Where should I go next?
Tmaiorca
Member Posts: 6 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hey all,
Been sorta a lurker here so forgive me for posting very rarely. A little background before we get into the question:
I've just completed my first year as a Junior Sys Admin in a government municipality. Right out of college with an Associates, I was offered a job besides the IT director to serve as sort of "help desk". The term "help desk" is a little misleading....more over a system administrator role. I mainly deal with managing a network of around ~150 employees. This includes server management, network infrastructure, and general hardware / software inquiries. On the server side as a domain admin, I touch Active Directory, DNS, and DHCP. Network infrastructure is router / switch configurations and role outs while monitoring network traffic through firewall and web filters. We also have a backup server in place that I like to get my hands on. Day to day stuff includes file servers, permissions across shares, unblocking websites, etc etc.
On the flip, my boss and I also do pretty much everything electrical. Installing camera system in police vehicles? Providing assistance and configurations for all the in-car MDT's and police network? Check. Installing the hardware and configuring the software for the trucks salt spreaders? Check. The door system around the building and administrating new keys? Check. Oh, and the audio/video broadcast equipment that works out public meetings and local PEG channels to our town, Check.
So a little more onto the question...: I've just completed my Associates in Information Technology: Computer Networking and achieved my CCNA. At the moment, I'm focusing on MCSA Server 2012 since I get a lot of hands on with servers (and I enjoy it quite well). I figured once my CCNA is up for re-cert, I'll go CCNA Sec. and figure it out from there. But mainly, for these next few years, where should my direction with certs be? I don't want to get held in this position for too long and not be able to advance, but I learn EVERY day pretty much shadowing my boss and given full access to our infrastructure. At some point if the opportunity exists, I'd like to take a job offering a higher salary with the knowledge I've learned and applied. I've heard CISSP, security, virtualization...I can't wrap my mind around whats the best path to go for.
For all of you Sys admins out there, what would you recommend? Thanks for reading the jumbo block of text
Been sorta a lurker here so forgive me for posting very rarely. A little background before we get into the question:
I've just completed my first year as a Junior Sys Admin in a government municipality. Right out of college with an Associates, I was offered a job besides the IT director to serve as sort of "help desk". The term "help desk" is a little misleading....more over a system administrator role. I mainly deal with managing a network of around ~150 employees. This includes server management, network infrastructure, and general hardware / software inquiries. On the server side as a domain admin, I touch Active Directory, DNS, and DHCP. Network infrastructure is router / switch configurations and role outs while monitoring network traffic through firewall and web filters. We also have a backup server in place that I like to get my hands on. Day to day stuff includes file servers, permissions across shares, unblocking websites, etc etc.
On the flip, my boss and I also do pretty much everything electrical. Installing camera system in police vehicles? Providing assistance and configurations for all the in-car MDT's and police network? Check. Installing the hardware and configuring the software for the trucks salt spreaders? Check. The door system around the building and administrating new keys? Check. Oh, and the audio/video broadcast equipment that works out public meetings and local PEG channels to our town, Check.
So a little more onto the question...: I've just completed my Associates in Information Technology: Computer Networking and achieved my CCNA. At the moment, I'm focusing on MCSA Server 2012 since I get a lot of hands on with servers (and I enjoy it quite well). I figured once my CCNA is up for re-cert, I'll go CCNA Sec. and figure it out from there. But mainly, for these next few years, where should my direction with certs be? I don't want to get held in this position for too long and not be able to advance, but I learn EVERY day pretty much shadowing my boss and given full access to our infrastructure. At some point if the opportunity exists, I'd like to take a job offering a higher salary with the knowledge I've learned and applied. I've heard CISSP, security, virtualization...I can't wrap my mind around whats the best path to go for.
For all of you Sys admins out there, what would you recommend? Thanks for reading the jumbo block of text
Comments
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MitM
Member Posts: 622 ■■■■□□□□□□
CISSP is always good on the resume, but may be a bit too soon. I think if you like the server admin type role, picking up some virtualization skills will be very helpful for you. Also, learning some messaging/collaboration (Exchange/Office 365/SharePoint) will also be helpful
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EANx
Member Posts: 1,077 ■■■■■■■■□□
I have to agree with MitM. You seem like you're in a generalist role so go after generalist skills. That means a little bit of everything rather than going deep in one area. Some virtualization, whether it's vSphere or hyper-V depends on your environment, would be the first thing. After that, I'd add a bit of storage expertise (NetApp, EMC, whatever you use). Then a bit of messaging, whatever you use. -
Tmaiorca
Member Posts: 6 ■□□□□□□□□□
Great, thanks for the advice. I feel as if finishing up the MCSA should be my first step since it'll give me a bit more background on the server side. After finishing that, I think virtualization would be my next step!
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volfkhat
Member Posts: 1,072 ■■■■■■■■□□
You should go in the direction of what you "like" to do.
Sounds like Your job is giving you crazy good sysadmin EXP. Soak it all up! Smile everyday!
Do NOT worry about the $$$; it will come with time.
Just keeping showing up and learning.
One day, you may actually hit the Ceiling.... and that's when it will be time to move on (and make the BIG BUCKS).
Personally, i would stick it out for 3-5 years (if this is your first career/Job in IT) before moving on.
Once you get to the 5-year mark... things tend to get easier finding new opportunities.
As for the Certification,
Yeah, if you like the server stuff, then go for the MCSA.
But consider studying for the 74-409 exam (instead of 70-412); it covers the Hyper-V virtualization technology.
(check out the microsoft virtual academy; it's got some good stuff)