Loading page content
Preparing content…
SOC 15-1244 · O*NET 15-1244.00
Network and computer systems administrators (O*NET 15-1244.00) install, configure, and maintain an organization's local area networks, wide area networks, data communication networks, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers, monitor the integrity and availability of systems and scheduled tasks (including backups), analyze network and server resource usage and control user access, and may also assist with network modeling, analysis, and planning coordination. This page uses only official sources to explain the occupation scope, tasks, preparation requirements, Chinese and United States statistical scopes, and authorization boundaries.
Model impact index for three equally weighted representative core tasks; not a measured share of working time or a job-loss probability. floor((75+75+50)/3+0.5)=67; fermatmind-ai-impact-v1; 2026-10-18.
In an isolated simulation environment, do one change-verify-rollback exercise: state the change items, impact surface, verification points, rollback conditions, and escalation path, and also do one backup restore drill and permission list verification, then ask experienced staff for feedback; the exercise does not constitute system authorization, change approval, or an employer hiring promise.
First threshold: first confirm the position's authorization boundaries: which operations you may perform yourself, which must go through change approval, who is responsible for release and rollback, and whether on-call or call-out duty is required; being able to log in to a system does not mean being authorized.
20 to 120 minute safe trial: in an isolated simulation or laboratory environment (not connected to the production network, without using real credentials), complete one change-verify-rollback exercise: state the change items, impact surface, verification points, rollback conditions, and escalation path, and have someone else review against the checklist.
Network and computer systems administrators (O*NET 15-1244.00) install, configure, and maintain an organization's local area networks, wide area networks, data communication networks, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers, perform monitoring, verify backups and scheduled tasks, analyze resource usage, and control user access; the actual scope that can be performed is determined by employer authorization, change management, and security requirements.
Network and computer systems administrators (O*NET 15-1244.00) install, configure, and maintain an organization's local area networks, wide area networks, data communication networks, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers, perform system monitoring, and verify the integrity and availability of hardware, network, and server resources.
Career direction comparison
Computer systems analysts: focus more on business system requirements and solution design, with different responsibility for day-to-day production changes than this occupation.
| Career direction | Core work and output | Key differences | Best-fit choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Computer network architects | Design target network architecture, capacity planning, and technology selection | Selection signal: do not compare only that all of them touch computers or networks; compare the authorization scope, on-call and change responsibility, whether security and compliance records are required, and the industry and employer type. | Adjacent directions include: computer-network-architects, computer-network-support-specialists, computer-systems-analysts, information-security-analysts, database-administrators |
| Computer network support specialists |
AI impact on this career
Tools can assist log organizing, failure hypotheses, and script drafts, but change approval and release, rollback decisions, permission granting, security incident handling, and result verification still need to be handled by authorized people. AI Impact Score 67% is an editorial estimate. Model impact index for three equally weighted representative core tasks; not a measured share of working time or a job-loss probability. floor((75+75+50)/3+0.5)=67; fermatmind-ai-impact-v1; 2026-10-18.The three tasks, ratings and sources are listed in the FermatMind method source record on this page.
FermatMind AI Impact Score estimation method v1
FermatMind / 费马测试 · 2026-10-18
Editorial ratings use the existing occupational responsibilities and AI task analysis on this page. They are not adoption rates, measured effects, job-disappearance or personal-unemployment probabilities, or official scores from Stanford or another external institution. No measured time weights or future robot deployment are assumed.
Chinese mainland salary reference
Scope comparison: the National Bureau of Statistics of China publishes average wages of urban unit employees by industry category and does not list network and computer systems administrators separately.
Checkable reference: in 2025 the average annual wage for information transmission, software, and information technology services was 248,752 yuan per year for urban non-private units and 128,166 yuan per year for urban private units in the same category; the statistical scope is urban legal entities with 5 or more employees and excludes self-employed individuals and freelancers.
Not obtained, not substituted
248,752 yuan per year (2025)
United States salary reference
United States BLS scope relayed by O*NET: a 2025 median annual wage of 99,130 USD and median hourly wage of 47.66 USD for this occupation, with percentile annual wages of 62,640—155,050 USD；The 2025 BLS OEWS national median shown by O*NET is 47.66 USD per hour and 99,130 USD per year; the page marks it as the exact occupation 15-1244.00 scope, not starting pay or a personal quote.
| Wage level | Annual wage reference | Hourly wage equivalent | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median annual wage (P50) | $99,130 per year | $47.66 per hour | The median annual wage only describes the center of the distribution and is not starting pay or a personal quote；The national percentile annual wages under the same scope are: 10th percentile 62,640 USD, 25th percentile 78,010 USD, 75th percentile 126,640 USD, and 90th percentile 155,050 USD (corresponding hourly rates 30.11, 37.51, 60.89, and 74.55 USD). |
| 25th to 75th percentile | $78,010—$126,640 per year |
Career fit guide
The key signals for fit with this occupation are: willing to maintain lists and records, executing per change approval, able to verify hypotheses item by item with logs, accepting out-of-hours response, and valuing permission and audit boundaries.
Fit signals： Willing to maintain lists and records, execute per change approval, verify hypotheses item by item with logs, and accept out-of-hours response.
Signals that call for caution： Tending to bypass approval for quick fixes, or treating being able to log in as being authorized to perform changes.
