Top 12 IT & Network Administration Skills to Put on Your Resume

The tech world doesn’t sit still. Neither can your skills. Strong IT and network administration chops—practical, proven, security-minded—push your resume to the front and keep complex systems humming without drama.

IT & Network Administration Skills

1. Cisco Networking
2. VMware ESXi
3. Active Directory
4. PowerShell Scripting
5. Linux Administration
6. AWS Cloud
7. Microsoft 365
8. Firewall Management
9. Python Scripting
10. Network Security
11. Docker Containers
12. SQL Databases

1. Cisco Networking

Cisco Networking covers the design, deployment, and care of enterprise networks using Cisco routers, switches, wireless, and security platforms. It’s about routing packets cleanly, segmenting wisely, and defending the perimeter and the core without slowing the business down.

Why It's Important

It provides a resilient, scalable fabric for voice, video, and data, with tooling and features that help large, diverse environments run quickly and securely.

How to Improve Cisco Networking Skills

1. Stay current: Track new IOS XE features, SD-WAN capabilities, and design guides. Refresh knowledge routinely.

2. Certify with intent: CCNA for fundamentals; CCNP for enterprise depth; CCIE if you live and breathe complex architectures.

3. Use the tools: Practice with Cisco DNA Center, Meraki Dashboard, and telemetry/NetFlow for visibility and optimization.

4. Harden the edge: Apply least privilege, secure management planes, enable secure protocols, and keep images signed and updated.

5. Automate: Explore APIs, Ansible playbooks, and templates for repeatable, low-error changes.

6. Lab relentlessly: Build a home lab or use virtual sandboxes. Packet Tracer and emulated topologies are your playground.

7. Document everything: Topologies, standards, and change logs—write them down so operations stays smooth.

How to Display Cisco Networking Skills on Your Resume

2. VMware ESXi

VMware ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor at the heart of vSphere that consolidates workloads and simplifies lifecycle management across clusters while enabling high availability and resource efficiency.

Why It's Important

It turns one server into many resilient ones, reduces hardware sprawl, tightens recovery times, and centralizes control of compute, storage, and networking.

How to Improve VMware ESXi Skills

1. Upgrade with purpose: Keep ESXi and vCenter aligned on supported versions to gain security patches and performance wins.

2. Tune storage: Right-size datastores, use modern filesystems, align queues, and watch latency like a hawk.

3. Strengthen networking: NIC teaming, VMkernel separation, vDS for consistency, and clear QoS for noisy neighbors.

4. Enable DRS/HA: Balance workloads automatically and protect against host failures; test isolation scenarios.

5. Rightsize VMs: Allocate CPU and memory based on real metrics, not guesswork. Trim bloat.

6. Secure the stack: Lock down SSH, follow secure boot, use role-based access, and audit regularly.

7. Monitor continuously: Dashboards, alerts, and capacity planning prevent surprises.

How to Display VMware ESXi Skills on Your Resume

3. Active Directory

Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft’s identity and directory service for Windows domains. It centralizes accounts, groups, policies, authentication, and authorization across the enterprise.

Why It's Important

AD anchors access control. It keeps identities consistent, applies policy at scale, and underpins secure sign-in for on-premises resources and hybrid setups.

How to Improve Active Directory Skills

1. Audit and clean: Disable stale accounts, remove orphaned computers, standardize groups, and prune legacy GPOs.

2. Harden admin access: Enforce least privilege, tiered administration, privileged access workstations, and separate admin accounts.

3. MFA everywhere: Require multi‑factor authentication, including phishing‑resistant methods where possible. Integrate tightly with Microsoft Entra ID for hybrid.

4. Protect credentials: Deploy LAPS for local admin rotation and monitor for credential theft techniques.

5. Back up and rehearse: Regular system state/forest-level backups and practiced recovery runbooks—no guesswork during incidents.

6. Patch routinely: Keep domain controllers updated and time synchronized; baseline with security benchmarks.

7. Observe and alert: Forward security logs to a SIEM, alert on risky changes, and track replication health.

8. Modernize policy: Consolidate GPOs, prefer modern management where appropriate, and document precedence.

How to Display Active Directory Skills on Your Resume

4. PowerShell Scripting

PowerShell blends a powerful shell with a rich scripting language to automate Windows, cloud, and cross‑platform tasks. It’s glue, engine, and Swiss Army knife in one.

Why It's Important

Automation beats repetition. PowerShell shrinks toil, standardizes changes, and pulls data from many places so you can act quickly and consistently.

