How would you use $4000 to benefit your IT career?

Tax season is here! and lucky for me and my education expenses (which boosted my tax return by 2500!), I'll roughly get around 4K back from the government...and I'm going to invest all of it into some form of IT training/certifications.

My Plan: Right now my goal is to become a Linux Sys Admin or Engineer. I'm thinking about putting the money into Red Hat training, so I can get the RHCSA and RHCE (I already have the Linux+/LPIC-1). After looking at indeed.com and simplyhired.com, there are a lot of companies looking for RHCE's (not so much RHCSA)...so I'm hoping with my 1 year of Linux technical support experience, Linux+, LPIC-1, RHCSA, and RHCE..some company might take a chance on me.

Anyways...How would you use 4K to benefit your career?

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Comments

jamesp1983

It would allow me to buy the rest of my CCIE lab (around $1800 left to spend), buy some more workbooks (I have INE, maybe I'd buy IPExpert's as well), or I could do a bootcamp if I added some of my own cash. Good luck in your pursuits.

MAC_Addy

Oh you're so lucky! My fiancee got a lot back, too. Then there's me, I had to withdraw some retirement money from the school district I worked at, they taxed 20% off that PLUS 10% penalty fee... plus, more taxes were taken off that since it was based on my previous salary, i didn't get too much back this year.

Anyway, obviously it's entirely up to you. I see that there's quite a wide spectrum of jobs that you want. I guess the best option would be to decide what you want to do the most, from there you can decide on what education path to go down.

If it were me I'd probably sit on the money until I fully decided what to do with my career goals (even though I know what mine are). When I was younger I'd go out and spend mostly all the money on a short whim and regret buying some things. So, take your time in your decision making and you'll be more wiser.

YuckTheFankees

I've definitely blown other tax return checks but just like you I regret doing it. If I'm spending the money to benefit my career, I really dont think I'll regret it..well hopefully I won't haha

ptilsen

I would put every dime towards my tuition.

If I were done with college, I would put it towards a SANS class for a GIAC certification.

If I were a Cisco guy, I would put it towards my Cisco lab.

Zartanasaurus

I'd put $1K towards building a lab of some sort and put the rest in the bank.

MAC_Addy

Just don't do what I almost did... buy the wrong equipment. I bought two wrong routers for my CCNA lab, though, they can be used. I just wish that I more knowledge of what I was buying at the time.

Turgon

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

Tax season is here! and lucky for me and my education expenses (which boosted my tax return by 2500!), I'll roughly get around 4K back from the government...and I'm going to invest all of it into some form of IT training/certifications.

My Plan: Right now my goal is to become a Linux Sys Admin or Engineer. I'm thinking about putting the money into Red Hat training, so I can get the RHCSA and RHCE (I already have the Linux+/LPIC-1). After looking at indeed.com and simplyhired.com, there are a lot of companies looking for RHCE's (not so much RHCSA)...so I'm hoping with my 1 year of Linux technical support experience, Linux+, LPIC-1, RHCSA, and RHCE..some company might take a chance on me.

Anyways...How would you use 4K to benefit your career?

I wouldn't. I would stick it in the bank. You never know when you might need 4K.

veritas_libertas

Turgon wrote: »

I wouldn't. I would stick it in the bank. You never know when you might need 4K.

Good advice. If you don't have an emergency fund then you need one. Preferably enough that you can live for six months.

Turgon

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Good advice. If you don't have an emergency fund then you need one. Preferably 6 months.

Yup. I had a lean time in 2009 for a few months when the market tanked. It will tank again soon enough. Save your money. I expect a lot of layoffs the next five years.

veritas_libertas

MAC_Addy wrote: »

Just don't do what I almost did... buy the wrong equipment. I bought two wrong routers for my CCNA lab, though, they can be used. I just wish that I more knowledge of what I was buying at the time.

I made this mistake by buying two switches that were useless, XLs.

veritas_libertas

Turgon wrote: »

Yup. I had a lean time in 2009 for a few months when the market tanked. It will tank again soon enough. Save your money. I expect a lot of layoffs the next five years.

Yes. I don't expect the economy to get better for a while.

Turgon

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Yes. I don't expect the economy to get better for a while.

Yeah. Things are squeezing right now with corporate and government high roller executives looking for savings so they can keep their jobs. I expect llittle guy jobs to hemmorage to keep the piecharts happy the next few years. Save money to cope with disaster and look to plan B careers until plan A is back on track!

