System Administrator Resume - The Complete 2023 Guide with 10+ Examples

Here's everything you need in a System administrator resume.

With the world becoming more tech-savvy and internet dependent, the role of a System Administrator is becoming increasingly valuable.

Despite the demand, the position of an entry-level system administrator is highly competitive. When it comes to managing systems, recruiters have some particular requirements that they want in a candidate.

And in today's world, meeting these requirements is not enough. You need to endorse your capabilities on-paper too. This is why you need to optimize your system administrator resume.

And here's the best part:

We are here to help you with it. All you have to do is follow this guide.

System Adminstrator Resume Sample

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Before we begin, here's our system administrator resume sample illustrating the perfect system administrator resume.

Here's a summary of our System Administrator Resume Blog:

• Do not write a generic resume for all your target jobs. Customize your resume according to each job listing that you're targeting.
• Do not use paragraphs to compose your resume. Use one-liner points instead. Doing this increases the readability of your resume.
• Group similar points under unique subheadings and highlight the key achievements under each point using bolding. This increases the effectiveness of your resume.
• Use the date & month format for all sections in your system administrator resume.
• If you're applying for a job in your country of residence, write your location using city/month format. For job applications abroad, use the city/country format.

That's not all.

With this blog, you'll be able to compose a stellar sysadmin resume without any help.

By the end of this blog, you'll be able to write an impeccable resume from scratch and you will learn:

• How to effectively compose an ATS-targeted sysadmin resume.
• How to write a shortlist-worthy system administrator resume from scratch.
• Which font size to use for each section of your resume.
• How long your resume should be.
  . . . All so you can write a job-winning system administrator resume!

Employers have very specific requirements about who they want in charge of managing their systems. This is why administrator resumes must be thorough and detailed in the way it outlines your qualifications.

A recruiter will usually expect the proper qualifications of a sysadmin resume. But our sample Systems Administrator resume incorporates special points that are explained in the following sections.

Before preparing your sysadmin resume do not forget to check out Hiration's valuable reference tool. Or you may use our online resume builder for a professional resume making experience.

The following sections take you through the journey of building your professional sysadmin resume.

What is a System Administrator Resume & why do you need it?

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The road to landing the job begins with your resume.

With a concise document like the system admin resume, you can talk all about all the things that make your fit for your dream job.

Your resume is a compact document that illustrates your system administrator skills. Your skills need to be powerfully projected in your resume so that you have the best shot at getting shortlisted.

In simple terms, you need your system administrator resume to get shortlisted for your dream sysadmin job.

Now all you have to do is optimize your resume!

But this isn't easy as most recruiters today have started relying on the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to simplify their recruitment needs.

The higher you rank in the ATS, the higher are your chances of a shortlist.

Thus, you need to write an ATS-optimized system administrator resume.

While this isn't an easy thing to do, with our blog, it is attainable.

So read on to learn the tricks of composing an ATS-compliant resume!

A system administrator resume template like the one on Hiration's Online Resume Builder might be just-the-thing you need in case you're running short of time.

This comes with our Online Resume Builder and can be easily modified to suit your professional needs.

Who reads the System Administrator Resume?

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We expect an explosion from an action film while we expect a romantic film to be hopelessly romantic.

Similarly, we need to write a resume according to its audience.

System Admin Resume writing is difficult because of its two types of audience.

After your resume gets parsed through the ATS, the non-technical HR clerk receives your system admin resume first. Once it gets past the clerk, it reaches the desk of your prospective employer.

Your system admin resume should have elements tailored w.r.t. both these people.

1. The HR

A non-technical HR clerk is the first person who sees your system admin resume. The HR clerk reads more than 10,000 resumes a day corresponding to a list of all available positions.

The HR arranges a pile of resumes according to the vacant positions. You need to ensure that your system admin resume belongs to one of those piles.

However, the clerk doesn't know the difference between Solaris and UNIX. He mostly reads the introductory part of all resumes.

So, to cater to your advantage, write a strong system admin resume summary and a "Key Skills" section customized for the job you are targeting.

Do not just write "Solaris 2.6", but write what you have achieved using that particular program.

2. The Hiring Manager

Each pile is then given to a recruiter or the person who does understand the technology and who you will probably be working with.

So the rest of your sysadmin resume must be crafted in a language that best suits them.

System Administrator Resume Job Description

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System Administrators provide clients with on-site support regarding server and network issues.

They are responsible for a company’s network of computers by ensuring that the employees have adequate access to the computer network and that their software packages are running at optimal levels. They are responsible for troubleshooting to help fix network or computer problems.

So, your resume should showcase how you are responsible for keeping the business workflow run smoothly and efficiently.

Alongside this, your system administrator resume should reflect knowledge of operating systems, database management, administrator tools, and other programming or computer tech principles.

How to write a System Administrator Resume?

