Would being a Linux "power user" increase my chances of getting a job in IT/tech?
Would being a Linux "power user" increase my chances of getting a job in IT/tech?
I'm trying to get a job in IT that will (hopefully) pay more than a usual 9 to 5. I'm been daily driving Linux exclusively for about 2 1/2 years now and I'm trying to improve my skills to the point that I could be considered a so-called "power user." My question is this: will this increase my hiring chances significantly or marginally?
Yes. Yes it does.
Look for job listings that require command line Linux skill.
The candidate pool who can get around on a Linux command prompt is growing, but it's still pretty small. It gives you some advantage toward networking, Cybersecurity, systems administration, and cloud deployment.
What education do you have in the area?
The IT/Sysadmin sector does have a risk with knowing enough to be dangerous.
Daily driving Linux is great to get used to the command line, but is different from running servers.
If you have no experience with running Linux servers, I would be focusing on that part, rather than daily driving at this point.
Running a server requires a bit of a different mindset to that of just using a desktop.
You need to be far more restrictive about installing software on the server, be more cautios of reboots, and in general focus on stabillity.
You also need to familiarize yourself with Debian/Ubuntu and Red Hat/Fedora based distributions, their package managers, apt and dnf, the general layout of the system, they are mostly similar, but they have their own flavours, especially when it commes to the config files.
Learn the basics of vim, it will allways be installed on a server, I prefer nano but can use vim if needed.
A big part of my job when I was a Helpdesk technician combined with a Linux sysadmin was storage, I had to set up VMs in vSphere and Nutanix and give them the correct ammount of storage, sometimes also expand the storage on a server, and work with mountpoints.
Play around with LVMs, learn the concepts of PVs, VGs and LVs, learn how to expand them, how to move an LV from one PV to another inside a VG, learn how to mount them.
Learn how to set a manual IP, this can change from version to version of a distribution.
Learn to get annoyed at YAML files.
Understand how to secure a system, I'll admit that I never really had to do this as all servers I worked on was behind strong firewalls and not accessable from the internet, but I did my best with what I had.
I interview developers and information security people all the time. I always ask lots of questions about Linux. As far as I'm concerned:
- If you're claiming to be an infosec professional and don't know Linux you're a fraud.
- If you're a developer and you don't know how to deploy to Linux servers you're useless.
So yeah: Get good with Linux. Especially permissions! Holy shit the amount of people I interview that don't know basic Linux permissions (or even about file permissions in general) is unreal.
Like, dude: Have you just been
chmod 777everything all this time? WTF! Immediate red flag this guy cannot be trusted with anything.Depends. It/tech is a massive space so not certain if you're applying to tech support or like server architecture. So some specifics would be nice.
One thing to point out:
I thought I was a freaking wiz kid at Windows because I knew about the registry and how to modify settings. But then I learned a lot of the "hacks" on the internet are bad for the enterprise.
On Linux, it's even worse, with so many blog posts recommending sudo this, and install this app that. And if you don't have a background of WHY, you can do a lot of damage. And with AI, it's even worse. So many bash script kiddies asking AI to write the ugliest code I ever seen.
Now that Im a senior engineer, I realize I know nothing and leave much of the IT space to trained professionals.
Learning Linux was probably the very best thing for my career.
The fact that I use Linux as my primary OS has been a positive in almost every interview I've been in as the interviewee. Linux has been used everywhere I've been, and that represents a huge amount of upskilling they can skip.
As an interviewer, I'd say that developers who use Linux generally understand their development stack better.
To give yourself a better chance, learn things like:
- Bash scripting
- Docker
- Docker Compose
- Kubernetes
- Oauth2 and and an authorization server like Keycloak
- Build and deployment tools like Jenkins
Also learn how to deploy database and web servers manually.
It sounds like a lot but they're things you'll be expected to use.
It will. Keep in mind that, depending on the type of job, you'll have to keep learning new tech just to keep up: virtualization, containers, orchestrators, automation, backups, logging, auditing, scripting and God knows what else. It's a good starting point to get you the jobs that the Windows crowd won't touch because of the command line.
If you're applying to work with my team. A big Yes.
Seeing a developer use Windows is a big turn off, I can clearly see all the future dev environment problems I'd need to assist them with.
