Quote (Qord @ May 12 2015 07:44am)
The problem is that very few companies are going to hire network or systems admins without prior experience. His best bet is to apply for anything that's not help desk or call center. And even then, depending on where he lives that might not be an option without relocation or a ridiculous commute.
I don't think you know what you're talking about. IBM, GE, even state and federal agencies post openings on craigslist. Yeah, you need to weed through some garbage, but good jobs are posted there.
E: I do agree though, spend more time job hunting than trying to get certified.
E #2: Op, you're probably better off asking there questions elsewhere. It might be worth your time to check out the forums on dice dot com or tech exams dot net. Those are full of professionals who have better and more meaningful input than most of us here. I'm willing to bet that none in this forum have worked in IT for more than 3-5 years at best, and both of those communities are full of lifers.
It is absolutely ridiculous too assume this forum doesn't have experienced techs this is a decade old game. Just because you are an amateur does not label the entire community off the top of my head (myself included) there is atleast 10 people I can think of with over 10 years of experience who are just as if not more qualified than anyone on tech exams and dice dot com. Speak for yourself not for the group.
Back on topic.
@OP: To me Administrator jobs are entry level the point of specializing is to become an engineer, architect or analyst which is where six figures in IT happens, most of us vets found this out the hard way. Start specializing now and be a admin for as little time as possible even a tier 3 sys admin makes less then the tier 1 sys eng/analysts. Of course you might not be about the money and enjoy the simpler administration of servers. But refer to my first post it will help direct you on your path to specialization. I recently managed 100+ IT Professionals and over 100 software engineers any lead engineer or management level cto will tell you that specialization is the way to go. Although you will have less variety in your day to day you will have easily twice as much coin in your pocket. Something too consider if you want any further coaching or advice feel free to pm me anytime.
This post was edited by HackeZ on May 13 2015 09:30pm