Microsoft vs CCNA vs RHCSA career paths

Firstly this is my first post here so please be a little gentle.

A bit of background:

A+ 2001 while in college (4 weeks self study in free time)
Net+ 2001 while in college (3 weeks self study)
CCNA 2001 while in college (3 weeks self study), long expired (2004)

Worked in SEO as entrepreneur until 2008 doing everything from sales to marketing to SEO to server administration (mostly LAMP servers)

Decided to get into IT professionally in 2009. Have since worked as a network and windows system admin and got the following additional certs:

MCTS: Windows server 2008 active directory configuration, 2010 (3 months self study, free time with relelvant work experience)
MCTS: Windows 7 Enterprise desktop (about a month of self study in free time, with work experience)
Dell Certified Systems Expert Desktops & portables, 2010 (4 hours maybe?)

At this time i'm a network/sys admin doing domain controller and desktop support along with network design, configuration and deployment for companies up to about 50 employees. I'm looking for a change as I just don't see any upward mobility unless I started my own company and had a fleet of people like me working for me. I'm paid well for my level of experience (I think), but I've been looking at jobs and I see almost NOTHING with Microsoft experience (at least in my town) and a lot of jobs requesting significant linux experience and plenty of jobs looking for CCNA and above. So while i'm not removing microsoft from the equation, i'm looking for some advice as to where to turn next.

I would say at this time my linux experience is about equal to linux+ and my Cisco ninja skills are long forgotten (though I can still pretty much troubleshoot most routers & switches, just not unified devices or create secure VPNs, etc). I am now considering studying and taking the RHCSA exam or redoing the Cisco path. If I did linux, i'd probably try to then get RHCE after RHCSA. Alternatively I'd retake my CCNA and then either go the voice path or CCNP. Unfortunately I would have to pay for all exams myself so these certs would be resume builders for the most part with the hopes of landing into a new career path.

My main request for advice is.. what do people think of RHCSA vs CCNA vs Microsoft in today's job market? Which has the most opportunity for career advancement and salary growth? Given my experience and my need for change, which would you think would best suit me?

Thanks in advance to all and this seems to be a great forum!

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gkca

MeatCatalogue wrote: »

what do people think of RHCSA vs CCNA vs Microsoft in today's job market?

You could get RHCSA and CCNA and MCSE (or MCSA or whatever M$ call them next year) to complement each other.

EV42TMAN

Well I'm not sure about the Linux part of job market i know most large companies around me like Linux but, its not required. But with Cisco and Microsoft i say do them both because, I'm a Microsoft person and before I started at WGU all I had for certifications was A+, Net+, and a ton of Microsoft certifications including MCSA and MCITP Server Administrator. And with my experience I'd get random calls from recruiters and companies once or twice a month give or take. Then right before I started at WGU I did the CCNA and now I get calls for Microsoft server admin jobs every day because I have the CCNA. So if you want to go into Microsoft server admin do Microsoft and Cisco. If you want to do Cisco do Cisco.

MeatCatalogue

I appreciate the suggestions. As I said however, I see absolutely NO microsoft postings whatsoever so my feelings at this point are that MS is somehow not valued. I live in a high tech city so this is very strange to me but its possible its just a strange time to be applying to jobs (end of year).

As for CCNA I suppose it would not hurt anything to recertify, except consume a good chunk of my free time. I'm still wondering however what the job market outlook is for both redhat/linux and cisco. Like you, having CCNA on my resume posted to monster.com nets me emails and calls from recruiters on a regular basis. In the past i've called some back and the compensation is always poor, like $15 to $17/hr so I never pursued those opportunities. I figured the pay was low because recruiters are trying to get between employer and employee and make a good chunk of cash but even the given compensation seemed low for a CCNA.

I do now wonder if MS certs are as valuable these days. Back when I got my Active Directory Cert I considered getting my enterprise admin cert but just didn't pursue it because I didn't need it for my present job.

Roguetadhg

I think it comes down to "It doesn't hurt to have experience in all of it."

If you've got a lot of various skills, then you have a lot of doors open to you.
Can you use linux? Yes.
Can you add/delete users on a windows box? Yes.
Can you connect to the router? Yes.

