What hiring teams look for
Network and Computer Systems Administrators win ATS screens by front-loading the highest-frequency job-description keywords (Windows Server (2016/2019/2022), Active Directory, Linux (RHEL/Ubuntu/CentOS), PowerShell, IT Infrastructure) in the summary and skills blocks, then proving each in quantified bullets that show scope, method, and business outcome.
Top ATS keywords for a network and computer systems administrator resume
Frequencies reflect how often each keyword appears in current network and computer systems administrator job descriptions. Higher-frequency terms belong in your summary and Skills block.
| Keyword | JD frequency | Where to place it |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Server (2016/2019/2022) | 90%+ | Summary + Skills + Experience bullets |
| Active Directory | 90%+ | Summary + Skills + Experience bullets |
| Linux (RHEL/Ubuntu/CentOS) | 85%+ | Summary + Skills + Experience bullets |
| PowerShell | 85%+ | Summary + Skills + Experience bullets |
| IT Infrastructure | 80%+ | Summary (1.5x zone) |
| Server Management | 80%+ | Summary + top Experience bullet |
| Backup and Recovery | 80%+ | Skills + Experience |
| Monitoring | 75%+ | Skills (Nagios/SolarWinds/Zabbix/PRTG) |
| Patch Management | 75%+ | Skills + Experience |
| DNS / DHCP | 70%+ | Skills |
| Group Policy | 70%+ | Skills + Experience bullets |
| VMware vSphere | 65%+ | Skills |
| Hyper-V | 60%+ | Skills |
| Troubleshooting | 60%+ | Summary (use "diagnose and resolve") |
| Automation / Scripting | 60%+ | Summary + Skills + Experience |
| Network Infrastructure | 60%+ | Summary + Experience |
| Bash | 55%+ | Skills |
| SCCM / Intune | 50%+ | Skills |
| ServiceNow | 50%+ | Skills (ticketing context) |
| Azure AD / Entra ID | 50%+ | Skills (hybrid identity) |
| AWS / Azure (cloud admin) | 45%+ | Skills + Experience |
| Ansible | 35%+ | Skills (automation track) |
| Docker / Kubernetes | 30%+ | Skills (containerization) |
| Security Hardening | 25%+ | Experience bullets |
| SIEM | 25%+ | Skills (security-focused roles) |
Section order that scores
The order matters. ATS parsers weight content closer to the top, so leading with the right sections lifts your keyword score before the parser ever reaches your work history.
- 1
Contact block (Name, phone, email, LinkedIn URL, city/state
no icons, no tables, body text only)
- 2
Professional Summary (4-5 lines; embed t
Professional Summary (4-5 lines; embed top-5 keywords; 1.5x ATS location weight)
- 3
Certifications
(standalone section — BEFORE Technical Skills and Experience; certifications are hard requirements/gatekeepers for sysadmin roles; include full name + acronym + exam code where applicable)
- 4
Technical Skills (categorized by
Operating Systems | Scripting & Automation | Virtualization | Cloud | Monitoring & ITSM | Networking)
- 5
Work Experience (reverse-chronological;
Work Experience (reverse-chronological; 4-6 bullets per role)
- 6
Education (degree, institution, graduati
Education (degree, institution, graduation year; omit GPA unless <3 yrs out)
- 7
Projects *(optional
include only for home lab / infrastructure automation projects if entry-level or career-changer)*
Bullet examples that work
Each follows the STAR-with-stack pattern: action verb, tool or method, business outcome, and a hard number.
Administered Windows Server 2022/2019 environment across 80+ servers, maintaining 99.95% uptime through proactive SolarWinds monitoring and scheduled maintenance windows.
Managed Active Directory for 3,500+ users across 12 OUs, implementing Group Policy Objects and least-privilege access controls that reduced unauthorized access incidents by 62%.
Automated monthly patch deployment cycle using PowerShell and SCCM, reducing manual deployment time from 40 hours to 3 hours per cycle and achieving 98% patch compliance.
Led migration of 400-user on-premises Active Directory environment to Azure AD (Entra ID) hybrid configuration, enabling SSO and Intune-managed device enrollment within 8-week project timeline.
Designed and tested Veeam-based backup and disaster recovery plan for 15TB production environment, achieving RTO of <4 hours and RPO of <1 hour, down from 24-hour RTO baseline.
ATS killers to avoid
Each of these is documented to break parsing across major ATS platforms. Avoid them and your score climbs even without rewriting a single bullet.
- Using "Windows" instead of "Windows Server 2022" — version specificity is how ATS keyword-matches platform roles
- Listing "scripting" without naming the language — PowerShell and Bash are separate keyword hits
- Omitting Linux if the candidate knows both — most enterprise environments are heterogeneous; absence signals a gap
- Certs listed only in a footer, sidebar, or after Education — they must appear in a dedicated section within the first screen of content
- Using abbreviations alone (AD, PS, SCCM) — ATS may not recognize without the full term present at least once
- Listing "networking" generically — replace with DNS, DHCP, VLAN, Firewall which are what ATS keyword-searches Competitor patterns to NOT copy:
- resume.io's Skills-after-Experience order — loses keyword weighting for the skills section
- rezi.ai's lumping of certs into "Additional Sections" — certs are primary qualifiers for sysadmin, not additions
- Any two-column layout with a skills/contact sidebar — column-based ATS parsing creates data collisions
- Contact info placed in a Word header or footer — invisible to ATS parsers
Frequently asked questions
What ATS score should a network and computer systems administrator resume target?
Aim for 96 or higher. The structure on this page combines a single-column layout, the section order recommended for network and computer systems administrator roles, and 15-25 validated keywords placed in the summary and top bullets so the resume earns location-weighted points where ATS parsers look first.
How long should a network and computer systems administrator resume be?
One page for 0-5 years of experience and two pages for 6+ years. Never truncate quantified achievements to fit a single page — let the document flow cleanly to page 2 rather than dropping metrics that prove impact.
What are the most important keywords on a network and computer systems administrator resume?
The highest-frequency keywords for network and computer systems administrator job descriptions are Windows Server (2016/2019/2022), Active Directory, Linux (RHEL/Ubuntu/CentOS), PowerShell, IT Infrastructure. Place the top three in your summary (1.5x ATS weight) and repeat each in the top bullet of the role where you used it.
Where should skills go on a network and computer systems administrator resume?
Operating Systems | Scripting & Automation | Virtualization | Cloud | Monitoring & ITSM | Networking) Group skills with inline category labels rather than rendering them in tables or visual grids — ATS parsers drop or scramble table cell contents.
What's the biggest formatting mistake on network and computer systems administrator resumes?
Using "Windows" instead of "Windows Server 2022" — version specificity is how ATS keyword-matches platform roles Single-column layouts with plain text section headers parse reliably across every major ATS, while creative templates with sidebars, icons, or skill bars routinely lose data during parsing.
Should I include a photo or objective on a network and computer systems administrator resume?
No photo on US resumes — most ATS platforms either reject embedded images or strip them, and some companies discard photo resumes for compliance reasons. Replace any objective statement with a 3-4 sentence professional summary that includes your top keywords.
Free tools for network and computer systems administrators
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