Hello everyone!
I am currently 27 and getting a late start as far as my career development goes. I am interested in pursuing my degree but due to working full time, having 2 children, and having a wife who is also in school... Making it to campus isn't really an option for me at the present time. I am currently working as a Technical Support Analyst at a relatively large international company and I am looking to improve myself.
I am particularly interested in becoming a linux system admin and I read /r/sysadmin quite a bit to keep up with the area. I have been studying for my RHCSA, using Fedora & centOS as my primary OS and home server, respectively, for almost a year and I love everything about it.
My question sort of starts here....
I applied to WGU and because of my lack of College experience (1 semester) and no certifications, I was denied admission. I am looking for online options that would allow me to knock a lot of my general ed requirements out of the way and I've narrowed it down to a few options.
- Coastline Community College
- Ivy Tech Community College Online
- American Public University
Does anyone have experience with any of these institutions? If you have any other recommendations I would gladly listen as I'm looking to get enrolled for the Fall. Once I obtain my associates degree or a good deal of transferable credits, I plan on reapplying to WGU.
I plan on eventually obtaining my RHCSA and then RHCE.. RHEL7 was recently released and I would like to start out with that rather than learning RHEL6 which will eventually be phased out of the exams at the end of the year. What other certifications would you recommend working on along side those for someone looking to get into Linux Sysadmin?
Right now I'm sort of thinking Network+ => CCNA => Security+ => RHCSA => RHCE.
Any way, I'm all ears for any advice you guys would be willing to offer.
Thanks in advance,
Chad
