Am I on the right path?

Soliton

Hi everyone, first post in the forums. I had been lurking this forum for a little while now, and I can say already that it was worth joining.

So, I am currently trying to get my first job in the IT field. Going back 5 years, I ran my a decently successful part-time IT business. I did resident and business work. But that slowed down pretty bad, and now I need to take my step into an actual IT job. I was at the local community college getting an Associate's in Computer Science, however I took off to work since I am about to have my first son. I do plan on going back, my goal is to transfer to a bachelor's program next year or so. But I need to get into IT right away so that I can better provide for my family.

I do believe I have the knowledge to fill a sysadmin position. There's always more to learn of course, but I've been die-hard in love with computers since a young age, and have studied more than I want to remember...I currently am A+ certified, and am pretty sure I just need a little refresher to get the CCNA (Took the courses in HS).

Question is, can anyone lead me in the right way from here? How can I increase my chances of entering the field? My ultimate goal like I said is a Systems Administrator, but I know I have to work lesser jobs first. What cert should I persue next? CCNA, MCSA, Network+?

Thank in advance everyone!

gorebrush

The answer to "what should I do next?" is really two-fold.

1. What do you want to do? Networking? Virtualisation? Windows Servers? Unix? The choices are endless. Is there anything that interests you more than anything else? There must be

2. Look around at the trends in jobs. I'm always keeping an eye on job sites. Not necessarily with the view to apply for anything, but just to keep an eye on what companies are advertising for so I know that what I am aiming for is "trending" and worth while.

Ideally you need to sort out #1 before #2... Because if you can get into something that you really enjoy, getting certified is already all the easier because you are doing something you enjoy because it interests you.

I did the whole Sys Admin thing from 2006 -> 2010. Covered practically everything from Desktops to Voice, Servers and Network Design in between. Gained a great breadth of experience, but the one area that grabbed my interest above all others was Cisco. Got CCNA, started CCNP, got it finished in 2010. I now work as a Network Engineer, and in the realm of work that I wanted. It's taken me a few years to decide, aim and get the job, but now I am here, I am very pleased. I'm now using my 100% relevant job experience to gain momentum to shoot CCIE. Here's to another step in the long road.

Soliton

gorebrush wrote: »

The answer to "what should I do next?" is really two-fold.

1. What do you want to do? Networking? Virtualisation? Windows Servers? Unix? The choices are endless. Is there anything that interests you more than anything else? There must be

2. Look around at the trends in jobs. I'm always keeping an eye on job sites. Not necessarily with the view to apply for anything, but just to keep an eye on what companies are advertising for so I know that what I am aiming for is "trending" and worth while.

Ideally you need to sort out #1 before #2... Because if you can get into something that you really enjoy, getting certified is already all the easier because you are doing something you enjoy because it interests you.

I did the whole Sys Admin thing from 2006 -> 2010. Covered practically everything from Desktops to Voice, Servers and Network Design in between. Gained a great breadth of experience, but the one area that grabbed my interest above all others was Cisco. Got CCNA, started CCNP, got it finished in 2010. I now work as a Network Engineer, and in the realm of work that I wanted. It's taken me a few years to decide, aim and get the job, but now I am here, I am very pleased. I'm now using my 100% relevant job experience to gain momentum to shoot CCIE. Here's to another step in the long road.

Sorry haha. I am primarily interested in networking and security, and I prefer working with linux systems, but I've done lots of work with windows environments. I'm just really undecided on whether the CCNA, MCSE or MCSA is the next move. Thanks for the tips and good luck on that CCIE! All it takes is hard work.

gorebrush

CCNA then CCNA: Security seem like an obvious first step to me then....

If your not interested in Microsoft, then probably not much point going for an MCSA (Do they even still call it that these days? Thought it was MCITP by now)

Maybe an MCTS might be useful, but I wouldn't spend too much time on it, if ultimately you'd rather be doing Linux