Resume template · Updated October 2026
Systems administrator resume template
Short answer
Henrietta fits a systems administrator: a plain business layout with education right after the jobs and a three-column grid that holds the many short items an admin carries. The fictional sample has ten years across a Calgary manufacturer and a school division, looking after 140 Windows and Red Hat servers with restore-tested backups, one-night patching and a cleaned-up Active Directory, plus RHCSA and a Microsoft certification.
Download the systems administrator sample
Natalie is a fictional systems administrator. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Henrietta suits a systems administrator resume
Henrietta is a plain, conventional business layout, a good match for a generalist administrator applying to a school division, a council or a manufacturer. It prints education right after experience, and its three-column skills grid fits the long run of short items a sysadmin carries (Windows Server, RHEL, Active Directory, VMware, Veeam) without the skills section outgrowing the jobs.
Second choice: Leslie. Leslie also prints experience before skills and adds one blue touch to the header; use it if you would rather have labelled skill rows than an unlabelled grid.
What goes in each section, in Henrietta's order
Henrietta prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. Size first: how many servers, users and sites, on which platforms. Then the habits a hiring manager worries about: patching, backups that are tested, scripting. End with your certifications, since Henrietta prints them last.
- Work Experience. Administrators are often judged on what did not happen, so give the proof: restore tests passed, patch windows shortened, outage time, accounts cleaned up. One scripting bullet per job shows you automate instead of clicking through consoles.
- Education. Diploma or degree on one line, right after experience in this template. Add a recent course only if the posting names the technology it covered.
- Skills. The grid drops group labels, so put operating systems and directory services in the first group, named tools in the second and working habits in the third. Six to eight items in each keeps the columns even.
- Certifications. Use exact titles. Red Hat's RHCSA comes from the EX200 exam, which is performance-based; Microsoft's current Windows Server title is Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate. Copy names from the vendor page, since certification titles change.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Natalie Fournier
Systems Administrator, Windows Server and Linux
Calgary, AB | natalie.fournier@example.com | (403) 555-0171 | linkedin.com/in/sample-natalie-fournier
Systems administrator with ten years looking after Windows and Linux servers for a school division and a manufacturer. Keeps 140 servers patched, backed up and monitored, restores from backup every quarter to prove it works, and scripts routine work in PowerShell and Bash. RHCSA and Microsoft Windows Server Administrator Associate certified.
Experience
Systems Administrator, Prairie Lantern School Division, Calgary, AB (08/2020 to Present)
- Administer 140 Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux servers on VMware vSphere for 42 schools and 18,000 students and staff.
- Rebuilt backups on Veeam with an immutable offsite copy and quarterly restore tests; a full file server restore now takes under four hours.
- Automated monthly patching with WSUS and Ansible, shrinking the patch window from a weekend to one night.
- Cleaned up Active Directory: removed 3,000 stale accounts, rebuilt Group Policy around school roles and gave administrators separate privileged accounts.
- Wrote PowerShell scripts that create student accounts from the enrolment system each night.
IT Administrator, Chinook Fabrication Ltd., Calgary, AB (05/2016 to 07/2020)
- Sole IT administrator for 220 staff across an office and two plant floors.
- Moved email to Microsoft 365 and turned on multi-factor authentication for every user.
- Replaced an ageing NAS with a two-node Windows failover file cluster.
Education
Diploma, Information Technology (Network Systems), Foothills Polytechnic (04/2016)
Certifications
- Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA), Red Hat (2022)
- Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate, Microsoft (2026)
Skills
Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Active Directory and Group Policy, VMware vSphere, Backup and recovery, PowerShell, Bash, Veeam Backup and Replication, Ansible, WSUS, Microsoft 365 admin center, Zabbix, ServiceNow, Change requests, Runbooks and documentation, Supporting school staff
How to make the sample yours
Swap the platform mix for yours
All Windows, mostly Linux, or a mix with Hyper-V instead of VMware: change the summary, the first skills group and the bullets together so they describe one environment.
Prove the backups
"Quarterly restore tests; a full file server restored in under four hours" is evidence. "Managed backups" is a duty. Use your own restore times.
Count what you cleaned up
Stale accounts removed, servers retired, group policies merged. Clean-up work stays invisible unless you put a number on it.
Name your scripting language
PowerShell, Bash, Python or Ansible: list it in skills and show it in a bullet that says what the script does each night or each month.
Describe the users, not only the servers
42 schools and 18,000 students and staff tells a reader who calls when something breaks, and how much patience the job takes.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- systems administration
- Windows Server
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- Active Directory
- Group Policy
- VMware vSphere
- PowerShell
- Bash scripting
- patch management
- backup and recovery
- Veeam
- Microsoft 365
- Ansible
- server monitoring
- RHCSA
Mistakes to avoid
- Duties copied from a job description, such as "responsible for servers and backups".
- Claiming reliable backups with no restore test behind the claim.
- Retired versions (Windows Server 2008, Exchange 2010) at the top of the skills grid when the posting wants current ones.
- Hostnames, IP ranges or security gaps from a past employer.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
Frequently asked questions
How do I show I am moving toward cloud or DevOps work?
Through bullets you already have: the first workloads you moved to Microsoft 365 or Azure, Ansible playbooks, scripts that run on a schedule. A headline such as "Systems Administrator, Windows, Linux and Automation" signals the direction without overclaiming.
Should a sysadmin list both Windows and Linux?
If you run both in production, yes, with the one you use most first. If Linux is a home lab, say so; an interviewer will ask about SELinux or systemd if RHEL is on the page.
How do I describe being the only IT person?
Say it outright, "sole IT administrator for 220 staff", then pick the three biggest projects. It shows range and self-reliance, which small employers look for.
Are certifications worth more than experience for a sysadmin?
Experience comes first, but a performance-based exam such as Red Hat's EX200 tells a reader you can do the work at a real command line, which helps when Linux is the smaller part of your job.
How far back should a systems administrator resume go?
About ten years. Earlier help desk or technician roles can shrink to a title, employer and dates, or a single line on how you started.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Henrietta PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 5 section headings and all 8 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
Guides and templates for this resume
Sources, checked 29 October 2026
We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.
- Red Hat: Red Hat Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) (earned through the EX200 exam, which is performance-based)
- Microsoft Learn: Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Administrator Associate (current certification title; covers Windows Server administration on-premises and in hybrid environments)
More in resume templates by job title.