Low-cost trial： In an isolated simulation environment, complete the change-verify-rollback and backup restore drill, and accept review feedback.
Work pressure, risks, and occupational boundaries
Boundary statement: this list cannot replace the organization's security systems, change management, privacy, and audit requirements; when production environments, personal information, and regulated systems are involved, act per actual authorization and process, and tailor control requirements to the organization's scope.
Direct answer: the main risks in this occupation come from service interruption, unrecoverable backups, permission overreach, configuration drift, and delayed patching; control depends on change approval, least privilege, restore drills, and traceable records.；The controls are editorial suggestions combined with the NIST catalog, and the current release page notes 2025-08-27 Release5.2.0; this is not a Chinese legal source or occupational authorization.
Typical scenario：A change or failure makes a critical system unavailable with no rollback plan
Roles most affected：Affected roles: operations staff responsible for production changes, account permissions, and backup recovery; the consequences of error are equally serious early in the job, so escalation chains and record requirements are not relaxed by seniority.
Entering the field, qualifications, and career development
Editorial path: first master network and system fundamentals, accumulate records through support or junior positions, and then take on operations responsibility per organizational authorization; this is not a uniform ladder. The typical BLS education is a bachelor's degree, with some employers accepting a certificate or associate degree; Job Zone3 cannot prove a fixed training duration, and directory certifications are not production permissions.
Career prospects and related occupation transitions
Current overall projection for United States SOC15-1244: employment 323,600 in 2025 → 310,400 in 2035, a decline of 4.1%, with about 13,400 openings per year from replacement demand; this is not Chinese demand, not an individual's probability of being hired, and no AI causality judgment is made.
Region and industry: United States national SOC15-1244; the O*NET detail page's Top industries (2025) lists professional scientific and technical services 25% and education 13%; industry shares are not industry wages or Chinese employer distribution. · O*NET 15-1244.00 exact occupation scope (not a parent category)
A decline of 4.1%; about 13,400 replacement openings per year (2025—2035)
United States employment change
According to O*NET 15-1244.00, this occupation installs, configures, and maintains local area networks, wide area networks, data communication networks, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers, monitors systems and scheduled tasks, verifies backup completion, analyzes resource usage, and controls user access, and also diagnoses and resolves hardware, software, network, and system failures.
Network architects are responsible for designing target network architecture and capacity planning, leaning toward plans and long-term selection; computer network support specialists focus more on support response for end users and network problems; this occupation focuses on operations, maintenance, changes, and incident handling in production environments, and carries daily responsibility for accounts, backups, and server resources.
Choose a real task from this page for a small practice project or a conversation with someone in the field. Use the planning guides to set a date, an output and feedback questions before deciding whether to continue.
One-sentence judgment: this occupation is worth further verification only if you are willing to handle account permissions, backup verification, changes, and incident details over the long term, respond per process outside working hours, and accept high-consequence responsibility for production environments.
Core output: turning servers, networks, accounts, and changes into traceable operations results: configurations and baselines, monitoring and alerts, backup recoverability, access control, incident handling, and service recovery records.
Daily work centers on accounts and permissions, configuration changes, patches and upgrades, backup verification, log review, and incident response; output should be traceable and executed only on authorized systems and within the authorized scope.
Quality is measured by system availability, traceable changes, recoverable backups, compliant permissions, and incident recovery time, rather than by familiarity with a specific tool.
The work loop in order is: receive a request or alert → assess impact and authorization → perform the change or handling → verify results and backup recoverability → record and hand over; occupational boundary: this occupation is not the same as network architects, information security analysts, or software developers.
| Dimension | Primary track | Comparison track |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Account, permission, asset, and configuration lists | Collect |
| Step 2 | Impact surface, rollback conditions, and authorization verification | Assess |
| Step 3 | Implement per the change process and record | Execute |
| Step 4 | Service availability and backup recoverability | Verify |
| Step 5 | Logs, alerts, and performance trends | Monitor |
| Step 6 | Fault handling and service recovery | Respond |
| Step 7 | Records, review, and escalation closure | Hand over |
Network and host maintenance: install, configure, and maintain network devices, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers.
Monitoring and backup: monitor performance and availability, review system and application logs, and verify that scheduled tasks (including backups) complete.
Access and resource control: analyze network and server resource usage, and configure and control user access per authorization.
Software and licensing: install and upgrade software and maintain software license compliance.
Diagnosis and coordination: diagnose and resolve hardware, software, network, and system problems, replace components when necessary, and coordinate with users, vendors, and other teams.
Change approval and release are the responsibility of authorized people, account and permission granting is the responsibility of the permission owner, backup recoverability is confirmed by the data owner, and security incidents are escalated per the organization's incident response process; operations staff execute within their authorized scope and keep records.
