7 Essential Skill-Building Courses for the Open Source Jobs Market

Dice and The Linux Foundation recently released an updated Open Source Jobs Report that examines trends in open source recruiting and job seeking. The report clearly shows that open source professionals are in demand and that those with open source experience have a strong advantage when seeking jobs in the tech industry. Additionally, 87 percent of hiring managers say it’s hard to find open source talent.

The Linux Foundation offers many training courses to help you take advantage of these growing job opportunities. The courses range from basic to advanced and offer essential open source knowledge that you can learn at your own pace or through instructor-led classes.

This article looks at some of the available training courses and other resources that can provide the skills needed to stay competitive in this hot open source job market.

Networking Courses

The Open Source Jobs Report highlighted networking as a leading emergent technology — with 21 percent of hiring managers saying that networking has the biggest impact on open source hiring. To build these required networking skills, here are some courses to consider.

Essentials of System Administration

This introductory course will teach you how to administer, configure, and upgrade Linux systems. You’ll learn all the tools and concepts necessary to efficiently build and manage a production Linux infrastructure including networking, file system management, system monitoring, and performance tuning. This comprehensive, online, self-paced course also forms the basis for the Linux Foundation Certified System Administrator skillset.

Advanced Linux System Administration and Networking

The need for sys admins with advanced administration and networking skills has never been greater. This course is designed for system administrators and IT professionals who need to gain a hands-on knowledge of Linux network configuration and services as well as related topics such as basic security and performance.

Software Defined Networking with OpenDaylight

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is a rapidly emerging technology that abstracts networking infrastructure away from the actual physical equipment. This course is designed for experienced network administrators who are either migrating to or already using SDN and/or OpenDaylight, and it provides an overview of the principles and methods upon which this technology is built.

Cloud Courses

Cloud technology experience is even more sought after than networking skills — with 51 percent of hiring managers stating that knowledge of OpenStack and CloudStack has a big impact on open source hiring decisions.

Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure Technologies

As companies increasingly rely on cloud products and services, it can be overwhelming to keep up with all the technologies that are available. This free, self-paced course will give you a fundamental understanding of today’s top open source cloud technology options.

Essentials of OpenStack Administration

OpenStack adoption is expanding rapidly, and there is high demand for individuals with experience managing this cloud platform. This instructor-led course will teach you everything you need to know to create and manage private and public clouds with OpenStack.

OpenStack Administration Fundamentals

This online, self-paced course will teach you what you need to know to administer private and public clouds with OpenStack. This course is also excellent preparation for the Certified OpenStack Administrator exam from the OpenStack Foundation.

Open Source Licensing and Compliance

A good working knowledge of open source licensing and compliance is critical when contributing to open source projects or integrating open source software into other projects. The Compliance Basics for Developers course teaches software developers why copyrights and licenses are important and explains how to add this information appropriately. This course also provides an overview of the various types of licenses to consider.

Along with these — and many other — training courses, the Linux Foundation also offers free webinars and ebooks on various topics. The free resources listed below can help you get started building your career in open source:

Introduction to OpenStack [Free Webinar]