IT Job Training in Bay Area

Fremont, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, San Jose and other areas of Silicon Valley have several information technology (IT) job training centers established by Indian software professionals.

These centers provide training in PMP, SAP, Java, Ruby, Oracle, Windows, Rails, QA, Linux, Python, Business Analysis, Accounting, Tax & Payroll software and other technologies.

Pay packages for IT professionals are attractive and start at $35,000-$40,000 per year.

With a few years of experience under their belt, IT professionals move up into the $65,000-$95,000 payroll bracket.

There are atleast 500,000 job openings in IT sector covering network administration, software and web application developement, mobile apps and cybersecurity, according to the U.S. government estimates. (source: White House statement, March 9, 2015).

So if you're toiling for low wages in a non-IT field, you can get training in an IT field and earn higher wages.

Linux Job Market

One of the biggest opportunities in the IT sector is in Linux.

According to a report from the Linux Foundation and Dice, job opportunities are excellent for Linux professionals.

Key findings of Linux Foundation-Dice report:

Most hiring managers plan to recruit Linux professionals in the next six months. With new Linux-based systems, projects and products constantly emerging, hiring the right talent to support the growth remains a priority with employers. Nine out of 10 hiring managers intend to hire Linux talent relative to other skills areas in the next six months.
Open cloud platforms are increasing demand for Linux professionals with the right expertise. 42% of hiring managers say experience in OpenStack and CloudStack will have a major impact on their hiring decisions, while 23% report security is a sought-after area of expertise and 19% are looking for Linux talent with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) skills.
Linux-certified professionals will be especially well positioned in the job market this year, with 44% of hiring managers saying they are more likely to hire a candidate with Linux certification, and 54% expecting either certification or formal training of their SysAdmin candidates.
More developers and SysAdmins are learning Linux as companies are getting even more aggressive about rolling out Linux-based systems and devices to support cloud, mobile and embedded, and emerging areas such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN).

How to Gain Linux Skills

To start your Linux training, pick up command line skills first.

If you're determined and willing to work hard enough, you can gain Linux skills on your own without having to attend expensive coding bootcamps.

Get a cheap Dell or HP PC on eBay for $70 or $80 and install Linux on it.

If you're a newbie to Linux, start with Linux Mint or Ubuntu. You can download LinuxMint here, and burn it to an USB drive using the free unetbootin software.

Once you have Linux Mint or Ubuntu on the USB drive, you can then boot with it and run it off the USB drive (it will run a little slow). For faster performance, install Linux in a partition on your laptop or desktop or as a full install on an old PC that you can get off Craigslist or eBay.

Ideally, set up the free VirtualBox software on your computer and then install one of the Linux distributions as a virtual machine. Since VirtualBox runs on Windows and Mac too, you can use your existing Windows or Mac laptop or desktop. Virtualization is a skill in high demand.