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Hi Everyone,

I just want to thank everyone that post replies and any helpful information in advance. There’s a lot of great information and community members here so wanted to get everyone’s opinion on what I should do moving forward, let me give you some background information on me and some open ended questions that if anyone can help I would really appreciate.

Background information:

Work Experience: I’ve been working in IT for nearly 10 years now (combination of private & public sectors). Primarily in Help Desk, I do have experience assisting with some networking and system administration (backup.alternate to the Network Manager when necessary)

Educational experience: I have an Associates degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management of Information Systems.

I don’t have any certifications but as I recently received by Bachelor’s (went back Part-time, while working full-time to achieve it), I feel this is probably the next area I need to concentrate in.

What areas of study would best help me be more qualified to move from a help desk role to a system/network administration position? I love being in the trenches and helping people but I also love learning new ways to get the most of technology.

I was thinking these are probably a good place to start, not all at once of course but areas that seem viable as where being certified would look good on a resume, help gain more experience and help me stand out as more than a Help Desk guy (nothing wrong with it, just at a point in my life where, I want to go further do more, etc.)

** MCSA 2008 (before it gets retired, then I can go the upgrade path to get 2012 down the road)

** CCENT with an upgrade path to CCNA

** CompTIA Server, Security, etc.

I have the books for MCSA 2008, I have started reading them and watching the videos from itfreetraining.com for the 70-640 exam. Lot of information in this exam so I want to really know & understand it before even attempting to take the exam.

My feeling when it comes to any area of study is to pass any exam is great. But if I don’t understand it or can bring it to practical use there’s no point to having it just to say I have it.

This is where I differ from the Network Manager at my current employer, he has a list of Certs but he usually crams for the exams so he can pass them. He doesn’t use the information he gained for them to help do the job he is doing or try to expand/update it until he has to re-certify all over.

This is why it’s important to me as I see the issues in this way of working and I don’t want to become that type of network/system admin. I want to know the material, know what to do if there is an issue, and continue to learn as I feel it really helps in IT if you can strive for such. (sorry for the rant, I think it helps though to give this background - or at least I hope so).

So I ask this, of my fellow Spice Heads where do I go from here?
Do those Certs appear to be the right place to start?

Any other suggestions?
What would a good goal be to get certified this year in?
How many Certifications is a reasonable number to strive for?
What would you suggest I look more into, to making me more qualified in a system/network administration job.

Also, looking for additional resources beyond the written books and itfreetraining.com looking at going with pluralsight, from what I can see it looks like it has a variety of certification information that would be beneficial especially if I can tackle more than a few Certs this year. Any one have any feelings regarding using them? I saw all the threads about them and really see it as a great learning subscription site.

Again thanks to everyone for reading this, giving any/all responses and giving me the guidance to move forward this year!

~ Tim H.

@Microsoft @Cisco @CompTIA

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There’s never a good reason to certify in 2008. That’s two steps back. Certify in what’s recent today. 2012R2. Don’t pursue the CCNA unless you plan to go deep into networking - if you do pursue it and dont use it, you will lose it and it’ll be knowledge you won’t easily get back to. Not to mention it expires in 3 years.

CompTIA certs are hit and miss as well. They are very generic and look good on paper, but there isn’t anything I didn’t know on the Net+ (short of fiber cable lengths and that sorta stuff).

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I should expand on my previous post. What interests you? Virtualization? Networking? Linux? Find an area you are interested in, or a weakness in your current organization (say there isnt much knowledge about VMware products, get VCP certified). The whole point of the certs is to yield some form of return for you. Be it to transition into something you want to get into or prove your knowledge for a raise or a future employer.

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Tim, you’re asking a lot of questions that are commonly asked here. I would say that you’ve already made a great start by participating in these forums.

Where do you go from here? Simple answer - wherever you want to go. Seriously. As Holo said, go with your interests. You obviously have experience and are wanting to move into a new phase. This is great. If you are wanting to go as a Windows Sysadmin, you can start with MCSA 2012 (always start with the latest version because it is relevant longer, even if you don’t have it, you can download a trial to play with and learn). Having something like Network+, VCP, Security+ are all great enhancers to your resume if you are planning on continuing down that career path.

Remember experience > certifications > degree.

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Getting some certs is a good idea. Getting them shows that you are dedicated and putting in a continuing effort even now that you have been in the field and working.

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The best next step is to take some time and define what it is that you want to accomplish with your career. Where do you want to go short term and long term? You need to know that before figuring how what certs or other things will help you to get there.

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Congratulations on getting your bachelors. Employers do use that as a clue that you have at least a modicum of intelligence. Looking for a degree is an easy way to do a quick sort of a stack of resumes.

The most important thing you can do is be in a position where you will be given the opportunity to do something other than help desk. Having a certificate without experience doesn’t mean much. If you can take on new projects at work, then great, do that. Hopefully your boss or somebody else would like to show you how to do more cool stuff. I love doing that.

I find that the best way to learn is to have a problem, and then find out how to solve it. Better than lab exercises. Maybe you can find a non-profit or small business that has a need that you can try to solve, and then figure out how to do everything that is required to get it taken care of.

If you want to do more Microsoft sysadmin type stuff, the good news is that with a single PC with a good amount of RAM and modern virtualization technology you can setup Active Directory domains, several workstations and other servers, and other MCSA type stuff with just a single computer.

Maybe getting one certificate will help with a new job, but I think that having 5 would actually hurt if you didn’t have the job experience to back them all up.

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