[ale] Breaking into the field [Inquiry]

Antony Natale antonynatale at gmail.com
Sun Sep 24 17:10:34 EDT 2017


My first steps were similar, I studied for A+ then did Network+, Security+ and Linux+. I took them hoping to get a foot in the door without experience but did not expect much more then entry level as certs dont make you a pro, that's for sure. I wanted to show that i was willing to work hard to learn. Getting comfortable with CentOS is a good idea too, we use RHEL exclusively at my job. 

I agree with Chuck that learning languages like Python, or Ruby, or if you're braver than me Perl is useful and adds value in your career but first I would get comfortable with Bash and shell scripting. Being able to write little loops on demand to hit multiple servers can mean big on an important outage call. 

Also like Chuck said start getting familiar with the new hot things like puppet, chef, devops culture and its underlying toolset, but be sure you know the basics first otherwise thats all going to be confusing. 

⁣Sent from BlueMail ​

On Sep 24, 2017, 4:46 PM, at 4:46 PM, Arie vW <willigen.van.a at gmail.com> wrote:
>Thank you all for the input! What I have surmised is that I need to
>continue in my current track and keep an eye open for any and all
>opportunities. The various meetups have been invaluable and it's nice
>to
>hear that my little home lab setup is beneficial. My next step I think
>is
>installing CentOS (using KVM) and learning my way around the platform.
>Up
>until now it's been all Debian based. How much emphasis should I put on
>learning a programming language? I've been dabbling with Python for
>years
>but it's been kinda out on the back burner. Any other must-knows for
>the IT
>field in general? I'm currently studying for the CompTIA A+ cert just
>to
>showcase that despite no degree, I do have a fundamental understanding
>of
>computers. At some point I would like to extend my certification list
>to
>include the LPIC cert but probably not until I can better afford it.
>Thanks
>again for all of the responses! They give me hope that I was beginning
>to
>lose.
>
>Arie
>
>On Sep 23, 2017 10:49 PM, "Chuck Payne" <terrorpup at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Guys,
>>
>> I started out at a help desk, some 27 years ago. The one thing that
>helped
>> me is hard work, never saying no, keeping an open mind, and pushing
>myself
>> to keep learning.
>>
>> The only regret I have I never learn a program language, so if you
>can't
>> join on of the free online course.
>>
>> I would as well recommend coming to the meetings, asking questions
>here on
>> the mailing list. A lot of the greybeards know a thing or too. I
>don't mind
>> helping, feel free to ask question. Don't get stuck with one distro,
>many
>> people install Ubuntu, but the market is more geared more toward Red
>Hat
>> so, install CentOS or Fedora. Even better, Arch Linux because they
>have a
>> wiki that is the best to learn really thing. If you really want to
>learn,
>> try Slackware.
>>
>> Devops is the hot thing, so try to read up on Puppet, Chef, Salt
>Stack or
>> Ansible. Free IT Athens rebuild old PC with Linux on, see if there is
>> something in your community you can do some free IT work. Volunteer
>work
>> counts as much a paid job. My first job was an Interm at TV station
>for two
>> years, with no pay, but I learned so much.
>>
>> You can set up a small home network on the cheap. For $100 bucks you
>can
>> buy like 3 or 4 Pi and setup file server, media server, and
>workstations.
>> You don't need expensive hardward to learn, and labs are so great, if
>you
>> have a laptop install VirtualBox it's free an a great to run other
>> os without having to buying equipment.
>>
>> Amazon use to let you have a free account, it's a great way to learn
>AWS,
>> which is another hot skill to have.
>>
>> Keep notes, Google is great, but if you are working on a system with
>no
>> internet access, notes are great to help, no one going to look down
>on you
>> for having them, they are more like to look down on you for not
>having
>> notes.
>>
>> Remember this, there are no stupid questions, so don't be afraid to
>ask.
>>
>> On Sat, Sep 23, 2017 at 10:22 PM, Antony Natale
><antonynatale at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> As someone who is pretty new to the field I can only offer what I
>did but
>>> frankly I feel my success is equal parts hard work and luck. I was
>working
>>> in retail for years, mostly in print  when I decided I was going to
>pursue
>>> my new found passion. I had worked on getting some certifications to
>try
>>> and get some entry level help desk work being my only experience was
>>> personal, not work related. After a year of applying I got nothing.
>>>
>>> A year later I decided to go back to school for an IT degree and
>started
>>> applying again and got lucky and nailed a great desktop support job
>for an
>>> insurance company. Maybe it was the promise of a degree or
>coincidence, who
>>> knows. Only complaint was there was zero linux. So I focused on
>learning
>>> all I could there, and outside of work learned all I could about
>linux
>>> through reading, VM labs, Linux academy, just doing all I can.
>>>
>>> Finally, thanks to the ALE, a job posting came for a junior admin
>>> position saying they would take entry level. I didn't expect to get
>it but
>>> I did and I think its only because I could get through 50 minutes of
>>> various Linux related grilling and show how passionate I was about
>the job.
>>>
>>> So my suggestion is do all you can on your own, setup labs and vms,
>etc
>>> and shoot for the entry level jobs, and be ready to commit some time
>to
>>> learn because in the end my life is so much better for it. Thanks
>for
>>> getting me the job ALE!
>>>
>>> Sorry for the novel
>>>
>>> Sent from BlueMail <http://www.bluemail.me/r?b=10698>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Terror PUP a.k.a
>> Chuck "PUP" Payne
>> -----------------------------------------
>> Discover it! Enjoy it! Share it! openSUSE Linux.
>> -----------------------------------------
>> openSUSE -- Terrorpup
>> openSUSE Ambassador/openSUSE Member
>> skype,twiiter,identica,friendfeed -- terrorpup
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>>
>> Have you tried SUSE Studio? Need to create a Live CD,  an app you
>want to
>> package and distribute , or create your own linux distro. Give SUSE
>Studio
>> a try.
>>
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