Am I getting too far head of myself? Career advice needed

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thecrafter

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Hello all. I'm a recent college graduate, have only an associates in network administration that I've obtained last December. My ultimate goal is to become a systems administrator, and in the short term a Jr. Systems Administrator

So far in regards to IT I have 3.5 years professional desktop support experience and that's it.

Today I've obtained my A+ and now I'm thinking of what I should obtain next (if anything at all). My plan was now to either study Net+ or for MCSA/MCITP (they're the same thing right now). Net+ is easy and more relevant to me right now, I feel, but MCITP is much more prestigious and interesting to me and I would really like to study for that.

But I'm hesitant because of my short IT history (professional/educational). I'm just not certain it's worth dumping the money and time into this certificate - will employers/HR look at my resume and say "big whoop he's got MCITP but no professional experience with servers of any kind and only 3 years help desk experience. Into the trash bin", or would I in fact have a decent chance at Jr. Systems Administrator type of positions?

Thanks for any input!

edit: also how would you suggest one study for MCSA/MCITP? Both resources offered on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/MCTS-Windows-...ie=UTF8&qid=1344393142&sr=8-4&keywords=70-640) (http://www.amazon.com/MCITP-Windows...ie=UTF8&qid=1344393142&sr=8-2&keywords=70-640) have top reviews that say neither book prepares you for the exams unless you've been already working on MS Servers professionally in the past
 
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Get experience, find an administrator to take you on as a temp hire, or as a intern. All the certifications in the world look great on paper, but if you cant do the basics of admin they mean nothing. you need to learn what it is to truly manage a network, not just know what compromises a network.
 
You'd be surprised. Having 3 years experience as a helpdesk tech is actually fairly relevent, especially with a cert or two, since it at least means you have an IT background. Depending on who is hiring, and for what, you could probably stand an acceptable chance at getting hired.
 
ChRoNo16 said:
Get experience, find an administrator to take you on as a temp hire, or as a intern. All the certifications in the world look great on paper, but if you cant do the basics of admin they mean nothing. you need to learn what it is to truly manage a network, not just know what compromises a network.
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Of course, but I've been having trouble finding that type of position and that's why I am wanting to get the MCITP certificate. For the past 4 months (not long, I know) I've been applying for Jr. Sys admin type of positions and have gotten no bites at all for face to face interviews but plenty for other desktop support roles. So it seems employers feel I'm underqualified for server work. My question is - will MCITP realistically help at all in this regard.

It's a no-brainer to study for it anyway, because I'm really interested in it and I'm sure I would learn much new, but whether it will help me in my job searching is what I'd like to figure out before putting the money and time into that.
 
If you enjoy the studying and learning involved with getting a certification, then you should do it. Not because it is going to make you more employable, but because you enjoy it.

Getting into an organization through the help desk is not a bad way to get your foot into the door. I know many people who started in help desk roles who used them to get much higher up in the organization. If you can stomach doing helpdesk for another year or two you can get in with a company and establish that you are a hard working, smart employee with middle management written all over you. You can then try to concentrate on projects that are systems admin related. This will get you experience in that realm and could lead to you eventually moving over to that team.

The only people who do helpdesk for life are those that are not smart enough to do anything else. Everyone else uses it as a springboard to a higher position. There is nothing wrong with that.
 
I'd say you're doing fine. Only thing I would suggest is stop wasting your time on CompTIA certs. Back when those were lifetime certs, I could see a *little* value in obtaining them, but now? No way. Focus instead on the other ones that interest you and keep up the good work.
 
thecrafter said:
Of course, but I've been having trouble finding that type of position and that's why I am wanting to get the MCITP certificate. For the past 4 months (not long, I know) I've been applying for Jr. Sys admin type of positions and have gotten no bites at all for face to face interviews but plenty for other desktop support roles. So it seems employers feel I'm underqualified for server work. My question is - will MCITP realistically help at all in this regard.

It's a no-brainer to study for it anyway, because I'm really interested in it and I'm sure I would learn much new, but whether it will help me in my job searching is what I'd like to figure out before putting the money and time into that.
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I would say you should consider the idea of taking a support/technician role equivalent to whatever you're doing now, but with an employer where there's clear room for advancement. If they hire for tech support and system administrators, then getting in in a support role will make it much easier to move into a system administrator position if one opens up. If a company needs to hire a system administrator, and they've got an internal candidate expressing strong interest in the position who has demonstrated their talent and ability to work hard, any reasonable manager/director would leap at the opportunity to hire that internal candidate.

