Career advice for entry level IT career switcher with BS in IT and A+/N+/S+?

Hi guys. New to the IT field (changing careers after 12 years in marketing/communications) and was wondering what I should study next to better place myself for entry level jobs with career advancement potential. Still in my old job but trying to make the final push into IT. I have a Bachelors in IT and A+/N+/S+ certs. I’m targeting Tier I/II Desktop Support with the idea of moving into a Sysadmin or Netadmin position (not sure which) once I gain more experience. Would like to avoid Help Desk if possible. A few options I’m considering: Linux+, CCNA, and MCSA Windows 8.1. Any advice on where I should focus my efforts? Which will net me the best earning potential either right off the bat or once I advance out of the entry level ranks? Thanks!

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Comments

srabiee

Every option is lucrative and in demand. Which IT path interests you the most?

stryder144

Welcome to the forum. You should find this to be quite the community. It looks like you've set yourself up with a great foundation of degree and CompTIA certs. Below is my advice, based on your current certs/education and near-term goals:

If you are looking to get into Deskside/desktop support, I would recommend getting the MCSA: Windows 7. Most corporate client PCs run Windows 7 Enterprise (or Professional). Thus, great bang for your buck. Once you have that, if you are still interested in the MCSA: Windows 8.x, you will only need to take one additional test and you'll have it. After getting the MCSA, I'd recommend getting the CCNA. Assuming you get them within the next year, you would then be well positioned to take advantage of any career opportunities that would present themselves over the next five years or so.

Linux+ is geared more toward a Sysadmin-type position. It is great from the foundational perspective but I'm not sure you'll find many positions looking for it. If you are interested in a Linux sysadmin position, consider the Redhat certs. RHCSA and RHCE.

marko_polo

I think I'm leaning more toward systems admin/engineering at this point, but wouldn't mind keeping my options open. I guess I'm also trying to gauge where you think there will be the most demand over the next several years (i.e. best job prospects and earning potential).

srabiee

I've been seeing quite a few Linux-centric positions posted lately when I do job searches for "system administrator" and "system engineer." High paying jobs at that. Leads me to believe that a lot of companies have been moving over to the Linux platform. Perhaps because of all of the bad decisions that Microsoft has been making lately concerning their desktop OS. idk really, but the jobs are certainly out there. Pick a major city and do some searching around on Indeed and Dice and you should come up with similar results.

marko_polo

Thanks for the excellent advice!

Ismaeljrp

I would say the Systems path may be more opportunistic down the road. It leads to Storage and Virtualization, datacenter-centric technologies.

If you learn to code and learn some good linux skills, it can also open doors to things like DevOps.

At this point in terms of networking, the CCENT is enough skills for a System Admin. Current CCENT is much better than the previous.

rsutton

srabiee wrote: »

Perhaps because of all of the bad decisions that Microsoft has been making lately concerning their desktop OS.

I'm curious what you are referring to? Most of the feedback I've heard from our clients indicate they are excited about Win10.

echo_time_cat

rsutton wrote: »

I'm curious what you are referring to? Most of the feedback I've heard from our clients indicate they are excited about Win10.

Maybe that is simply because they hated Windows 8?

srabiee

Windows 10 hasn't been released yet. Windows 8 in an enterprise environment was a steaming pile of crap without 3rd-party software to disable Metro. Never encountered a single one of our clients out of hundreds of clients that actually chose to adopt it. The public outcry was quite loud.

IIIMaster

Good look breaking into an admin role without any help desk experience or experience sitting on a compTIA trio. Best advice is to go vendor specific, MCSA server , VCP or RHSA/RHSE. With anyone of those certs you can easily jump into a high tier role or at the least become a junior admin. Right now VCP is hot, real hot and anyone can not become one. Special training to required to become certified. Pair that with another vendor cert you are made.