Linux+, Ubuntu certification or CCNA

Treylee1783

I am looking for a way to get myself back into the IT field. I am 30 years old and I have help desk experience in gaming industry as well as cable support services and website support for around 7 years and a lot of call center soft skills in customer service and sales support for over 4 years. Education wise I am a tech school graduate in network support specialist in 2010 that covered Comptia A+, Net +, MCP and MCITP server 2008. At this point I am trying to return to the Tech Field as I am a call center order taker and service agent at a pizza company and as well may be accepting a production line job at a cookie factory. Money is definitely a need $$$, but so is career happiness and feeling I work in a productive field. I really have been interested a lot in web design, the idea of being a server administrator/web hosting fields. I as well love pc repair and maintenance/troubleshooting but need a career with better stability and at least a mid level role that's above tier 1-2. I started learning Linux, so far I think Linux Mint is a fun Distro and I tried Ubuntu. I know Red Hat is very valued skill but Ubuntu is a top used desktop too. Linux has been a struggle and I am now weighing short term goals if I will be better of short term going through Linux and if I should be certified in Linux + or on Ubuntu, Red Hat? Or go to the Cisco networking side and get my CCNA well I would do two test option to get CCENT first. Which certification route is more difficult and has a harder learning curve? Can you advise me short term if Linux or Cisco will provide me with better qualifications sooner and make me marketable? Any recommendations on online resources dealing with These certifications? What is my best way back into a computer IT career ?

johnnyarks

I think short term, for the most higher paying job in the quickest amount of time, your best bet would be to re-visit your Microsoft background. If you were MCITP 08', I see that still being very valuable. Regarding the Linux training, unless you're already exposed to it, Linux will take a while to learn, CentOS/Redhat is what I see most being used in the datacenter. Cisco is probably best long term, while you might be able to get a CCNA in 2 months, I doubt anyone will hire you to do anything more than NOC work, depending on the city -- would net you a job making 40-50K. I see a MCITP making more, faster.