IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[BaileyPark31]

Well if you're that inexperienced, you need to start with the fundamentals that give you the foundational skills and knowledge.

I'm recommending studying for A+, Network+ and Security+ using Testout.com courses because they not only have video lectures, they have hands on labs; simulations of the actual technology. These labs will help the information you learn stick. Their are also plenty of practice Exams / and quizzes that include explanations for the answers.

Courses in order

1. PC Pro (covers the basics of hardware/ software / role based access control / very basic networking stuff
2. Certmaster Learn Network+ (Covers topics related to routers/switches/firewalls , theoretical stuff like the OSI model, and understanding how data traverses a network from start to destination point
3. Security+ (slightly more in-depth in regards to securing hardware/software/networks but still at the basic to intermediate level.

Testout has more courses than this but for the express purpose of learning the basics start with A+, Network+ Security+,

They offer a 7 day trial, after that, it goes to $89/month, I'd highly reccommend you use test out as it has everything you need baked into the subscription plan to give you the full learning experience, dont rack your brain worrying about other resources, you're a beginner so start with this.

Library Suite Monthly Subscription

Try TestOut FREE for 7 Days. Get full access to all CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft and EC-Council IT certification training courses. Enjoy all course material including simulations, videos, practice exams, and so much more. Advance your IT career today with the most comprehensive, hands-on training...

testoutce.com

Far as what roles to aim for for you first job,


Ideally Level 1 SOC or NOC Technician and if youre desperate to just get any job in IT ...Helpdesk Technician/ Desktop Support/ = any combination of these words lol.





Managed Solutions is a 100% remote company with regular openings, If you dont qualify for whatever position you applied to (or recently got filled), they'll at least offer another position.

again, there is no bait and switch with the remote work, its 100% remote, no hybrid, no 1-2 days in the office, none of that.

I got offered a job last year but I passed on it to go with another company I had been holding out for. They usually respond quick too. look into it

Managed Solution LLC - Job Opportunities

Managed Solution LLC Careers Page - View all jobs and opportunities at Managed Solution LLC and apply today. | Powered By Paylocity

recruiting.paylocity.com

Thank you so much. It's hard to find this much relevant info all in one place.

 

[Rhyme n Tekniq]

Thank you so much. It's hard to find this much relevant info all in one place.

Its all good breh

my only advice would be to dont walk into this with the mindset that "this is just a temporary thing. Dont have a half way in mentality with I.T.
take your time to learn the fundamentals while you're new to the industry and hungry. The earning potential is vast and achievable if you devote time to knowing what you are doing. dont cut corners and BS your way up, because what you will find when you get to that a level in your career when you are around all these senior admin and engineers. they all intimately know their shyt and you wont be able BS your way into 125k salaries because those will be the guys vetting you for whatever lucrative position you end up chasing.

Tech has so many disciplines. You'll make the type of money you desire regardless of your path, just master the fundamentals early in the game

1. Certs are good and neccessary for your first few roles, but dont spend time chasing them. Chase experience.
2. Work for a good MSP, preferably one that refers to itself as a 'boutique' MSP. MSPs are where you can get boatload of Exp in a short amount of time,
3. Always be learning, a week off is cool, whole months will make you lazy

 

[Sonny Bonds]

I got a candidate feedback survey email for a job I hadn't been rejected for yet. So... I guess I didn't get the job.

 

[KingsnBucs1987]

Didn't realize the A+ 1001/1002 retired and had to retake the exams again

Passed the 1102 and taking the 1101 next week, wish me luck brehs

 

[Secure Da Bag]

Chaos persists as IT outage could take time to fix, says cybersecurity firm boss

Airports, banking and healthcare were all hit when a Crowdstrike update triggered huge Microsoft outages.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Formerly known as...]

Anyone work with Microsoft power platforms and dynamics 364?
Just been offered a job as a devOps engineer with a law firm that use it. I'm a devOps or SysOps at a web application firm currently. Money is much better and they're at the start of their journey with their tech team so lots of new staff coming in since March so I'm thinking of taking it.

 

[KingsnBucs1987]

Just took and passed the 1101 to be certified now. I know the next step is either Security or Network, which one would y'all recommend hitting first?

 

[AyBrehHam Linkin]

Since passing my CCNA last October it has actually lead me to more endpoint management\sys admin type work at my Desktop Support IV role lmao.

However for some reason Networking still seems to be calling me, gonna start going for CCNP Encor and one of the specialty exams by next spring

Def seems more freelance then the CCNA course though

 

[BlaxOps]

Anyone know of any IT connects for overemployed opportunities?

 

[semicko82]

Just took and passed the 1101 to be certified now. I know the next step is either Security or Network, which one would y'all recommend hitting first?

Security

 

[KingsnBucs1987]

Security

That's what I was leaning towards, especially since you can get government jobs with it.

