Highest ROI Certs to Get? Studying while applying to places.

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LonelyPatsFanInVT@reddit

I probably differ from most of this sub in my opinion that certs are good for foundational skills and general intro to the industry. Beyond that tho, you want on the job experience. It's good that you have your expectations set to start at help desk, because it's a very real possibility that's where you start. That said, I think having a degree and certs REDUCES the amount of time you spend in those entry level positions as you add more and more experience to your resume. Good luck.

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ZeroT3K@reddit

As a manager, I wouldn’t consider certs without matching experience. They honestly go hand-in-hand.

Products certifications specifically are extremely nuanced towards only the areas the company wants you to push. Anyone who has taken the MD–102 will know what I’m talking about. Intune has way more complexity than the certification actually goes over.

For an entry-level position, I would be more interested in knowing why you are interested in the role, what endeavors you partake in outside of it (github repos, portfolios, blogs, etc), and what your general personality is like. The degree will definitely help and be my main anchor because it shows a commitment to the industry. Entry-level positions aren’t as difficult to get as you would think outside of the competition for them.

If you’re looking to climb the ladder quickly, become a nuisance to your manager after you get the role. Push new ideas, question decisions, take part in areas outside of your comfort zone. The types of experiences you will gain from those paths will be what you add to your resume for the next role.

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123ilovetrees@reddit

I'm in a part time position for help desk and my manager said my role would eventually transition to a full time sysadmin role. I'm learning PS scripting and doing tickets,... Ik if I stick with them and do a decent job they'd push for me to go full time eventually (one of my coworker is a senior sysadmin said so).

I'm like 2 months in and I've already learned so much (and realise even more that I don't know about enterprise IT), but part time hours still leave me wanting more as I've been assigned projects that I could get done so much quicker if I get more time in the office. I don't want to get too ahead of myself but is it realistic for me to perform well, document my work and ask for full time position by end of year/early next year? Our team is 4 people managing around 200~ people.

If you were my manager, what would you consider/look for in me before you put me on full time? I have a CCNA, a small home server and learning PS scripting atm.

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ZeroT3K@reddit

I will say that in some cases hands are tied by HR and hiring budgets. However, if there was an open role, I always consider internal applicants first. I feel like it’s the same for most managers unless the primary goal is to increase coverage.

I can’t say much for 5 months in because it’d definitely be based around budget and experience of the local environment, but after a year definitely. There’s no harm in informing them that you’d like to be on that path sooner though. If they say no, it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Just that there’s some checkpoints to cross.

A few things I’d look for an internal applicant is how well they perform tasks assigned. Do they own them, or do they generally require help? Are they completed on time? Are solutions found the right ones?

Everything else is a plus. Especially documentation.

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123ilovetrees@reddit

I appreciate your feedback, I'll try to follow your advice. Technically the manager is not my direct report, it's a bit odd but I report to one of the two sysadmins that I work directly with. I'm asking around to prep for whenever the conversation finally happens. I do notice I ask quite a lot of questions for my tasks/tickets but it's usually not the same ones as I do make an effort to document stuff both personally and for the team.

I do plan on asking them if I could move to at least a permanent "part-time" position as I'm in Australia and employed on a casual basis (which means they can call me in for more hours or stop giving me hours altogether with no leave in exchange for a higher hourly rate). That'll at least give me some security. Thanks again.

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ZeroT3K@reddit

Do you have any sort of 1:1 with your direct report's manager? It sounds to me like you were assigned to basically shadow one of the full-time admins and assist them. If so, then they may not actually be the one responsible for any sort of internal promotion but would be relaying information to the person that would be. Which, in that case...take my "annoy your manager" sarcasm with a larger grain of salt. 😂

But so long as you communicate you want more *hours* (specifically hours, not just work), then they'll take that into consideration. It may start out with them giving you more hours without any sort of promotion or wage increase aside from the additional time worked...but eventually you can utilize that as ammo in requesting they do so.

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123ilovetrees@reddit

No 1:1 with my manager besides from weekly team meetings.. I've been given extra hours here and there since I started and have expressed my desire to take on more hours once or twice.