How to Improve PowerShell Scripting Skills

1. Master the basics: Cmdlets, the pipeline, objects, filtering, and error handling—know them cold.

2. Write readable code: Modules, functions, comment‑based help, and sensible naming; future you will thank you.

3. Test and lint: Use Pester for tests and keep style tight with formatting and static analysis tools.

4. Automate real work: Backups, user provisioning, patch windows, inventory—pick pains and script them away.

5. Explore ecosystems: PowerShell 7+, Remoting, SecretManagement, REST APIs, and Microsoft Graph unlock bigger workflows.

6. Version and share: Source control everything. Reuse modules. Review pull requests for quality.

How to Display PowerShell Scripting Skills on Your Resume

5. Linux Administration

Linux Administration means installing, configuring, hardening, and tuning Linux systems that host apps, databases, and services. It’s the backbone for a lot of modern infrastructure.

Why It's Important

Linux powers servers, containers, and clouds. Solid skills keep uptime high, performance sharp, and security tight.

How to Improve Linux Administration Skills

1. Get fluent on the CLI: Filesystem layout, permissions, systemd, journald, users, and packages (apt/yum/dnf/zypper).

2. Network smart: Configure interfaces, VLANs, bonding, DNS, and routing. Troubleshoot with tcpdump and ss.

3. Harden hosts: SSH policies, SELinux or AppArmor, minimal services, and frequent patching. Baseline, then enforce.

4. Firewall cleanly: Prefer nftables or firewalld; keep rules simple, documented, and auditable.

5. Automate: Shell scripting for quick wins; Ansible or similar for idempotent, repeatable changes.

6. Practice in a lab: Spin up VMs and break things safely. Rebuild, refine, repeat.

7. Go deeper: Storage (LVM/RAID), cgroups, namespaces, and containers to understand how modern stacks tick.

How to Display Linux Administration Skills on Your Resume

6. AWS Cloud

AWS offers on‑demand compute, storage, networking, databases, and security services so teams can build fast, scale smoothly, and pay for what they use.

Why It's Important

It compresses time to value. Infrastructure becomes an API, resilience becomes a pattern, and global reach is a couple of clicks away.

How to Improve AWS Cloud Skills

1. Performance: Right‑size instances, use managed databases, cache aggressively, and push content to the edge.

2. Security: IAM with least privilege, organized accounts with guardrails, private networking, and continuous threat detection.

3. Reliability: Multi‑AZ where it matters, backups scheduled and tested, and architecture that tolerates failure.

4. Cost control: Tag everything, track spend, adopt Savings Plans where usage is steady, and tier storage smartly.

5. Automation: Templates and pipelines for builds and deployments; immutable patterns beat drift.

6. Observability: Centralize logs and metrics; alert on symptoms, not guesses.

How to Display AWS Cloud Skills on Your Resume

7. Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 bundles Office apps, cloud services like OneDrive and Teams, device and identity management, and a security stack built for modern work.

Why It's Important

It centralizes collaboration and security. Messaging, files, meetings, devices, and identities all live under one roof with strong policy controls.

How to Improve Microsoft 365 Skills

1. Secure identities: Use Microsoft Entra ID with Conditional Access and MFA by default.

2. Protect data: Deploy Data Loss Prevention, sensitivity labels, and retention policies through Microsoft Purview.

3. Defend endpoints and mail: Leverage Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and Defender for Endpoint to cut off common threat paths.

4. Admin at scale: Automate with PowerShell and Graph; standardize provisioning and lifecycle management.

5. Device compliance: Use Intune for baselines, configuration, and update rings to keep fleets healthy.

6. Measure and refine: Review usage and security reports, then tune policies without throttling productivity.

How to Display Microsoft 365 Skills on Your Resume

8. Firewall Management

Firewall management means crafting, tuning, and monitoring rules that allow good traffic and shut down the rest. It’s policy, visibility, and discipline.

Why It's Important

It’s the gatekeeper for your network, curbing unauthorized access and shrinking the blast radius when something goes wrong.

How to Improve Firewall Management Skills

1. Keep software current: Patch firmware and modules promptly. Old code is low‑hanging fruit for attackers.

2. Curate the policy: Remove duplicates, shadows, and “any/any” relics. Name objects clearly; document intent.

3. Segment: Zones and VLANs limit lateral movement and make rules simpler and safer.

4. Principle of least privilege: Permit only what’s required. Time‑bound access and change windows reduce risk.

5. Observe relentlessly: Centralize logs, alert on anomalies, and review change histories. Baseline normal.

6. Automate safely: Use workflows for reviews and approvals; validate changes in staging first.

7. Design for resilience: HA pairs, config backups, and tested failover. Don’t find out at 2 a.m. that it doesn’t work.

8. Inspect with care: TLS inspection where warranted, with clear exceptions for privacy and performance.

How to Display Firewall Management Skills on Your Resume

9. Python Scripting

Python scripting brings fast automation to system and network tasks—configuration, inventory, validation, reporting—without heavy overhead.