Operations staff
Change approver
Permission owner
Data owner
Security team
| Focus on support response for end users and network problems |
| Mainly user support and endpoint troubleshooting, without overall responsibility for servers and permissions |
| Compare this direction if you prefer user-facing support and troubleshooting with a relatively focused scope |
| Computer systems analysts | Analyze business requirements and design system solutions | Mainly requirements analysis and solution design, with less day-to-day change responsibility | Compare this direction if you prefer requirements analysis and solution design with less production change responsibility |
|---|
| Information security analysts | Monitor and respond to security threats and assess compliance and risk | Mainly security monitoring and incident response, without day-to-day system operations | Compare this direction if you prefer security monitoring, incident response, and compliance analysis |
|---|
| Database administrators | Maintain database availability, performance, and backup recovery | Mainly database modeling, tuning, and recovery, with the scope focused on the data layer | Compare this direction if you prefer data layer modeling, tuning, and data recovery |
|---|
| Computer programmers | Develop and maintain application software, leaning toward coding and engineering practice | Mainly coding and engineering practice, usually without production change and release responsibility | Compare this direction if you prefer writing code to maintaining production environments |
|---|
Network architects: responsible for designing target network architecture, capacity, and technology selection, leaning toward plans and planning; this occupation leans toward operations, maintenance, and incident handling in production environments.
When moving to an adjacent occupation, first compare transferable capabilities (system and network troubleshooting, scripting and automation, change and record discipline), and then fill in the architecture, security, or development capabilities specific to the target direction; comparison does not mean mutual recognition of qualifications or automatic transfer.
Can assist log summaries and anomaly clustering, listing failure hypotheses, script and command drafts, change descriptions and document drafts, and ticket classification.
O*NET employer technology signals list 95 software skills, with the highest mention rates being Linux 23%, Microsoft Active Directory 18%, and Microsoft Windows Server 14%; no generative AI adoption or automation data is provided.
BLS2025—2035 employment 323,600 → 310,400 people, a decline of 4.1%, with about 13,400 replacement openings per year; the overall occupational projection cannot be read as AI-caused gains or losses.
| Work area | Task | Current change | Human control point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network and host maintenance | Install, configure, and maintain network devices, operating systems, and virtual servers | Configuration drafts and checklists can be assisted | Technology selection and change approval are the responsibility of authorized people |
| Monitoring and backup | Monitor performance and availability and verify completion of backups and scheduled tasks | Log clustering and anomaly summaries can be assisted | Recovery effectiveness and data impact are confirmed by the data owner |
| Access and resource control | Analyze resource usage and control user access per authorization | Permission list analysis and overreach prompts can be assisted | Permission granting and review are the responsibility of the permission owner |
| Software and licensing | Install and upgrade software and maintain license compliance | Version and license list verification can be assisted | Procurement and license compliance are the organization's responsibility |
| Fault diagnosis and recovery | Diagnose and resolve hardware, software, network, and system problems | Failure hypotheses and command drafts can be assisted | Handling plans and rollbacks are approved by the on-call lead |
| Change implementation | Execute changes per approval and record the results | Change descriptions and verification checklists can be assisted | Change approval and release must not be replaced by tools |
| Incident response | Isolate, escalate, and preserve evidence per process | Timeline organizing and evidence checklists can be assisted | Incident grading and external communication are the responsibility of the incident lead |
The following separates occupational tasks, 2025 United States national posted software, general security controls, and the overall employment projection; insufficient evidence: no AI adoption, effect, or employment causality data for this occupation was obtained. Tool assistance is conditional editorial analysis.
The following is an editorial analysis by work step; it is not measured AI change or adoption direction for this occupation.
AI primarily changesLog clustering and anomaly summaries can be assisted
Human responsibility remainsAlert grading, impact assessment, and escalation decisions
AI primarily changesScript and configuration drafts can be assisted
Human responsibility remainsChange approval, rollback conditions, and release signature
AI primarily changesOrganizing recovery steps can be assisted
Human responsibility remainsRecoverability verification and data impact judgments
Once tools enter the operations flow, the chain of responsibility must not break: verify inputs, usage conditions, output review, record keeping, and anomaly escalation in sequence.
Confirm the asset, configuration, and account lists, and verify the change request and impact surface.
Process the minimum necessary information only in authorized systems and tools, and comply with privacy and audit rules.
Authorized people verify whether tool-produced log conclusions, scripts, and change descriptions are consistent with the original records.
Keep change requests, approvers, verification results, rollback conditions, and manual modification records.
When service interruption, security incidents, or out-of-scope requests occur, escalate immediately per the incident process.
A change or failure makes a critical system unavailable with no rollback plan
Control: Change approval, impact assessment, and a rollback plan, and escalation per the incident process
The backup job shows success but actual restoration was never verified
Control: Periodic restore drills, off-site copies, and recovery time objectives
Account permissions exceed duties or accounts are shared long term
Control: Least privilege, periodic permission review, and privileged access monitoring
Unregistered devices connected to the production network or configurations deviating from the baseline
Control: Asset inventory, configuration baseline verification, and change records
Vulnerabilities not patched in time or unevaluated third-party components introduced
Control: Patching process, change assessment, and component inventory management
Editorial analysis (subject to authorization, de-identification, and test conditions): better suited for assistance: log summarization and anomaly clustering, listing failure hypotheses, script or command drafts, first drafts of change descriptions and operating documents, and ticket classification.
Editorial analysis (subject to authorization, de-identification, and test conditions): risk screening assistance: can flag configuration drift, overly broad permissions, or missing backups, but cannot replace actual scanning, change approval, and release decisions.
Human control points: verify assets and configurations, confirm the impact surface and rollback, execute change approval, verify backup recoverability, confirm least privilege, and keep auditable records.
