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Young guy who got laid off last year. Ready to sprint, looking for tips.
Salutations folks,
Coming from a background as a Data Center Technician I moved down from the Nothern Virginia region to North Carolina late last year to work as a Systems Administrator in a mainly GNU/Linux environment as had been my goal since getting into tech. However, the company let me go right before the end of my standard NC 3-month probationary period as they were experiencing sever downsizing. Not to mention I was starting to go literally insane due to some psychiatric issues I was having.
But anyway, I’m better now and feeling very motivated to grind and study but I’m not sure what would be the best strategy to get back into tech at the moment.
I’ve got my first child on the way and so I need to start making some decent money but I’m also totally fine making an entry level salary as long as it is within an IT role. I’m working as a road-flagger right now and so I’m not getting any valuable experience.
I have no degree and most of my experience is with Linux (which my only cert is the LPI Linux Essentials) and most of that has been gained through tinkering outside of work.
I’ve been thinking that a good path to go from here would be to either try to get into working for the Federal Government or one of their contractors by getting the Sec+ and entering in at a low level position, or working a more-junior sysadmin role working for a private company in a Microsoft environment by getting get the MCP. However, I will say that in terms of knowledge, I am closest to getting the RHCSA (actually A+ would be easier, but I don’t think that would be worth it at this point).
I have 3 years of formal experience in total, and don’t really have a good idea of the IT job market right now or where my efforts would best be spent as there is a lot of information out there that sometimes takes different stances.
What I am asking for is some tips on strategy for applying to jobs, as well as what would generally be the best way to allocate my time in terms of learning new technologies. If it were up to me, I would just be learning whichever technologies I want or are needed for personal projects, but I also don’t want to be negligent to my family by just doing what’s fun at a given time.
Thanks for your time
All Answers
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Reply To: Young guy who got laid off last year. Ready to sprint, looking for tips.
A layoff is when an employee is let go from their job due to various reasons, often unrelated to their performance. If you have a specific topic or question related to this situation, feel free to provide more details, and I’ll be happy to assist you further.
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Reply To: Young guy who got laid off last year. Ready to sprint, looking for tips.
Focus on obtaining the RHCSA certification to strengthen Linux skills,
Pursue Sec+ for government roles and MCP for private sector sysadmin positions. Prioritize family needs while balancing skill development.
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