What Is The Best Path for Obtaining Certifications to Become A System Admin?

coreyb80

Morning all and happy Friday. Landed my 1st real IT gig last summer and I've been loving it ever since. Thought I t was set on networking until I started studying and realized that, presently, it's not my true interest and I don't want to do it just for a paycheck. I did decide on becoming a system admin. What I'm not sure on is what certs are best for becoming a system admin and that's what brings me here. I appreciate everyone input and thanks in advance.

rsutton

A system admin can cover a broad scope of responsibilities, and deal with many different types of technologies. The title can also mean anything from a Help Desk technician, to a network engineer, to a systems architect, depending on the company you work for. So the question is, what specifically do you want to spend you days doing?

coreyb80

Good question...I'm already working on the help desk.

dpsmooth15

One technique that I personally use, is going to the site that gives you the most hope , indeed, dice, clearance jobs, whatever. Type in #system admin# and the city, and scroll and look at the requirements they desire, and the daily duties. That should help you out the greatest I believe, to narrow down the quest, Saying System Admin is like saying you want a BMW. What kind of BMW 1 Series, 2 series, 3 series, 4 series, M, etc etc. You have to be more specific

unfbilly11

I would start with the MCSA Server 2012 and then possibly the MCSE. I think System Admin, to most companies, means a Jack of all trades type person who can handle whatever comes up. Microsoft is a good place to start, then possibly broaden your knowledge by getting some Linux certs or some basic Cisco certs. I know you said you weren't really in to networking but I think, for a System Admin position, it's best to have at least a good foundation in a bit of everything.

N2IT

I think your best bet is MCSA 2012 and try to work on a help desk that let's you touch servers, ad accounts, etc. Those two combinations should set you up really well. Of course if you are into Linux you can focus on that.

tstrip007

Depends on the company. If its small and you have to wear multiple hats like at my company....Cert wise for system admin I would say: MCSA, VCP, Networking cert, firewall cert or experience, email and voice.

Krusader

tstrip007 wrote: »

Depends on the company. If its small and you have to wear multiple hats like at my company....Cert wise for system admin I would say: MCSA, VCP, Networking cert, firewall cert or experience, email and voice.

I'd add SQL and Storage experience\cert

coreyb80

tstrip007 wrote: »

Depends on the company. If its small and you have to wear multiple hats like at my company....Cert wise for system admin I would say: MCSA, VCP, Networking cert, firewall cert or experience, email and voice.

Thank you for the info.

jmasterj206

I would agree that it depends on the organization. My title is system admin, but I take care of everything from active directory to networking to firewall configs to VoIP. I would maybe look at MCSA and maybe a networking cert like CCNA.

ITcognito

Forget MCSA, Linux all the way. RHCSA!!!