Ability exercise (editorial suggestion): practice troubleshooting reasoning, rollback design, recovery verification, log analysis, and collaborative record keeping; no comparative study was obtained showing it outperforms the speed of generating commands.
The available evidence does not support a replacement conclusion: diagnostic and troubleshooting judgments, change approval and release, permission granting, security incident handling, and backup recoverability judgments still need to be handled by authorized people; O*NET does not provide a generative AI adoption or automation rate for this occupation.
Source: O*NET OnLineOriginal source ↗
Editorial analysis: where de-identification, authorization, and isolated testing allow, try log summaries, hypotheses, command drafts, and change documents; each item must be verified, and no adoption or effect data for this occupation was obtained.
Source: O*NET OnLineOriginal source ↗
Change approval and release, rollback decisions, security incident handling, granting and revoking permissions, backup recoverability confirmation, and judgments about business impact.
Source: O*NET OnLineOriginal source ↗
O*NET Hot Technologies lists 95 software skills with employer mention rates, which only indicates technology preferences and does not prove proficiency or the degree of automation.
Source: O*NET OnLineOriginal source ↗
Treat it as task-level analysis, read the AI main changes and still handled by people rows line by line, and do not read it as job replacement or a layoff forecast.
Source: O*NET OnLineOriginal source ↗
Editorial suggestion: verify institutional tool and data authorization, the specific jurisdiction, and the change system before use; NIST is a general tailorable control reference and cannot alone prove that an external model is lawful or approved by the employer.
Source: NISTOriginal source ↗
Editorial suggestion: observe changes, rollbacks, restore drills, permission reviews, and audit records; this is not a validated unified scale for this occupation, and no comparative study proves its effect exceeds processing speed.
Source: O*NET OnLineOriginal source ↗
When moving to an adjacent occupation, first compare transferable capabilities (system and network troubleshooting, scripting and automation, change and record discipline), and then fill in the architecture, security, or development capabilities specific to the target direction.
128,166 yuan per year (2025)
Public responsibility and tool information can be used for career exploration, but individual income in mainland China cannot be derived from it.
| Education level | Position direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Associate or bachelor's degree (computer-related) | System operations, network operations, and support positions | Verify per the employer's technology stack and position requirements; education does not replace system authorization. |
| Vendor or security certification | Positions in a specific platform or security direction | Certification does not replace employer authorization and change approval. |
| On-the-job training and experience | From support positions to production environment operations | An editorial entry scenario; verify training and experience against the target position in China; the United States Job Zone3 group note does not prove a fixed 1—2 year threshold in China or for this occupation. |
| Continuous learning | Cloud platform, automation, and security direction | Verify capability requirements against the technology stack update cycle. |
If an income judgment is needed, verify it against the specific city, industry, technology stack, and contract conditions.
Verify the position title, technology stack, and on-call and change responsibility.
Verify compliance, audit, and data security requirements.
Verify production system availability requirements and shift arrangements.
Insufficient evidence: no Chinese occupational wage distribution under the same scope was obtained this round; industry averages cannot be used to infer percentiles or individual income for this occupation. Verify the specific city, contract, on-call arrangements, hours, pay, and authorization requirements; an industry proxy does not replace a written employer quote.
| $37.51—$60.89 per hour |
| The middle 50% of wages fall in this range, which only describes the distribution and does not represent experience or job level；Percentiles and the median all use the 2025 BLS OEWS national scope and cannot be directly compared across years, regions, or occupations. |
| 10th to 90th percentile | $62,640—$155,050 per year | $30.11—$74.55 per hour | The two end percentiles describe the range of the wage distribution; the low percentile is not starting pay and cannot be used to estimate individual take-home pay；OEWS is a wage statistic for employees of non-farm establishments and excludes self-employment; independent contractor income and employee wages cannot be compared together. Specific bonuses, overtime, on-call, and equity items must be verified against employer quotes, and it cannot be generalized that all contract workers are excluded. |
|---|
Wage 10th percentile：$62,640 per year ($30.11 per hour)；2025 BLS OEWS national 10th percentile；a low percentile is not starting pay
Wage 25th percentile：$78,010 per year ($37.51 per hour)；2025 BLS OEWS national 25th percentile
Median wage：$99,130 per year ($47.66 per hour)；2025 BLS OEWS national median；not starting pay or a personal quote
Wage 75th percentile：$126,640 per year ($60.89 per hour)；2025 BLS OEWS national 75th percentile
Wage 90th percentile：$155,050 per year ($74.55 per hour)；2025 BLS OEWS national 90th percentile
The median wage is the center of the distribution, not starting pay or an income promise；A low percentile is not starting pay, and distribution data cannot be used to estimate individual take-home pay or after-tax income.
Percentiles are for understanding the range of the wage distribution and do not represent experience or job level；Actual pay should be verified against the specific employer, industry, region, and position level; United States figures cannot be converted into or extrapolated as individual income in mainland China.
It is the 2025 United States employment stock for this exact occupation, not the current number of job openings.