And if you understand linux permissions, the architecture, bash, common tools, etc. I can envision how you will make the dev experience better for everyone and contribute to fix any deployment issues. Unlike windows, you won't be introducing ovearching solutions to problems which can be solved with a simple bash script.
When I got into IT, I had years of experience with Mac OS, UNIX, a bit of IRIX and VMS, BSD and even a bit of Linux.
And then I spent 10 years mostly managing a Windows shop. I still ran OpenBSD on the internal support servers, but had to support a full Microsoft stack for anything customer-facing.
What will increase your hiring chances is being adaptable and having a portfolio of success stories to reference during interviews.
No, it won't. Corporations in today's time have this entitlement that you should know everything beforehand. You need a lot more than that. Oh, you don't know Ansible? Don't understand Terraform? Can't fix a Docker config? Haven't used AWS? Rejected, next?
Lots of good advice here. I'll add that you could develop an understanding of IP networking and how it works on Linux, network interfaces, with containers, with iptables as well as stateful and stateless firewalls, CIDRs and basic routing, IP protocols and some common protocols like DNS and HTTP. This used to be pretty common knowledge in applicants 15 years ago, but very few have it today I find. DHCP and PXE boot is fun to learn too, and is still common in datacenters.
Depends on the job!
Linux opens up a lot of possible job openings
get a cheap mini-pc and set it up as a linux router/server/lab
does wonders to teach you the tech used in the industry, and you can even setup your own netflix, google drive, spotify and more.
You didn't tell us what you think the usual 9 to 5 pays. Are you asking whether a tech job pays more than minimum wage? Many of them do. Also, when you're interviewing, and even when you're writing a cover letter, try to avoid the term power user, and instead provide details of things that you've actually done. Anyone can call themselves a power user, but what does that even mean? If you say you're a power user, if you're lucky the interviewer will ask you for details, and if you're unlucky they won't, because they'll assume you're just grandstanding. So you're better off providing a little extra information up front, and not gambling on them asking for it.
It depends on the role. My first job was doing manual QE on Windows, and knowing Linux wasn't much help at the time, but it did help me transition to a coding role in the same company a year later. I'm now doing platform engineering at a major tech company, but that has a high barrier to entry, which I suspect is the case for most roles that are Linux-focused. If you're trying to get your foot in the door, I think you should look at job profiles for low barrier to entry roles (e.g. tech support) and try to work your way up.
It highly depends on the job. Some companies run fully on Windows, no exceptions. There it obviously would not help. But many still either host various services on Linux, or buy hosting/cloud commuting that is Linux based. There it might even be necessary.
It also depends on what you mean by "power user". I would generally advise you to look into the server side of things. In my work, there are zero Linux machines that have a GUI of any kind installed. t The 50 or so Linux machines are all administered through SSH and Shell.
As many people here have pointed out already, it's highly dependent on what type of Job you're looking for and in what industry.
When I was applying for my entry level Job (actually an apprenticeship to become a sysadmin), the fact that I was a linux user (especially daily driving Arch) and that I had set up my own self hosted projects was a factor in me being set up in the department that was actually interesting to me (the Linux/Server department) instead of the Windows/Client department but I probably would have gotten the job either way. My work there set me up deeping my path into Linux sysadminship where I still am today.
absolutely... you know servers are mostly linux right?
If your goal is to make yourself more valuable to employers/clients the best path is to specialize in some critical and niche enterprise tech. People that are good at stuff businesses were lured into using get paid very well. In my case it was SharePoint, but that's just an example.
Knowing your way around the OS is taken for granted in these positions, so you have one piece of the puzzle, which is great, but you need the other pieces.
But be careful, if I have to choose between two experts, one with basic win+linux and the other only linux, I'm choosing the former.
- don't call yourself "power user"
It might just be me but it gives off "I can set up a printer, yay!" vibes.
Yes, because you're already familiar with the command line. But for a job in the professional Linux world, also try out RHEL (not Fedora), and familiarize yourself with best practices in patch management. There's a lot more to it than just dnf upgrade if you have applications depending on specific versions of packages, CVEs need to be mitigated ASAP, downtime needs to be minimized and reverting a borked upgrade (including the installed database) needs to work 100%.
