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I am a young IT Professional that has been working in the field for about 5 years or so now and am looking to upgrade to a newer, more professional, and (hopefully) higher paying job within the industry. My question is, what certifications are valued by employers hiring a systems administrator and by which means is best to attain these certifications. Any answer is correct here, whether it be a broad trend in the employment market down to the right book to buy or the right website to go to will help. I am a bit overwhelmed, but confident that my SpicePeeps will be able to give me great advice, whether it be what to get or how to get it.

THANKS!!

4 Spice ups
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Well, it all depends on what to do. A lot of folks run down CompTIA certs, but the Comptia cert is made more for the generalist rather than the specialist. Incidently, guess which way the job market is going these days. In my opinion, you can go wrong with them. Having Microsoft certs won’t hurt these day either. Get at least a MCITP in server, and that will suit you well. Linux certs are great to have, as well as some specialized stuff like in Exchange and/or SQL.

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I’ve only been in the field for 5 years but to me certs are really only useful when looking for a new job…which incidently is what you are doing. Following up on what rmuniz wrote, I would say that it really depends on which part of IT you want to go into. I’m a Network admin and have to keep a broad, overview type knowledge knowing that manufacturer support will help me fill in the details as needed. If you want to specialize though then you need to decide what part of IT that you like best first whether that be server administration (Microsoft, Linux, Sun, etc), layer 3 work (Cisco primarily with Juniper, Watchguard, and others close behind), DBA (SQL, MySQL, Oracle, etc), or programming (sorry…not my strong suit…)

That being said, I have my A+ and Network+ certs and I may also go for my Server+, Security+, and Linux+ certs over the next couple of years. In the end though I’m looking to expanding my schooling instead. Certifications, while very useful at time, don’t hold their own in comparison to a BA or MA. I have my AAS already so getting my BA shouldn’t be too difficult.

In any case I hope that you find this useful and please let the community know which area of IT you want to get into. That way specialists from those respective fields can give you some specialized advice.

HTH

Ethan

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Not to draw away from the question, but I am also curious as to what people look for. I have my associates degree in Network Administration from a well-known tech college in the area, no certs (but am pursuing my Bachelor’s in MIS)

I have two part time network admin jobs now and I have had them for roughly 2 years.

Do you think that certs make a larger difference if someone is going for their bachelor’s?

Some employers (like the ones that hired me) look for what experience you’ve had in the past.

I also think that age has a lot to do with it (I’m only 21), and I think that for some of the small companies (400 or less), if they can get you in younger and keep you around the system longer you’ll last longer. They can then send you back to school (young and still somewhat eager to learn (maybe?)), and it should be a little easier for you to catch on.

I was sent back for a class or two and to be honest since I was so familiar with the technology and how the school teachers it was easy for me to adapy.

I’m really curious as to what some managerial and top level IT (hiring) staff things about this!

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I completely agree. I am almost 4 years in having been a manager twice without any certs. I am very clear on the perspective that having specific certs is important. Linux is definitely a valuable cert, especially something like a RCHE, MS can never be bad because so much runs on them, Exchange is good to have, SQL is something I would personally like to have. I dont think there is any way any of these certs could be bad. Security is a huge plus as well and will continue to grow as IT moves forward.

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I would say that any cert won’t harm your chances.

To me a cert tells me you’re capable of learning, as would a degree I suppose!

When you’re starting out I would advise to go for the generalist certs - comptia, baisc Miscrosoft certs (i.e. non specialised ones) - there’s no point turning up with an Exchange qualification if you don’t understant the OS it’s running on properly - IMO

Once you’ve been working for a while you can figure out what you like doing and then if you want you can specialise in that area.

Lastly I’d say that certs are more useful if you’re going for a job with a company who does consulting or contracting work for other firms. Small in-house IT deparments don’t need to “sell” their IT staff credentials so certification isn’t so important. Personally I haven’t done any certs since the NT4 days, but I have nearly 20 years experience, which I think counts for a lot more on a CV

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Thanks for your input on this you guys. It is a really good jumping off point for me. Do you have any suggestions on how to get these certifications? Is paying the money for the classes worth it or can I pass these examinations using books and online study guides? Also, can you recommend any web sites or books to check out?

