I currently work helpdesk and have been for about 6 years. I am looking to become more valuable, and I can't decide what route to take? Python is of interest, and so is PowerShell. What are some recommendations? Maybe something that would benefit a helpdesk position or even get into a network administrator.
I think that if you plan on sticking around enterprise systems and Microsoft, you should definitely get into some PowerShell. Basically anything you do via Active Directory, you should try mirroring it in PowerShell. It’s an easy one to learn, and it’s easy to follow that into Azure CLI. I was in the same boat as you — Did Helpdesk/System Administration for 10 years. PowerShell got me out.
I would also recommend PowerShell! Since I started learning PowerShell, a lot of possibilities opened up for me, I even became a PowerShell MVP. Since PowerShell Core/6/7 it has gotten a lot of interest in the Linux community and I love it for it's flexibility and possibilities only limited by your imagination ;) Check out the community dashboard to see the current usage https://aka.ms/PSGitHubBI, check out the PowerShell docs at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/overview?view=powershell-7, especially the "Learning PowerShell" section and feel free to contact me for further questions!
PS: Just to be complete on this, I also use Python, but in a very different scope. Python in my opinion is the best for data analytics related tasks or even whole production (web) applications (e.g. with Django). PowerShell is great for automation, orchestration and all the little tasks that makes your everyday life easier.