Employment change projections and average annual openings are market signals, not an individual's probability of being hired.
| Industry | Industry background (United States, not industry wages) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | Verify the specific position | The detail page's Top industries (2025) lists professional scientific and technical services at 25%; industry shares do not explain wages. |
| Educational services | Verify the specific position | The detail page's Top industries (2025) lists educational services at 13%; this is not an industry wage. |
| Finance and government or enterprise information departments | Verify the specific position | Compliance, audit, and data security requirements change position conditions. |
| Cloud services and managed operations | Verify the specific position | Service levels, on-call, and incident response requirements change actual conditions. |
Verify the differences between internet, finance, government or enterprise, and manufacturing, and between self-built data centers and cloud services.
Verify the required platform, automation, and security capabilities, and whether the employer requires specific certifications.
Verify whether out-of-hours changes, on-call, or call-out duty are required, and the corresponding allowance arrangements.
Annual average scope, including growth and net replacement demand；not equal to an individual's probability of being hired
O*NET marks this occupation's interest code as CRI: Conventional prefers organizing information and data per procedures and regulations, Realistic prefers operating and maintaining equipment and systems, and Investigative prefers analyzing problems and finding causes. Interests only show which kinds of activities you are willing to keep doing and cannot predict technical capability, security awareness, or hiring outcomes.
Compare interest signals with real experience: whether you are willing to maintain lists and records over the long term, execute per change approval, verify hypotheses item by item with logs, and stay responsive outside working hours, rather than looking only at interest scores or self-labels.
What capabilities and work styles are needed to work as a network and computer systems administrator?
Caution signal: you are drawn mainly by technical interest but are unwilling to carry production environment responsibility, audit records, and continuous learning of system and security requirements.
Do not use it this way: The interest code cannot determine technical capability, security awareness, or hiring outcomes.
View the RIASEC interest assessmentWhat capabilities and work styles are needed to work as a network and computer systems administrator?
You can use it as a reference for reflecting on communication and stress preferences, but it cannot replace verification of technical capability, change discipline, and on-call requirements.
Do not use it this way: Personality labels cannot determine technical capability, security awareness, or hiring outcomes.
View the RIASEC interest assessmentWhat capabilities and work styles are needed to work as a network and computer systems administrator?
Assessment results are for self-exploration only and do not constitute system authorization, change approval, or hiring evidence.
Do not use it this way: Type labels cannot determine technical capability, security awareness, or hiring outcomes.
View the RIASEC interest assessmentWhat capabilities and work styles are needed to work as a network and computer systems administrator?
Assessment results are for self-exploration only and do not constitute system authorization, change approval, or hiring evidence.
Do not use it this way: Labels cannot predict technical judgment or safety boundary performance.
View the RIASEC interest assessmentWhat capabilities and work styles are needed to work as a network and computer systems administrator?
Assessment results are for self-exploration only and do not constitute system authorization, change approval, or hiring evidence.
Do not use it this way: A single test cannot infer occupational competence or hiring outcomes.
View the RIASEC interest assessmentWhat capabilities and work styles are needed to work as a network and computer systems administrator?
Assessment results are for self-exploration only and do not constitute system authorization, change approval, or hiring evidence.
Do not use it this way: Test results cannot determine collaboration performance or hiring outcomes.
View the RIASEC interest assessmentFits better when: System and network principles, troubleshooting
Watch for: If you prefer designing target architecture to day-to-day operations
Explore related career: Computer network architectsFits better when: Network fundamentals and endpoint troubleshooting
Watch for: If you prefer user-facing support and troubleshooting
Explore related career: Computer network support specialistsFits better when: Backup recovery and availability operations
Watch for: If you prefer data layer availability and performance
Explore related career: Database administratorsFits better when: Log analysis and access control
Watch for: If you prefer security monitoring and incident response
Explore related career: Information security analystsFits better when: Scripting and automation
Watch for: If you prefer writing code to maintaining production environments
Explore related career: Computer programmersFits better when: System understanding and cross-team communication
Watch for: If you prefer requirements analysis and solution design
Explore related career: Computer systems analystsSystem and network troubleshooting, log analysis, scripting and automation, change and rollback design, backup recovery verification, and cross-team communication.
No; the interest code only describes activity preferences, and fit should be judged from reviewable hands-on records, preceptor feedback, and job requirements.
The O*NET education survey shows 30% associate degree, 27% bachelor's degree, and 20% postsecondary certificate; JobZone3 is a general group preparation note, not a fixed 1—2 year entry training for this occupation. The typical BLS education is a bachelor's degree, and some employers accept a certificate or associate degree, so verify against the target position.
The current O*NET directory lists 243 associated certifications, which does not mean they are all valid for the same position, uniformly required, or statutory entry requirements; vendor and platform certification requirements must be verified against the target employer, version, and validity period.
Yes, but you usually need operating system and network fundamentals first and must accumulate reviewable operations records through support or ticket-based positions.
The O*NET work context shows 87% have a regular schedule and 57% work about 40 hours per week, but 40% work more than 40 hours; change windows and on-call arrangements vary by employer.
Change discipline, incident response pressure, out-of-hours response, permission boundaries, and continuous learning requirements.
Keep change requests and approval records, root cause reports, backup restore drill records, permission review records, and automation script versions.
No; assessments are for self-exploration only and do not constitute capability proof, system authorization, or hiring evidence.
In an isolated simulation environment, complete one change-verify-rollback exercise and one backup restore drill, and then ask experienced staff for feedback.
Possible consequence：Possible consequences (editorial scenario): critical service interruption, business loss, and recovery costs; O*NET tasks and the error consequence survey support the risk premise, and NIST general controls must be tailored per institution, without proving a fixed incidence rate or legal penalty.
