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Hey there spiceworks,

I am starting a career in the IT industry. Currently I have my A+ Certification and i’m preparing for the Network+. After that I plan to get Security+ just to round out the three. Right now I have around 1.5 years experience with my current job doing IT consulting for small business.

I have learned a ton over this period but want to keep growing. The problem is that I am intermediate with networking and things now but I am not quite on the advanced level so the owner of the company has me doing all the repairs and basic networking service calls etc. I feel somewhat stuck because the owner is too busy to train me like he said he would and do not want to get stagnant. I love this job but can’t be doing general help desk stuff and computer repairs forever.

My question for you is, without knowing exactly what specialization I would like to pursue what is a good certification to pursue post Security+? I have heard the MSCE is outdated and I am looking for something current.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. By the way I am 24 years old and live in southern california if that makes any difference.

Thank you!!

@Cisco

6 Spice ups
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Certifications is a great way to keep from stagnating!

If you are interested in Microsoft, there are plenty of non-outdated MCSA (one step below MCSE) certifications that you should look into: Browse Credentials | Microsoft Learn

If you come out with your Net+ and Sec+ and want to do more of that, CCNA is a great route to go as well. Plenty of challenges and opportunity down that route.

2 Spice ups
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What a good cert to pursue is whatever interests you.

IT is as wide a field as medicine, law, and automotive. In medicine, you can be a general practitioner, or you can specialize in pediatrics, geriatrics, oncology, rheumatology, cardiology, etc. In law, you can go into criminal, divorce, bankruptcy, corporate, real estate, labor, and so on. Automotive is equally as wide in breadth and depth.

In IT, you can go into networks, security, programming of all flavors, management, database…you name it.

With a year and a half under your belt, you’re barely scratching the surface of everything that’s available. Don’t focus as strongly on just achieving certifications as spending that time instead on getting your hands dirty. You’re doing network troubleshooting and repair, which is much more valuable than the certs would have you believe.

Personally, I’d rather hire a network tech who’s punched down a CAT5 drop and can run a wire above ceiling tile, and knows what a bridle ring is, back to the IDF and punched into the panel, then knows how/why to use a continuity tester, than someone who’s memorized the right answers about cable length for the exam but has never actually done it and gone home to take a shower to wash off that ceiling dust out of the hair. :slight_smile:

Anyone can memorize answers. Not everyone can run structured cabling, because that’s the kind of thing you can’t study out of a book.

You say you don’t know what specialization to pursue? Don’t waste your energy looking for “generic” certs that may or may not serve you professionally in the long run (because remember that CompTIA certs require recertification every few years, so if you’re not actively pursuing those fields, those certs will do you no good if you end up not renewing or not qualifying to renew)… Spend that time instead trying out different things, and THEN find what appeals to you.

Could be databases, could be programming, could be pen-testing. Could be Cisco CLI. Could be ANYTHING. You won’t know if you don’t give it a shot, a real world one, and not one based on questions asked on a multiple choice exam.

1 Spice up
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The ‘+’ certs are very basic certs, just covering enough to get you started.

The certifications to pursue depends on what you want to do.

  • Networking? You usually go the Cisco router: CCNA → CCNP → CCIE
  • Win Admin ? MCSA → MCSE
    -Linux? Red Hat certs
    -Security? CISSP, CEH
    etc.

After Sec+ there is the CASP, and then SSCP/CISSP

1 Spice up
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I’ll add to this -

Linux - RHCSA → RHCE. Red Hat is the king of the hill in Linux. If you want something a little more ‘vendor neutral’ go with the Linux+/LPIC 1/CLA cert and then progress through the other two LPI certs.

Security? Hell, we could be here all day… Sec+ is a good starting point for all of them. Plus it can be applied to stuff throughout IT. The most noticeable security one is CISSP. In between those you have SANS certs, OSCP, C|EH, various pentesting/forensics certs, etc. Those are going to be specific to certain aspects of infosec.

One other one that he didn’t touch on: virtualization. VMware has some good certs that are well recognized.

Putting the cert thing aside for a moment, is there anything else you are looking for from a cert besides something to enhance your resume?

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zachantinelli

Definitely go for the certifications. Consider also if you want to train and learn that you can use Lynda/ITproTV/Youtube or blogs that will teach you to do lots of different things. There are so many resources out there. The key is to know the discipline from a practice perspective and then you can get the cert to prove it. Then, if you get hired into a job you can prove your worth.
Also, aside - If your boss is to busy to train then you should run. . . .run away - to a place that respects and appreciates training and development.

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When it comes to training, as a young professional, what do you typically do to progress and sharpen your skills?

You mentioned your boss isn’t much help when it comes to training. Are there any mentors that you could latch on to and learn from? We have found that having the ability to have our instructors mentor our students goes a long way when they are pursuing certifications in IT. The students seem to love it too!

Best of luck to you!

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Thank you for all your replies. I greatly appreciate the advice and will take it to heart.

@twon of an - CCNA is definitely an option for the next cert. I like networking a lot and would love to learn more about it.

@weirdfish - Yeah I totally agree. The tech that actually knows his stuff that has no certs is 100x more valuable than the guy who has all the certs under his belt and no experience (paper tech). RIght now I am trying to figure out what interests me the most and run with it!!

@neally - True, the + certs just kinda get your feet wet and give that broad overview. I am ready to start learning more specialized material. Linux is interesting to me and so is virtualization. I am not sure where to start exactly with those two haha.

