1. New to IT / Cyber certifications?
I recently wrote an article exploring if you NEED to get certifications to land a $100k /yr tech job. The short answer is no.
If you are starting off in your IT/Cyber career then you need to know something important about certifications:
Having them is helpful, but it won’t land you the job.
What lands the job is nailing your interview.
You will be asked technical questions and may even be asked to perform a task.
If you can’t answer sufficiently or complete the task, you won’t get the job.
That’s why I emphasize doing PROJECTS alongside your learning.
This will ensure you are getting real experience running IT/Cyber tools!
2. Tools of the trade: CentOS
If you’ve followed my Linux Quick Start guide, then you know how important I think learning Linux is for IT/Cyber.
But with 100’s of Linux distributions, which ones should you learn?
My vote is for CentOS!
Why?
CentOS is essentially the free version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL).
RHEL is what most major companies and enterprises use to run their Linux based infrastructure. So it has a high demand in the job market!
Pro tip: many courses do not teach on CentOS. And that’s OK. You can learn the basics of Linux from any distribution. Most teach using Ubuntu, which is the most popular personal use version of Linux. So learning CentOS after the basics is a great way to stand out to employers!
3. Book recommendation: Learn Linux Quickly
Since you just read about how great Linux is, I might as well recommend a Linux book right?
This is a great intro to Linux!
What I like about this book is that it teaches you how to do things in Linux, not just the theory.
For more book recommendations check out my reading list!
Pro tip: while this book is great, you don’t need it to learn Linux. I have 2 free learning paths on my website here and here. Grab the book if you can afford it and want some more structured content!
Feel free to reach out to me on social media if you have questions ✌️