What does a Network and Computer Systems Administrator do?

Install, configure, and maintain an organization's local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), data communications network, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers. Day to day that includes work like maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments, including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations and Perform data backups and disaster recovery operations.

What skills should a Network and Computer Systems Administrator put on a resume?

O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, Reading Comprehension, Systems Analysis, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Network and Computer Systems Administrator list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Access management software, Active directory software, Adexa eGPS Suite, Adobe Acrobat, and Adobe ActionScript. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Network and Computer Systems Administrator work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Information Technology Specialist, IT Specialist, Local Area Network Administrator, and LAN Administrator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Network and Computer Systems Administrator need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 52% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Network and Computer Systems Administrator role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Network and Computer Systems Administrator resume example

A resume for a Network and Computer Systems Administrator needs to show the work itself: install, configure, and maintain an organization's local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), data communications network, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers. Day to day that means work like this: maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments, including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations; perform data backups and disaster recovery operations. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Information Technology Specialist
IT Specialist
Local Area Network Administrator
LAN Administrator
Network Administrator
Systems Administrator
Information Analyst
LAN Specialist
Local Area Network Specialist
Network Coordinator
Network Manager
Admin
AI Security Specialist
IS Coordinator
IT Administrator
IT Technical Support Specialist
CCIE
IT Systems Admin

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

Information Technology Specialist (IT Specialist)
LAN Specialist (Local Area Network Specialist)
Local Area Network Administrator (LAN Administrator)

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments, including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations.
Perform data backups and disaster recovery operations.
Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve hardware, software, or other network and system problems, and replace defective components when necessary.
Configure, monitor, and maintain email applications or virus protection software.
Operate master consoles to monitor the performance of computer systems and networks and to coordinate computer network access and use.
Monitor network performance to determine whether adjustments are needed and where changes will be needed in the future.
Plan, coordinate, and implement network security measures to protect data, software, and hardware.
Analyze equipment performance records to determine the need for repair or replacement.
Confer with network users about solutions to existing system problems.
Recommend changes to improve systems and network configurations, and determine hardware or software requirements related to such changes.
Design, configure, and test computer hardware, networking software and operating system software.
Perform routine network startup and shutdown procedures, and maintain control records.

20 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments, including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Perform data backups and disaster recovery operations, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve hardware, software, or other network and system problems, and replace defective components when necessary, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Configure, monitor, and maintain email applications or virus protection software, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Access management software
Active directory software
Adexa eGPS Suite
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe ActionScript
Adobe Dreamweaver
Advanced business application programming ABAP
AJAX
Amazon DynamoDB
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2
Amazon Redshift
Amazon Simple Storage Service S3
Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormation
Amazon Web Services AWS software

266 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Asynchronous transfer mode ATM analyzers
Bit error rate testers BERT
Cable verifiers
Communications analyzers
Computer tool kits
Desktop computers
Load balancers
Mainframe computers
Network analyzers
Network switches
Notebook computers
Optical spectrum analyzers

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

TCP/IP
Cisco
firewalls
VPN
network monitoring
troubleshooting
DNS
AWS
Ansible
Bash

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Critical Thinking
02Judgment and Decision Making
03Reading Comprehension
04Systems Analysis
05Active Listening
06Complex Problem Solving
07Monitoring
08Systems Evaluation
09Troubleshooting
10Programming

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Computers and Electronics
English Language
Customer and Personal Service
Engineering and Technology
Telecommunications
Mathematics
Administrative

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

52%Bachelor's Degree
20%Associate's Degree
10%Master's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Network and Computer Systems Administrator do?: Install, configure, and maintain an organization's local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), data communications network, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers. Day to day that includes work like maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments, including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations and Perform data backups and disaster recovery operations.
What skills should a Network and Computer Systems Administrator put on a resume?: O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Judgment and Decision Making, Reading Comprehension, Systems Analysis, and Active Listening among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Network and Computer Systems Administrator list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Access management software, Active directory software, Adexa eGPS Suite, Adobe Acrobat, and Adobe ActionScript. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Network and Computer Systems Administrator work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Information Technology Specialist, IT Specialist, Local Area Network Administrator, and LAN Administrator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Network and Computer Systems Administrator need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 52% reported their level of education as "Bachelor's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Network and Computer Systems Administrator role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.