Career Advice (What route has the best potential)

oxymoron5k

Hello, my name is Steve and I entered the IT field 6 months ago. I am a network technician for a local shop in the midwest. We are a small company who helps small business's with their networks and also computer repair. I have just received my A+ cert and soon I will have my Network +. I am very interested in advancing my IT career to the next level and want to pick the route that has the most potential. I am very open to any route in the IT field since I am new I love every aspect of it. So my question is if you were in my shoes, what route do you think would be the most successful for my IT career? I have been considering the virtulization area as well as some "Cloud" certs.

Thanks for your input!

cyberguypr

Welcome aboard. This question pops up very often. IT has so many branches and sub-branches. All of them offer great avenues for advancement and the potential to make a lot of money. We can't tell you what path suit you best. You'll be best served by finding what your passion is and following that path.

Cisc0kidd

oxymoron5k wrote: »

Hello, my name is Steve and I entered the IT field 6 months ago. I am a network technician for a local shop in the midwest. We are a small company who helps small business's with their networks and also computer repair. I have just received my A+ cert and soon I will have my Network +. I am very interested in advancing my IT career to the next level and want to pick the route that has the most potential. I am very open to any route in the IT field since I am new I love every aspect of it. So my question is if you were in my shoes, what route do you think would be the most successful for my IT career? I have been considering the virtulization area as well as some "Cloud" certs.

Thanks for your input!

CCNA or MCSA/Linux+ depending on if you want to head down the networking or administration route. I would hold off on cloud or virtualization for now.

oxymoron5k

A more detailed question I suppose would be what 2 or 3 fields seem to have the most potential at the moment?

pinkydapimp

oxymoron5k wrote: »

A more detailed question I suppose would be what 2 or 3 fields seem to have the most potential at the moment?

IT is ever changing. So whats hot right now, may not be hot in 5 years. What i can tell you is that its best to build a strong and wide base of education(a BS perhaps). That will allow you to more easily move around in the IT realm until you find the field that you enjoy. You mention virtualization and Cloud. Those are good areas. But i would focus on your base knowledge right now. Networking and an OS level cert. And in the meantime setup a homelab with ESXi. Then see where you are in a year and whats in demand

On a regular basis i look at what jobs are out there and in demand mostly to keep up with things and see whats trending, whats hot and what skills are in demand.

oxymoron5k

pinkydapimp wrote: »

IT is ever changing. So whats hot right now, may not be hot in 5 years. What i can tell you is that its best to build a strong and wide base of education(a BS perhaps). That will allow you to more easily move around in the IT realm until you find the field that you enjoy. You mention virtualization and Cloud. Those are good areas. But i would focus on your base knowledge right now. Networking and an OS level cert. And in the meantime setup a homelab with ESXi. Then see where you are in a year and whats in demand

On a regular basis i look at what jobs are out there and in demand mostly to keep up with things and see whats trending, whats hot and what skills are in demand.

What is ESXi? I think I will stick to the CCNA next since most people say to stick to the basics first.

pinkydapimp

oxymoron5k wrote: »

What is ESXi? I think I will stick to the CCNA next since most people say to stick to the basics first.

VMWare ESXI is a free virtualization hypervisor. Great way to learn it and setup a home lab. Try to find 250-500 bucks. Build a server with that. and run ESXI on it. Then you will be able to set up a domain, a few servers, play with networking stuff. great way to learn some new skills.

oxymoron5k

pinkydapimp wrote: »

VMWare ESXI is a free virtualization hypervisor. Great way to learn it and setup a home lab. Try to find 250-500 bucks. Build a server with that. and run ESXI on it. Then you will be able to set up a domain, a few servers, play with networking stuff. great way to learn some new skills.

Awesome will do thanks a lot.

stryder144

The one with the greatest single potential for you is the one you are most interested in. I don't say that to be funny but to highlight the point that no one can truly give you definitive info on which two or three have the greatest potential. Having said that, there are several main groupings that will likely remain solid for the foreseeable future and they are:

1. Networking - Cisco, Brocade, Juniper, etc.
2. System Admin - MS Windows Servers (2008/2012), Linux (RHCSA/RHCE/Linux+)
3. Virtualization - VMware, Citrix, etc.
4. Desktop Support - MS Windows (MCSA: Win 7/
5. Security - touches on the above and can cover anything from securing the systems, to setting policy, to detection and mitigation of threats, to vulnerability testing, to even forensic analysis.

Any one of the five listed above has the most potential, depending on the market you live in, the experience and passion that you have, and your willingness to truly learn and love the underlying technologies. In IT, the sky is truly the limit for those who are willing to reach for it.