Why It's Important

It saves time, reduces mistakes, and opens doors to network automation, API orchestration, and data wrangling.

How to Improve Python Scripting Skills

1. Nail the core: Data types, functions, modules, virtual environments, and packaging—foundation first.

2. Automate networks: Explore Netmiko, Paramiko, Nornir, and NAPALM to push configs and gather facts safely.

3. Go async when needed: Use asyncio for concurrent network calls that would otherwise crawl.

4. Secure secrets: Environment variables, vaults, or OS keychains—never hardcode credentials.

5. Quality matters: Add type hints, tests, and code formatters. Lint ruthlessly; logs should be actionable.

6. Build real tools: Solve your team’s problems—ticket hooks, health checks, config drift detectors—and iterate.

How to Display Python Scripting Skills on Your Resume

10. Network Security

Network security protects data and systems in transit and at rest—keeping integrity, confidentiality, and availability intact against relentless threats.

Why It's Important

A breach can halt operations and drain trust. Strong controls, visibility, and response processes keep the business steady.

How to Improve Network Security Skills

1. Identity first: Enforce MFA (prefer phishing‑resistant methods), least privilege, and strong device trust.

2. Patch with urgency: Prioritize internet‑facing and critical services; measure mean time to patch.

3. Segment and contain: VLANs, VRFs, and access controls slow attackers and clarify policy.

4. Harden endpoints: EDR/XDR on clients and servers, plus safe defaults and application controls.

5. Secure Wi‑Fi: Use modern encryption (e.g., WPA3), rotate keys, and isolate guest traffic.

6. Encrypt everywhere: TLS for data in transit; strong, managed keys for data at rest.

7. Watch the wire: IDS/IPS, DNS security, and egress controls. Send logs to a SIEM and investigate promptly.

8. Test and drill: Regular audits, vulnerability scans, pentests, and tabletop exercises build muscle memory.

9. Back up and verify: Frequent backups with offline copies, immutable options, and routine restore tests.

10. Educate humans: Ongoing awareness training turns employees into an early warning system, not a liability.

How to Display Network Security Skills on Your Resume

11. Docker Containers

Docker packages apps and dependencies into isolated, portable units that run the same way on laptops, servers, and CI/CD runners.

Why It's Important

It standardizes environments, speeds deployments, and unlocks elastic scaling with fewer “works on my machine” headaches.

How to Improve Docker Containers Skills

1. Build lean: Multi‑stage builds, minimal base images, and explicit versions. Small images ship faster and leak less.

2. Run as non‑root: Drop privileges, apply read‑only filesystems where possible, and isolate secrets safely.

3. Constrain resources: Set CPU, memory, and I/O limits. Add healthchecks to catch misbehaving services.

4. Scan and sign: Check images for vulnerabilities and sign trusted artifacts. Keep dependencies fresh.

5. Log and monitor: Stream logs, add metrics, and trace requests so issues can’t hide.

6. Network with intent: Choose the right drivers, segregate traffic, and apply firewall rules between tiers.

7. Orchestrate: Use Kubernetes or similar for scaling, self‑healing, and rolling updates when you outgrow single hosts.

How to Display Docker Containers Skills on Your Resume

12. SQL Databases

SQL databases store and query structured data with transactional guarantees, making them the spine of many business apps and reports.

Why It's Important

They deliver consistency and speed for critical operations, from ledgers to user profiles to analytics pipelines.

How to Improve SQL Databases Skills

1. Index wisely: Add the right indexes, remove unused ones, and measure impact with query plans.

2. Write efficient queries: Select only what you need, join on indexed keys, and avoid N+1 pitfalls.

3. Normalize—then balance: Normalize for integrity; denormalize selectively for performance. Measure, don’t assume.

4. Maintain routinely: Update statistics, rebuild or reorganize indexes, and check for corruption on a schedule.

5. Secure data: Principle of least privilege, parameterized queries, encryption at rest and in transit.

6. Back up and test restores: Follow strong retention policies and practice point‑in‑time recovery.

7. Monitor: Track slow queries, locks, CPU, and I/O. Alert before performance nosedives.

8. Plan to scale: Partition large tables, use read replicas, and design for growth without rewrites.

How to Display SQL Databases Skills on Your Resume