Anyone In Tech Support

[Bonsai]

Guys just to let you know if you have never sat a Redhat exam you don't know what you are talking about.

Secondly ask any linux person who has installed Redhat linux they allways install through text line never through GUI as its much faster and and you can custom install it more ways than you can skin a cat.

And if you think you can pass the RHCE exam through using GUI install/commands good luck better still give ma call. btw its a 8hr practical exam not mulit choice like easy pease MCSE.

Just do your self a favour google up top 10 IT CERTS and how people feel about Redhat cert over MCSE cert etc.

REDHAT is renowned as the crown jewel of LINUX certs now ask your self why.

[W0rp3D]

I think your jumping the gun a little, from the way i have read it he has never used linux before, neither have i, and i know i would not be jumping straight into command line stuff to learn it, i would be going for a mix GUI and command line to begin with, maybe im wrong but if he is planning to get his RHCE then i think it is a long way off.

[Bonsai]

Sorry dude if i sounded harsh or something i might have read into it wrong, just that i like to defend two things that matter the most to me and thats Redhat and GTRs lol Sorry.

I love those two things the most, finally owning my 32GTR and passing my RHCE exam. Peace.

learing any form or linux is great and I encourage that to all people.

"A world without fences who would need Gates"

[adznight]

I've worked in IT for the past 10 years and can count the number of Linux networks we've maintained in that time on one hand...no make that 1 finger.

Yes learning Linux is a good idea but on the SMB side it's just not all that commonly used. Users want feature rich INDUSTRY STANARD products. In fact I've just quoted to rip out a Linux setup and replace it with......Microsoft Windows 2008 Server...ZOMG! Once again it depends on what type of market you want to work in.

We have firewall and anti-spam appliances, VMWare and even Netware etc that use some linux but meh, I know 2/10th of fark all about Linux and look where I am.

In saying that, I really need to learn some

[paulr33]

How often do jobs pop up for help desk, also whats the starting wage in one of those jobs?

there are always helpdesk jobs - ball park is 33k

[paulr33]

yeah in the small business and even enterprise windows is more common for sure

its typically cheaprer to run microsoft products than linux products overall anyway

[W0rp3D]

there are always helpdesk jobs - ball park is 33k

DAM, i want to change jobs but as im getting around 45-50k in my current job i think i will look else where, dont mind taking a pay cut for a job that is going to go some where but a cut of 12-17k is a fair size.

Edited July 31, 2008 by W0rp3D

[acsplit]

DAM, i want to change jobs but as im getting around 45-50k in my current job i think i will look else where, dont mind taking a pay cut for a job that is going to go some where but a cut of 12-17k is a fair size.

If you want to make more than your current job you will have to apply for something better than a helpdesk job ....

[some_cs_student]

Yes learning Linux is a good idea but on the SMB side it's just not all that commonly used. Users want feature rich INDUSTRY STANARD products. In fact I've just quoted to rip out a Linux setup and replace it with......Microsoft Windows 2008 Server...ZOMG! Once again it depends on what type of market you want to work in.

We have firewall and anti-spam appliances, VMWare and even Netware etc that use some linux but meh, I know 2/10th of fark all about Linux and look where I am.

Interesting, I'm aware of quite a few larger companies who have a lot of linux and windows servers.

Linux does a lot of the major web serving, application serving and proxy servers for us.

However Windows is heavily used as well, mainly Windows Server 2003.

Learning Linux is a *good* thing, as is getting some knowledge of Windows server products. Linux will teach you a lot about operating systems in general, and can help you learn some trouble shooting skills.

Although, depending on what your aiming for there is a lot of other things you might like to learn...

I read the first post and the thread seems a little lost by now, I can't really seem what the poster is really looking for, a "system admin" role.

Windows admin? Linux admin? Network admin? Firewall admin? Consultant?

Its a big field

[atang]

Wow, this thread answers a lot of my questions. In about 2 years time i may be like you agentx (IT degree but with no hands on experience).

Edited July 31, 2008 by atang

[paulr33]

you should note there is a big difference between problem solving skills found in those who know linux and those who know windows

linux troubleshooters are typically likely to search, read forums, try their own debugging, user groups, and lots of trial and error

in windows a lot of the GUI stuff is closed and you cant get into it so if you get stupid event errors etc

then all you can do is search for the event id's and go from there, you cant do a great deal of your own work

its only been recently thanks to people like sysinternals where you have things like regmon and file mon etc

[inark]

If you want to make more than your current job you will have to apply for something better than a helpdesk job ....

Thats just the average... im in a Help Desk job that doesnt even help in anyway shape or form and earn double that... and probably know 1/3 of what most people do in real Help Desk jobs. Guess it just depends on the company and how stupid they are. Its such a broad term tho, Help Desk could be anything.

IT jobs these days pay jack... my mate has more certs you can poke a stick at and his lifes hell. Hes oncall 24x7 and works so many long hours and is always stressed and all for under 100k. I just dont see why people put themselves through it for such little reward. Sure 100k sounds nice... but not when you have no life or time to enjoy it.