I do have tickets and am left alone for the most part, my direct report's been with the company for a really long time (dude was 17 when he started) and from what I've gathered the people in the team who left had other opportunities/parental leave so I guess this role is more of a long term thing.

During the interviews my manager mentioned twice that the role will transition to sysadmin down the line and specifically looked for candidates with less experience (and my resume was system/network focused) so they could train up.

Either way I'm currently very happy with the role and everyones been amazing honestly. I definitely want to accelerate my career for sure.

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SemiAutoAvocado@reddit

I'd go so far as to ding OP here for having a million certs with nothing to back it up.

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ZeroT3K@reddit

Na. Having that many certs would be equivalent to a degree in my opinion. Someone is definitely committed to the industry if they go out of their way to get that many certs as a means to applying for jobs. I just can’t functionally consider it without experience if it’s anything other than an entry level role.

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WorkFoundMyOldAcct@reddit

Certs like infinity stones lmao.

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FavFelon@reddit

Except when you snap your fingers half the network disappears

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fuzzylogic_y2k@reddit

Get an ai cert. Snap your fingers and half the users disappear.

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jdptechnc@reddit

Stop focusing on certs and develop actual skills

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BlockBannington@reddit

MD 102 for MDM shit is pretty useful. I have it and LinkedIn is has been going crazy ever since posting that cert.

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ZeroT3K@reddit

Recruiters go crazy for MD-102. I wouldn’t hire someone without actual Intune experience even if they had the cert. Especially if it’s Intune.

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UpperAd5715@reddit

You're all over the place mate. Instead of studying for the X-th cert you're probably better off learning some proper skills.

Sure windows server might be handy but youre not going to touch many servers in your first months on the helpdesk. CCNA isnt going to be relevant to you for a while unless you want to specialize into networking. AWS and other cloud stuff build upon foundational knowledge, you're just going to have another pretty paper added to the line as you havent seen a proper corporate environment so you can't really use the knowledge.

Powershell is nice to learn and will help you get a proper helpdesk job. Some base knowledge on identity management could be pretty helpful for helpdesk, you can go over the SC900 mslearn stuff but i wouldn't go for the certificate. You really should just get the job and start working, you'll see what you need once youve worked for a few weeks.

If you want to go into sysadmin you can check out windows server stuff, how to do backups and the whole shebang but getting the cert now is a proper waste of time. At the soonest after 1 year of experience maybe?

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Darkhexical@reddit

Id say ask your job if they give raises for any certs and if so get those.

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UpperAd5715@reddit

Man's got 6 or so certs and hasnt got a job, theyre not going to give L1 support a raise because he studied for a microsoft server thing.

L2 perhaps or maybe some companies but definitely not all. I'm in consultancy and my firm isnt paying me more for my CCNA and wont pay me more for my AZ104 because it's something i dont use on my current project. bitches got no networking things open so im looking around for other opportunities.

MAYBE if they need microsoft partner he could get a raise for getting an azure cert or so

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Darkhexical@reddit

Quite a few do actually. Lots of jobs have a cert program where they pay for the cert and give a raise upon completion. It's normally not that much of a raise though.

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Stryker1-1@reddit

I would pause on certs and focus on determining your career path. I would recommend trying out different career paths to see what you like and what you don't.

Once you know what direction you want to go then you can pursue the appropriate certs

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lapizlasalmon@reddit

I recognize a lot of those certs are you enrolled in WGU for your BA? Finish the degree and get a job or if you're on break get a job. You've already completed the intermediate CompTIA certs getting SecurityX or anything else isn't really going to help.

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Aero077@reddit

Start with the end in mind. Helpdesk is something that everybody goes through, but should never be an objective.

If you want to do cloud computing, focus on that. Pick a vendor (AWS/Azure/GCP) and go through all the learn training, deploy apps, get all the certifications for that track. Do this while continuing to look for a job.

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MathmoKiwi@reddit

If targeting help desk, then do next MS900, SC900, AZ900. In that order

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First-Economics-8835@reddit

All of these people being dismissive is your regular reddit echo chamber. Put the work in for whatever cert you want and keep working another job like serving or food service. Those people skills will help you get through your interviews more than most certs could. I was in your shoes before my first internship. The thing that made me more hirable was not the fact I had 7 certs and was last semester of a bachelor’s but the fact I worked multiple jobs and could show up to work and deal with customers all day without complaining.

