I’m looking for a little advice from fellow IT folks at Tek-Tips. Good news. I just finished updating my MSCE for Windows 2003 after much procrastination. So I’m kind of back in the study mode and I’d like to continue with something else that doesn’t have a deadline again like my MCSE cert that I just got in under the wire.
A little about my background; I’ve been doing IT administration/network/desktop support for a little over 10 years now. I still really love my work and IT work in general. My current position is a government job has been very good for me been very stable for 7 years now. In my current office there are no opportunities to advance. No opportunity for raises and no real opportunities to learn anything new or use my skills much. I’m the only IT person in the office and my skills have probably eroded in this office since I arrived here in the year 2000. The majority of my work is simple stuff that I have been doing for many years. Printers, copy/fax machines, setup a laptop and proxima for staff, desktop support, help desk type duties. I do some very light server work but that has become less and less over the years. The office really likes me to focus on desktop support but occasionally they still expect me to be able to setup a new server every few years or troubleshoot a downed server when needed. Which is not easy if you rarely work on them. I really would like to make a move upward into a position with more responsibilities or work with enterprise wide technologies and I just don’t see that happening in my office. So to help me prepare for that next opening, I’m looking for some of your career/certification advice if you could share some….
This is what I’ve been thinking about now that I got that MCSE done.
My current organization uses
• Netware
• Microsoft/Microsoft SQL Databases
• Some SUSE Linux
• Cisco Routers/Switches
• Cisco VOIP
• Novell Groupwise with a small chance we might move to Exchange 2007
• Just starting to use VM Ware technologies
1. My first desire would be to do some training focused on Exchange. That’s where my heart is and what I think I’d like to be doing 5 years from now but if we don’t migrate from Groupwise to Exchange, that would mean any training would be a waste or I would have to leave the organization and my pension to make use of it.
2. VM Ware training. This might something worthwhile and the technology is very exciting. There is good chance that the technology will spread and there will be lots of work implementing virtualized environments.
3. Linux training, I’m a bit afraid to touch this one. I know linux is a great OS but I’m afraid learning another OS won’t get me much as I already have two OS related certs. CNE, MCSE
4. Cisco, I’ve always wanted to get my hands into Cisco technologies and have often considered studying for a CCNA. I’ve seen many job openings that would be right up my alley if I had Cisco experience. The reason I have never followed through with this that I am afraid I would not retain much from the studying or training because I would never touch a router a switch in my current work. Chances are it would all be lost after a few months.
DBall63
A little about my background; I’ve been doing IT administration/network/desktop support for a little over 10 years now. I still really love my work and IT work in general. My current position is a government job has been very good for me been very stable for 7 years now. In my current office there are no opportunities to advance. No opportunity for raises and no real opportunities to learn anything new or use my skills much. I’m the only IT person in the office and my skills have probably eroded in this office since I arrived here in the year 2000. The majority of my work is simple stuff that I have been doing for many years. Printers, copy/fax machines, setup a laptop and proxima for staff, desktop support, help desk type duties. I do some very light server work but that has become less and less over the years. The office really likes me to focus on desktop support but occasionally they still expect me to be able to setup a new server every few years or troubleshoot a downed server when needed. Which is not easy if you rarely work on them. I really would like to make a move upward into a position with more responsibilities or work with enterprise wide technologies and I just don’t see that happening in my office. So to help me prepare for that next opening, I’m looking for some of your career/certification advice if you could share some….
This is what I’ve been thinking about now that I got that MCSE done.
My current organization uses
• Netware
• Microsoft/Microsoft SQL Databases
• Some SUSE Linux
• Cisco Routers/Switches
• Cisco VOIP
• Novell Groupwise with a small chance we might move to Exchange 2007
• Just starting to use VM Ware technologies
1. My first desire would be to do some training focused on Exchange. That’s where my heart is and what I think I’d like to be doing 5 years from now but if we don’t migrate from Groupwise to Exchange, that would mean any training would be a waste or I would have to leave the organization and my pension to make use of it.
2. VM Ware training. This might something worthwhile and the technology is very exciting. There is good chance that the technology will spread and there will be lots of work implementing virtualized environments.
3. Linux training, I’m a bit afraid to touch this one. I know linux is a great OS but I’m afraid learning another OS won’t get me much as I already have two OS related certs. CNE, MCSE
4. Cisco, I’ve always wanted to get my hands into Cisco technologies and have often considered studying for a CCNA. I’ve seen many job openings that would be right up my alley if I had Cisco experience. The reason I have never followed through with this that I am afraid I would not retain much from the studying or training because I would never touch a router a switch in my current work. Chances are it would all be lost after a few months.
DBall63