I've worked in IT support for about three years in a Nordic country, handling Active Directory, Microsoft 365, Windows, software and hardware troubleshooting, networking, and general user support. I recently passed the CCNA and originally planned to move further into networking, but there have been very few networking vacancies in my country over the past year, and competition for jobs is intense.
I'd like to keep building useful skills and earn a certification that could improve my chances of finding a better role. I'm considering RHCSA to strengthen my Linux knowledge, MD-102 because I work with Intune regularly, MS-102 for broader Microsoft 365 administration, AZ-104 for Azure, or CCNP to continue pursuing networking. My concern is that some of these may not be valuable without more hands-on experience, while others may be too narrow or expensive.
My current job also feels repetitive, and I'm worried that I'm becoming dependent on company-specific procedures rather than continuing to grow. Which certification or practical development path would make the most sense? Other suggestions are welcome—honest criticism is fine.
4 Answers
In many Nordic hiring processes, practical experience matters much more than certificates. A certification can support your application, but it usually won’t compensate for a lack of real projects. Look for work beyond routine support: improve security controls, clean up identity and endpoint management, automate repetitive tasks, document processes, or take ownership of a migration. Make sure management and future employers can clearly see the results.
Start with the direction you actually want to pursue rather than collecting certifications at random. Since you already use Intune and Microsoft 365 daily, the Microsoft 365 administration track would probably give you the quickest return. The exams still require serious preparation, though, so don’t assume they’ll be effortless just because the tools are familiar.
Before committing to CCNP or RHCSA, decide whether you can realistically get hands-on exposure in those areas. Advanced certifications without related work or lab experience can become expensive theory exercises. Your immediate advantage is the combination of endpoint management, Microsoft 365, identity, and your new networking foundation, so a role involving cloud operations, infrastructure, or systems administration may be a more natural next step.
If you want to move toward cloud administration, AZ-104 is a reasonable target, but pair it with a lab. Build an Azure environment where you manage identities, virtual machines, networking, storage, monitoring, and permissions. That gives you something concrete to discuss in interviews and makes the certification much more useful than simply passing the exam.
That’s part of my concern: my current work is mostly repetitive, and I want to move somewhere that exposes me to broader infrastructure rather than just memorizing more exam material.