2 People IT environment

[Murugs]

I am senior network admin and a junior system admin will be joining in 2 weeks and will be reporting to me.

I have been doing all the IT work and now I need help and hence the hiring. My question how is the work being split in this kind of 2 people IT environments.

 

[gbaughma]

When I had an assistant, he would do stuff like printer jams, dirty mice, etc. and leave the administration and programming to me.

I had a good rapport with him; I told him "I trust you to take care of it. I also expect that if you are in over your head, you won't 'Guess', you'll call me instead."

He would, it worked, it was great.



Just my 2¢
"Life gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste." -Bonnie Raitt "Nick of Time"
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[AlexCuse]

Gradually, I would expect the junior guy to contribute more and more. You should give him plenty of opportunities to prove himself, so that eh can take on new tasks and not get bored. This will make things easier on you, and eventually you will be able to do things like take vacation even [gasp!]

Most important is that he not 'guess', and that he knows he can come to you for guidance and instruction when faced with a difficult problem.

Good Luck,

Alex

Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom

 

[attrofy]

Aside from the other two suggestions, think of what will make your workload easier and reserve your time for the more "important" tasks, that only you should (or could) handle. I am sure there are some "non-essential essentials" that you attend to everyday that have to be done and require more of your time then you care to give, but don't require crittical attention. These are good starting points to ease the assistant into more meaningful duties, while still making him/her a value and not just a warm body.

 

[traingamer]

If you already know some of his/her strengths and weaknesses, schedule the early work accordingly.
If you do not, use the first few weeks to assess skills. You'll soon figure out that they can add users with no supervision, but need help with samba configuration (or whatever). As the supervisor, you get to decide. That's the fun and scary part if you've never been a supervisor before.
Sometimes they know more than you about something and you can learn as well.

Greg
"Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught." - Winston Churchill

 

[aarenot]

I would suggest having a heart to heart with the person out of the gate. Let them know that you are going to work them into more areas over time.

let them know that at first things will be more mundane, but as you see their skills, and areas they excel in, they will open up more doors.

Seeing what they demonstrate competency at will take time away from your day. I suggest making a skill list, check them off as you see competency, and use it as a tool to open up areas for them. It is also a good review, and training scheduling tool.

 

[warnerpc]

Murugs remember one thing we all start off at the bottom and work our way to the top. I'm young and would consider myself to be in a similiar position like your junior admin. When I was actually interviewed my boss. He did tell me this job is below my technical skills. However I don't have don't have the real work experience must people demand for better jobs. I've worked for this school district for almost 3 months now and I maybe do 1 hour worth of work because I'm able to quickly solve any problems. My boss has started to have me help out with other district problems remotely. The point behind this is if you see an employee wanting more and they are doing a good job don't waste their talent.

 

[dwarfthrower]

If you've ever watched a medical drama series on television you would have seen the standard scene where the doctor is leading the medical student around the ward on his rounds.

I'd suggest spending the first week like that. Have the junior tag along as you attend various situations and, for each one, ask his opinion on the cause and resolution of the problem. It may not be the most productive week you've spent but it should pay off nicely in getting a solid appreciation of where his/her skills are at.

[sub]Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world.
There's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams.[/sub]
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[gbaughma]

for each one, ask his opinion on the cause and resolution of the problem

Mmmm... following around, I agree with. Introducing him to the other employees, a good thing. Drilling him in front of people who are having computer problems, I don't agree with. Discussing it after you get back to the office, good idea.



Just my 2¢
"Life gets mighty precious when there's less of it to waste." -Bonnie Raitt "Nick of Time"
--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[AJ1982]

More take him to one side, or back to the office and then make an assesment or grilling of his skills

===

Fatman Superstar (Andrew James)

CCNA

 

[dwarfthrower]

Ya... I didn't really mean to put him under a spotlight in front of an audience. More after the user has told you what's going on and you're settling down to look at the problem, ask his opinion.

Unless you're in a vindictive mood that morning

[sub]Never be afraid to share your dreams with the world.
There's nothing the world loves more than the taste of really sweet dreams.[/sub]
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[johnherman]

Teach your assistant everything you know. Don't hold back for job security purposes. That way, when you go on vacation, you can really relax. Besides, when your assistant can do your job, you are promotable, not expendable. However, I'm not sure how much the last sentence applies to small shops like yours.

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The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was - Steven Wright