My It career. Getting to the next level.

Hi Guys new here.

Long story short, I'm looking to get a new job in the next 6-9 months. I've been working as a Systems Admin offering mostly 1st line and desktop support to about 150 users in a large contemporary art gallery based in three different countries.

It's a mixed environment. IBM Mainframe, Linux servers, Windows/Mac clients, ipads/iphones/blackberry/windows phone.

We use things like LDAP over Active directory etc... as it's a Linux network.

I've been in this job for almost 8 years now and want a change. I'm hacked off, with being chased around for silly things (printers, setting up new user accounts etc) when I would rather do more interesting things. I've been to uni and have both a degree and a masters. I'm also bored of not learning new things. The guys in the office have got in to a bad habit of leaving the every day stuff to me and them doing what every they choose as they are doing the 'high level' Linux stuff.

Also meant that whilst they are doing less and I'm doing more, they have been given pay rises and I haven't.

However I studied politics at degree level and IT on a one year masters. I think I am now paying the price for not studying computing at degree level as my technical skills are not that great. I can do basic stuff on the CLI in Linux, but its fairly elementary.

As far as I see it I have 3 paths I can take. Study Linux, study Cisco or study Microsoft.

In the UK, from looking at job adverts on sites I mostly see Microsoft goes well with jobs which look like the thing I'm currently doing. Execpt they would be using Exchange rather than IMAP and AD instead of LDAP.

I don't want to work 1st line any more. I dont want to deal with printers and stupid irate people.

I'm probably strongest at Microsoft than Linux, but that may not be so true as I have been working on Linux servers for the last 8 years doing simple stuff.

I plan to study to enable me to move on. A former colleague of mine has suggested I get into Linux as there is a lot of money to be made. He was a Linux Admin at my company and now is a DevOps earning big money.

In general I can see there is more money in Linux than there is in Microsoft.

So it got me thinking because originally I was thinking of doing an MCSA/MCSE and the CCNA. But now I'm thinking of doing the LPIC1 and LPIC2 course as well as the CCNA.

What attracted me to the LPIC exams is I can see and recognise that they are good as they look exactly like what I hear and see the other guys doing in the office who are more Linux senior than I am.

I was happy to see that the LPIC1 & 2 are covered by the Sybex books. It meant I could revise the topics install my VMs on my server and play and learn. However I was a little disheartened when I realized that the LPIC3 exams are very hard to find material to revise. This is probably because these things are high level and cant really be covered in book form. Also an LPIC3 is a long way off so I prbably shouldnt be too concerned.

So this brings me back to my original point. I have 8 years of general IT experience if I passed the LPIC 1 and LPIC 2 exams (maybe CCNA too) do you think I will be ready for a junior level Linux admin role?

That's my dream.

The Cisco route also interests me, but I've noticed that even the Cisco jobs that say 'must have CCNA' also expect you to know your MS or Linux so would still need the LPIC material.

Remember I'm still at a fairly junior level.

Let me know what you think.

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Comments

TheFORCE

You're role is that of Helpdesk staff, your coworkers probably have other duties and that's why they do other type of work. I doubt it's a free for all type of environment were anyone picks what they like and you are stuck with the leftover. They showed initiative and they got promoted. People in IT usually stay at the Helpdesk no more than 2 years. You stayed there 8 years, that's a lifetime in IT. Now you are making the right step. Work towards your study and your cerification, and volunteer for the peojects that your coworkers don't want to do. You need to show what you can do before the higher up invest in you.

Fulcrum45

After almost 6 years in IT I'm in the same place as you. At my old job I used to do some really cool stuff with network security and design. Now, out of necessity, I'm back at the HelpDesk. Without the proper experience trying to get ahead with only degrees and certs to your name is going to prove difficult. Like TheForce said, volunteer for those rare opportunities to do something new and beef up that resume. I myself like the network route but Microsoft and Linux are highly sought after- at least here in Ohio. Best of luck; let us know how you proceed.

echo_time_cat

Two days ago I did a search on indeed.com using key phrases like "CCNA", "Linux", and "MCSA" or "Microsoft.

I found about a 3:1 ratio of Linux skills sought or required vs CCNA being sought or required. It also seemed that in general, Sys Admin roles with a focus on Linux skills far outweighed (4:1) Network Admin roles with CCNA or higher. It certainly seemed like those skills and roles were in much greater demand where I was searching (province of Ontario, Canada).

That's not even counting all the Network analyst or admin job titles, where the actual description is all server work anyways...