@Bud G - Security is another aspect that is really interesting. I am thinking about reading up on Red hat admin. Is the pay as good as they say it is? Also it looks very interesting so a win-win

@dvcdank - The thing is he does train me when he can, but we only have two people here just myself and him. He tries to train me when he can but hes just always busy and I feel like he doesn’t make time to train me or provide me with the things I need. I have been considering leaving this company for a while. The pay is good because I do a LOT, but it is just so unorganized it seems really unprofessional sometimes. For example, I have been asking him to get me business cards for over a year and it hasn’t happened. Or he pays me late sometimes. Just things like that which make me feel unappreciated as his employee.

@Derek(Stormwind) - To sharpen my skills I am usually studying for that next cert and using those skills on the job. Lately I have been taking on more networking service calls at work and trying to jump in head first and learn what I can. Sometimes if there is something I want to test I will set it up at home such as migrating email from Godaddy or setting up virtual machines etc.

Thank you again for all your replies!! And sorry for this wall of text.

I have a few questions in response to your answers:

How would one get on the path to study for Red Hat? (I am also going to google it :D)

I am getting ready to look for my next job. Would you guys recommend looking for something corporate or just applying to whatever I see on craigslist/indeed etc?

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“I feel somewhat stuck because the owner is too busy to train me like he said he would and do not want to get stagnant.”

You train yourself. What’s keeping you from learning on your own?

Where you go after the CompTia trifecta of certs depends on what you find yourself interested in. Some of the most common tracks in IT are systems admin (Windows or Linux), networking (Cisco, Juniper, etc.), and security. There are good intermediate and advanced certs for all of those tracks.

I’m biased because I’m a Cisco network engineer, but I think CCNA is one of the most universally beneficial and universally recognized certs, and it also serves as the foundation for all other Cisco certs (CCNP, CCIE, CCNA Security, etc.).

3 Spice ups
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You’re young enough to where you can afford the time to try it all out. Just like the cert question, the answer to this is also “it depends.” :slight_smile: There are always positives and negatives to all types and sizes of employers. Industry variations also play a role.

For me, I worked as an office drone for a large, multinational corporation. It was positive in that it got me experience in business, which made schooling easier to comprehend. On the other hand, I was a worker drone. There was a defined structure and moving to IT at that company was not an option (this was in the early/mid-'90s, and all of IT was housed at our headquarters in NYC). But not all megacorps are like that.

I worked for a small start-up, my first tech job. It was full of nepotism, as the executives and managers were all friends/family who started the business. Outsiders definitely felt like outsiders. But not all small businesses are like that, either.

I currently work in education. And I will never leave, if I can help it. The money isn’t the greatest, but that’s not my only motivation anymore.

So it all depends. Try everything out while you’re still young and able. My options in that regard are limited now, because of my age, experience, and family obligations (which is another reason why I intend to stay put in the education sector).

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Linux is interesting to me and so is virtualization. I am not sure where to start exactly with those two haha.

I am not too experience in Linux (Windows it is for me… but I can find may way aroundLinux if needed…) so cert wise I am no help. I am looking personally in the Linux foundation because of THIS .

Now, for Virtualization:

VMware is a big player (who’s role in SMB is getting away) there you want to look into : VMware Certification

It starts at VCA, but really, you want the VCP. It is recognized and is a good cert to get you started. Problem is it requires you to take a class, just passing the test will not get you the cert. (i took it in a community college class and paid ~$450 for the VCP which is CHEAP), the regular VMware class alone is about $3k to 5k.

For Hyper-v I found there is not too much out there really[certification wise anyways], there is the 70-409 (+MCSA / MCSE in general). you can use the 70-409 to substitute the 70-412 (which I did to get my MCSE)

The other 2 players in the game are XenServer (Citrix) : (look into the CCX-V) http://training.citrix.com/cms/education/certification/

And KVM: I am not aware of any certs for that and had no exposure to KVM. I know Apple ditched Vmware for KVM though. http://www.linux-kvm.org

So… ultimately… dang there is a lot to learn…

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Go check out Cybrary https://www.cybrary.it/ , free to register and they have a CCNA course, as well as many security courses, hopefully it will give you a little boast.

The best advice I can give is, find a topic that interests you, it’ll be easier to learn and keep you focused and never, ever, consider doing a certification because you believe it to be a golden ticket to the high life, it won’t, be also, it certainly will not hurt your chances progressing.

Good luck!

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@Todd_in_nashville - I do learn a lot on my own. The only problem is that I don’t often get sent on the service calls where I can apply that knowledge. I try to create mini labs with my own equipment but it’s not quite as good as being in a real world situation. CCNA is one that I am going to read up on because of how popular and valuable it is.

@weirdfish - Glad you found a place that you enjoy in education!!! I’m sure finding that niche is specific to who you are as a person and there is no one shoe fits all career in IT for everyone.

@Neally - That cert just became available 3 days ago, talk about being on the ball!! Virtualization and Linux are the two that interest me the most right now, although I have limited experience with both so I can’t really say yet. There is so much to learn haha.

@brianwhelton - Thanks Brian, I am registering for it right now!!

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You can pick a cert that is tied to a particular technology or a cert that is more about best practices or a particular function - for instance CISSP or the PMP. A lot will depend on where you are in your career and what direction you want to move in.

Remember that at the end of the day security is really pretty broad and there are lots of areas to land in - plus since you are just starting out you can bounce around a bit - get a broad amount of experience which will make you well-rounded.