Linux+ vs. RHCE

Corey, I think that having your A+ and getting Network+ is a great start and gives you the proof that you have choosen I.T. as your field of work. That being said, As you can see from my Signature I am already a Systems Administrator. Although my technical title at work is Systems Engineer as well as a SharePoint Administrator. Let me start off by saying that I have no college what so ever. I am only 21 years of age too. I got into this line of work as soon as I could get a Bench Technician Job at Circuit City back when I was only 18 years old and before that I was doing it as a project side job in my teen years. All the jobs since Circuit City I have held didn't even care if had a College Degree or was attending. The main thing they wanted to see was proven experience in my field and that I know what I am doing. Don't get my wrong I am not bashing a College Degree at all cause in the long run if you want to make it to a High Level IT Director or CIO it will definitely make that happen easier. I am saying however that it would be wise if your not already working at a I.T. related job then you'll want to change that. So that you start building that industry experience, even if it's only a bench tech job with the Geek Squad it doesn't matter it gives you the job history. When I was interviewed for this job I have now it came down between a 23 year old fresh out of college with a 4 year technical Degree and me with 4 years experience in the field and the CIO choose me over the other person. The I.T. field has shifted a lot now days toward doing that. Atleast where I live Jacksonville, Florida.

I agree that nothing beats work experience and I totally expect to loose out on a few jobs due to the fact that I have none. That said, I had a long conversation with one of my professors a few months ago regarding this topic. He said that even though I may not meet the specific requirements that are listed in job a posting (such as one on Career Builder), I won't have a problem getting a job. He stated that most of the "requirements" were basically suggestions for the perfect candidate. He also said that if a company with such an ad hired me, they'd start me out at the lower advertised pay rate and as I proved myself my pay would increase.

I'm not saying that your experience didn't play an important roll in you getting your job but, it is possible that the other candidate had other issues that prevented him from getting the job.

It should also be noted that my college classes aren't just lectures (I know at some colleges they are). All of my IT/computer related courses had a coinciding lab. While, I know this isn't "work experience", it's still hands-on experience and I believe it counts for something.
 
So your saying to me that you won't have a problem getting a job with no work experience in the field and just coming right out of college? I agree that you will be able to get a job in the field but it would be probably just desktop support. If you were to get a job in that now you could have already been getting that part of your career out of the way and possibly have the employer pay for your school since it's related to your job. Or atleast your certifications. However if you are expecting to get a job right out of college as a System Admin or something higher then a Basic Desktop support it's a long shot "usually". Of course your college professor would say all that. You think he would say the ladder of the two on the job market topic! Your paying his salary being at that college.
 
So your saying to me that you won't have a problem getting a job with no work experience in the field and just coming right out of college? I agree that you will be able to get a job in the field but it would be probably just desktop support. If you were to get a job in that now you could have already been getting that part of your career out of the way and possibly have the employer pay for your school since it's related to your job. Or atleast your certifications. However if you are expecting to get a job right out of college as a System Admin or something higher then a Basic Desktop support it's a long shot "usually". Of course your college professor would say all that. You think he would say the ladder of the two on the job market topic! Your paying his salary being at that college.

I read this post last night during my break in class. I wanted to respond but, I let my thoughts stew in my brain for the day. My response hasn't changed since then and that is "you're right". Getting an entry level position in the IT field will do nothing but help me. Plus, I'm really getting sick of my current job. My tuition has been paid by my current employer so, I'm thinking I'll stay until the end of the summer to get full reimbursement. As far as the pay scale goes, it will be a lateral move. But, in terms of job experience it will be all vertical. Even if it's only for a year, it's still something to put on my resume.

Thanks for talking some sense into me. :)

Take a look at this about.com article. It has good information about what the IT certification market is looking like.

Cheers!

Good article. I currently have one of the certs and plan on getting two of the others mentioned. I'm sort of surprised that Network+ isn't on there but, I guess CCNA trumps it.
 
Back
Top Bottom