How to reduce risk：Change approval, impact assessment, and a rollback plan, and escalation per the incident process
Evidence：O*NET occupation profile (15-1244.00) · NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5 control catalog
Typical scenario：The backup job shows success, but actual restoration was never verified
Roles most affected：Operations staff responsible for production changes, account permissions, and backup recovery
Possible consequence：Data is lost and cannot be recovered within the committed time
How to reduce risk：Periodic restore drills, off-site copies, and recovery time objectives
Evidence：O*NET occupation profile (15-1244.00) · NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5 control catalog
Typical scenario：Account permissions exceed duties, or shared accounts are used long term
Roles most affected：Operations staff responsible for production changes, account permissions, and backup recovery
Possible consequence：Data leakage, audit failure, and compliance risk
How to reduce risk：Least privilege, periodic permission review, and privileged access monitoring
Evidence：O*NET occupation profile (15-1244.00) · NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5 control catalog
Typical scenario：Unregistered devices connected to the production network or configurations deviating from the baseline
Roles most affected：Operations staff responsible for production changes, account permissions, and backup recovery
Possible consequence：A larger exposure surface and harder fault localization
How to reduce risk：Asset inventory, configuration baseline verification, and change records
Evidence：O*NET occupation profile (15-1244.00) · NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5 control catalog
Typical scenario：Vulnerabilities not patched in time or unevaluated third-party components introduced
Roles most affected：Operations staff responsible for production changes, account permissions, and backup recovery
Possible consequence：Exploitation, compliance problems, and service interruption
How to reduce risk：Patching process, change assessment, and component inventory management
Evidence：O*NET occupation profile (15-1244.00) · NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5 control catalog
Typical scenario：Failure to isolate or preserve evidence during incident response
Roles most affected：Operations staff responsible for production changes, account permissions, and backup recovery
Possible consequence：Wider impact and missing evidence
How to reduce risk：Isolate, escalate, and keep audit records per the incident response process
Evidence：O*NET occupation profile (15-1244.00) · NIST SP 800-53 Rev.5 control catalog
| career.column.stage | career.column.task | career.column.boundary | career.column.evidence | career.column.next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry support position | Handle tickets, accounts, and endpoint issues under guidance | Does not independently change production environments | Ticket records and review comments | Take on routine system operations |
| System operations position | Maintain servers, networks, and backups, and execute approved changes |
Execute per approval and state rollback conditions
Directly changing production environments
Alert grading and traceable recovery time
Relying only on manual discovery
Periodic restore drills and off-site copies
Checking only whether the backup job succeeded
Least privilege, periodic review, and privileged monitoring
Shared accounts and long-term high privileges
| career.column.scenario | career.column.action | career.column.review | career.column.evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online service interruption | Limit the damage per the plan and start incident response | Confirmed by the incident lead or supervisor | Incident timeline and recovery records |
| Anomalies appear after a change | Perform rollback and keep the original configuration and logs | Confirmed by the change approver |
Learn the asset inventory and the account and permission fields
Complete one simulated change request (impact surface and rollback conditions)
Analyze a simulated log segment and propose failure hypotheses
Do one backup restore drill and record the results
Handle one simulated configuration drift or overly broad permission
Ask someone else to review against the checklist and discuss the deviations
Review availability, change discipline, and security boundaries
| career.column.state | career.column.proof | career.column.authority | career.column.condition | career.column.gap | career.column.owner | career.column.next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High school or equivalent | Meets the entry education requirements of some employers | Not a uniform statutory threshold | Verify against the target position | Verify entry education, experience, and certification against the target position; there is no evidence that most positions value experience and certification above education |
Typical scope：Maintain servers, accounts, and backups under guidance
Readiness evidence：Ticket records and review comments
Credential boundary：Related education or training
Next moves：Take on routine changes
Typical scope：Execute changes, monitor alerts, and handle failures
Readiness evidence：Change records and monitoring metrics
Credential boundary：Vendor or platform certification (if required)
Next moves：Take on on-call and root cause analysis
Typical scope：Lead recovery plans and backup drills
Readiness evidence：Root cause reports and recovery records
Credential boundary：Continuing education and team authorization
Next moves：Take part in architecture and process improvement
Typical scope：Set standards and audit execution
Readiness evidence：System documents and audit records
Credential boundary：Organizational appointment
Next moves：Take part in security and architecture governance
Typical scope：Maintain scripts and configuration templates
Readiness evidence：Script versions and review records
Credential boundary：Scripting and automation fundamentals
Next moves：Take on automation modules
Typical scope：Maintain cloud resources, permissions, and cost visibility
Readiness evidence：Resource configuration and change records
Credential boundary：Cloud platform certification (if required)
Next moves：Take on cloud architecture collaboration
Typical scope：Design cloud availability and permission models
Readiness evidence：Architecture documents and drill records
Credential boundary：Organizational authorization
Next moves：Take part in cross-team standards
Typical scope：Assist with permission reviews and log analysis
Readiness evidence：Audit records and review conclusions
Credential boundary：Security fundamentals training
Next moves：Take on security operations modules
Typical scope：Manage access control, patching, and incident response
Readiness evidence：Incident records and hardening checklists
Credential boundary：Security certification (if required)
Next moves：Take on an incident response role
Typical scope：Set control requirements and audit implementation
Readiness evidence：Control checklists and audit reports
Credential boundary：Organizational appointment
Next moves：Take part in compliance and governance
Ability progression starts with stable ticket execution and records, then takes on complete changes, root cause analysis, and backup recovery responsibility, and finally takes part in standards development and cross-team collaboration; daily operations, change approval, and security release remain separated by role authorization throughout.
