dpanneuring is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system.
• Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
• Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.
• Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
• Microsoft Office: Microsoft Office is an office suite of applications, servers, and services developed by Microsoft.

Specialized Skills

These skills are specific to working in this career:

• Technical Support: Technical support (often shortened to tech support) refers to a plethora of services by which enterprises provide assistance to users of technology products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other informatic, electronic or mechanical goods.
• SQL: SQL ( ESS-kew-EL or SEE-kwl, Structured Query Language) is a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system (RDBMS), or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS).
• Microsoft Active Directory: Working experience of Microsoft Active Directory, which is a directory service that Microsoft developed for Windows domain networks. It is included in most Windows Server operating systems as a set of processes and services and is an umbrella title for a broad range of directory-based identity-related services. Active Directory stores information about objects on the network and makes this information easy for administrators and users to find and use. Active Directory uses a structured data store as the basis for a logical, hierarchical organization of directory information. A set of rules, the schema, that defines the classes of objects and attributes contained in the directory, the constraints and limits on instances of these objects, and the format of their names.
• System Administration: A system administrator, or sysadmin, is a person who is responsible for the upkeep, configuration, and reliable operation of computer systems; especially multi-user computers, such as servers.
• Linux: Linux (pronounced LIN-ks or, less frequently, LYN-ks) is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open-source software development and distribution.

Distinguishing Skills

Any IT Administrator that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:

• Microsoft PowerShell: PowerShell (including Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core) is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on the .NET Framework and .NET Core.
• Informatica: Informatica is a software development company founded in 1993.
• Wide Area Network (WAN): A wide area network (WAN) is a telecommunications network or computer network that extends over a large geographical distance.
• Application Support: Experience providing technical support for software applications and technologies to a specific target audience, according to the needs of a business.
• Computer Installation and Setup: Working experience installing software, device drivers, plugins and making a computer operational for use by setting up the hardware and software parts of the machine.

Experience

This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Common Job Titles

It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:

• It Administrator
• Application Administrator
• Hris Administrator
• Desktop Administrator
• Sas Administrator

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring similar occupations, you may want to research the following job titles:

• Systems Administrator
• Unix Administrator / Engineer