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I’ve seen several topics about this, but most are deprecated.

What certifications would you recommend to someone who has been in the field for a few years (lets call in 5-7), either for job advancement or skill development.

I’ve got COMPTIA (A+ and NET+) and Cisco’s CCNA, but I’m always looking to further my knowledge, and I’m always curious to hear where other techs spend their time in developing their skills.

(currently prepping for the Security+ exam)

EDIT: Editing for simplicity. This is also meant to be for others to find and use as a why/why not. Not just for myself. What cert path did you choose? Why? Would you recommend what you did to others? Why or why not? Did you learn things along the way that make you wish you’d taken a different route?

47 Spice ups
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What do you want to learn?

No point us suggesting SQL or PowerShell if you have no interest.

Best is also a subjective term, what you want to learn and which direction in the field you want to go will guide you down which path to take for certs.

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I’m sort of in that range myself. I skipped A+ and Net+ myself and did my security+ first on the Comptia side.

The real question is where do you want to go? Do you want to be a sysadmin? if so, would you prefer to focus on the Microsoft side, or Linux? Microsoft certs or Red Hat certs would be my recommendation for those respectively. Since you mentioned a CCNA, are you more focused on the networking side of things? Would you prefer Security, or general networking?

The general advice I see around here is to pick where you want to go first, then pick your certs based on that.

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FYI, I am completely self-taught and hold no formal qualifications.

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Tbh, I kind of wanted this partly for myself and partly open ended for others to find and use as a resource.

In my current position, I’m part of a two man team managing a small production environment (a little less than 200 workstations), as well as the software/hardware/security infrastructure that supports it. I look at certifications as a way to a) prove my knowledge, b) fill in the gaps that exist in my knowledge, and c) improve my value and marketability.

While I have a CCNA, I rarely work on CISCO equipment (and prefer it that way), but at the time I wanted to add to my resume and give myself something that might help get me an interview. Simple as that when it comes to the CCNA.

I guess the point here is, I’m looking to see what direction people took in their certification paths and why. I do a little bit of everything in my job, so I try to widen my areas of knowledge as much as possible (also have existing certificates from vendors like DATTO, SonicWall, and JumpCloud).

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A certificate validates the ability to comply and focus, experience will be the key to filling in the gaps and expanding your knowledge - trust me, I’d love some certifications, but they would be for self-gratification and nothing else.

I applaud you for wanting to pursue them, but which ones depend on your focal area.

The big pushes at the moment are ‘cloud’ so anything in that bracket would be a good start and security, so again anything here, however they must interest if you want to go this route.

5 Spice ups
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The bid pushes at the moment are ‘cloud’ so anything in that bracket would be a good start and security, so again anything here, however they must interest if you want to go this route.

My problem is that I’d be broke… because it all interests me.

But I get what you’re saying. I guess I wanted to see what direction people went in terms of their certifications and why, and if a collective consensus could be drawn from that. Spiceworks is one of those rare communities where consensus can actually happen.

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If you are interested in everything your scope is too wide.

Write down all the things you like, make a list and pair them like below - choose only one and discard the other, you will split that list in half, then repeat with the left over items until you have only 2 left - those are the ones you should focus on.

Windows or Linux?

Microsoft or Google apps?

PowerShell or Bash?

VMs or containers?

I agree about a collective consensus and peoples input being valued.

I wanted to be a robotic engineer (think Boston Dynamics), but sadly I had to take a diversion at the start because the course was cancelled as I was the only one wishing to do it.

I wish you luck in your decisions.

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I mean, I’m sure if I watched a video on something specific, I may find that it doesn’t interest me… but I’m always interested in finding out if that thing isn’t for me. I have a programming degree… I absolutely do not want to be a programmer and work in some cubicle farm where I only see the light of day when someone brushes up against the curtains. Ha.

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So you’ve already narrowed the scope by ruling out programming, but does this include PowerShell, if so this may limit you more than you think as a lot of Microsoft products are now integrating this

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Right in the feels. Because of some office drama with the director of the department I was going to be promoted into earlier this month, I’m no longer following the career path I’d been on for the past few years, and I’ve had a lot of discussions with the other directors who were wondering if I’d be interested in joining their departments instead… I’ve told almost all of them the same thing “I’m interested in almost everything IT related, but I’ve never considered $yourDepartment a career opportunity until now.” haha!
Back on topic, though, I do think a the Security+ or a similar security-minded cert should be a baseline for anywhere you go in IT, but beyond that, it really does depend on where you want to end up, and I think it should stay that way. There are reasons I never got a degree, and general studies are most of them, haha!

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No. Definitely not. I’ve had to use PowerShell more in the last six months than in the six years prior. Our environment uses Control as our remote access tool, which has a remote command tool that allows for PowerShell. Really handy. I’m talking about things like C++, C#, Java/JavaScript, PhP, Python, etc. Just not my thing.

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I have degrees, but they’re just to say I have them. Didn’t go to a fancy school that landed me 6 figures in debt… opted for a small school, where I knocked out three of their Comp Science associate degrees in three years (tech support, networking, and programming). The certs were more to augment that, especially when my experience on the resume was a little thin.

