Exploring the Different Linux Career Opportunities

If you are planning to pursue a course in Linux but are doubtful whether it will make you earn money, then you need not worry as the demand for Linus certified professionals are never ending! After gaining popularity on the desktop and being quite popular in the enterprise, a large number of jobs and designations are available in the Linux skills set function. In this article, we will take a look at some of those job opportunities.

Technician Job
In this job profile the candidate is responsible for managing Linux workstations and desktops. As a technician, the professional should know how to perform partitioning, installations, services, managing users, troubleshooting network, basic scripting and operating system problems. In this profile, a person can get a job at companies using Linux, colleges, datacenters, stores schools and many other places. As a technician, one can get years of experience and then later become a systems administrator.

Systems Administrator
Through direct study or after getting a few years of experience as a technician, one can become a Linux system admin. In this profile, professional are aware of everything that a technician knows and a lot more things too. The system admin is responsible for managing important services like ftp, http, dns; cron jobs, setting up backups and other administrative tasks. Also, the candidate should know how to secure systems and servers, firewall management, package management. Maximum Linux system admins are working on server-oriented distributions which include Debian, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS and Ubuntu. So in case you are planning learn more about systems-administration job responsibilities then you should be smart to pick one of these distributions to study with.

Application and Web Programmer
As Linux is growing rapidly in the corporate arena and huge part of web content publishing business is being run on Linux, PHP, MySQL and Apache, more and more programmers are in demand who can write plugins, code in multiple languages, design databases and applications, addons, script in various languages and manage services. Also, Linux is growing rapidly in the desktop arena, plenteous software groups and organizations will target the Linux desktops with their games and applications. These applications and games are generally programmed in high-level coding toolkits like GTK+ and QT or low-level languages such as C++, C and Assembler.

Support
Large numbers of companies are seeking professionals who can help others with Linux or who are proficient in Linux. With the growth of Linux in the enterprise and corporate arena, many big organizations to save money on licensing costs are changing their desktops to Linux. In this profile of a support technician, the candidate will have to support the employees in companies do their work without being hindered or confused by the change in their methodologies, OS and applications.

Teaching and Writing
A lot of money can be made by teaching the above mentioned aspirants. With relevant certifications or experience as a teacher, one can get a job in a School, University, Institute or College. In this profile of writing, one can get a job which would entail you writing articles or documentation for large companies, newspapers, magazines and so on. The past experience as a writer will count when you look for a new Linux job opportunity anywhere, so it would be better to start writing a personal blog about Linux in the free time.

Conclusion

You can find plenteous of niche fields where Linux skills and techniques can make a difference. And with the increasing enthusiastic IT career aspirants opting for Linux, it will definitely grab big market share in the coming years. With the right attitude, knowledge, luck and contacts, you can easily earn a lot of money as a Linux professional. In case you are already working in this field of IT, then getting certifications and additional knowledge can boost your career.