Career advice?

Hi all. I have worked in IT helpdesk and have recently been doing datacenter and server administration (including virtualization administration) for a little over 6 years. Can anyone assist me in providing advice regarding a career in virtualization. I am planning to give my VCP510-DCV in a few weeks. Specifically I would like to know:

Does virtalization have a promising future career wise?
Is virtulization a trend that will pass like Y2K or is it here to stay?
How much does a virtualization Administrator with VCP5-DCV & VCP5-DT make?
What other skills do I need in addition to VSphere administration and VCP for a career in virtualization?

I would really appreciate a couple minutes of your time. Thank You in advance.

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Comments

Essendon

Here ya go

1. Yes, for sure
2. It's here to stay
3. Depends on where you are. It's the experience that matters, not just the certs. More certs != more money
4. Server admin.

Ecio

qcezwadxs wrote: »

What other skills do I need in addition to VSphere administration and VCP for a career in virtualization?

I think a good vSphere (or any other virtualization technique) administrator should have some skills related to server administration, storage, networks and security, because virtual systems use all of them and if you manage a small virtual infrastructure, it's likely that you're also the person responsible also for managing the servers running on it, the network providing LAN/WAN connections, the storage space exposed to the virtual hosts etc.
While, if you are in a bigger shop, you still have to deal with your colleague that take care of those infrastructure's parts, and the more you know, the better you can talk with them, troubleshoot problems, improve quality/performance etc...

That's for Datacenter virtual administration, then there's a whole more on cloud and virtual desktops, as you may see doing the VCA certifications.

azjag

1. Yes it does.
2. Not likely, some things will come and go, but the idea behind it will always be there.
3. 2012 IT Skills and Salary Report Look under the Virtualization heading and realize these numbers are no where near close to the actual salaries (meaning there is no way the average person is making that much).
4. Having experience administering, maintaining and troubleshooting windows/linux OS's, networking, and storage.

qcezwadxs

Thank you for your responses!!

qcezwadxs

azjag wrote: »

1. Yes it does.
2. Not likely, some things will come and go, but the idea behind it will always be there.
3. 2012 IT Skills and Salary Report Look under the Virtualization heading and realize these numbers are no where near close to the actual salaries (meaning there is no way the average person is making that much).
4. Having experience administering, maintaining and troubleshooting windows/linux OS's, networking, and storage.

Jeff, so you are saying that the numbers on the 2012 report for exaggerated? Virtualizations professional do not get paid even that much?
Is Linux used extensively in organization?
Thank You.

W Stewart

The salary by certification column is most likely including all states which include states where cost of living is high, so while it is an accurate representation of the mean an median salary based on the number of responses they received, that particular column doesn't take into account location. A virtualization admin could probably make just as much as any other specialized administrator but you'll find a better idea of what to expect by going to job sites like dice.com where you can find actual jobs, the amount of experience employers are looking for and the salary that they are willing to pay in any given location for that level of experience.

Spaced

Great question! I was looking for information in this area. I don't have your experience, just exploring options. I took advantage of the free VCA certs, which if nothing else, has made me very interested in virtualization as something to look into down the road. Thank you for the info!

odysseyelite

azjag wrote: »

1. Yes it does.
2. Not likely, some things will come and go, but the idea behind it will always be there.
3. 2012 IT Skills and Salary Report Look under the Virtualization heading and realize these numbers are no where near close to the actual salaries (meaning there is no way the average person is making that much).
4. Having experience administering, maintaining and troubleshooting windows/linux OS's, networking, and storage.

Actually you are incorrect. A good VMware Admin in Texas (no state income tax) average is 95k.

Sounds Good

odysseyelite wrote: »

Actually you are incorrect. A good VMware Admin in Texas (no state income tax) average is 95k.

I wouldn't go so far as to say he is incorrect. Looking at the list, there are many factors that are unaccounted for (ie. location, years of exp, other certifications they may hold, etc.)

You're both not wrong, but you're both not right. Everything is situational.

I personally wouldn't give this list to a person and say "If you want to make $100,000/year, just get an ITIL v3 Foundation certification."

However, I would tell someone "If you want to make $100,000/year, get some experience under your belt with some complementary certifications and you'll be well on your way"

my 2 pennies