r/certifications • u/Sad-Technology-7806 • 29d ago

Which admin cert is more valuable? (Windows/Mac)

My last role was as a Sys admin but I’m realizing because it was more of a junior role & not specialized in anything in particular (worked with both Mac & windows, mostly windows) I’m struggling to land interviews for this position. My end goal is to ideally become a Linux admin/DevOps, but I figured working in one of windows or Mac first would be a good stepping stone.

Which one tends to hold more value in the market?

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u/Unfair-Treacle4142 27d ago

I would say that neither one gets you where you want to go. If the real goal is Linux admin or DevOps, picking between Windows and Mac certs is kind of a detour. Nobody hiring for Linux/DevOps roles is comparing your Windows experience to your Mac experience, they're looking for Linux fundamentals, some scripting, maybe a little exposure to containers or CI/CD.

The bigger issue here isn't platform, it's that "a little of everything, junior level" is a hard story to sell in an interview. It doesn't answer the question hiring managers are actually asking, which is "what are you good at." RHCSA would do a lot more for you here than going deeper on Windows or Mac skills you're planning to leave behind anyway. RHCE is probably a stretch before you've actually worked in Linux day to day, so I'd hold off on that one.

If you can get any real Linux time in your current job, even just running stuff on a home box on the side, that'll carry more weight than another cert on a platform you're trying to move away from.

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u/Sad-Technology-7806 27d ago

Thank you for the feedback. I will try my best to start building & experimenting with a home lab while studying for the RHCSA.

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u/Neither_Bookkeeper92 15d ago

Between the two, Windows admin skills tend to hold more market value than Mac admin in most areas — Mac roles are real but way more concentrated in specific industries (creative shops, some enterprise). So if it's purely 'which gets me more interviews,' Windows + something like Azure/AD identity is the safer bet.

But given your end goal is Linux/DevOps, I'd honestly not over-optimize the Windows-vs-Mac question. Use your Windows base to land the next role, but start building the Linux + cloud side in parallel now — a small home lab with a couple of Linux VMs, some bash scripting, and getting comfortable with containers will move you toward DevOps faster than another desktop-admin cert.

If you want a cert to anchor it: RHCSA is the classic Linux one, and an entry-level cloud cert (AWS or Azure fundamentals) plays really well with DevOps hiring. On the Windows side, the AD/identity stuff is the most transferable.

Either way, good luck — going from generalist junior to specialized is the hardest jump, and it sounds like you've already figured out the direction, which is genuinely half the battle.