While being 500 miles wide and 1 inches deep will hurt you in the long run, the short game is - You need a job. If you can wrangle a job, expand your knowledge in your areas. If you get to the point where you need to remember something you haven't used for a while - Cisco Ninja skills - atleast you've not been completely out of the loop where you forget... If you have a CCNA, things come back to you even years later of nothing. I know.

There's a lot of "certifications" out there. Just don't be bogged down with getting certifications with all of them.

All of them are useful to someone. It all comes down to what you're trying to do. There is a bit of luck when it comes to getting a career - I lucked out because of my predecessor and my temp job got me noticed and landed me this spot!

...Better than doing nothing, and wanting something!

Ps: Welcome to the forums. I look forward to your insight, experience, and stories.

EV42TMAN

I've noticed that around my area a lot of places are looking for the "full package" per say. Employers are looking for real networking knowledge and Microsoft knowledge. Which makes sense because a lot of companies use microsoft for software and cisco for networking, and if you know about both then troubleshooting problems when they arise is easier because you know how everything works together. Also it might make the requirements for the non-technical HR person who is tasked with the first round of interviews to figure out if you're a good candidate or not. In the last 3 to 4 months since I got my CCNA every job listing/offer I've received has been for at least $60k a year, most of them are we're more but, that could be a Minnesota thing.

Currently I work for an OEM\VAR which is great it gives me a lot of expose to a lot of different technologies but, the bad side of it is that sometime linux gets abused in my opinion. My employer has some linux solutions (which are great solutions) depending what you're looking for. But some of our partners/resellers have came to us and said "I have this new client that is on a tight budget so I was thinking about using linux" with which means, knowing our partners and resellers to us is they want to really mark up tech time and use linux because it's free. I know linux is flexible and can be used instead of every microsoft product but, just because it can be doesn't mean its the best fit for the company overall. So after the linux headaches I've already dealt with it has killed my motivation to do anything certification wise for linux because then I'd be volunteering myself for more linux headaches. Which is kind of a sad/excuse because through work the certification would be free but, in my current role i'd rather work on windows, comptia, or cisco certifications.

Sorry for the mini rant

MeatCatalogue

Roguetadhg wrote: »

I think it comes down to "It doesn't hurt to have experience in all of it."

If you've got a lot of various skills, then you have a lot of doors open to you.
Can you use linux? Yes.
Can you add/delete users on a windows box? Yes.
Can you connect to the router? Yes.

While being 500 miles wide and 1 inches deep will hurt you in the long run, the short game is - You need a job. If you can wrangle a job, expand your knowledge in your areas. If you get to the point where you need to remember something you haven't used for a while - Cisco Ninja skills - atleast you've not been completely out of the loop where you forget... If you have a CCNA, things come back to you even years later of nothing. I know.

There's a lot of "certifications" out there. Just don't be bogged down with getting certifications with all of them.

All of them are useful to someone. It all comes down to what you're trying to do. There is a bit of luck when it comes to getting a career - I lucked out because of my predecessor and my temp job got me noticed and landed me this spot! ...Better than doing nothing, and wanting something!

Ps: Welcome to the forums. I look forward to your insight, experience, and stories.

I think your advice is good. As i've read elsewhere on these forums, "do what you enjoy." I enjoy microsoft more than linux and linux more than cisco. Of course all 3 are better than digging ditches or being a level1 tech in a call center, etc (my opinion of course). But if there are too few jobs for Microsoft, or if too many people also enjoy doing microsoft work and the market is saturated with too many MS people, what I enjoy becomes less relevant. I love eating pizza but no one will pay me for it.

I'm still trying to determine a value for all these certs. I've never actually met someone professionally with an RHCE or RHCSA but then professionally I'm deep in the MS world. I know some of the professional sites like dice say CCNA average salary is 67k or something like that but i've never met anyone with (just a) CCNA making that much either. CCNPs for sure.

I think in an ideal world I would be a CTO within 5 to 10 years. What does a CTO need to know? Probably linux, MS, CCNA and VMware, among others. It all depends on the company I suppose but these seem about right?

