in desperate need for advice

hjass84

Hello everyone,

I'm in desperate need for advice on my career plan...

So, first off a little bit of background - I've been in IT since 2000,
mostly supporting small to medium business networks, so I'm a jack of all trades
and master of googling, but that's about it.
I have a good grasp of basic networking and so on, hold my MCSE since 2000 days,
can get my way around the Exchange and basic Linux administration, but that's about it, no experience with the
enterprise level software like Sharepoint or System Center. And mostly older versions of software...
So you get the picture - I'm stuck in a low paying dead end jobs changing toner in those freakin' printers and stuff like that.
And I definitely want to break out.

So I've thought about several possible options and not sure what would be the best:


1) Get up to speed with the current generation of Microsoft products, server 2012 / exchange 2013 / powershell / hyper-v and pass the current MCSE certification,
this kind of makes sense as I'm already familiar with the main concepts such as AD, Exchange, etc and hold the retired MCS as well.

2) Take the Vmware training course and pass the vcp certification, try to learn about the storage and storage networking,
maybe take CCNA Data Center. This seems to be a nice option as everyone uses the virtualization these days, right?

3) Take the RHCSA/RHCE training or try the self-study approach and get Redhat certified - that's what I'd like to do,
but I don't have much experience with Linux besides some basic server installs and some rudimentary cli / bash, so I'm not sure if anyone would consider me as a candidate, looks like everyone wants 5+ years of experience...

4) Try to combine some or all of the above...

So, what would you suggest?

Thanks!

Jon_Cisco

Don't discount the experience you have when it comes to job hunting. Everyone wants someone who can do everything right away with no training that works for free and is available on call.... you get the idea.

Since you are employed in an IT position I would focus on learning something you want to do. Find something you enjoy studying. One good idea is to browse sites like Indeed and see what people are hiring for in your area. Don't stress about the requirements just get a feel for the type of jobs that grab your interest.

I know it's not specific but I hope it helps.

Good Luck!

LittleBIT

It probably wouldn't be bad to obtain either CompTIA certs as well (A+, Net+, Security+).

Yes, you should upgrade in my opinion, since your credential is very aged. You could also try and get MCSA for Win7?

I also agree that you should actually find out what you want to do long term and move towards that, find out what the salaries are.

I was looking through Dell's career page, and they require Desk Support managers to have a minimum of ITIL v3 Foundations, so that could also be something else to look at.

The options are endless, just find out what you really want to do, build a map of things that need to happen, and go for it and start applying. You could also pass one test, list it on your resume, and if you get an interview, let them know you are pursuing additional certification and your on a track for your MCSE or whatever else you intend to get.

Good luck

rowelld

My first question would be, what do you love working on?

FloOz

All your options look like great paths. Now you just need to ask yourself which one you like doing the most. Whatever path you decide you should also try finding an entry level position in that specific field.

DirtySouth

As others have said, you need to figure out what you enjoy doing. Having said that, I would say VMware training & certification path is a great place to start. It's spreading like wildfire.The Cisco Data Center stuff is great, but that's a whole other bag of worms and will depend on whether you enjoy that type of work.