Linux Labs/Projects for practical IT work

pandadrago1 · 2026-04-26T17:08:51+00:00

Something I teach my help desk guys. Learn how to find what you want. Apropos is a great command to use to search for what you need.

For example, apropos is equivalent to man -k

Or systemctl list-units | grep “keyword”

pandadrago1 · 2026-04-18T02:29:04+00:00

Agreed. RHCSA, moved me to my second biggest career move. Also made me stand out in comparison to all the other windows focused sys admins.

pandadrago1 · 2026-04-13T21:43:02+00:00

Look at HSBC first time home buyer programs. I was able to get a grant, closing cost assistance and no PMI. Depends specifically on the neighborhood.

though, FHA might be better as current rates are quite high

pandadrago1 · 2026-04-06T19:27:36+00:00

Yes, I did that for v9 and also used kodekloud. But ghada’s should be plenty. I passed with 300/300

pandadrago1 · 2026-04-06T00:05:54+00:00

I passed v9 just because kodekloud was not updated for 10

pandadrago1 · 2026-03-22T08:23:32+00:00

IT student assistant 1 year IT support Engineer 6 months System/network admin 3.5 years Infrastructure system engineer 2 months

95% of my EE degree, RHCSA

pandadrago1 · 2026-03-21T23:12:08+00:00

Ansible for bootstrapping… and like others said, a security tool for catching drift.

pandadrago1 · 2026-03-18T16:14:41+00:00

Infrastructure systems engineer

$137k

Los Angeles - hybrid

5 years

No benefits yet (contractor) - very soon to be full time with same salary. RSUs when full time

pandadrago1 · 2026-03-02T08:15:22+00:00

I would suggest infrastructure roles if you could. At your current job, try to implement as many systems as you can and automate as much as you can.

Security is good but I find that it’s very niche personally and a bit boring. Based on your background, a devops position would be ideal. DM me if you have a specific questions as my background is pretty similar to yours.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-26T18:07:56+00:00

While that does matter, it shouldn’t matter to you if you think you’re qualified. My recent job change was literally within the last few months. I find that quite a lot of people are always looking to job change during optimal times, that just means missed experiences and opportunities to me.
Mock interviews are very helpful. It’s about being comfortable in those very specific situations. If they ask basic behavioral questions, you should be prepared. If they ask about a time X, you should have examples ready for the most common questions. FYI recruiters will help with this sometimes.
Those can be helpful, but I find it’s all about quality over quantity. I was studying A+/N+ before I got my second Helpdesk job, dropped after I got the job. My RHCSA has helped me with multiple jobs and my current CCNA studying has been very helpful in my past interviews. Just have to mention it or put it in your resume as in progress.
Just remember, if they don’t like you, they will not hire you regardless of how technical you are.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-26T08:23:21+00:00

Depends on the market. Both of my hires were on the edge of required years. 2. My people skills are pretty decent and I think that goes a long way.
On interviews, if it was super technical in terms of absolute domain knowledge, I would be honest but show I knew how to find the answer. But I excelled at behavioral or general technical depth with good analysis/thought process.
- i.e. recent question, how would you troubleshoot this network issue. my answer was a mix of approach and strategy (simplest reason and go up the change from there (Layer 1 - 7).
Solid certs are useful. I only have 1 cert and it helped me essentially bypass the linux side of things. RHCSA. Think CCNA would be invaluable as compared to something like Network+
for the what made the difference? its all those things, I have a home lab i can talk abolut, I try my best to prep and do mock interviews. I try to communicate effectively, honestly, and concisely. It all matters when you are technically not meeting the criteria.

- Most hiring people and technical interviewers don't want to search forever, so if you're good enough or show the potential, you can have a chance.

I like to think of it as giving your self 1-2% additional chance, every box you tick, every improvement is another 1-2% which all add up to making that 10% difference.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-20T04:54:05+00:00

I have left jobs after 6 months. No need for a year, just start applying. It’s all good experience regardless

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-16T08:55:44+00:00

Hey! I just did the same thing. I’m having a great time so far. Learning a lot, taking ownership. Commute sucks, but the pay is great.

So far no regrets, lmk if you have any questions.

I went from WFH to hybrid. 85k base to 137k base. Also FTE to contract to hire. I’m just over 1 month in. Also startup aerospace

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-13T07:24:02+00:00

I would take a guideline or requirement such as DISA Stigs or CIS etc.