Roguetadhg

Most of the CCIE people I've met have always been down to earth tech geeks. You wouldn't really see a cape coming out from under them but get a few into a conversation of Star Wars or Star Trek.. or The Matrix. Prepare for a lengthy conversation. No matter what certification you have, you're pretty much a tech geek to spend hours of less-sleep studying this stuff

There's not a lot of "Feed the animal" persons in the fields here. Grizzly people that work in the depths and only see the sunlight when there's a firedrill. Maybe the C|EH guys... but us Cisco & Juniper guys are the bikers. Stealing bits from an otherwise untamed network. We rock and roll like that, in the dirt, in the ceilings - running cabling, fighting mice poo, and dodging the angry hornets. We break fiber optical cabling just to splice them back together - for fun.

One of my boss doesn't have a CCNA, although the other had MS certs and worked for IBM.

Value of a certification is a really hard answer.
- It means nothing for some - because it's a paper certification they got through other means and couldn't tell you a lick of anything from it. Hence, certification = Worthless. Braindump or Not.
- For others the certification is the golden ticket. They get promotions inner-workplace, and get out of the Tier 1 spot.
- For others the certification is a hope and a dream. They may be able to use the knowledge, they may not. It's to keep doors open, and hope that luck and a lot of hard work can find them something better than what they have.

(I'm the third group)

A certification shouldn't be seen as the end-game. I know that's a common train of thought for everyone, including myself! It's more so just an introduction; a frame work. The framework for information about a technology. What you do with the foundation is up to you... You can choose to forget it or you can build on it.

As far as $$$ worth... It's however much you can sell yourself at that interview.

Again, welcome! TE is the only place (I know of) where we nuggets can meet with the Tech Gods/Goddesses and mingle without paying thousands of bucks. It's actually pretty stimulating, and provides a lot of motivation to keep at it.

MeatCatalogue

So last night I looked over this book at my local Barnes & Noble

Amazon.com: LPIC-1/CompTIA Linux+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide (Exams LPIC-1/LX0-101 & LX0-102) (9780071771573): Robb Tracy: Books

It appears that I do not know everything for the LPIC-1 / Linux+ exam. So maybe I should sit for that one first. From what I can tell its $346 or $173 per exam. Ouch! Plus $31.50+ tax for the book. Not terrible but anyone have opinions on how valuable LPIC-1 is in the industry? Or should I just skip to studying for the RHCSA?

gkca

MeatCatalogue wrote: »

Or should I just skip to studying for the RHCSA?

I'd skip the LPIC and study for RHCSA, actually that's what I'm studying right now (along with EMCISA)

Roguetadhg

Yeah, certs are expensive... It's why we study so hard

As far as usefulness - Linux+ is just an entry-level "Know nothing" certification. Really, just to say you got your feet wet, and have the capacity to not look like a complete fool when needing to change a text file in Vi|m. I'm not looking to be a "Linux Administrator" though, that's when you'd skip Lpic-1 and Linux+ and go for the Red Hat certs.

Again, just my impression of things though.

kurosaki00

its difficult to say man

because RHCSA its on a league of its own
I mean, usually people who have RHCSA or Red Hat certs have pretty high level jobs
vs CCNA and some MS certs which are below the Admin level

But all 3 path offer great rewards and are in demmand
at your level, Id go for either all flavours of CCNA or maybe CCNP? (If you were to choose cisco)

lsud00d

Roguetadhg wrote: »

Yeah, certs are expensive... It's why we study so hard

As far as usefulness - Linux+ is just an entry-level "Know nothing" certification. Really, just to say you got your feet wet, and have the capacity to not look like a complete fool when needing to change a text file in Vi|m. I'm not looking to be a "Linux Administrator" though, that's when you'd skip Lpic-1 and Linux+ and go for the Red Hat certs.

Again, just my impression of things though.

True it's an entry level cert, but I wouldn't downgrade it to a "no-brainer" type exam. It's not RHCSA but I think most people would find the Linux+ harder than most Microsoft exams, and from what I have personally explored from the "trifecta" it seems the most technically proficient CompTIA exam.

To the OP, I'd say the Linux+ (which also earns you the LPIC-1) would be a good gauge of your current *nix skills and if the RHCSA is easily attainable. There is a decent and nicely compensated market for RHCSA/RHCE's.