Also, get familiar with containerization, SELinux, VMWare hypervisors, a version control system, the LAMP stack and Samba.Depends what you mean with a job in tech. If you want to work as technical problem solver or programmer, then it's very useful, almost required.
In my area being a linux admin actually pays less than I expected. I kinda always hoped to get into a linux admin role. Now I have a sort of cloud ops role and it makes more than a typical linux admin would. It would just be silly for me to pursue this any further. That doesn't mean I don't touch Linux on a daily basis at work. But it's more alround.
In my personal experience, yes. There are so many jobs that exist around the Linux ecosystem, being comfortable with concepts like piping, file permissions, scripting, git, etc, will invariably give you a leg up.
Specifically for a job of Linix sysadmin, probably yes. If you can afford it do a certification, it will help you stand among other candidates with no work experience.
For other IT jobs it's not so relevant. Linux is technically on the servers but the infrastructure is hidden from you by multiple levels of abstraction.
Yes if
- the environment you would work on is Linux based, obviously (which it often is when servers are involved, even with Microsoft due to Azure cloud and containers)
- you master the command line, i.e you know a bit of e.g bash, can write your own scripts that do basic functions
- you understand how the OS works, i.e permissions, services, package managers, etc
but not really if you are mostly clicking through buttons of the window manager and/or would work in a Microsoft environment with its own set of tools, conventions, etc.
Which brings up obvious suggestions :
- do improve your mastery of the command line
- apply to jobs that put Linux forward (but that might bias to a sysadmin position, which might not be what you prefer)
My personal experience: Absolutely!
I've always landed on jobs/projects that involve Linux server. Generally startups with not much expense to spare would go for this route. However, even bigger companies would opt for enterprise Linux.
I wouldn't say that will work on every IT jobs out there, but when it does, you know you're in for a fun ride!
"In IT" could mean anything from first line support worker to software project manager to network engineer. Can you be more specific...?
I had the same question. I have rather good understanding of Linux and command line however at my job where Ubuntu is used other people easily caught up with me. They still don't know much about what exactly a command does but they know when to run it so IMO it doesn't matter how much Linux you know the only knowledge matters which you could use to have your job done quickly and efficiently.
I'm in data engineering and that market is dominated by Microsoft. Understanding an os is essential if you're, say, a sysadmin.
I'd recommend looking into some certifications. Some businesses are very sensitive to those.
the point that I could be considered a so-called "power user."
There is no certain point. Power user is a rather vague description. It still includes "user" as opposed to admin or developer or guru etc.
If vague is good enough in your area, go for it. Otherwise look for a more formal qualification.
Good luck.
“The Cloud” is mostly Linux—specifically Linux containers. Kubernetes and Docker are Linux specific technologies.
Most “IT” roles these days will be for from Linux knowledge ( not all of course ). It is a good skill to have.
If you do encounter an environment where they do not use Linux, it may be because of a lack of skilled staff. You could be the reason they adopt it.
Put it this way - it doesn't hurt.
Nothing fully replaces real world experience with the exact software and technologies your potential employer uses, but having demonstrable ability to use and understand linux is very transferrable. Ultimately it comes down to the interviewers and what they're looking for, and to the more technical of those, choosing linux as a daily driver shows you're more interested in understanding how computers work and that you have a degree of problem solving ability.
Read some adverts of the jobs you want to get, being realistic that you may need to start low to get that experience, and build ability in what's wanted, especially the bits that are marketable.
Probably not. I guess it depends what you want to do in IT. And the org. Some orgs use a lot of Linux, and Linux is a whole different ball game at the enterprise level. It's not just knowing about Linux, but how to properly manage, secure, and patch it at scale.
It might also depend on if you have previous IT experience. If you've got a ton of previous experience it could help.
Honestly, it depends on the business.
If I were the hiring manager we are a 80/20 split on win vs Linux servers. You may be top tier on 20% of our systems but we have automated about 85% of the tasks on those boxes. The other 15% is being covered by the windows people.
How do I justify hiring you to do 15% of the work of the others?In order to be paid above average, you need to be good at something others find hard. But don't pigeon hole yourself to one thing.
Being good at windows and Linux will make you a more attractive hire. As a Linux daily driver you should have no excuse to not know virtualisation or containers. Run up some qemu VMS or some LXC containers to expand your skillset.
What is a usual 9 to 5?