[RndTbl] Certification guidance

[Chrinkus]

Thanks, Adam! A little confirmation goes a long way when I'm trying to 
learn new things. I have a good job already, I'm set for the next 20 
years if I like. But its not in tech so I dream these dreams.

I realize a cert is not the silver bullet I need to swap careers but its 
a nice goal to shoot towards. The more I read about what I'd need to 
know for LPIC 1, the more excited I get.

Looking forward to discussing this more as I progress. Thanks again!

On 2019-04-26 9:56 p.m., Adam Thompson wrote:
> Hi, Chris.
>
> I used to teach the LPI curriculum, and I've been a hiring manager.
>
> LPI was not based out of Canada in the past, but I see their head 
> office has moved.  What country they're based out of has relatively 
> little impact.
>
> LPI is not awesome, but if you're looking for something that's 
> widely-applicable, they're the place to go.  RHCE has been around for 
> years, of course, and is excellent if you want to hitch your horse to 
> the Red Hat cart and no-one else's.
> I didn't even know the Linux Foundation had a certification program 
> until I read your email... so that gives you an idea how 
> widely-recognized it will be :-).
>
> The key thing here is that being an LPIC-1 will only get you in the 
> door for an interview, maybe.  It does not have broad industry 
> recognition.
> RHCE is more limiting, but has much broader recognition.
>
> Also, keep in mind that there are probably less than 100 jobs in all 
> of Manitoba that involve UNIX all day long, every day.  If that's what 
> you're aiming to get (a UNIX-specific job), you should move to a 
> better market for that before you worry about what certs & training to 
> obtain.
>
> Pluralsight is ... OK, from what I've seen.  You probably aren't 
> wasting your time there, on average.
>
> Bottom line: yes, Linux certification will get you somewhere, but not 
> as far as you might imagine.  It would most likely open doors to 
> $35-$45k/yr entry-level jobs that wouldn't have otherwise looked at 
> you.  But jobs where LPIC and/or RHCE are mandatory?  I don't believe 
> those exist here.  Nor do jobs exist where having ANY certification, 
> no matter how rare or esoteric, jump you straight to mid-range or 
> top-end salary scales.
>
> So if you really want a job in IT using UNIX/Linux, and you've 
> budgeted time/$$ for self-directed training, then, yeah, I think the 
> LPI program is probably your best bet, and Pluralsight is definitely 
> not the worst way you could spend your money.
>
> Hope to see you in May!
>
> -Adam
>
>
> On 2019-04-26 21:23, Chrinkus wrote:
>> Hello, I'm a newer member to MUUG, I attended my first meeting in
>> March. I left that meeting with a lot to think about but excited by
>> the talk and discussions I witnessed.
>>
>> (I keep typing out a big long story about my desire to learn more
>> about UNIX, and more specifically Linux, but it gets long and I delete
>> it. This email has been in my draft folder for a few days now, I'm
>> getting to the point.)
>>
>> Anyway, I'd like to work towards some level of certification. There
>> seem to be a few "Big Certs" out there, Red Hat's, LPI's and the Linux
>> Foundation's. For the moment I've decided to work towards the LPIC-1
>> due to the cost and apparent credibility. I have a book and am
>> starting my free trial on Pluralsight to kickstart my learning.
>>
>> My question is perhaps just more me seeking confirmation that I've
>> jumped to some decent conclusions. LPI is Canadian-based and usually
>> #2 on the best-lists I've found. I'm loving the book, The Linux
>> Command LIne, 2nd ed, but haven't used Pluralsight before. I landed on
>> it mostly because its ads annoy me the least out of all of the online
>> learning sources.
>>
>> Thank you for your time,
>>
>> Chris Schick
>>
>> * I missed the April meeting because our kids were both sick and I
>> didn't want to leave my wife alone with that mess. Looking forward to
>> May!
>>
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