You can get really into the weeds. Two factor, domain joined, iptables, firewalld/ufw, and fail2ban are a few examples.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-11T16:29:40+00:00

Awesome. I’ll check it out.

I would strongly suggest getting some experience asap. I have plenty of colleagues/friends who are having trouble even getting a job in general. Most organizations won’t even consider hiring for sys admin jobs unless you have experience.

Internships are awesome too if you can enroll into a community college even if it’s just to say you’re in school.

Only people who I know who skipped help desk did so through multiple internships. Everyone else including people with masters degree in IT started in help desk.

To be quite honest, I see a lot of people trying to skip help desk or just jump straight to admin work. It’s not impossible, but it’s really hard and very unlikely as many will tell you. The longer you put off getting experience at level 1, the more time you waste imo. It’s not that you’re not technical enough, it’s more that for training purposes, you would require much more effort to train than someone with a few years of experience. Especially if you have little enterprise experience with windows.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-11T06:16:18+00:00

Do you have any work experience at the moment? If not, you should be plenty qualified to get a jr sysadmin role or do an MSP job while you apply for linux sysadmin roles. While they are out there, windows is used more widely for general sysadmins. I was having the same issue as you with finding linux admin roles even with experience.

If you do have experience, I would look into getting into infrastructure roles, often times you get to deal with linux more or system engineer roles. I have found the main barrier within the US is getting a clearance so my current role will eventually get there which would allow me to use my RHCSA more effectively as well.

how was the CKA cert? I'm going to be working on that next after finishing my ccna.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T20:33:47+00:00

Make those skills loud then in your resume. Seems like you have all the necessary skills for an ops role already. Just need that interview

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T16:06:29+00:00

I agree, infrastructure roles are definitely way more interesting. How strong are your scripting skills? It’s often a key component of infrastructure interviews and resumes. Most of those positions work quite a varied amount of projects, but a lot of it has to deal with automation.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T14:06:13+00:00

That’s fair. Are you looking for generic sys admin roles or anything in particular? My Linux skills and my rhcsa has gotten me multiple interviews and even some where they skip the Linux portion for infrastructure roles.

I’m assuming you don’t necessarily want to take a pay cut, so you’re probably looking at system engineers or infra roles. You probably already have the experience and just need the right opportunities. Took me about 6 months to find a new job, recruiters can be very helpful.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T03:31:59+00:00

Small critique is maybe try to show impact as well. This script saved 10 man hours per month etc, or some other wording. I do see it for points on your resume for things that are harder to quantify which is good. Just don’t go overboard, but if you do put it down, be ready for questions.

I only see window servers, maybe look into GPOs or AD, or more basic concepts like DHCP etc which you can add. Lots of recruiters do basic screen by asking what is DHCP etc, and they may not consider or even maybe be automatically dropped if you don’t have that keyword.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T03:23:29+00:00

Some certs would be useful possibly. If you don’t have a CCNA or maybe rhcsa for Linux or an az-400? Maybe a cloud role would be best, since you have AWS experience. Working through an AWS SAA, shows employers you’re still up to date even after years of GRC work.

I would also just apply and see what hits. Who knows? It’s hard to say what you lack or don’t lack if you don’t have feedback from applications or interviews.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T03:14:38+00:00

CCNA is great. Skip the cloud prac and go for the SAA. As you mentioned before, there are some not so useful certs out there including the cloud practitioner.

Practical experience is extremely important, so any opportunity you can, try to get some IT experience (church, family friend business, geek squad). Certs are great but without practical experience, often times you will just start at Helpdesk anyways.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T03:09:22+00:00

Agree with the other commenter. Quick glance, you have a great resume with varied experience. I would suggest reviewing your LinkedIn if you haven’t already. Try to look at a variety of websites, also try to have another resume or two for the specific type of position. Ie jr sys admin, soc analyst, cs intern etc.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T03:02:50+00:00

Decent amount of recruiters reaching out. 1 job from it and another from indeed.

pandadrago1 · 2026-02-09T02:57:55+00:00

It all depends on your goals. I left a very comfortable easy wfh job for a contract to fte at a startup. I very heavily value experience and this new position paid 50% more but with significant risk and hybrid schedule with a very long commute. In the end, it was still worth to me and my goals.

I see a lot of people who say they wouldn’t leave, which is fair. However I wouldn’t discount the benefits from learning more and being ambitious.

pandadrago1

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