Execute approved changes, maintain servers and backups, and respond to alerts
Lead root cause analysis and recovery, and design backup and rollback plans
Set operations standards, change and on-call systems, and audit execution
Interpretation: the declining employment projection coexists with continuing average annual openings, which shows that demand includes a replacement component; technology signals only indicate employer mention preferences.
Does not establish：Limitations: a macro projection is not a personal hiring guarantee, and neither the industry listing nor the Chinese industry category proxy can explain a specific employer's systems, shift patterns, and permission boundaries.
United States national (exact occupation scope) · O*NET 15-1244.00 National Wages（2025 BLS OEWS）
Median 99,130 USD per year; percentile annual wages 62,640—155,050 USD
Occupational wage distribution (United States)
The page is marked as the exact occupation scope and includes median and quintile wages.
Does not establish：OEWS excludes self-employment income and does not reflect overtime, on-call allowances, or equity.
Mainland China (industry category scope) · Average wages of urban unit employees in 2025 from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, information transmission, software, and information technology services
Non-private 248,752 yuan per year, private 128,166 yuan per year (2025)
China industry category wage average (proxy value)
The National Bureau of Statistics of China publishes average wages by industry category; that category covers many information technology positions and does not list this occupation separately.
Does not establish：The industry category average does not list this occupation separately and excludes self-employed individuals and freelancers.
These are capability relationships, not automatic promotions or credential waivers.
Transfers：System and network principles, troubleshooting
Build next：Needs to add network architecture design, capacity planning, and technology selection
View career profileTransfers：Network fundamentals and troubleshooting experience
Build next：Needs to add user-facing support processes and endpoint troubleshooting
View career profileTransfers：Backup recovery and availability operations
Build next：Needs to add database modeling, tuning, and backup recovery
View career profileTransfers：System understanding and cross-team communication
Build next：Needs to add business requirements analysis and solution design
View career profileTransfers：Log analysis, access control, and incident response
Build next：Needs to add security monitoring, incident response, and compliance analysis
View career profileTransfers：Scripting and automation capability
Build next：Needs to add software development languages and engineering practice
View career profileTransfers：Database operations experience
Build next：Needs to add data architecture and capacity design
View career profileTransfers：Access control and system hardening experience
Build next：Needs to add security engineering and hardening design
View career profileSuited to people willing to maintain lists and records over the long term, execute per change approval, verify hypotheses item by item with logs, accept out-of-hours response, and value permission and audit boundaries; personality labels or interest codes cannot determine fit or hiring.
The available evidence does not support a replacement conclusion: O*NET does not provide a generative AI adoption or automation rate for this occupation, and tools are more likely to change log analysis, script drafts, and document organizing first, while change approval, release and rollback, permission granting, security incident handling, and backup recoverability judgments still need to be handled by authorized people.
There is no national occupational wage distribution precisely corresponding to this occupation. The National Bureau of Statistics of China publishes by industry category for 2025: the average annual wage for information transmission, software, and information technology services was 248,752 yuan for urban non-private units and 128,166 yuan for urban private units; this is an industry average that excludes self-employed individuals and freelancers and cannot be interpreted as starting pay or percentiles for this position.
The 2025 BLS OEWS shown by O*NET uses the exact occupation 15-1244.00 scope: median hourly wage 47.66 USD and median annual wage 99,130 USD, with percentile annual wages of 62,640—155,050 USD; that survey excludes self-employment and does not reflect overtime, on-call allowances, or equity, so it cannot be treated as individual take-home income.
O*NET does not list a unified entry certificate for this occupation; the O*NET education survey shows that 30% of respondents report needing an associate degree, 27% a bachelor's degree, and 20% a postsecondary certificate, and on-the-job training in Job Zone 3 usually requires 1—2 years. The Chinese official vocational skills standard entry point has not established a qualification equivalent to this O*NET code, and specific training and authorization must be verified by region, system, and employer.
The main ones are service interruption, unrecoverable backups, overly broad or abused permissions, configuration drift, and delayed patching. Control depends on change approval and rollback plans, least privilege and periodic review, real restore drills, asset and configuration baseline verification, and traceable logs and audit records; when production environments and personal information are involved, act per organizational systems and local requirements.
Chinese and United States data are presented in separate columns and cannot be rewritten into each other. AI reasoning is not evidence of real adoption. Paper exercises do not constitute real practice, system authorization, or safety authorization.
Consulted 2026-10-11 this round; wages and industry data 2025, projections 2025—2035; shared sources keep their original versions.
Partial wages 2025, BLS employment projection 2025—2035, industry detail 2025; the NIST release page notes Release5.2.0, and general controls are tailored per organization; the NBS information technology industry average for 2025 is a proxy. The FAQ, quick answers, and their shared historical facts and sources are not synchronized across the whole page.
