IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Nomadum]

I'm new, but anyone have any ebooks on "CompTIA Strata IT Fundamentals" or "A+"? I'm going to be going for my certs when I get the money and study time in.

 

[The Watcher]

I'm saying there are too many people taking the Microsoft technology path. When a toddler is able to take and pass a Microsoft exam you know that market will be saturated.

I would recommend learning Linux over anything Windows based. All the dudes I know who specialize in Linux all make 6 figures. The only Microsoft guy I know making that amount works with their CRM product. Windows administrators grow on trees and you can find one anywhere.

You need both. If a person is trying to get their foot in the door, they need Windows. If a person is trying to make that leap into big money, they need Linux and Windows (and a bunch of other knowledge that you can only really pick up on the job).

I've been in this field for years and worked for multiple big companies - they all are running Windows because that's all their Project Managers, secretaries and high-level programmers know how to navigate, they always need IT maintenance on that shyt - especially with Microsoft dropping patches that break everything and upgrades every 3 months. Limiting yourself to Linux in 2014 is shooting yourself in the foot unless you plan to go to work in a start-up or starting your own shop, in which case you're probably fukked anyway because those are a dime a dozen and usually end up flipped over within a year. In the real world, a person needs to know Windows. After all, if a 5-year-old knows how to do it, then any technical person should know how to do it.

Signed,
A Linux user currently working in a blended environment

 

[Data-Hawk]

As I'm getting deeper into writing more intricate scripts/programs with Ruby and Python, I'm thinking about paying the $70 for a license of Sublime Text, this shyt is

Before you drop the $70. I would give Visual Studio ( since the pro edition is now free ) and give Python for Visual Studio a try

 

[Nomadum]

You need both. If a person is trying to get their foot in the door, they need Windows. If a person is trying to make that leap into big money, they need Linux and Windows (and a bunch of other knowledge that you can only really pick up on the job).

I've been in this field for years and worked for multiple big companies - they all are running Windows because that's all their Project Managers, secretaries and high-level programmers know how to navigate, they always need IT maintenance on that shyt - especially with Microsoft dropping patches that break everything and upgrades every 3 months. Limiting yourself to Linux in 2014 is shooting yourself in the foot unless you plan to go to work in a start-up or starting your own shop, in which case you're probably fukked anyway because those are a dime a dozen and usually end up flipped over within a year. In the real world, a person needs to know Windows. After all, if a 5-year-old knows how to do it, then any technical person should know how to do it.

Signed,
A Linux user currently working in a blended environment

I'll keep this in mind. I do know that the military utilizes a customized red-hat kernel for things. even though everything else is windows based.

 

[The Watcher]

I'll keep this in mind. I do know that the military utilizes a customized red-hat kernel for things. even though everything else is windows based.

This is exactly how it is in most major companies. The higher up a person gets into this field, the more diverse the knowledge needs to be (as it should be), but focusing all your attention on learning Linux and ignoring Windows out of some kind of misinformed, wannabe nerd logic is the worst thing to do from a practical perspective. I've sat in more technical hiring interviews than I can count and if a candidate can't demonstrate a basic knowledge of Windows administration, then they aren't worth the hire. The majority of places need someone that can come in right away and be productive by working on common, highly utilized applications (Windows), not someone that's going to come in and stare dumbly at a Windows Server or Visual Studio while trying to pull that "Linux is so much better, I'm too good to understand Windows" poser attitude. They'll get laughed off the island.

 

[Nomadum]

This is exactly how it is in most major companies. The higher up a person gets into this field, the more diverse the knowledge needs to be (as it should be), but focusing all your attention on learning Linux and ignoring Windows out of some kind of misinformed, wannabe nerd logic is the worst thing to do from a practical perspective. I've sat in more technical hiring interviews than I can count and if a candidate can't demonstrate a basic knowledge of Windows administration, then they aren't worth the hire. The majority of places need someone that can come in right away and be productive by working on common, highly utilized applications (Windows), not someone that's going to come in and stare dumbly at a Windows Server or Visual Studio while trying to pull that "Linux is so much better, I'm too good to understand Windows" poser attitude. They'll get laughed off the island.

I definitely can understand and respect that. I'm doing the leg work now, researching how I want to map out my CompTIA certs. I'm going to try and go network security but I'd like to have an extensive knowledge of IT in general to help with potential down-turns in hiring and (god forbid) layoff's. so far, this is what I'm planning...
*CompTIA's IT Fundamentals Cert
*A+ Cert
*Net+ Cert
*Sec+ Cert

then I might try and go for my CEH cert.

 

[Nomadum]

Before you drop the $70. I would give Visual Studio ( since the pro edition is now free ) and give Python for Visual Studio a try

Visual Studio is nice, I dabbled in it briefly for C++. definitely a nice coding program.

