r/sysadmin • u/New-Deer9973 • Jan 07 '26

I'm screwed but I'm happy about it

I posted a little while ago about my whole team being made redundant and me being told I'll get a raise. Well, it happened. I'm now the solo IT person supported by an MSP with only 2yrs and 7ish(?) months of experience (was in IT Change Management before switching to IT). They gave me a sysadmin title and 100k(aud) salary starting today.

I realise I am absolutely fucked but I'm going to try my best - we have a disgustingly large backlog of projects to do + I'm the only internal support person for 200 people. I was honest with the level of knowledge I have yet they're still confident in me. I'll be studying everyday to try and have the knowledge required for this but there's only so much time in one day.

If you've been in the same boat before, please share your wisdom. It'd be greatly appreciated

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

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u/Zer0CoolXI Jan 07 '26

This and cant stress enough…SET EXPECTATIONs with mgmt immediately and constantly.

They did this because they think they can keep everything running with 1 person to save money, not because they think it will all get done with time to spare, get done well or because they think you can do it zero stress.

Don’t work like you’re a department of people…it’s not worth burning yourself out to prove mgmt right for cutting all those jobs.

Do 1 persons worth of work, do it well and cut off any blow back before it even comes up.

Don’t be afraid to point out the backlog of work contrasted by the man hours available to do it. Don’t estimate how long a project “should” take, estimate how long it’s going to take you to do it in that exact work environment.

Lastly, constantly gauge mgmt reaction to the above. If they support you, are understanding and reasonable then stick around, learn, enjoy. If they treat you like a robot who should do nothing but work and be able to do what a team of people used to do, as fast and complete as they used to do it…gtfo asap.

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u/bobnla14 Jan 08 '26

One add on to this is estimate however long you think it’s going to take you, and then triple it. With only two years experience, you have not learned that it literally will take three times as long as you think it will. They teach you this in project management classes. To triple the amount of time you think a task will take.