The Batlord

Now that I'm about to finally have my high school diploma, I'm looking into continuing education, and becoming a system administrator is looking like something I'd be interested in. I know Freebase is one, and that JWB is on his way to getting certified, so I just want to know how to go about it from people in the know (e.g. college courses and such).

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The Batlord

Dude, **** living in an area where the economy almost entirely revolves around the military. Looking at listings for any jobs involved in IT, almost if not all of them are involved in some way with the military, which would require me getting a security clearance. Thankfully I've never been convicted of anything other than reckless driving that one time, but that sounds like a giant headache all by itself.

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Wpnfire

Story. Now.

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The Batlord

Ran a stop sign I didn't see. Bicycle cop flagged me down. Tried to lose him in heavy traffic. Failed.

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Frownland

Well there's your opportunity to move out of bumfuck Slay$herland.

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Exo

TIL I have two more degrees than Batlord. I have two degrees.

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LastFM

SUPREME POO BAH MODERATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

Freebase Dali

For Sysadmin, you really just need experience. Certs can help, and some sort of relevant IT degree that isn't programming can also help, but really your big thing will be experience, otherwise you're not going straight to Sysadmin with zero experience, but an entry-level position where you work your way up, assuming you show competence along the way. Granted, some companies let HR write their requirements and often times this includes the necessity for a 4-year degree. In the face of experience, you probably don't want to work for someone who values a piece of paper validating rote memorization that is inevitably lost after a while, over someone who has built and maintained networks and systems enough to know better than what, but how and why.

The education part of it is nice and all, but it's not the foot in the Sysadmin door when there's a lack of experience unless you get really lucky and/or know someone on the inside where you want to work.
Certs, they're nice too, but again, without practical experience, it's not much of an assurance. Believe me, knowledge is only as good as your proven ability to use it efficiently in this field.
Experience, however, trumps both of the above. I have a 2 year degree and zero certs. But 6 years experience prior to my first job in the corporate sector. That was the kicker.

So, with the above (barring any oddities that may happen or not happen), you're looking at something like this:

1. Get the education, pay for the certs and either get lucky or know someone and skip past the entry-level stuff. (and possibly f*ck up big time because you had no clue what you were doing as it relates to a myriad of environment variables)
2. Do the above but start at the bottom and prove your worth.
3. Spend a chunk of your life getting mandatory experience in the military and getting free education and certs afterward, but what you sacrifice in not needing to work your way to your goal in the corp sector, you lose in time on the outside in the corporate world.

If this were 2003, I'd tell you to join the Army because we did a lot of cool sh*t. It's not like that anymore in any branch regarding Sysadmin type IT. My best friend is in the military now and it has gone from 25 Bravos configuring entire networks and setting them up to support thousands of users to 25 Bravos requesting tickets from civilian contractors and military overlord style IT echelons. The hands-on that was, is no longer. At best, you might be able to fool a civvie on your resume', but for a mandatory 6 years wasting your life thinking you were going to be doing real Sysadmin stuff, the only thing you'll get these days is a free education and none of the experience.

With that said, if you can pay for 2 years of tech school as a systems/network guy, using tuition assistance if need be, you'll probably save yourself a lot more time just doing that, and then getting your foot in the door at a company large enough to move up in. If you take to the field and have a logical approach to troubleshooting and aren't an idiot, you'll probably be far better off in that situation because your experience will translate to corporate no matter where you go and when you're already in a company, it's a lot easier to move a hotshot up than pulling someone else in.

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Piotr_13

This is true.

When I joined in 08, the Army was still heavily reliant on Soldier-run equipment. We got the stuff, we hooked it up, we configured it.

Nowadays, it has drifted to a civilian run overlordship.

It's a lot more difficult nowadays to find yourself in a spot in which you'll be working as a systems administrator. Then again, I'm not a 25B but I've worked with many. They just know a little bit more, but don't get the chance to expand on that knowledge depending on where they are in the world.

This doesn't mean that you will not get experience if you join the military, it just means you won't get as in depth into it nowadays like you would have years ago.

The military is still a great option, but it will be highly dependent on your attitude and your willingness to learn things outside of what the military crams down your throat.

The good thing about the army for me, is it got me interested in aspects of I.T. and telecommunications that I never knew about before.

The army paid for my Security Plus cert, gave me a clearance, and if and when I decide to get out, I can get paid to go to college.

The Batlord

I already knew I'd be having to do internships and entry level ****, so it that what you're talking about with experience? And it's nice to know I won't necessarily have to shell out for an actual bachelor's degree, as I'm looking at an associate's at the local community college.

But as all the jobs around here are military ones, would they be more stringent about education level, since the military is after all a bureaucracy-choked bastard?

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