YuckTheFankees

Luckily my grandfather taught me the importance of savings at least 3 months worth of pay for those unexpected times.

veritas_libertas

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

Luckily my grandfather taught me the importance of savings at least 3 months worth of pay for those unexpected times.

I'm glad to hear that. I'm concerned that my generation has not been taught the concept of preparing.

N2IT

Honestly I would take a diverse approach with your finances.

I would invest some of that money in stocks, mutual funds, Roth IRA, treasury bonds, etc.

I would also look at paying off some debt. I'm not sure of your financial situation, but I would consider paying off some debt.

With all that said I don't think it's a bad idea to spend a marginal amount of certifications. Maybe ~500 or so. But don't blow the load on one thing.

onesaint

Take $500, build out a small VM server. Take another $35 and buy Jang's RHCSA/RHCE book. Go over it and the labs, twice. Head on over to NightShade's blog and read through some of the server configs. Build out an LDAP server, DNS server, LAMP, fit some Openstack / Eucalyptus in there and spice it up with clustering. Read up on things like Forsaken GA's post about SSH tunneling. Pay for the exams and take them. Then Pick up a book on IP tables, Shell scripting, Python (or the other one) and burn through those. Oh, and put the remaining $3,300.00 in the bank (to pay for the exams of course).

I think you're motivated enough to self study the material covered in the RH classes. If anything check out your local University and see what sort of extension courses are offered. For instance I was just looking over UCLA extension, where they were offering an in depth shell scripting class for $800.00 or so. They are longer (10 meetings) than the RH classes, but do you really want to drop amost all 4K on one class (RH135 is $2400)?

joshmadakor

N2IT wrote: »

But don't blow the load on one thing.

I agree with this. You should blow the load on many things.

YuckTheFankees

onesaint wrote: »

Take $500, build out a small VM server. Take another $35 and buy Jang's RHCSA/RHCE book. Go over it and the labs, twice. Head on over to NightShade's blog and read through some of the server configs. Build out an LDAP server, DNS server, LAMP, fit some Openstack / Eucalyptus in there and spice it up with clustering. Read up on things like Forsaken GA's post about SSH tunneling. Pay for the exams and take them. Then Pick up a book on IP tables, Shell scripting, Python (or the other one) and burn through those. Oh, and put the remaining $3,300.00 in the bank (to pay for the exams of course).

I think you're motivated enough to self study the material covered in the RH classes. If anything check out your local University and see what sort of extension courses are offered. For instance I was just looking over UCLA extension, where they were offering an in depth shell scripting class for $800.00 or so. They are longer (10 meetings) than the RH classes, but do you really want to drop amost all 4K on one class (RH135 is $2400)?

I really want to take the Sys Admin III course (which is for the RHCE)..and I dont need to take the Sys Admin II course (which is for the RHCSA) but it definitely wouldn't hurt. I was thinking of trying to self study for the RHCSA with videos from VTC.com and Michael Jangs book (which I already have and started reading)..and if I don't feel like I'm learning the material like I should, then Ill probably take sys admin II.

I've looked for shell, perl, and python classes but I couldn't find any...I'll look a little harder because I'll definitely learn faster with a class rather than teaching myself.

**I was also looking at testout's CCNA package, 650.00 isn't too bad for everything they give you...but I haven't seen too many Linux admin/ engineer positions looking for the CCNA...I think I've seen more job postings asking for the VCP.

onesaint

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

I really want to take the Sys Admin III course (which is for the RHCE)..and I dont need to take the Sys Admin II course (which is for the RHCSA) but it definitely wouldn't hurt. I was thinking of trying to self study for the RHCSA with videos from VTC.com and Michael Jangs book (which I already have and started reading)..and if I don't feel like I'm learning the material like I should, then Ill probably take sys admin II.

I've looked for shell, perl, and python classes but I couldn't find any...I'll look a little harder because I'll definitely learn faster with a class rather than teaching myself.

**I was also looking at testout's CCNA package, 650.00 isn't too bad for everything they give you...but I haven't seen too many Linux admin/ engineer positions looking for the CCNA...I think I've seen more job postings asking for the VCP.

