New direction needed or specializing? Sys Admin/Technical Support Engineer with Security focus

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Running into a brick wall lately trying to find a new job; had probably 10-20 close calls over the past 6-8 months, first calls, technical calls and manager/VP of "X" calls, final calls with HR, then no offers and the infamous "thank you, no thank you" email as I call them. It's maddening, I don't get it.

I'm not sure where I'm falling short. It's all been government contracting work so shorter terms based on how it's worked out for me. I've done application administration and some testing, but want to focus on the administration of things and get into security. I've studied for Sec+ on and off for the past year or so but haven't sat for the exam yet. I just don't know why I'm not getting any offers. It seems any position wants you to know some sort or scripting such as Powershell or the like, and without any frequent usage in my current position it's hard to become familiar, this is my hesitation with the Sec+ a bit; I want to use it in practice not satisfy a DOD clearance requirement. Same goes for Linux usage; I've run it at home and spun up VMs using VirtualBox for Ubuntu or other distros for following along YouTube videos etc, but that only works so much when you don't have a virtualized network where you can do real-world things and not just basic commands to files etc.

I don't know if I talk to much on my explanation questions when asked, am asking for too much or companies are just paying the lowest salary requested since the pandemic, as I've seen companies offering less than they were paying 2 yrs. ago. but the the question is to how to improve and where to go next! I know I need to learn Powershell or similar, and more on networking, but certification wise where do I go now, I need to level up! Sec+, MCSA, what do you think? I've obtained ITIL v3 ITSM based on a prior position but it's not what I do per say. These skills are from my past 3-4 jobs to summarize; any help is much appreciated!

• Desktop/laptop imaging and troubleshooting in Windows 10
  
  
• Daily interaction with G-Suite and Office 365
  
  
• Manage local assets and inventory control, purchasing recommendations
  
  
• Active Directory account creation for users/machines, projectors, printers/print server administration
  
  
• Remedy ticket/Change requests in support of assigned sites and staff
  
  
• SCCM reports for assigned site, ensure all tasks complete prior to device distribution
  
  
• Upgrade software and update device drivers as needed for remote support during Covid-19
  
  
• Completed BMC Remedy Asset Management 9.0, BMC Remedy Incident Management 9.0, BMC Remedy ITIL Awareness
  
  
• Application security and alert monitoring using Quest Foglight, Tenable security scanning and tool configuration, SIEM tools
  

 

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First decide what exactly do you want to do ? Which areas would you enjoy most? Which area would be making you read/research/lab/test not only for certification but for as a passion?
-cloud azure, o365
-virtualization VMware, Hyper-V
check the certification - though no more Hyper-V related certs ms blew it - check the subjects then pick one.