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Writing the perfect system admin resume requires the following stages:

• Master System Administrator Resume
• First Draft of System Administrator Resume
• Final System Administrator Resume

Master System Administrator Resume

The first stage of resume-writing includes making the master resume.

When you compose the master resume, all you have to do is compile information in one place. Doing this ensures that your system administrator resume has all the information it needs.

This goes on to see that you don't have to explicitly look for information.

This helps achieve the two-fold objective that we have elaborated below:

• Resume writing in the present: Composing a master resume helps you effectively curate your resume in the present as you have a library of information with you.

• Resume update in the future: Since you don't have to explicitly look for information, making a master resume ensures that you can update your resume in the future as well.

First Draft of System Administrator Resume

As part of this stage of resume-writing, you should compose the sections that we have mentioned below:

• Header
• Personal Information
• Profile Title
• Professional Experience
• Education
• Certifications (if any)
• Additional Information (if any)

Final Draft of System Administrator Resume

As part of this stage, you should conclude your resume by composing the sections we have mentioned below:

• Key skills section: This is to be composed right before you compose the resume summary or objective of your sysadmin resume.

• Summary/Objective section: This is to be composed at the end after you have concluded the rest of your resume.

System Administrator Resume Sections

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A perfect sysadmin resume should purposefully compile all the basic sections of your resume. For instance, your sysadmin resume should include the following sections:

• Header
• Personal Information
• Profile Title
• Objective/Summary
• Key Skills
• Professional Experience
• Education
• Certifications (if any)
• Additional Information (if any)

System Administrator Resume: Header

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Your resume header is an extremely important component of your sysadmin resume.

Here are some basic things that you should know about resume headers to help you write an impeccable one:

• Do not write "CV" or "resume" as your resume header as this is implicit in your resume. Moreover, doing this will be seen as unprofessional.
• As a rule, you should always title your resume header with your real full name. For instance, if your name is Margaret Thatcher, write your resume header as "Margaret Thatcher". This gives your resume an individual identity and life of its very own.
• Your resume header should be written in the largest font size of 16-20 point size.
• Leave a single space between your first name and last name.
• If you have a middle name, just include the first initial of your middle name in capital letters between your first name and last name. Eg: If your name is Margaret Melody Thatcher, your resume header should be "Margaret M. Thatcher".

To learn more about resume headers, read Hiration’s 2023 Guide To Writing The Perfect Resume Header. This blog will give you an in-depth insight on resume headers and how to best perfect it.

Here's a system administrator resume sample showcasing the perfect resume header:

System Administrator Resume: Personal Information

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The personal information section of your sysadmin resume consists of basic contact details about you. This helps a recruiter get in touch with you.

Given below are the three things that you should include in this section of your resume:

• Mobile Number: Use the mobile number on which you are available 24X7.
• Email Address: Always submit a professional email ID and avoid childish emails like mellow.margaret@xyz.com. Instead, use this email ID: margaret.thatcher@xyz.com.
• Location: Write your city and state name in your resume in city/state format.

To learn more about this section, head right over to Hiration's 2023 Guide to composing your contact information.

Given below is our system administrator resume sample illustrating the perfect personal information section for your sysadmin resume.

System Administrator Resume: Profile Title

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Your profile title is another important component of your system administrator resume. It holds important information about your professional life such as your current designation and your level of seniority in your functional industry.

This is why you need to perfect your profile title.

Here's what you can do to accomplish this:

• Write it in the font size of 14-16 points.
• As a rule of thumb, only use your latest professional designation as the profile title of your system administrator resume.

Given below is a system administrator resume sample illustrating the perfect profile title for your resume:

System Administrator Resume: Professional Experience

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The work experience section is no place to be humble. This section is your platform to shine because the professional experience section is the one place where you give a detailed overview of your career.

It includes important information such as:

• Organizations you have worked
• Duration of your career in each organization
• Your roles & responsibilities in each organization

This is why you need to be very articulate and effective while compiling this section.

Here are the 3 things that you can do to make the most of this section:

• Use the STAR format
• Use one-liner points
• Use Bucketing & Bolding

STAR Format

The STAR format is universally recognized as the ideal format for structuring the professional experience section.

The STAR in the STAR format stands for:

• S: Situation a.k.a the situation/backdrop/context of your contributions
• T: Task a.k.a the actual task that was assigned to you
• A: Action a.k.a the strategy you used to execute the assigned task
• R: Result a.k.a the result/outcome of your action in the form of an achievement figure

Using this format helps you establish a cause-effect relationship. This helps you explain the reason behind your actions and the resultant outcome of your actions.

Moreover, using achievement figures makes your roles more meaningful as you can demonstrate the extent of your professional contributions using numbers.

Framing Points

When it comes to writing an impeccable resume, you need to ensure that your sysadmin resume is well-organized. It should be easy to read and easier to comprehend.