Don't get Testout's stuff. I get it through my local CC and honestly, the material is usually outdated and is about 65% aligned with the subjects exam. For my CCNA I found Choara's CBT nugget to be much better than the Labsim offering. A side note, the Labsim courses (required for class) are $60 when I go through my local CC.

I think your on the right track. Pour over Jang's book and take a shot at the RHCSA. Then depending on how you felt about the exam either take the SA III RH course or keep at it on the self study route.

Try Udemy for "Learn Python The Hard Way." It's loose, but a bit more structured than complete self study. As for shell scripting, Extension courses, local CC, Udemy (Itunes U, etc.), or just picking up a book will be the way.

I think both the VCP and CCNA are good skills to have in conjunction with your Linux knowledge. The days of single skilled engineers are on the way out, if not long gone.

Listen to N2IT and diversely invest most of your money. Information can be found inexpensively these days, motivation is what is costly.

SteveO86

I'll probably use my tax return to build up my CCIE lab (maybe a few 1841 or 2811) a bit more, Then I'll drop some of it in my retirement

Plantwiz

veritas_libertas wrote: »

Good advice. If you don't have an emergency fund then you need one. Preferably enough that you can live for six months.

Ah, spoken like a very wise person...or a Dave Ramsey fan

Forsaken_GA

I'd hop on a plan to vegas and go play poker. A relaxed Forsaken is a happy Forsaken, and that's beneficial to my career, and my customers.

In all seriousness.. I came into a similar amount of money recently, unexpectedly. I spent $300 of it on a TechNet subscription, bought the lady some pretty but reasonably priced jewelry for valentine's day, and dropped the rest of it into savings, where I'm going to pretend it doesn't exist. My tax return will also go straight into savings.

shodown

Glad you guys get tax returns. I usually owe. Hopefully this year the damage is not to bad.

SteveO86

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

I'd hop on a plan to vegas and go play poker. A relaxed Forsaken is a happy Forsaken, and that's beneficial to my career, and my customers.

You know, I didn't even think about that.. I haven't hit the casino in a long time, although I've never went with that much before.. I usually go with maybe $200, then hit the poker tables. So far I haven't regretted it

... Now time to plan a night out!

Jpgonzal

Personally, I think some of it would be for creature comforts (minus the tithe to the wife of course). Buy a nice desk, or maybe a comfortable chair, or a nice computer monitor. Like right now, I study in a home office chair that has seen better days and too small of a desk for my taste. My thought is if your studying week in and week out, splurge on making the space you study in the best possible place. Your study habits will thank you for it. If your study improves, so will your career, in a round about way.

kurosaki00

I would probably invest around 1k-2k on education (certs or training or lab equipment)
and everything else goes to bank

NinjaBoy

$4k currently is about £2,543.30

I have 3 options:

1. Agree with Turgon

Turgon wrote: »

...I would stick it in the bank. You never know when you might need 4K.

2. Speed up my post-grad studies (starting this year, part-time - 1 module a year, so it'll be a very slow process even to get my PGCert let alone a Masters).

3. Pay off part of the morgage

For me, all 3 would be a viable option.

Roguetadhg

1. Pay off credit card debt.
2. If out of credit card debt, Go to hospital bill
3. Otherwise savings.

dave330i

shodown wrote: »

Glad you guys get tax returns. I usually owe. Hopefully this year the damage is not to bad.

Owing is better than getting a refund. When you owe, it means you've received interest free money from the gov't. When you get a refund it means you've given the gov't interest free loan.

[Deleted User]

Take $500, build out a small VM server. Take another $35 and buy Jang's RHCSA/RHCE book. Go over it and the labs, twice. Head on over to NightShade's blog and read through some of the server configs. Build out an LDAP server, DNS server, LAMP, fit some Openstack / Eucalyptus in there and spice it up with clustering. Read up on things like Forsaken GA's post about SSH tunneling. Pay for the exams and take them. Then Pick up a book on IP tables, Shell scripting, Python (or the other one) and burn through those. Oh, and put the remaining $3,300.00 in the bank (to pay for the exams of course).

I think you're motivated enough to self study the material covered in the RH classes. If anything check out your local University and see what sort of extension courses are offered. For instance I was just looking over UCLA extension, where they were offering an in depth shell scripting class for $800.00 or so. They are longer (10 meetings) than the RH classes, but do you really want to drop amost all 4K on one class (RH135 is $2400)?

This! If you want to take a course I would say follow this plan and then go after the OSCP