Limitations：Industry average wages, not wages for this occupation; excludes the self-employed and freelancers.
Limitations：The control catalog must be tailored to the organization's scope and is not an occupational entry certificate.
Limitations：The control catalog must be tailored to the organization's scope and does not evaluate any single occupation or employer's compliance level.
Limitations：Does not rank prestige, wages, or hiring.
Limitations：Does not provide adoption rates, automation probability, or job count forecasts.
Limitations：United States occupation definition and tasks, not proving Chinese practice qualifications or wages.
Limitations：United States scope, not representing demand in mainland China.
Limitations：The typical preparation path is not a uniform statutory requirement.
Limitations：The industry listing is not extrapolated to mainland China.
Limitations：A macro projection is not a personal hiring guarantee.
Limitations：OEWS excludes self-employment and contract worker income.
Limitations：Work context percentages come from United States respondents and are not extrapolated to other regions.
Limitations：No unified individual qualification fully equivalent to United States O*NET 15-1244.00 has been established.
Limitations：Use only for the stated O*NET occupation, US market and page subject. It does not establish a China mapping, China pay, or legal authorization.
Limitations：Use only for the stated O*NET occupation, US market and page subject. It does not establish a China mapping, China pay, or legal authorization.
Limitations：Employer mention rates are not equal to adoption rates, proficiency, or job impact.
Limitations：Use only for the stated O*NET occupation, US market and page subject. It does not establish a China mapping, China pay, or legal authorization.
Limitations：Not listing a unified certification does not mean employers do not require specific vendor or security certifications.
Limitations：Use only for the stated O*NET occupation, US market and page subject. It does not establish a China mapping, China pay, or legal authorization.
Limitations：O*NET OnLine presents BLS OEWS wage data; preserve the displayed period, worker population, geography and unit. A direct BLS access failure does not invalidate this opened O*NET page.
Limitations：Use only for the stated O*NET occupation, US market and page subject. It does not establish a China mapping, China pay, or legal authorization.
Limitations：A United States SOC overall occupation, not Chinese or individual demand, and no AI causality judgment is made.
Limitations：The typical path is not a uniform license or training duration and does not infer Chinese qualifications.
Limitations：Editorial ratings use the existing occupational responsibilities and AI task analysis on this page. They are not adoption rates, measured effects, job-disappearance or personal-unemployment probabilities, or official scores from Stanford or another external institution. No measured time weights or future robot deployment are assumed.
The evidence only supports scope-limited judgments within the stated market, occupation scope, and period, and does not constitute personal income, hiring, or system authorization; production changes, permission granting, and security incident handling must be performed by authorized people within organizational systems and local requirements.
MBTI personality test (English page) · Big Five personality model test (English page) · MBTI Chinese assessment · Big Five personality Chinese assessment
Business owner
| Operate per the change process and authorization scope |
| Change records and monitoring metrics |
| Take on on-call and incident response |
| Senior operations position | Lead root cause analysis and recovery, and design backup and rollback plans | Responsible for recovery results and records | Root cause reports and recovery records | Take on architecture collaboration and mentoring |
|---|
| Operations lead | Set operations standards, change and on-call systems, and audit execution | Responsible for processes and compliance | System documents and audit records | Take part in architecture and security governance |
|---|
| Cross-domain collaboration | Collaborate on changes and incident response with security, network architecture, and application teams | Act per cross-team agreements and authorization | Collaboration records and review reports | Take part in standards and planning |
|---|
| Backups cannot be restored | Isolate the affected systems and escalate | Confirmed by the data owner | Restore drill records and data impact statement |
|---|
| Receiving a request beyond authority | Refuse to execute and explain the process | Reviewed by the permission owner | Request records and permission determination |
|---|
| Verify the position's education requirements |
| Associate or bachelor's degree | In the O*NET education survey, 30% report an associate degree and 27% report a bachelor's degree | Granted by institutions | Verify per institution and position | Education does not replace system authorization | Institutions and employers | Verify the major direction |
|---|
| Vendor or security certification | Proves knowledge of a specific platform or security domain | Granted by certifying bodies | Verify per product version and validity period | Certification does not replace employer authorization | Certifying bodies | Verify the certification scope and maintenance requirements |
|---|
| On-the-job training and experience | A general training note for the Job Zone3 group, not a fixed 1—2 year threshold for this occupation; verify per the target position | Determined by the employer and team | Verify per technology stack and permission level | Training does not automatically bring production permissions | Employer and team | Accumulate reviewable operations records |
|---|
| Permissions and change authorization | Determines which operations and releases are permitted | Granted by organizational permissions and change systems | Verify against least privilege and approval rules | Technical capability is not equal to authorization | Organizational permission and change owner | Verify the authorization list and approval chain |
|---|
| Continuous learning | Keep up with changes in systems, cloud, and security requirements | No unified issuing body | Verify per technology stack update cycles | Failure to update means falling behind position requirements | Individual and employer | Establish a learning and review rhythm |
|---|
Typical scope：Take part in developing cloud and automation standards
Readiness evidence：Standards documents and review records
Credential boundary：Institutional appointment
Next moves：Take part in governance and audit
Typical scope：Take part in developing control standards and processes
Readiness evidence：Standards documents and review records
Credential boundary：Committee or institutional appointment
Next moves：Take part in industry and policy matters