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TheDawiWhisperer@reddit

What do you actually want to do?

Pick one, focus on that.

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0x5vpremee@reddit

Telling this guy to get a job and experience first WHILE he’s trying to get a job lmao

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Sad_Elderberry8586@reddit

theyre telling him to get experience instead of just cert hunting. its not wrong

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VividGanache2613@reddit

You’re in danger of becoming overqualified for junior positions if you acquire more certs without experience as you might be perceived as a flight risk to interviewing managers (the assumption will be that you might jump ship when you find something better early on).

Approach some decent recruiters on LinkedIn who can negotiate on your behalf, there are tier 1 SOC analyst positions out there if you’re looking in the right places.

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Bio_Lab@reddit

You don't get those positions by having certs..they might help you get an entry level though. experience (prove yourself to the company) -> certs -> internal promotion -> job hop for big pay boost.

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123ilovetrees@reddit

I got a helpdesk job that will transition to a sysadmin role with just a CCNA and a very bare bones home server. I don't think you'd need more than that but if you want Microsoft certs to work with M365 then MS900 is an easy one..

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oppositetoup@reddit

To actually get a helpdesk role, go for these certs. You need to get you basic foundation stuff sorted before you start everything else...

Cisco CCST: networking MS-900 fundamentals

Then maybe the MS-102.

Also whereabouts are you based? As the country you're in will change the answer as well.

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luger718@reddit

Work on getting as job and some experience, a few years under your belt + all those certs looks nice.

By themselves? Eh.

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Info-Book@reddit

Don’t need anymore education, build practical skills with a homelab or try to get some free lancing work.

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ludlology@reddit

gain experience.

also “a microsoft cert” is an incredibly lazy question. you’re trying to make us do work for you.

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NonViolentBadger@reddit

I've actually seen people get rejected from Service Desk roles for having too many certs. While I don't agree with it, I've seen it happen. The logic was "they're probably going to leave after a few months when they find something better. We'd rather find someone who wants to skill up on the job".

Just something to be aware of I guess.

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Zatetics@reddit

If you wanna work in cloud you should probably do cloud certs like az900 or aws saa-c03 and work up from there.

You have literally infinity more certs than I do so take what I'm saying with a grain of sand.

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eat-the-cookiez@reddit

Cloud practitioner is the aws equivalent of az900

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Hebrewhammer8d8@reddit

Home lab to experience concepts in business environments.

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TBTSyncro@reddit

you need experience, not certs.

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OneSeaworthiness7768@reddit

Whatever you feel like learning personally, because gotta be honest, career-wise I don’t think adding another cert on the pile is going to help you much at this point until you gain real experience.

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StraightAd3720@reddit

The real struggle is 3 years later where you contemplate which cert is actually worth renewing.

Sec+ > CySA > CASP, aka keeping my sec+ relevant incase I wanna go back to cleared space..

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Electrical-Cheek-174@reddit

Go network. You don't need certs you need to learn how to meet people and sell yourself.

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sveenom@reddit

Certification without experience is nothing, you need to focus on certifications for the technologies you use most.

For example, I have az104, but I have been using AWS for 4 years every single day for hours on several different projects. Azure hasn't even been on the dashboard for almost a year now.

I have no confidence in dealing with the same projects in Azure that I deal with every day in AWS.

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hitman133295@reddit

Right now i’d say CKA

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Zerowig@reddit

MBA.

There is no HR person that exists that is looking at everything you just posted and are thinking to themselves…ooh this is definitely worth a higher bracket!

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zakabog@reddit

Don't have experience and I know experience is king, but while I'm applying to places, I might as well work on something.

Nah, just apply to places, if you start throwing certs on your resume with zero working knowledge to back them up, I'm not going to want to hire you.

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ImpossibleLeague9091@reddit

Skip studying certs go to networking events instead. That's where the real roi is certs don't equal compensation

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Wise_Guitar2059@reddit

Don’t need anymore certs for help desk.