Is red hat certification worth it?
 

Hello,
I am thinking of doing red hat certification. But would like to know if it's really worth it (for me).

About me
I am a final year computer science engineering student interested in pursuing my career in cyber-security.
I am already doing CCNA (just the course to get a deep knowledge about networking - I do not plan for CCNA cerification exam). I use linux as my daily driver (Debian if it matters).

From what I have read online, many of cyber-security professionals begin their career as a system-administrator. I like linux, and also I find linux sysadmin job quite interesting (again from what I have read online).

I am open to suggestions. Don't really have anyone around me to talk to about the same or get some suggestions.

Thank you.

I'd suggest that, if you can, you follow through with the CCNA and get certified. You'll find that having "current" certification in networking will be more of an advantage than not. Saying "I did the course but haven't done the certification" will get you asked "why not? at interviews"

As for RedHat Certification, it's nice to have and if you've no job experience it's good to have on the resume.

I've had a choice of candidates for a Linux sysadmin job and I've hired the one with the CCNA.

Just my experience, I'm sure you'll get a load of different replies. A lot depends on where you're from and what the job market is like there.

Whereas, I would dissent and say that you should "get a job, any job, even if that job consists of tearing pages off a line-printer and shoving them through a slot in the wall." If your employer wants you to get a certification, they should be willing to pay for it in exchange for a promise of your continued employment for a certain number of years.

I'd also agree that in-job experience is valuable but in the present hiring climate (here in Ireland certainly) I'd still recommend doing the CCNA certification if it's financially viable for the OP to do so.

While a CCNA would be a good one to get (in my opinion), I always urge caution and say do NOT get a certificate until you have experience actually DOING the job. Whenever I go to hire someone, I'll look more at what they have done, rather than a 'certification'.

While it seems counter-intuitive (and I realize you don't have experience right now), putting things on your resume that you have done in a non-professional capacity is still experience. Do you know how to configure DNS? Web-services? High-availability services like HA/corosync/pacemaker? Email systems? Firewalls? Knowing these things goes a long way, and that's just a sampling. If you've done those things on your own, for a church/friend/whatever for free, that means you have REAL EXPERIENCE and know at least the basics of troubleshooting.

Get a certificate after you have the experience. Because for me, I view someone with no work experience and a 'certificate' as someone who probably is NOT qualified for the job, for the simple reason there are so many ways to get 'certified' through exam dumps/practice tests/etc. that it renders the certificates meaningless. I'll grill that person a bit harder, because hey..they have a 'certification', and should have the knowledge and experience to back it up..right??? Be honest with your skills, get an entry level job, and work hard. Display critical thinking, the ability to troubleshoot, and offer suggestions if you think you can help. Work your way into the positions you want, because there are no shortcuts.

I have met many folks with a TON of 'certifications', who were as useless as a bag of hair. I've seen RHCE's not know how to add a user to a system. And I've seen folks with no degrees or other certifications be as bright as lasers. Think about it as a drivers license: having one doesn't mean you're a good driver...it just means you passed a test.

I can confirm what TB0ne is saying about experience, in that: I've even had employers say to me themselves that they have hired people with certifications (in my case Microsoft Certified Professional) and they could not think "outside the box". And therefore don't regard certifications as a 'guarantee' that the person applying for the job, will be able to do it - have the knowledge to do it.

So I absolutely agree with TB0ne on the points he made, and it's very good advice on TB0ne's part - well worth paying attention to and listening to.

+1 to having experience with your target rather than certifications. Anyone can get a certification if they want to. But actual real experience is harder to come by. I landed a entry level sysadmin job with zero certifications and 4-5 years of self taught experience running various things at home.

Anyone can get a piece of paper that says they can do something. But if they can't back it up, whats the point.

I'd recommend you first see what your college degree is going to do for you.

You have already invested a great deal of time, effort, and potentially money towards this goal. It is an admirable goal, and one which shows that you are capable of completing a difficult, challenging, and lengthy effort where you needed to be committed to it in order to complete it.

My dream job exiting college was to be working with radar and antenna theory design. I have never done that, however I have been working professionally for 32 years. Trust me I am not dissatisfied with the way my career has proceeded.