This is why you should always compose your resume using one-liner points.

This makes your resume reader-friendly and increases the chances of a recruiter evaluating your resume in its entirety.

Bucketing & Bolding

An impeccable resume that is readable will not do enough to attract and sustain a recruiter's attention.

Given the fact that most recruiters tend to spend just about 6 seconds on a resume, you must make their job a little easier and make the information as effective and easily consumable as possible.

You can accomplish this by bucketing & bolding.

Bucketing is the practice of grouping similar points under unique subheadings whereas bolding is the practice of endorsing the highlights of your achievements in each point.

Bucketing your points enables the recruiter to quickly identify your roles & responsibilities and bolding directs the recruiter's attention to your career highlights without having to explicitly look for it.

Thus, you should use bolding & bucketing in your resume.

System Administrator Resume Sample for Professional Experience Section

To learn more about this section and how to optimize it, read Hiration's Blog on how to compose the work experience in your resume.

Given below is a system administrator resume example illustrating the perfect professional experience section for your resume:

System Administrator Resume: Certifications

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Certifications can act as tie-breakers when you're combating with other professionals head-to-head. This is why you should add your certifications in your resume.

Seeing you list your certifications will automatically pass off as an attribute of a qualified professional with the relevant certifications to any recruiter who is evaluating your resume.

To learn more about certifications and how to endorse them in your resume, read Hiration's 2023 Guide on listing certifications on a resume.

Given below is a system administrator resume sample showcasing the ideal certifications section for your resume:

System Administrator Resume Key Sections

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System Administrator Resume: Key Skills

An efficient System Administrator possesses expert knowledge of specific computer/computing systems. This knowledge spans to database management tools, programming languages, most common operating systems, and more specific networking competencies.

The point is, you need to list them down in a separate key skills section. This will help your skills stand out which will help a recruiter to easily identify your skills and proficiency.

Here's what you can do to perfect this section:

• Compose this section after composing the professional experience section as this helps you easily identify the relevant points.
• Try to organically incorporate the keywords used by the recruiter in your target job listing. While you do this, make sure that you're not blatantly cut-copy-pasting them in this section but only thoughtfully listing those keywords that you have actual expertise in.

To learn more about the key skills section and how to optimize it, refer to Hiration's 2023 Guide on what skills to put on a resume to get a better understanding of how to efficiently curate this section.

Given below is our sysadmin resume sample illustrating the perfect key skills section for your resume.

System Administrator Resume: Summary/Objective

Should you write a resume summary or an objective? Read on to find out:

• A system admin resume summary works for old hands. Use it if you've got terabytes of experience.
• A system admin resume objective is for fresh graduates. Use it if your work history has yet to be configured.
• Both a summary and an objective should be 3-5 lines long. It should not exceed the 5 line limit as it unnecessarily elongates your resume.
• Either way, your goal is to communicate your professional expertise and to show what you can do to benefit the organization that you are targeting.
• To learn more about resume summaries and how to perfect them, read Hiration's 2023 Resume Summary Guide.
• To learn how to effectively articulate your proficiency in a resume objective, read Hiration's 2023 Guide on Resume Objectives.

Refer to the system administrator resume example below to learn what an ideal summary should look like:

Resume Review & Free System Administrator Resume Templates

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You can never write an impeccable resume if you fail to identify the flaws in your resume.

With our Resume Review Service, your resume will be evaluated using the following parameters:

• Compliance with industry norms
• Content Relevance
• Recruiter Friendliness
• Design Compatibility
• Conversion Scope
• ATS Compliance
• Global Compatibility
• Performance Assessment
• Resume Formatting (font, margins, the order of sections, etc.)

And here's the catch:

You will get 2 resume templates for free!

Resume Builder for System Administrator Resume

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Are you running short of time?

Is resume-writing too overwhelming?

Do you want an impactful sysadmin resume without having to worry about every small detail?

Our Online Resume Builder can help.

Moreover, it comes with the below-mentioned resources:

• Option to save unlimited resumes
• 25+ resume designs
• Full rich-text editor
• Unlimited PDF downloads
• 100+ resume templates
• 1-click design change
• A sharable link
• Live resume editor

Key Takeaways

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• Use the reverse chronological format to structure your resume. This helps keep your resume relevant.
• Use the month & year format across all sections in your sysadmin resume.
• Start every point with a power verb.
• Use power verbs in the past tense for past profiles and present continuous tense for current profiles.
• Use the bolding & bucketing to enhance the effectiveness of your resume.
• Do not write lengthy paragraphs. Instead, use one-liner points that have a cause-effect relationship and quantify your achievements wherever possible.
• Write a summary if you have over 3 years of relevant work experience. Write an objective if you have less work experience than 3 years.
• Accurately present the details of the personal information section of your resume.

With this, you have reached the end of this blog.

Say hi at team@hiration.com to resolve any queries.