[Kaz200]

I didn't read all the replies so maybe someone has already said it, but you're better off getting a job at entry level in IT and at some point when you are working in a decent company that is willing to spend money on you, get them to pay for your MCSE or ITIL or go to Uni p/t or whatever you want to do. Many recruitment agencies will also do the same and some offer their own training/career development short courses etc.

I've sent you a PM, if you want to send me your details I will pass them on to a couple of recruitment agencies.

Same goes for anyone else looking for a job really, let me know what type of role you are looking for, send me your name and contact number (& email preferably) and I'll pass it on to a couple of ppl I know.

Cheers

Kaz

[agentx]

I read the first post and the thread seems a little lost by now, I can't really seem what the poster is really looking for, a "system admin" role.

Windows admin? Linux admin? Network admin? Firewall admin? Consultant?

Its a big field

Well ... I'm looking for a "foot in the door" role in IT. and yes i know saying IT is pretty broad ... so i'll narrow it down to troubleshooting applications, installing / reinstalling software/hardware ... aaaaaaaanything except programming cuz my interests lie in everything but programming

again, I can't help being unclear ... because I dont have a clear knowledge of how this industry works.

[some_cs_student]

you should note there is a big difference between problem solving skills found in those who know linux and those who know windows

linux troubleshooters are typically likely to search, read forums, try their own debugging, user groups, and lots of trial and error

in windows a lot of the GUI stuff is closed and you cant get into it so if you get stupid event errors etc

then all you can do is search for the event id's and go from there, you cant do a great deal of your own work

its only been recently thanks to people like sysinternals where you have things like regmon and file mon etc

Interesting point of view, and apologies for hi-jacking the thread, I found that coming from a partially linux background, partial windows background I tend to solve problems on both systems in a similar way.

I've adapted most of my linux tools to windows, and I try to do it the other way around in some cases.

Eg. sysinternals (which was bought out by Microsoft) has great tools such as something to watch every registry access and file access of a particular process, in Linux you can do this but I haven't found a good tool for it (yet).

There is also some great things in the Windows resource kits, so I can, for example, script file system or registry changes to multiple boxes, this is also possible in Linux (as in file system permission changes), and extremely easy on one box a little more challenging on multiple boxes.

Personally I prefer Linux, but as far as the administrative work I do, the line is getting more blurred on what I can't do in one system OR is easier to do in one system

Best of luck with the job, learn what you can, problem solving and soft skills the incredibly useful to businesses

[some_cs_student]

Well ... I'm looking for a "foot in the door" role in IT. and yes i know saying IT is pretty broad ... so i'll narrow it down to troubleshooting applications, installing / reinstalling software/hardware ... aaaaaaaanything except programming cuz my interests lie in everything but programming

again, I can't help being unclear ... because I dont have a clear knowledge of how this industry works.

Plenty of jobs that are outside programming, you will touch on programming occasionally, or at least scripting, but there are plenty of jobs where its not your main role

A lot of the administrative style jobs are like this, windows admins, web support roles, linux admins, database admins, middleware work...

Have a look around, you might have to go into service desk to build up some basic customer service and trouble shooting skills and move on from there.

I know that people usually do service desk and then get secondments to other parts of the business after some time depending on the company...

[R31Nismoid]

Ye you gotta really start service desk, its a great way without experience.

Uni courses don't mean shit, they are a waste of time. Better off getting out there and learning hands on if you wanna be technical IT based

I started off as a junior, 5 years now and ive got 2or 3 little peanuts working for me and call a lot of the shots around the place.

And i wouldnt say i work hard for my money. Hours are a bit nasty at certain times of the year but i take the good with the bad in that respect.

[_Ryan_]

are there any OSX based help desk companys? its what i know best and would enjoy working with...

[saff_cossie]

Ye you gotta really start service desk, its a great way without experience.

Uni courses don't mean shit, they are a waste of time. Better off getting out there and learning hands on if you wanna be technical IT based

I started off as a junior, 5 years now and ive got 2or 3 little peanuts working for me and call a lot of the shots around the place.

And i wouldnt say i work hard for my money. Hours are a bit nasty at certain times of the year but i take the good with the bad in that respect.

Do you mean degrees? If so, that is not correct to progress in IT to senior management and upwards. I dont know any friends (IT Managers, CIO's and CTO's) who will hire anyone without a degree as a minimum. So many people are keen to get into IT and come from different backgrounds that at least the benchmark can be raised by selecting with that criteria. A degree demonstrates a lot aside from the qualification that employers requesting it will be well aware of.

[Mavric]

Do you mean degrees? If so, that is not correct to progress in IT to senior management and upwards. I dont know any friends (IT Managers, CIO's and CTO's) who will hire anyone without a degree as a minimum. So many people are keen to get into IT and come from different backgrounds that at least the benchmark can be raised by selecting with that criteria. A degree demonstrates a lot aside from the qualification that employers requesting it will be well aware of.

I would agree with this as well Saff.. Sometimes you may not need to have an IT degree to get into some base line IT jobs.

But if you have completed some kind of uni or tafe course it shows ability to learn and commitment to completing a set task or goal.

I think this is becoming a greater focus in business these days as it shows that level of commitment that business wants.

Obviously if you have a qualification with an IT background this is of a benefit.