A lot of the comments here are about technical detail. But knowing the technical details is just a prerequisite. Half the job is having a sense for technologie

A lot of the comments here are about technical detail. But knowing the technical details is just a prerequisite. Half the job is having a sense for technologies. * You will have projects dropped on you that you literally never heard of 24 hours before, and you will be expected to be able to support them. ... and, with some experience, you will. * People will come to you with great new technologies! ... that you'll get a sense of disaster about. You will need to articulate your concerns in a manner that doesn't piss off everyone invested in the bad idea. * Be humble, don't turn into an expert beginner. (Look that up.) * Find other sysadmins to drink and bitch about work with. Your geekosphere will keep you balanced, help your career and be a vital source of info. Politics is the other half of the job, even though you're expected to be a consummate techie. Treat every email as a press communication, it'll be picked over like one. * This is not a technology festival, it's an organisation that does something. Always look from that angle. * The BOFH stories are stories. Nobody, anywhere, actually wants to deal with the grumpy BOFH, in any circumstance. I have been a sysadmin for 15 years. I fully expect to be gainfully employed until age 100 if I want to, because even in the future, nothing works.