 

[The Watcher]

I definitely can understand and respect that. I'm doing the leg work now, researching how I want to map out my CompTIA certs. I'm going to try and go network security but I'd like to have an extensive knowledge of IT in general to help with potential down-turns in hiring and (god forbid) layoff's. so far, this is what I'm planning...
*CompTIA's IT Fundamentals Cert
*A+ Cert
*Net+ Cert
*Sec+ Cert

then I might try and go for my CEH cert.

You'll be good. Best of luck.

 

[Nomadum]

You'll be good. Best of luck.

Thanks man.

 

[Silkk]

Contract currently set to end in march, same time as my lease. Sooner i can get out Baton Rouge the better, i'm going to start putting feelers out in Houston but if i can't get at least $24 per im just going to reup again.

Job easy as hell, in fact the easiest job i've ever had but god i hate BR

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

I didn't feel that my topic was worthy enough to create a new thread on but fits here I believe. I work for a hospital in the Chicagoland market as a contract analyst in supply chain. I meet with vendors, look at contracts and devise scenarios out of such, so basically, a lot of my job is to look at primary data and make multiple sections of secondary data out of it, basically Excel and passing off the work to other to speak to. So, given that projects comes and goes, I've decided to teach myself VBA in down time. Well enough that I can put it on a resume and feel comfortable in using it. So, it got me to thinking if there were many others in the same way, in looking at your career path and what you are trying to do, have you taken it upon yourself to arm yourself with the necessary tools to get ahead? Just curious.

 

[Nomadum]

I didn't feel that my topic was worthy enough to create a new thread on but fits here I believe. I work for a hospital in the Chicagoland market as a contract analyst in supply chain. I meet with vendors, look at contracts and devise scenarios out of such, so basically, a lot of my job is to look at primary data and make multiple sections of secondary data out of it, basically Excel and passing off the work to other to speak to. So, given that projects comes and goes, I've decided to teach myself VBA in down time. Well enough that I can put it on a resume and feel comfortable in using it. So, it got me to thinking if there were many others in the same way, in looking at your career path and what you are trying to do, have you taken it upon yourself to arm yourself with the necessary tools to get ahead? Just curious.

that's what I'm beginning to do now.

 

[The Watcher]

I didn't feel that my topic was worthy enough to create a new thread on but fits here I believe. I work for a hospital in the Chicagoland market as a contract analyst in supply chain. I meet with vendors, look at contracts and devise scenarios out of such, so basically, a lot of my job is to look at primary data and make multiple sections of secondary data out of it, basically Excel and passing off the work to other to speak to. So, given that projects comes and goes, I've decided to teach myself VBA in down time. Well enough that I can put it on a resume and feel comfortable in using it. So, it got me to thinking if there were many others in the same way, in looking at your career path and what you are trying to do, have you taken it upon yourself to arm yourself with the necessary tools to get ahead? Just curious.

You are doing the right and proper thing friend. I know the job market in the midwest well and you can grab a high-paying business analyst job with good VBA skills. You can hook up reports for those people that get pissed because their IT requests take too long or aren't considered a technical task. It should be easy for you to pick up if you've spent enough time doing complex formulas in excel and are familiar with the data you are working on.

I haven't done VBA work for years, but have a close friend who has made a career out of knowing VBA and she has the master tricks of the trade. If you ever have questions or need someone to look over code to help you optimize, give me a shout out. I'll hook you up.

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

You are doing the right and proper thing friend. I know the job market in the midwest well and you can grab a high-paying business analyst job with good VBA skills. You can hook up reports for those people that get pissed because their IT requests take too long or aren't considered a technical task. It should be easy for you to pick up if you've spent enough time doing complex formulas in excel and are familiar with the data you are working on.

I haven't done VBA work for years, but have a close friend who has made a career out of knowing VBA and she has the master tricks of the trade. If you ever have questions or need someone to look over code to help you optimize, give me a shout out. I'll hook you up.

There are a lot of websites out there and tutorials to get you started. I know the intermediate and expert stuff of Excel as it is so as I teach myself the VBA functions, I know why it is work and it's piff doing it. However, if there is anything that she can pass on, I'm definitely willing to take it. One of my mottos, if you know everything, how can you learn anything. I'm always willing to learn breh.

 

[The Watcher]

There are a lot of websites out there and tutorials to get you started. I know the intermediate and expert stuff of Excel as it is so as I teach myself the VBA functions, I know why it is work and it's piff doing it. However, if there is anything that she can pass on, I'm definitely willing to take it. One of my mottos, if you know everything, how can you learn anything. I'm always willing to learn breh.

I'll hit her up. She loves talking about this stuff and bragging on her skills.