[Elessar]

I'm not sure where else to put this but hopefully a few of you could help me out.

I work full time in a completely non-tech related field that I am not entirely happy in and in the next year or so I am considering going back to education and learning about and working in a sys admin/networking role.

First of all, is this possible without going to college full time for a degree? A route that I have seen into this is CompTIA A+ / CompTIA Network+ then the MCITP - Server Admin cert. Would this be a good way? Or would I be better with CCNA? A benefit for me would be that I can do those courses part time.

Would I be able to get a job in this area with the above certs under my belt? I.e. Is there something else I should ideally have (apart from a Bsc/BA), or would the CompTIA Network+ and/or the MCITP/CCNA be (generally speaking) sufficient?

Really, are there jobs out there for network admins? Is there a demand? From what I can see at least, most of the in demand IT skills at the moment are software based, I haven't seen a lot of job adds for network/sys admins, but that's only from a few searches on the job sites.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Static M.e.]

I recently answered this for a friend. Couple of points instantly come to mind.

If you leave your current job and go back to Training \ College then be prepared for pay cut, you will be starting out as an entry level job position. Instead why not try and shift sideways by moving to the IT Dept within your current company. You could slowly train yourself up over time and then ask to become more involved with the IT projects - IT depts are always looking for more hands.

To begin in IT (Sysadmin/networking) I would start off with the following Certs in this order so that not only will you learn each new topic but that they follow each other so the learning from the first feeds into the second etc.

Ask your company to send you on a course or provide you with Books for any of these. Books are cheap getting people to learn it is the hard bit.

Comptia A+ - Most expensive Entry level exam, but teaches you Computer basics.
Comptia Network + Same as above but will teach you Networking basics. Whats a Switch, Firewall, Router etc.

The two Comptia exams might seem to be too easy but what you learn is the basics of all IT Hardware Jobs, they give you a great foundation.

After those two little then you can either do a Redhat (Linux) or Microsoft (Win 7 /8) exam. You need to know both OS's really because it shouldn't matter if you are on a Linux or MS OS you will need to be able to fix problems on both.

Only after all of the above would I suggest going for the CCNA. Its a hard exam and you are going to get a shed load of knowledge dropped on you, seriously its a big exam and it doesn't guarantee you a job any more than any of the four other (Easier) exams above. Depending on your ability you could realistically spend a year alone studying for the CCNA (Any of the others roughly 2-3 months).

First try and move sideways with your current company if that doesn't work then you can Self Study for all four exams I mentioned above. Don't waste your money on courses get some books and just get stuck into them. I wouldn't pay for any course except the CCNA because its so difficult.

[kippy]

Originally Posted by Static M.e.

I recently answered this for a friend. Couple of points instantly come to mind.

If you leave your current job and go back to Training \ College then be prepared for pay cut, you will be starting out as an entry level job position. Instead why not try and shift sideways by moving to the IT Dept within your current company. You could slowly train yourself up over time and then ask to become more involved with the IT projects - IT depts are always looking for more hands.

To begin in IT (Sysadmin/networking) I would start off with the following Certs in this order so that not only will you learn each new topic but that they follow each other so the learning from the first feeds into the second etc.

Ask your company to send you on a course or provide you with Books for any of these. Books are cheap getting people to learn it is the hard bit.

Comptia A+ - Most expensive Entry level exam, but teaches you Computer basics.
Comptia Network + Same as above but will teach you Networking basics. Whats a Switch, Firewall, Router etc.

The two Comptia exams might seem to be too easy but what you learn is the basics of all IT Hardware Jobs, they give you a great foundation.

After those two little then you can either do a Redhat (Linux) or Microsoft (Win 7 /8) exam. You need to know both OS's really because it shouldn't matter if you are on a Linux or MS OS you will need to be able to fix problems on both.

Only after all of the above would I suggest going for the CCNA. Its a hard exam and you are going to get a shed load of knowledge dropped on you, seriously its a big exam and it doesn't guarantee you a job any more than any of the four other (Easier) exams above. Depending on your ability you could realistically spend a year alone studying for the CCNA (Any of the others roughly 2-3 months).

First try and move sideways with your current company if that doesn't work then you can Self Study for all four exams I mentioned above. Don't waste your money on courses get some books and just get stuck into them. I wouldn't pay for any course except the CCNA because its so difficult.

Thats great advice Static M.e for the OP. Very well thought out and makes a lot more sense than going back into education (after leaving your job)