How to build your career in technology is a moving target, and it's moving quickly! In this special career-focused episode of Into the Terminal, Nate and Scott step away from the command line to have a candid conversation about building a career in Linux in 2026. What certifications matter? Does your distro choice count? And how exactly does AI play into the future of sysadmin roles? Watch the full episode here or build your skills in the interactive labs.
Key Takeaways for 2026
1. Certifications vs. Degrees
Do certifications get you the job? According to Scott (who hires technical talent), certifications don't get you a job—they get you an interview. * Hiring managers look at certifications to establish a baseline of knowledge. Performance-based certifications (like Red Hat's RHCSA and RHCE) are highly valued because they prove you can actually execute the tasks on a live system, rather than just answering multiple-choice questions. * While some large organizations (or government entities) might still rigidly require a 4-year degree for management tracks, certifications are often a fraction of the cost and, when paired with experience, can open the majority of doors in the industry.
2. The Power of Home Labbing and Projects
If you can't get on-the-job experience doing the thing you want to do, build it yourself! Nate shared how he originally built his own DNS, mail, and web servers just to learn how they worked, which gave him tangible projects to point to in interviews. * Pro Tip for Interviews: Don't just talk about your successes! Be prepared to discuss your biggest failures. Hiring managers want to hear about how you messed up, how you recovered, and how you documented the fix so the team never steps on the same rake twice.
3. Does Your Distro Choice Matter?
Short answer: Yes, to an extent. While it might be fun to run a niche Linux distribution that only a handful of people in the world use, it won't help you much in a corporate job interview. Stick to the big players (RHEL family, Ubuntu LTS, etc.). The enterprise world runs on these major distributions, and the skills you build on them will translate directly into your career.
4. The Role of AI in Sysadmin Careers
Is AI replacing sysadmins? Rather than fully replacing roles, expect to see smaller teams heavily augmented by AI tooling. "AI does Linux really well," but organizations need practitioners who can securely prompt the AI, vet the scripts it generates, and evaluate the output. You are the layer between the AI and the real world. * The Ultimate Study Hack: Use AI as your personal study buddy! Spin up a Linux VM and tell a generative AI agent to log in and break something on the system without telling you what it broke. Then, use that broken system to practice real-world troubleshooting and diagnosis.
Links & Resources
- Video URL: Into the Terminal 198 – Building your Linux career in 2026
- RHEL Developer Registration: https://developers.redhat.com/register
- Interactive Labs: https://redhat.com/interactive-labs
- Discord: https://red.ht/rhel-discord (Note: This now points to the Fedora community discord which hosts the RHEL channels!)
- Nate Lager: https://social.undrground.org/@gangrif
- Scott McBrien: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-mcbrien-349b356
Into the Terminal is a show dedicated to helping you grow your knowledge of critical administration skills for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Whether you are new to Linux or new to RHEL, join us for a hands-on look at commands, processes, and tools.
Source: r/redhat · by /u/Gangrif