A little lost, will certification provide direction?

I've been in IT for a while now, but everything I've learnt has been through doing it myself or on the job (sans the Degree). I feel like I have some knowledge gaps because I've never really followed a syllabus. I feel that because I'm the master of what I learn, I'll shy away from the boring yet sometimes important things. I'm thinking about going back to the start and going through the CompTIA roadmap picking up certs relevant to my work, I otherwise feel there are so many things I'd like to learn I'd be lost without the structure it provides. Does this sound reasonable to take this course of action?

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TheFORCE

The roadmap will depend on your current job, your passion for a particular technology, where you want to be in the future or where you want to see yourself in the future and your capacity of learning a new topic easily.
What are you doing now? What do you want to do in the furure? Do you like what you are doing now but want to become an expert? Or do you not like it and want to move on to another area? The roadmap depends on the answers to those questions.

dontstop

TheFORCE wrote: »

What are you doing now?
What do you want to do in the furure?
Do you like what you are doing now but want to become an expert?
Or do you not like it and want to move on to another area?

System Administrator (Linux).
Mostly the same thing, just to become better at it and struggle a little less. I feel I'm lacking in some basic areas which are hurting my overall ability to perform. I'm hoping following a Certificate track could clear up some of those gaps.
I'd like to become an Expert yes, but I'd like to also fill in a lot of the knowledge gaps I currently have.
I'd like to venture into a bit more Microsoft Technologies as that's one of weak areas, but there are also things that I'd like to recover in certs like Linux+ too.

Jinuyr

If you're unsure what roadmap to take, I highly recommend this vendor neutral roadmap from CompTIA to see where you can take your education.

https://certification.comptia.org/docs/default-source/downloadablefiles/it-certification-roadmap.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Good luck!

dmoore44

Without having a way to gauge how much you already know, here's a syllabus: http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/Courses/329syl.pdf
And here's the corresponding class resources: Index of /

Here's the Linux foundation course on edX: https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-linux-linuxfoundationx-lfs101x-0
If you're looking for something a bit more advanced: https://learn.saylor.org/course/cs401
Or if you'd like to pursue the Linux+ cert: https://www.cybrary.it/course/comptia-linux-plus/
And if you'd like to stretch out a bit, here's the Linux Foundation's edX course on OpenStack: https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-openstack-linuxfoundationx-lfs152x#!

markulous

Since you have Linux experience already, I'd jump right into a Red Hat cert. It'll be more marketable and more practical.

mbarrett

Certification will not show you the way...you will still be lost, only with a piece of paper that says you are the expert on a certain subject.

dontstop

mbarrett wrote: »

Certification will not show you the way...you will still be lost, only with a piece of paper that says you are the expert on a certain subject.

I think my title may have alluded to a different problem than my post presents. I'm lost in regards to forming and solidifying base knowledge and the confidence that inspires, I have a fairly strong understanding of where I want to be career wise. Currently I feel like a hack, I've learnt most of what I know informally through practise but never had any type of formal test or recognition of what I actually know. I feel like the guy who says "Yeah I know CCNA content, but I don't need to take the test".

I'm going to take both dmoore44 & markulous' advice and certify with one of the Linux certs that match my skill level and following the CompTIA roadmap from there. I'm thinking at the moment starting with LPIC and working up would be a good start.

Thanks to all who posted and helped out.

volfkhat

dontstop wrote: »

I'm going to take both dmoore44 & markulous' advice and certify with one of the Linux certs that match my skill level and following the CompTIA roadmap from there. I'm thinking at the moment starting with LPIC and working up would be a good start.

fyi,
Im pretty sure the LPIC and Linux+ are the SAME exam (just different branding).

As far as gaining confidence,
my favorite method is by having Recruiters flooding your email with potential jobs.
The fastest way to get that.... is to Get Some Certs.

granted,
having the Cert doesn't MEAN you Know anything.... but HR/recruiters think that it does!

UnixGuy

RHCE, AWS certs (if you work with it), Puppet cert (if you use it..)... CCNA?

TechGromit

volfkhat wrote: »

having the Cert doesn't MEAN you Know anything.... but HR/recruiters think that it does!

Maybe, maybe not. It gives an employers a baseline measurement proving potential job candidates have the knowledge they claim they have. It might just be that they are good at passing exams, but employers have to start somewhere. Anyone can claim they are an expert on anything and if employers do not have the knowledge to test knowledge in an interview how do they know a job candidate is telling them truth or stretching the truth?

DatabaseHead

Not sure of the marketability but reading through the Linux + course material was a lot of fun, since you are a Linux Admin you might find it easy.

I also enjoyed network +. I was able to read Mike Myers book cover to cover in 2 weeks. That's RARE for me.

Summarize, I have trouble as well. But...... I really like how CompTIA did their learning curriculum. I'm going to up vote you for Linux+