How to become a System Administrator: education, training and skills.
The typical entry path BLS lists for the occupation, what O*NET publishes about experience, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- Education
- Bachelor's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- None
O*NET publishes no worker survey of required education for this occupation; the education level shown is BLS's typical entry level.
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for system administrators in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35), with no work experience in a related occupation and no on-the-job training to become competent. O*NET places the job in Job Zone 3 of 5 (medium preparation); O*NET publishes no worker survey of required education for this occupation. Among workers O*NET surveyed, the most common answer for related work experience was “over 2 years, up to and including 4 years” (43%).
Data Government data groups this job as Network and Computer Systems Administrators (O*NET-SOC 15-1244.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
Steps to becoming a System Administrator
Data Steps 1 to 3 are BLS Employment Projections data; skills and tools are O*NET; the last step is advice.
- EducationPlan for a bachelor's degree
The typical entry-level education BLS lists for the occupation (Employment Projections, 2025–35). Typical, not a legal requirement.
- TrainingExpect no on-the-job training
BLS's typical on-the-job training to become competent in the occupation.
- ExperienceRelated experience
BLS: no work experience in a related occupation is typical. Most common answer among workers O*NET surveyed: over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (43%).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Troubleshooting, Judgment and Decision Making, Systems Analysis are rated most important (O*NET).
- ToolsLearn the tools
Ansible software, Microsoft Active Directory, Firewall software.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 3 (Medium Preparation Needed): Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $99,130; the lowest-paid quarter earn $78,010 or less. See the full System Administrator salary data.
How this page is built
Typical entry-level education, related work experience and on-the-job training are BLS Employment Projections 2025–35 categories for the occupation (BLS: Network and computer systems administrators). Job Zone, the experience and training shares, skills and tools come from O*NET 31.0; O*NET publishes no education survey for this occupation. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Occupational projections, 2025–35 (released Aug 27, 2026; occupation.xlsx, Tables 1.2 and 1.10; retrieved Oct 25, 2026). Definitions.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
Spotted an error in this data? Report a correction to TryHired.
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