You guys have been very helpful. Thanks a ton!

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Well when I was taking my core classes in tech school, the class outlines exactly what the exam would test for; so essentially it was a good idea to take the cert exam right after you finished the class.

I unfortunately never did because I did not have the money and hadn’t wanted to get general certs (comptia, a+, etc) IMO I think my experience should cover those certs.

I am more interested in security, so when I go back for security classes I will take those security certs.

And you could probably (very easily) just buy the book, learn / study and take the exam. The nice thing with taking the classes is that I took them with industry pro’s who held the cert’s and knew what ideas to focus on more (the ones that would show up on the test)

As far as books; I like the exam cram books (just check on amazon), and the dummies books are ok as well.

HTH

MD

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Ive been in IT for about 2 years, and im working on my CCNA…

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This is a great question, and it’s very relevant for me because I’m 10 years in the future, from where you are today. Specifically when it comes to Michael964’s comment regarding technical certs vs. a college education.

In short, technical certifications on your resume SAY that you are proficient in a particular technology. At least, enough to be able to study, take a test, and pass it. Work experience on your resume SAYS that you’ve actually done the work in a real-life, hands-on environment, and probably have some good troubleshooting skills because of the time you’ve spent actually doing it. Both are valuable.

However, keep in mind that both of these things, as great as they are, will keep you on the “working” side of IT. You will continue to be more and more skilled at the technology, and will continue to “just do the work”. (not that that’s a bad thing!)

What else is there? you ask? - The answer is: Management. The “business” side of IT. Ultimately it will come down to what you want your IT career to be. I was perfectly content to be a lead phone support rep, desktop support tech, jack-of-all-trades network manager, field consultant, and eventually server hardware team/exchange guy. (career progression in that order) - But after 10 years of doing it, I was finding myself frustrated that even though I was very technically proficient and certified out the wazoo, I wasn’t making the “big bucks” I thought I would be by that time. I realized that the fellas wearing the suits, having meetings, and making strategic decisions about the company were the ones that were doing the work (and getting the paychecks) that I wanted. And in order to be one of those people, you most probably need a college education.

Granted, everyone’s goals are different. This is turning into a ramble post, so I’ll finish up. If you’re content with being the hands-on-do-the-work IT guy, then go for technical certifications and experience. If you want to move up the chain and past the “glass ceiling”, then go to college and get an education.

P.S. One other big difference: Your college education never expires, your Microsoft certifications do. It’s also a lot easier to go to college when you’re single with no kids, so do it when you’re young. :slight_smile:

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Yep. PatrickJ said it all. Althought the techy stuff is fun, in the end I’m hoping the MIS degree will land me the pay I want. I notice that the farther into school I get the less I’m able to work on the techy things (that starts to goto people lower on the totem poll, and why I am not sure because these people know how to get things working, yet the IT manager, who simply makes decisions, makes six figure salaries).

So with that said, more money means management, but it most likely will be nothing like the fun you had with setting up new servers, figuring out what the cisco command is to enable https, etc. :slight_smile:

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Michael964: (that starts to goto people lower on the totem poll, and why I am not sure because these people know how to get things working, yet the IT manager, who simply makes decisions, makes six figure salaries).

Michael: You answered your own question. The difference is that the manager makes decisions. That ultimately, they will be solely responsible for in the event that things go bad. The key word in all of this is responsibility. The manager assumes more risk, and takes on more responsibility, and therefore is compensated more for it. That’s not to say that us on the tech side of things don’t have responsibility, we do, but ours is limited to technical things. An IT manager must be concerned with much more than just IP Addresses, firewalls, and backup rotations. They deal with budgets, HR, communicating with the executive team, planning meetings, and a lot of politics… just so we don’t have to.

It may not be fair that it fetches a higher salary, but that’s how the world works. :slight_smile: