Hello all,

I am torn. I love Linux, have a little experience with it (basic installation, desktop use etc) and I also have some basic data center experience and would like to transition to Linux administration.

I can pick up on technical things quickly and would pursue a certification if that's what's needed. But how do you get the enterprise experience that needed? Even if I got a LPIC, that's not enterprise experience is it?

I've also heard I can volunteer for Linux projects but how much can I really contribute if my knowledge level would only be LPIC or the base Red Hat cert?

I am torn if I should pursue or go Microsoft route as it seems simpler to enter the field with MCSA...

Thanks!!
cd /help_needed/certification/being_realistic

Realistic, you'll find jobs just as hard/easy on both fields...

If you already have basic skills with Linux why start all over? Plus, while the OSs are different, most concepts apply on both of them (just the tools and methodology used differ).. Linux is a cleaner, more transparent way to learn...

As for volunteering, you'll find all kind of stuff.. If you have programming skills just pick any project from GitHub, for example, add functionality or fix something and submit a patch or do a pull-request... Do this often and you'll quickly be part of the delevopers-team.. Or you can create artwork for Gnome/KDE.. Or translations... It's up to you on what you want to get your hands dirty.. Or help with writing an OpenSource book (yes, they exist).. Or start your own project :P ... Or give advice on forums.. This is all volunteer work, even if no paper is signed, and you can depending on the job you apply for, you can use it on your CV..

The main thing is to be confident and don't underestimate your self... There are lots of jobs out there filled by the wrong people simply because the right ones don't apply to them out of underestimation or lack of self-confidence..

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks for the advice Smokey_justme. I am not currently a programmer nor coder, although I know script writing is highly desirable and it's straight-forward to find experience for that side of Linux. Are there simple ways to gain pure sys admin experience though?

I've heard that a lot of people find their way into a linux career through a NOC. They typically always have at least a few linux servers around and basic networking is pretty important for a sys admin to know. That would probably be the best way to get linux exposure to put on your resume but you'd still need to do a lot of self studying on your own since you'll probably only get so much exposure to linux in a NOC environment. Personally, I got my first linux opportunity working with point of sales systems. The pay was very low but it was worth it because of how much I learned and the opportunities that came later because of that experience.

My suggestion is that you "talk it up" starting at the place where you now work. If you express an interest in a particular career-direction, "bloom where you are planted." Don't assume that you will get fired for asking. Quite probably, within any company of any decent size, you will find something that needs to be done which will be in the direction that you now wish to go.

There is no substitute for experience. You can't learn how to swim by reading a book on swimming. And, every swimming-pool out there has a different set of sharks in it.

I do not find certifications to be useful, but I do like to pick-up certification training manuals at used book stores on the dollar table because these are generally good self-education materials. You'll get a pretty good idea of what the course-of-study is that the developer of the course – who will be a professional education designer – has laid out, and it's a good bet that he or she considered that to be reasonably representative of what sort of things you'd be doing and that you'd need to know on-the-job. Naturally, the course will be vendor-specific ... "Red Hat's course" will only speak of Red Hat and might shun every one else ... but you can see-through that smoke screen easily enough, and who knows, there might be another vendor's book on the same dollar table. You don't need to fork out a bunch of cash to get their certificate to hang on your wall, but you can benefit greatly from vicariously studying their materials. (Take note of what they discuss, what they present and in what order they present it.)

You'll be self-educating all your life. Poking your head and fingers into some new area because you wanted to or because someone else wanted you to or both. At first, feeling "the sip from the firehose." Always. But then, somehow figuring it out anyway. That's a big part of what makes this business fun, albeit in a weird sort of way.