How To Become An Exchange Administrator: What It Is and Career Path

What is an exchange administrator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Laura Kier

An Exchange administrator sets up and manages a company's Microsoft Exchange server. Microsoft Exchange is an email hosting program that helps businesses back up communication, streamline their IT services, and protect against phishing or other external attacks. Exchange administrators help improve a company's communications by installing Exchange system hardware and software. Once the system is installed, they monitor the archives, perform necessary updates, and write scripts to automate technological tasks such as installing applications.

Exchange administrators need to be familiar with networking protocols like TCP/IP, the Microsoft Exchange platform, and operating systems such as Linux. They also need to have excellent communication skills in order to resolve technological problems for their clients.

Most Exchange administrators start out by getting a bachelor's degree in computer science, although it is possible to work up to this position with only an associate's degree and practical experience. In terms of practical experience, many start off as systems or network administrators before specializing in Exchange. The average salary for an Exchange administrator is $91,367 a year, which makes the years of work it takes to get to this position worth it.

What general advice would you give to an Exchange Administrator?

Laura Kier

Network Design and Administration Instructor

Students graduating from the Computer Network Design and Administration program will enter the job market with a solid foundation in networking technologies. Above that they should also be able to develop and demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Networking has a strong emphasis on teamwork and being able to communicate well with customers, co-workers and teammates is vital. Attaining certifications in Cisco, Linux, Windows, and security will also help the student stand out within the industry (classes in the program help to learn the knowledge needed to attain certifications). Students should participate in any local or online communities and groups to enhance skills and knowledge and find networking opportunities.

ScoreExchange AdministratorUS Average

Salary

7.3

Avg. Salary $93,513

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 11.59%

Black or African American 8.76%

Hispanic or Latino 12.45%

Unknown 5.07%

White 61.81%

Gender

female 16.56%

male 83.44%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an exchange administrator

Explore exchange administrator education requirements

Most common exchange administrator degrees

Bachelor's

56.4 %

Associate

25.9 %

Master's

8.0 %

Start to develop specific exchange administrator skills

Skills	Percentages
PowerShell	8.29%
Windows Server	6.76%
Troubleshoot	6.73%
Infrastructure	5.95%
Microsoft Exchange	5.75%

Complete relevant exchange administrator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New exchange administrators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an exchange administrator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real exchange administrator resumes.

Research exchange administrator duties and responsibilities

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Manage IIS 6.0 and IIS 7.0 server clusters and services across multiple sites and domains.
Save company many hours of manual testing and developing by engineering Java applications to automate tedious tasks.
Utilize strong working knowledge of TCP/IP, DHCP, HTTP, LDAP, SNMP, SMTP, and other networking protocols.

Get exchange administrator experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become an exchange administrator. The most common roles before becoming an exchange administrator include systems administrator, network administrator team lead and technical support specialist.

Prepare your exchange administrator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your exchange administrator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an exchange administrator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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