Stories. A topic that there is not always time for in everyday work. A topic that allows you to understand why a given person is where he is. Today I will be a Jira admins ambassador. It is not a profession that every child dreams of (although I found one exception, details in the article). There is no such field of study. And it’s not something we’ll write on our tombstone. But here we are! Get to know our stories.

I have asked admin`s community on LinkedIn what their path was. You can also add yours to these stories HERE.

From chaos to owning the company

It turns out that sometimes (or usually?) being thrown into the deep end is the best way to learn.

My first week on the job I had to lead all the Scrum ceremonies by myself because my boss got COVID

Rae Foote

– My introduction to Jira was a little dramatic (drama? me? never!) – says Rae Foote. – I was recruited to be an Associate PM at my first tech company from the support team, and my first week on the job I had to lead all the Scrum ceremonies by myself bc my boss got COVID! Talk about trial by fire, but Jira was like instinct and I’ve been a fan ever since.

Now Rae is a problem solving hero and she recently founded her consulting company.

Taking Jira by force…

Navigating Jira is quite intuitive, that’s a fact. However, sometimes a brute force approach is needed:

– The truth is Jira happened to be the only task tracking/project management tool we had, so I figured out how to use it (mainly be beating my head into a keyboard until it worked) – recalls Robert Hean.

Well, I can ensure you it worked – the moment I`m writing this, Robert is about to publish another course on Udemy, good luck!

…or talking to her softly?

The role of a Jira admin can be also very diverse. Therefore, in addition to technical skills, a whole range of soft ones are useful here.

Hyper focus, process improvements, security & compliance, and making life easier for my colleagues is what drove me to be the Jira Admin I became.

Dean Robbins

Before embarking on the IT path, Dean previously worked in the tourism industry. This is another example of how different the admins come from.

– I worked in Hospitality, then moved into Technical Support in call centers, before becoming an Implementation Specialist, then Project Manager.

I also strongly believe that incorporating whole variety of your life and work experience into the Jira admin`s world can bring the great outcome.

When it itches – scratch it

They say that the best code is written when a programmer scratches where it itches the most. Is it the same with Jira?

I complained about some tools to the person running them. They said “if you think you can do better, do it”. So I did.

Matt Doar

In addition to taking the reins of the app, Matt has written several books about Jira that you can check out HERE.

So how many Jira guys do we have here

Remember how I said that no child dreams of becoming an admin? Well, I was wrong.

When I was a child, I always wanted to be an IT administrator.

Robert Świderski

– After years of administration and building the network, new people joined our company who loved Jira, and the administration and installation was left to me – mówi Robert. – Jira is not the only thing I administer, but I also have the nickname ‘jira guy’ – in 3 companies already .

Okay, so how many Jira guys do we have here? It’s hard to count, but the one written in capital letters is one (and as it turns out, he’s also a musician!).

– You see, at the time, I was working as a consultant and technician, going across the U.S. to install, and configure First Responder (colloquially 911) systems for various governments and agencies. It was a great job.

If you’re in San Jose, CA, Gilbert, AZ, Knoxville, TN, or Aurora, CO, you’ve been protected by systems I helped set up.

Rodney Nissen

– The problem with this job was the travel. It was fun, but it was just too much. The final straw was Oct, 2013, when I spent a total of 8 days home. This put a strain on my relationship with my girlfriend (she’s now my wife, so it all worked out), not to mention my health and well-being. So I looked for what was available inside my company, and saw an opening for a Sysadmin.

It turned out to be a pivotal decision in Rodney’s career.

– I interviewed for it, and was hired right away. On day one, we went over all my new systems. The last ones were Jira and Confluence, which my new boss informed me I’d be getting tickets on starting tomorrow. So I dug into the documentation, and the rest is history!

True, Rodney has been making history ever since. Among other things, he created The Jira Life podcast with Alex Ortiz. And when the Jira Server end of life date came they`ve hosted a live show for… 24 hours!

And don`t forget about Jira girls!

After 3 months I was already quite good at it. And after 3 years, I was not only the administrator, but everything related to Jira was in my scope

Patrycja Rajs

– After 6 years of wandering around companies, I learned that everywhere is good where we are not, I returned to the company where I had previously worked for 8 years – says Patrycja.

The decision was right! Welcome to the Jira path:)

– My whole life I was in IT departments, so they took me to IT… “you will take care of Jira, cause the previous admin left”. And after 3 years, I was not only the administrator, but everything related to Jira was in my scope.

There are many things that make the Jira admin job unique. But community is one of the first that comes to my mind. Thanks for your stories and see you on the (admin`s) road.