MeatCatalogue

lsud00d,

Thanks for the info. I may buy the Linux+ book and study it as I would for a cert but then not sit. That might be the best compromise. For example, I had no idea reiserFS existed, or that alien commands can change packages to RPMs. I guess I have gaps you could say.

As for exam difficulty, MS exams are by far the hardest i've taken. I got my CCNA in 3 weeks after taking a net+ having never touched a cisco router or switch. Got a 91% on the exam. My active directory exam? Scored 80% and it took 3 months, an entire text book, videos, 5 virtual machines, tons of practice exams, etc etc.

I looked again today at jobs and all I see is linux linux linux, database admins, tech sales and.. a few Cisco. Nothing microsoft. NOTHING. I am very far from an exchange expert so I don't look in those categories but it seems thats the MS route right now.

the_Grinch

Get certified in what interests you, followed by what is in high demand in your area. In Philadelphia, it is mostly a Microsoft stronghold so it would do me no real good to be certified in Linux. If in Texas they want Linux people, then get certified in Linux. Networking knowledge is always a good thing to have because let's face it, if the network side isn't working then the rest of the stuff is a moot point. Plus network engineers always appreciate when you can not only rule out it being a server issue, but also at least follow what it could be from the network end.

Kreken

MeatCatalogue wrote: »

As for exam difficulty, MS exams are by far the hardest i've taken. I got my CCNA in 3 weeks after taking a net+ having never touched a cisco router or switch. Got a 91% on the exam.

You can't really compare the difficulty of CCNA exam from 2001 to post 2008. CCNA was split into two parts, ICND1 & 2. CCNA from 2001 roughly equals to ICND1. You can still take CCNA exam which combines ICND1&2 but it is in no way a pushover. Cisco changed the focus of CCNA. According to Cisco, with old CCNA you could support a small organization and now with full CCNA you can support a medium size organization.

It will probably take you about the same amount of time to study for RHCSA and CCNA exams. Since you ranked networking the least of your interests, I would say RHCSA would be more appropriate for you.

MeatCatalogue

Kreken,

Thanks for the info. I did look over a CCNA book 2 days ago and from what I can tell there was roughly the same amount of information to be covered as in 2001. Gone are the requirements for ISDN lines and such, added are wireless requirements. Sitting for the MS exams in 2010 in both instances there were guys next to me at Prometric taking CCNA exams. Both were calculating subnets or trying to isolate the correct response to a CLI problem without being tricked. I maybe saw about 6 live questions. This was simply because (laughably) the computer I was working with couldn't connect to microsoft to get the live exam I was working on so I had about 10 minutes to just stare at the wall (or at their exams) while there. So while I cannot tell you "for sure" that its the same amount of work, it sure looked pretty similar. Looking over the CCNA exam objectives I see pretty much the same thing.

As for ranking networking vs system administration - I only really ranked cisco networking. And by that I meant staring at a command line all day. I'm sure linux would be pretty much identical in this regard! At any rate, my plan is to study linux+ material and possibly sit for linux+. Then retake my CCNA then explore the world of RHCSA.

I looked at the salaries list last night and pretty much concluded they are bogus. MCTS: Active directory (a cert I have) is paid a median salary of $85,000 while an MCITP: Enterprise Administrator is paid $75,000. What gives? MCTS: Active dirctory is a requirement to get Enterprise Administrator!

I guess the short takeaway point is that my initial request for salary information or career opportunity is somewhat impossible to answer broadly speaking. As Rogue suggested, casting a net 500 miles wide yields a lot of interviews. I think getting linux+ or equivalent and renewing CCNA would be a net significantly wider than what i'm casting now and the cost of additional knowledge is only a few hundred dollars for certification and learning materials and the lack of leisure time. Worth it, mostly.

headshot

I don't know but personally I really dislike Microsoft GUI administration. Linux is OK though, and I'm considering RHCSA after CCNA. I want to specialize in networking field so part of me feels like the RHCSA would be a waste of time that I could spend towards CCNP and beyond. In my area though being a smaller city it looks like companies want more jack-of-all trades types, not specialists.

buzzkill

MeatCatalogue wrote: »

Sitting for the MS exams in 2010 in both instances there were guys next to me at Prometric taking CCNA exams.

Cisco exams can only be taken at Pearson Vue centres since 2007.

Bloogen

A lot of testing centers are registered as both.