Right on breh

 

[Billy Ray Valentine]

It's been around a month working as a cloud engineer. Here are some experiences I think helps anyone trying to get a cloud role. Our work breaks down to incidents (something's slow or down), maintenance (patching/upgrading), and project work.

I feel like the job sits somewhere between traditional IT work and software engineering. We use a lot of IaC to build and manage things. I start working on some projects involving Terraform this month.

There is a lot of server and virtualization work because we have high compute requirements. If you're looking to get a cloud role, accept that it may be a hybrid deployment, especially if it's in support of any process-heavy applications or services. Our environment is hybrid with most of our compute resources running in private datacenters. We have some Azure VMs but the overwhelming majority is VMWare.

I've read the articles about the cost of public cloud being too expensive. I've had the costs mentioned in job interviews. But to actually see what's required to support our environment has me accepting hybrid environments aren't going anywhere. More power to you if you can get a job working exclusively with AWS or Azure But to be practical, I would look for opportunities to work with Hyper-V, VMWare, and SANs (NetApp, Nimble, etc.) to broaden your options.

It definitely helps to have some understanding of databases but I don't think it's critical. It's not in my role. We aren't creating queries or keeping the DBs clean. We mostly handle the DB engines and servers hosting the DBs. DBAs that handle the more detailed work.

I'm not doing as much networking as I've done in the past at this point. But having a networking background/knowledge is also helpful, especially when working with hybrid environments.

The same goes for security concepts like IAM and privileged access. I haven't done much with security at this point. I don't know enough about the environment to make those decisions.

I would recommend learning how to use Git. We use GitHub to manage our code/scripts. I don't think you need to be an expert. But being comfortable with the core functions and concepts of Git is important. Running code from an out of date repo isn't something you want to do.

Also start working with an IDE. Being GUI gang is fine up to a point. You need to be comfortable in CLIs to write and run code/scripts.

 

[WakandanPride]

It's been around a month working as a cloud engineer. Here are some experiences I think helps anyone trying to get a cloud role. Our work breaks down to incidents (something's slow or down), maintenance (patching/upgrading), and project work.

I feel like the job sits somewhere between traditional IT work and software engineering. We use a lot of IaC to build and manage things. I start working on some projects involving Terraform this month.

There is a lot of server and virtualization work because we have high compute requirements. If you're looking to get a cloud role, accept that it may be a hybrid deployment, especially if it's in support of any process-heavy applications or services. Our environment is hybrid with most of our compute resources running in private datacenters. We have some Azure VMs but the overwhelming majority is VMWare.

I've read the articles about the cost of public cloud being too expensive. I've had the costs mentioned in job interviews. But to actually see what's required to support our environment has me accepting hybrid environments aren't going anywhere. More power to you if you can get a job working exclusively with AWS or Azure But to be practical, I would look for opportunities to work with Hyper-V, VMWare, and SANs (NetApp, Nimble, etc.) to broaden your options.

It definitely helps to have some understanding of databases but I don't think it's critical. It's not in my role. We aren't creating queries or keeping the DBs clean. We mostly handle the DB engines and servers hosting the DBs. DBAs that handle the more detailed work.

I'm not doing as much networking as I've done in the past at this point. But having a networking background/knowledge is also helpful, especially when working with hybrid environments.

The same goes for security concepts like IAM and privileged access. I haven't done much with security at this point. I don't know enough about the environment to make those decisions.

I would recommend learning how to use Git. We use GitHub to manage our code/scripts. I don't think you need to be an expert. But being comfortable with the core functions and concepts of Git is important. Running code from an out of date repo isn't something you want to do.

Also start working with an IDE. Being GUI gang is fine up to a point. You need to be comfortable in CLIs to write and run code/scripts.

In your opinion, does cloud have more security than cybersecurity. Was thinking about making a career pivot and was wondering what certs I need.

 

[Billy Ray Valentine]

In your opinion, does cloud have more security than cybersecurity. Was thinking about making a career pivot and was wondering what certs I need.

I'm may not be the best person to answer this.

Most of the places I worked had security teams that operated were separately from the teams I was on, including my current job. We follow best practices (encryption, least privilege, secret/key management, strict network ACLs, etc ) but we aren't doing any heavy cybersecurity.

I worked with some security tool when I was a system admin. Application control policies, email security, some content filtering, Intune/BYOD policies, etc. We used Nagios for some some monitoring and Manage Engine stuff for compliance and reporting. But I wasn't doing any heavy cyber work.

I don't know what job security looks in the current market. Before the tech job market took a turn, I was already committed to pursuing cloud engineering out of personal preference. All of the technology I'm interested in happens to be used in cloud infrastructures. It made sense for me to lean in that direction.

Someone else with deeper cybersecurity experience has a better view on the types of work involved and the qualifications needed.

 

[Sonny Bonds]

Apprenticeships at Google (deadline end of day tomorrow)