...And if nothing else, it's easier to fill a support opening than it is to fill a system administrator opening, so it's in their advantage to move a known good employee into the system administrator position and then hire someone to fill their old support job.
 
Dogs said:
I would say you should consider the idea of taking a support/technician role equivalent to whatever you're doing now, but with an employer where there's clear room for advancement. If they hire for tech support and system administrators, then getting in in a support role will make it much easier to move into a system administrator position if one opens up. If a company needs to hire a system administrator, and they've got an internal candidate expressing strong interest in the position who has demonstrated their talent and ability to work hard, any reasonable manager/director would leap at the opportunity to hire that internal candidate.

...And if nothing else, it's easier to fill a support opening than it is to fill a system administrator opening, so it's in their advantage to move a known good employee into the system administrator position and then hire someone to fill their old support job.
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this.

also, check out our resume? maybe its kinda iffy?
 
MCITP is 5 tests total, and will take you a LOT of time studying if you don't have experience with Windows Server or AD.

MCITP does require 1 client OS test though, so you could take the Win7 test to start with. That will basically validate your desktop support experience, and will definately look good on your resume. Plus you will be 20% done with your MCITP.


As for which books to study? Get them both used. I have both and they hit different topics. The MS books are very boring, with a lot of examples and test setups. The first book you linked to is much easier to read, but I don't think it covers as much information.
 
Officially, I have 5 years of experience in IT. I was in help desk for about a year and from then I had great mentors and trained me. My previous environment was a microsoft shop where we followed best practices and went by the books on a lot of things. We had a 6 man shop supporting 1600 users, 16 physical servers, 150 VMs and an HP base network. We contracted our network maintenance to a vendor, though they didnt teach me much I stil kept poking my nose around and asked questions.

The two systems administrator one also being a DBA and other purely windows administration taught me a lot (while still doing the grunt work of a help desk technician) I then proceeded to get my N+, Security +, MCSA,MCSE, MCITP -EA (1 test short).

Eventually I started to apply elsewhere and landed a job working purely on networks; Cisco switches, routers, and Firewalls.

My point is, these test will be very difficult without practical experiences. There are SIMs in these exams and the best way to pass them is having experiences in the real world.

I suggest you proceed with your Network+ (great test and gave me a base understanding of network and network environment) and Security +
 
Stunning's comment above raises a good point, find a good mentor who is in the position that you aspire to be in and soak in all their experiences and knowledge. Also remember that most organizations shy away from individuals or "paper MCSE's" without some level of practical experience on their resume. Everyone in IT starts at the bottom including myself, my first job was 1st level help desk support with a software company which I did for 3 years. I've moved up in various companies increasing my role and responsibilities and fast forward to today where I am a Senior Infrastructure Support Manager managing a team of my own for a large financial firm.
 
Biznatch said:
MCITP is 5 tests total, and will take you a LOT of time studying if you don't have experience with Windows Server or AD.
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Hmm, according to Microsoft's FAQ on the cert website I took note of this last month
Until April 2013, when you earn an MCSA: Windows Server 2008 certification, you will also receive the MCITP: Server Administrator certification. After April 2013, the MCITP: Server Administrator certification will be discontinued.
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MCSA is 3 exams, and that just says if you get MCSA, you automatically get MCITP. Perhaps you're thinking of the older MCITP cert? I know they changed A LOT of things with their certs recently. They are now very different
 
lol, they are moving back to calling things MCSA and MCSE.
I guess that whole MCITP crap pissed everyone off. Why they changed the names is beyond me.

MCSA is 3 tests
MCSE is 5 tests
 
I think you're doing fine cert/study wise. Don't stop learning even if you aren't ready to take the tests. The material will help you understand your job and the systems more.

I would make a lateral move career-wise if it puts you with a company offering better advancement/pay/benefits/free soda/etc.
 
It took me a good part of a year to study for MCITP EA. I already had a tonne of experience with AD and servers.
People underestimate the power of a piece of paper. I wouldn't get half the jobs I do with out my certs ofcourse I am self employed now and having that makes an excellent selling feature.
 
thecrafter said:
Hmm, according to Microsoft's FAQ on the cert website I took note of this last month

MCSA is 3 exams, and that just says if you get MCSA, you automatically get MCITP. Perhaps you're thinking of the older MCITP cert? I know they changed A LOT of things with their certs recently. They are now very different
Click to expand...


Yes, I was thinking about the MCITP:EA cert (forgot about the MCITP:SA). I haven't studied in a while, so I wasn't aware they changed the names again.... Ah well, I will probably just jump to the server 2012 certs now anyway as I waited to long.
 
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