Moderator response
 

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Linux - Certification> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

The most important thing that I look for is faithfulness to the assigned task, plus bringing one's brain with you to work every day, and taking one's role in the overall company as seriously as the company (believe it or not ...) does. Software development relies upon tightly-knit teams who work very closely together under conditions of high pressure. The business risks associated with almost everything that they do are nearly incalculable. They must be disciplined and faithful both to the company and to one another, and scrupulously reliable. I know that I can teach them what they need to know if they're willing and eager to be taught. But it is their personal qualities that will determine whether they are successful or not.

"Those who are faithful with little, will be faithful with much."

"The most important thing in life is people who will speak well of you."

Corny? Dunno. It's true.

100% true, and that's why my company gets (and keeps) clients. We've done many small tasks for free, even though we could have gouged someone, because things like that pay back in spades. Because you get two responses to such things:

1. The person you did it for laughs at you to others: "Ha! Those clowns fixed it and didn't charge me..they can't be too bright"
2. The person is grateful and tells others about your honesty and work ethic

The net result is the same: your reputation as someone honest and hard working is spread. And even if scenario one is true, the people they talk to now know of you and what you've done.

I know I've commented on this before, but the drivers-license analogy holds true. A 16 year old who just got their license has a 'certification' to drive. A 40 year old in the car next to them may have just moved to the state and doesn't have a license yet. The difference is that 40 year old has spent decades driving through tons of adverse conditions already, in many situations, and knows how to handle them FAR better.

I would say being fresh out of college, I would encourage you to get certified, especially in RHCSA, especially if in you are interested in Linux. It will only help and could possibly speed up your career progression.

You can easily build a lab in Virtual Box with CentOS to mimic RHEL environment, or if your still in school does your college have access to "the Cloud?" Where you could spin up lab servers to learn from, for free?

There is affordable Linux/RHCSA training from Udemy or Linux Academy.

https://www.udemy.com/rhcsa-training-class-rhel7/

https://linuxacademy.com/

There are free websites where I built training labs from for the RHCSA, like cert depot and tecmint.

https://www.certdepot.net/

https://www.tecmint.com/


You could setup a blog to document your RHCSA experience, thru making yourself "Googleable"

I'm sure you could search around on the Web and find other resources to help with the RHCSA cert process.

Don't get into the poverty mindset that "your employer must pay for your training." Those days are long gone and you have to take the initiative, because if you don't someone else who is much more hungry then you will. I'm currently taking a MOOC programming class via edX and I'm paying for it, not my employer. I also paid for my RHCSA training and exam. Why? Because if a better job opportunity comes along, I don't want to be tied down, in that if the company pays for your training, you have to commit to staying with that company for so many years so they can re-coup their cost (that is something they won't teach in college). Plus it shows I'm not dependent on my employer for my learning and growth.

Hope this helps you.

If the job doesn't give you the opportunity for any growth, advancement or new skills, even though it is "easy" like the job you describe and a steady paycheck. Then I would say no.

I would stick with jobs that afford you time to learn skills and knowledge, to then land the job that you really want. This is something that isn't caught in schools and I lesson I had to learn on my own.

I would rather wait tables and/or sling coffee then tear pages of line-printer and shove them thru a hole in the wall.

Been there, done that and got that t-shirt.

I find this post as ridiculous to say the least. So you have ZERO certs and you are making up imaginary stories because you 'say' you are an expert.

Please post credible evidence of this all of these RHCE's who cannot add a user? Also this is YOUR opinion and very disingenuous to make up allegations like this.

--> NOTE I would not take any credible advice from ANYONE stating such erroneous information. <-- Please let us all know how all of these people cannot add a user???

I will be waiting.

Nope....as said in another thread, I have NUMEROUS certifications and two advanced degrees. Where did I ever say I had none? I have also run my own business for the past 20 years working in this industry. And even at that I wouldn't consider myself an 'expert', mainly because there is always something else to learn.
Who cares if you wait or not??? I never said "all" did I?? I have run across **ONE** who could not. And that's not my opinion, but fact. And since two of my employees witnessed this, I'd say it wasn't opinion either. And aside from this being an obvious troll post, what is the actual point here?

Anyone who has worked with some 'quality outsourcing companies', where they tout their employees are all 'certified', probably has the same sorts of experiences. Ask around.