I think the next cert after the Security+ will probably be the CySA+ but after that I’m at a loss as to what direction to go.

I’ve got a pile of stuff on UDEMY just waiting for me to dive into though… might start one of those.

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Me too, except for a futile attempt at MCSE back in the early 2000s. I was a MCP for XP! and ACMT a while back, but nothing worth the paper it’s printed on…

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I see a lot of that, honestly. There’s a lot of highly experienced techs that have limited or no formal certs/degrees, and just as many with tons of certifications and no experience.

I’ve tried to find a happy balance there as I gain experience and work through my IT journey. The certifications served as a good crutch when I didn’t have the necessary experience.

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If you work a lot with Linux (or would like to), the RHCSA and RHCE certs would be quite useful to show you know how to operate a Linux server environment. Most things from Microsoft will be useful again to show that you know what you know. Although to some people 5-7 years of experience still isn’t a lot, I’d say that unless a specific cert is required for a job posting, they are less useful than simply showing your skills through the projects that you’ve done at work.

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Sure sure. And, as I said, this is sort of both for me and for people who may stumble on this and use it as a resource for themselves.

The certs themselves helped me get a job when my experience was lacking, but my resume now includes protects as you mentioned. Just looking for input from the community on the direction they went, why they went that way, and what advice they’d give others on whether they would or would not recommend following that same path.

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A+ and Net+ are good starting points. After that, Sec+ then it’s more what you want to focus on.

Just like with anything else, there is no magic combo of certs that “just works” for IT, and in this field you will find people with very different “paper” creds.

You will find people who have no certs, are all self taught, and are the best IT workers you will ever meet, to the person with a Masters, all the Certs you can list off the top of your head, but can’t function in the real world in a tech department. It happens. (I’ve worked for both of them) You will also find people in the middle of both of these.

For me, I started with A+ and working to get my first bit of experience, then went to college and got my degree as I kept working.

In the process I have gotten a bunch of different certifications, many of which means nothing to most people. (retail certs for AMD and intel, certified Apple, Dell, HP and Lenovo technician etc) but all of this has helped me become who I am as a tech. I personally am stronger on the hardware side, to the point where I am actually soldering on MBs to replace components as needed on some devices.

To anyone who is like “I don’t even know where to start” in the field of IT. Go buy a cheap desktop (I don’t recommend doing this on your main rig) as you have the money find bits and pieces to upgrade and get them working the way they should be (Ram, CPU, GPU, HDD/SDD, network card, sound cards) and swap the OS around a few times, (Windows 10, windows 11, Linux) then do it again. Get all the software you want running well on the system in each config, and make sure everything installed works. If it doesn’t, google it and find out why (or ask here, we don’t bite.) You might find you like Linux better, and now know to look into Linux side more.

At any point in the above were you like “I’m not sure I want to do this…” then start looking into the networking side of things. Get a cheap managed switch (I know, good luck) and start a basic home lab with sub nets, shares, and multi device configurations. Get it going so you can access your movies on your tablet, or stream them to your living room TV from your office PC (no cheating with a chrome cast, but make sure that works too) and see what you like about any of the above.

Don’t like networking but kinda liked getting things going? Start going down the rabbet hole of programming and learn a language (or multiple) and make your own programs/apps. Start small and work your way up. I made an auto loan calculator that would show the difference between interest rates and time to pay off the loan, now I’m making my own (basic) video games with Unreal.

At some point you will find something that you are like “hey, I really want to learn more about this” and then start looking around for how to advance there.

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Once you finish the Security exam it depends what you want to do in your career. I don’t know what your current position is or what you enjoy but, if I was in your position I’d look for a job in that specific field. Like networking? Look for network engineer position. I think certs are good to a certain level but they aren’t Pokemon cards you don’t need to collect them all if you are paying for it. If the company is paying different story.

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With you being pragmatic about your spending and where you focus your energy, and with your Security+ and CySA+ and the CCNA, you may want to consider leaning more to the Security side. You have a history of Programming Degree (Though you hate the idea of programming as an occupation) and a decent set of other certs and knowledge, you could easily take that all and head to the land of Security. There are several options there for you and it will be a matter of which side of the fence you want to focus on. Ethical Hacker - Pentesting or maybe getting into management to get to the place of Director or CISO. Ultimately it is your choice and there is a world of opportunities out there. And maybe I am missing something in that you just have the Certs and such you have just because it was there and the doors opened at that time, which is sometimes the easiest way to decide. If you really want to figure things out, decide what you like - what brings you joy and don’t like as was suggested above and research what each potential option has in store for day to day, checking with people that do what you want to do and then deciding if that is what you want. Once you figure that out, go after it with passion. Work is still work. But if you can work at something that brings you joy/happiness at the same time, that is a win win. This is your journey and you are the only one that can answer your questions and bring the right answer. There is no 10 Steps to a successful career in IT. There is a bunch of stuff that helps and is necessary for doing well in IT, but to have that successful career, you need to decide what it is you really want - where is your joy/happiness found. There are a ton of guys on here that will tell you that IT sucks and you should avoid it at all costs. This is very true in many ways, especially in the past. IT requires a certain type of person. IT is not for everybody. Find your joy and go after it.

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